Low water trout predation

[Eperous]

I've been whining about low water flows in regional trout streams now for bit... Well, Monday I fished some low, clear, cold water still open to angling... I caught several fish, in good shape, EXCEPT three had scars on their bodies, I assume from predation, maybe from birds and/or other natural enemies...

I had two rainbows about 9" that wore battle scars... one is below, note wounds above pelvic fin and behind dorsal fin...

LWP1-scarred bow.JPG (571.82 KiB) Viewed 493 times

Here's a slightly larger, maybe 11" brown, with similar battle scars below/in front of dorsal fin, plus check out the tail...

LWP2-scarred brown.JPG (451.32 KiB) Viewed 493 times

Here's closer look at the tail, with a chunk missing...

LWP3-chunk from tail.JPG (564.67 KiB) Viewed 493 times

It's been, and continues to be a tough year for our wild Catskill trout...

We need rain madly, I've heard of a couple wells in the Woodstock area that went dry...

Ed

[BillA]

The reservoir in Phoenicia is low enough that folks are asked to boil their water. Trying times.

[stokes]

Its bad,a couple of homes and businesses here have lost contact with the ground water in my area,in Copake.Bash-Bish Creek has been bone dry here in town since August and a couple ponds have gone dry.Supposed to get rain today,fingers crossed.