[troutman]

Where do trout go when rivers and streams are flooding? What can they eat while the water is browned-out? How do the little fish survive?

http://www.orvis.com/news/fly-fishin...er-the-Floods/

I spoke to Shawn Good, a Vermont Fish and Wildlife biologist, about what happens to fish during these floods. Shawn knows from firsthand experience—he did his graduate work studying Atlantic salmon in the tributaries of the Saguenay River in Quebec during the mid 1990s. Among the things he investigated were the movements of fry and fingerlings, so he had tagged quite a few in his research areas. Good was nearing the completion of his graduate field work in July 1996 when severe flooding hit the region. The area received the amount of rain that it would normally have for the entire month in just two days. Needless to say, Shawn was very concerned about completing his field work.

After the floods receded, he went back to his research areas and electrofished the river to find his marked individuals. Expectations were low when the work began but that changed quickly. Good found 95% of his research subjects were still alive and in the same location. Not only did this discovery amaze Shawn, but his findings were integrated into his thesis.

http://northernwoodlands.org/outside...-survive-that/

A trout’s streamlined shape minimizes resistance, and its slimy epidermis cuts down on water friction. They hug the bottom of the stream during a flood, where things are slower and less turbulent than higher in the water column. They hide behind rocks and snags and in pockets inside stream banks where the natural structure decreases the velocity of the water, much as humans might use a building as a windbreak. And when all else fails, they get out of dodge and seek slower water outside the stream channel, a move that can lead to stranding if the water level drops too quickly.