Yeah, the atlantics are another matter altogether. With the amount of marketing and money they dump into that program, I don’t doubt for a second that all of the strategies they are developing (i.e. harvesting of browns) have more to do with the atlantics than the brookies or any other species.

Between the pollution entering the river from Orangeville and other new developments, possibly the nearby dump and warming waters from a combination of weather and lack of stream rehab, there’s enough to focus on. They should try to stabilize and restore conditions before trying to reintroduce native specifies that have been long gone and rely on the cleanest of water conditions (i.e. atlantics).

I share your concern about the MNR focus on reducing brown trout, to ostensably ‘save’ brook trout…Haven’t fished the stretch you mentioned for about 10 yrs, but agree that with no brown/brook mixing in this section, any decline in brookies (which lets face it are easier to catch than brownies) has to be due to some combination of (i) decline in water quality (ii) habitat degredation (iii) lack of catch n release ethic rather than competition in species..the decline in green drakes is surely symptomatic of (i) and (ii)….

Simon.

PS I did catch an aggressive baby atlantic salmon parr this summer below the cataract.. surely these are bigger threat to brookie population than browns, yet MNR is trying to reintroduce?!