1. The cool shade created from a tree is a great spot for us to be on a hot summer’s day and many of Michigan’s fish species depend on shade from trees also! Shoreline forests help regulate water temperatures and keep water cool the way many fish like it – and cool water retains more dissolved oxygen that the fish need to survive.
   
   
2. If a tree falls into a river or stream do the fish hear it? Probably, but more importantly, a new source of cover and protection was created for our fish friends. Fallen trees and branches create areas of cover for young fish to grow and avoid predators by providing many escape routes from big hungry fish that wish to eat them!
   
   
3. Here is some forestry food for thought:  trees feed fish! Fish eat many types of insects which live on leaves and woody debris. As leaves and branches fall into the water – the insects go with them and provide many meals that fish love. 
   
   
4. We know that living trees produce oxygen for us to breathe, but how do trees that have fallen into the water – and are probably dead – provide oxygen that the fish use by water flowing through their gills? Fallen trees create riffles and waterfalls in our rivers and streams. You can see the air bubbles in the water that the riffles create and that puts oxygen into the water for the fish!
   
   
5. Did you know that trees help to keep our water clean? Well, let’s get down to the root of this! Soil – often called sediment when it gets into water – is a water pollutant that fish, other aquatic species and people all don’t like! The roots from trees growing along the shorelines stabilize the banks and prevent soil erosion – or sediment from moving into our waterways which keeps our water cleaner!

Photo provided courtesy of Betts Guide Service

• Watch out for Alien Invaders! Visit the Michigan Invasive Species website to learn more about invasive species prevention and detection for our forests and our waters. Good stewards help keep invasive species OUT of Michigan! 
  
  
• Don’t Pollute! Whether you are in the water or in the forest, never leave trash behind. Take out what your bring in, and if anyone else left something then bag it up and remove it from our waterways and forests to help keep them clean.
  
  
• Take an adult fishing! If you are younger than 17 you don’t have to purchase a fishing license but all of those 17 and over must have one. The funds collected from purchasing a fishing license provide fisheries biologists and managers improve the habitat of our lakes, rivers and streams as well as rear fish in our state fish hatcheries!
  
  
• Plant a tree! Even if you don’t live next to water, planting a tree provides us more oxygen and helps to keep our air clean, trees help prevent water pollution, and conserve energy at our homes by keeping them cooler in the summer.

Brown Trout are a close relative of the Atlantic Salmon, and were brought to North American waters as exotics. These natives of Europe and western Asia were introduced into New York and Michigan waters in 1883. Brown Trout have thrived in their new home, and have become firmly established in all of Michigan's upper Great Lakes waters.

Lake dwelling Brown Trout are a wary lot. In spring time you will find them in shallow, rocky, boulder-strewn areas, and they prefer a water temperature of 50-65 degrees F. Since Brown Trout spawn in tributary streams in September and October, they begin to take up residence near stream outlets in late summer to early fall. After ascending a particular stream, Brown Trout spawners choose shallow, gravelly or rocky areas. The female creates a shallow depression (redd) in the gravel, in which the spawning fish deposit the eggs and sperm. When the process is completed, the female covers the redd with gravel. The average lake run adult weighs eight pounds, although individuals can grow to be much larger. Young browns are preyed upon by larger fish and by predatory birds such as mergansers and herons. The diet of adult Brown Trout includes insects and their larvae, crustaceans, mollusks, amphibians, small rodents and other fish. They enjoy a rather long life-span it appears, since researchers have observed them at up to 13 years of age.

For more information on how and where to catch Brown Trout see our Michigan Fish and How to Catch Them and Better Fishing Waters.