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I have noticed several dead brown trout on the lower Provo this last week. I snapped a couple of photos of one still alive that's just falling apart like a salmon, post spawn.
My question if anyone can shed some light on this subject is do browns (or any other trout) die after spawning? I know they all don't but is there a certain percentage that do because of old age, weakened condition etc...
I have attached a couple of photos, They aren't the greatest and I took one through my polarized glasses to cut the glare, Have a looksee and tell me what you know.
Any info would be appreciated.
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Apocalypse
The brown trout in your pictures have fungal growth on the skin. This is caused by stress which usually occurs during or post spawn in the Fall. Brown trout are generally long-lived compared to other trout species. Rainbow trout, depending on the strain, generally don't live more than three to four years and often die as a result stress associated with spawning. Steril rainbows live longer. Check out the link below for more info on the fungus you observed on the browns on the Provo.
[url "http://wildlife.utah.gov/fes/fungused_brown_trout.html"]http://wildlife.utah.gov/fes/fungused_brown_trout.html[/url]
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[cool][#0000ff]As you have already been correctly advised, it is a fungus growth which generally appears on stressed fish after the fall spawn. It always seems to be worse in years with low water flows. I have seen it regularly since the early 1960's, so it is nothing new and probably not treatable.[/#0000ff]
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Yes, that fungal growth caused a major brown trout kill in the ogden several years back. Overpopulation and stress from spawning cause the disease to be more prevalent.
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Yup, that fungus wiped out 90% of the fish in the Ogden river years ago. That was probably the most discouraging time in my entire life. There were dead fish everywhere! Flycastin hooked into a ten pounder during that time and once he was hooked he just floated to the top and didn't even give a fight. It was terrible to see such a trophy fishery go to complete waste. Tyler (flycastin) and I used to fish that river everyday and we would land browns over 20 inches everyday. That river has never been the same since that kill off. The river has recovered pretty well but the average fish size is alot smaller than it used to be. Too bad.
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the provo is getting hit now.....but the fungus is everywhere, no way to do anything about it. It would be impossible to treat a river, a hatchery would be no problem though.