ABSTRACT: Wild trout have played an increasingly important role in trout management in Iowa over the last 20 years. Recent increases in self-sustaining trout populations has expanded and diversified opportunities for Iowa anglers to pursue trout. One of the major factors in this increase is the use of fingerling stocks derived from wild and local parents to establish wild trout populations in other streams. Such stockings have been so successful in expanding self-sustaining populations of Brown Trout in northeast (NE) Iowa that their full extent is currently unknown. Wild Brook Trout populations have also been successfully restored to several NE Iowa streams by stocking fingerling Brook Trout of South Pine Creek origin. Brook Trout is the only trout species believed to be native to NE Iowa’s coldwater streams, and fisheries managers in Iowa are interested in expanding these restoration efforts as well as protecting existing populations of the species. The purpose of this project is to assess the current distribution of Brook Trout and Brown Trout in northeast Iowa, and collect information needed to identify coldwater streams in northeast Iowa which have conditions necessary for successful restoration of wild Brook Trout populations. To efficiently target our sampling to only those stream reaches where thermal regimes are likely to be conducive to trout habitation, we are using methods developed in a recent study that used visually interpreted very high resolution (VHR) winter satellite imagery to identify coldwater stream reaches. Results of targeted sampling efforts in the Upper Iowa River watershed will be presented, and utility of using VHR winter satellite imagery to identify coldwater stream reaches will be discussed. In addition to informing wild trout management in NE Iowa, information gained from this project will also be used in an effort to update Iowa’s coldwater stream classifications.
