M. R. Anderson

Historical data on brown trout from the Smith River tailwater, Virginia, below Philpott Dam, from 1971-2002 were reviewed to assess changes in the fishery during the time period. Data from citation brown trout (>2268 g) and electrofishing data were evaluated for changes in size distribution and fish condition. The number of citation brown trout declined over the time period. Relative stock density also decreased. Although relative condition of citation brown trout was high in the early 1970s, values decreased and remained stable after 1980. Declines in the number of trophy-sized trout...

Benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled in July 2000 and April 2001 at 12 sites in the Smith River below Philpott Dam in southwestern Virginia. One riffle in each site was stratified into upstream, middle, and downstream transects and Surber samples were collected at 2 randomly-selected locations on each transect. Macroinvertebrates were identified to family and each sample was measured for wet weight. Family richness was calculated and simple linear regression was used to evaluate longitudinal trends in mean abundance and wet weight with increasing distance from the dam. We found low...