Diel movement of brown trout in a southern Appalachian river

Radio telemetry was used to monitor the diel movement of 22 brown trout (Salmotrutta) (268-446 mm in total length, TL) in the Chattooga River watershed. Forty-seven dieltracks, locating individuals once per hour for 24 consecutive hours, were collected for four consecutive seasons. High variability in movement both within and among individual brown troutresulted in similar seasonal means in total distance moved, diel range, and displacement. Themajority of fish moved a total distance of less than 80 m within a diel range of less than 80 m andhad a displacement of less than 10 m. Brown trout were more likely to occur in pool habitatindependent of season or period of the day. Hourly movement patterns differed among seasons.During the winter and fall, trout moved only around sunrise; during the spring, they moved aroundsunrise, sunset, and intermittently throughout the night. Large brown trout (.375 mm, TL) werefound to move greater total distances and establish wider diel ranges than small brown trout.Overall, most brown trout exhibited restricted diel movement within a single riffle-pool or run-poolsequence