Project Update - Gateway TU Brown Trout Program

In December of 2020, the Gateway Chapter of Trout Unlimited embarked on a three year study of implanting wild brown trout from Utah into Dry Creek at Westover Farms with the blessing of the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Glarner Family.

If you haven’t already read the article I did on that project, check it out here: Gateway Trout Unlimited Brown Trout Program. There is a video about the entire day and process of implanting eggs via Vibert Boxes.

On January 17th, 2020, three members of the Gateway TU board and I went back to Dry Creek to check on the progress of our fry.

Erik Sanders, a St. Louis based Aquatic Biologist, and Wes Swee, Director of the Meramec Spring Foundation oversaw the process and Louis Whittenberg managed the data collection devices.

The outcome of the first planting was extremely positive! We saw hundreds of fry swim out of the combined boxes we surveyed and can “assume” (very dangerous when talking about science) that many fry had already swam out and left the boxes as well.

The project has given me a huge amount of appreciation for what goes into the conservation of our streams, fisheries and fish populations.

Marty McMillen joined us for a portion of the day and offered insight about the springs, the watershed and best practices he has learned over his decades of experience.

The team collected data from each planting area to better understand the ideal conditions that will provide the best outcomes. Although we saw some variation from each area in productivity, it’s still far too early in the process, with far too small of a sample size to assign any correlation.

For more information on the program, to volunteer or make a donation, visit: https://www.gatewaytu.org/project-brown-trout

I’m continually blown away by the fly fishing community and how welcoming they are to “newbies” like myself. I’ve been consistently invited to events, volunteer opportunities and even surprise surprise, some fishing as well.