Monitoring water temperatures in Apple Creek

For the past five years, Apple Creek has been stocked with trout in the spring and fall. One of the questions asked when the stocking program began was whether or not trout would survive in the stream during the warm summer months. In the summer of 2005 there was no evidence that rainbow trout stocked that spring survived past August. But in the past four summers, rainbow and brown trout have survived the warm weather and low rainfall of summer in Wayne County. For all years from 2006-2009, trout have been spotted and caught in Apple Creek by fishermen during July, August and September.

Last summer (2008) and this summer (2009), three Hobo water temperature loggers were deployed in one to three feet of water in separate locations in Apple Creek at Grosjean Park. The loggers automatically record water temperatures at regular intervals. In 2008 they were set to read at 10-minute intervals; in 2009 at 30- minute intervals. A third year of data will be collected next summer (2010). When the three years of data are collected, summer-time water temperatures will be analyzed, evaluated and submitted to staff in the ODNR Division of Wildlife. One possible outcome is that the DOW may expand its put, grow and take brown trout stocking program to include Apple Creek.

An analysis of data from August of 2008 regarding survival of trout in Apple Creek is encouraging. It is generally considered that temperatu (See the Full Article...)