Trout Brook in Massachusetts Stream Temperature Monitoring Resumes...

Massachusetts NFC board member Jeff Moore deploying a temp logger on a tributary to Trout Brook.

After focusing much of our efforts in 2023 on the headwaters of Trout Brook, NFC issued a report on our findings and recommendations.  While separated from the rest of the watershed by a century old dam, negatively impacted by the presence of highly invasive bass and bluegill, and possibly subject to intermittancy during periods of drought, NFC felt strongly that we needed to start at the top to gain a full understanding of what we were up against.  

Based on water temperature data collected in 2023, the only places in the Trout Brook watershed that remained cool enough to support wild brook trout were the headwaters and two small spring tributaries downstream of the dam noted above, one of which was the site of the last confirmed wild brook trout in 2009.  As 2023 was an unusually wet and cool year by recent standards, we saw Trout Brook at its best not at its worst.

In 2024, NFC is going to monitor water temperature and flows in the 2 spring tributaries to see if they remain conducive to wild brook trout.  We will also be doing physical inspections of the tibutaries to determine if there are any forms of fish-blockage, and anything else that may be negatively impacting the habitat.  We have also scheduled some e-fishing samplin on these yet to be surveyed streams.