Fall movements and behaviour of radio-tagged brown trout and rainbow trout in eastern Lake Erie in 1979 and 1980

Ten brown trout and 15 rainbow trout were radio-tagged in 1979 and 1980 to study their fall movements and behaviour along shore in eastern Lake Erie and in tributaries. Timing of inshore migrations of trout closely coincided with inshore movements of salmon from mid-September through early October. The dominant age groups of both brown trout and rainbow trout in the 1980 fall run were 1+ and 2+, suggesting poor survival past their third year. The mean distance travelled along shore by radio-tagged brown trout (18.3 kilometers) was less than that for either rainbow trout (54.1 kilometers) or salmon (37.8 kilometers). Tagged trout of both species entered streams 2 to 3 weeks after the salmon. Although rainbow trout in Lake Erie often enter streams in the fall, spawning appears to take place only in the spring