Seasonal Depth Distributions of Landlocked Atlantic Salmon, Brook Trout, Landlocked Alewives, and American Smelt in a Small Lake

Abstract

Seasonal depth distributions of landlocked Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), landlocked alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus), and American smelt (Osmerus mordax) were determined monthly in Echo Lake, Maine, using vertical and horizontal gillnets.Salmon were wide-ranging fish, but generally not captured in very shallow or very deep water. Brook trout were primarily an inshore species, not often captured in water deeper than 25 ft, and nearly always found close to the lake bottom. The majority of captured alewives were taken from shallow to middepths (0–30 ft) in summer and fall and in deep water during winter and spring. Smelts were widely distributed, but the majority were captured in water deeper than 30 ft every month.No clear temperature or dissolved oxygen preference could be shown for any of the four species.