Additional Findings
Conditions that can generate a strong year class of steelhead
- Adult spawning run with >50 % repeat spawners (a good representation of 3- to 5-time repeats)
- High spring stream flows (distribution of adults to all stream spawning locations)
- Stable stream flows from early June to mid-July when fry are small and fragile
- Summer rains that maintain adequate habitat for fry and yearling steelhead
- Summer stream temperatures 18 to 22 C.
- Extended mild fall (increases juvenile size, fitness and winter survival)
- Fall rains to maintain flows into winter
- Significant winter snows to insulate stream from anchor ice and freezing to the bottom
- Survival of smolts (lake migrants) to become first-time spawners.
Resident Brook Trout and Coaster
Resident brook trout and migratory coasters are present in Portage Creek. The resident population is recognized as been one of the best in this area.
The migratory "coasters" appears to be declining based on spring and fall observations over the past several years.
Coasters tagged in Portage Creek have been recaptured throughout Black Bay and its tributaries, Thunder Bay and as far away as Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. From the brook trout sampled on Portage Creek, age and genetic data has been collected and analysed.
