Fisheries biologists at Great Smoky Mountains National Park recently relocated brook trout from Cosby Creek into Lynn Camp Prong with the help of volunteers. About 350 brookies were put in the stream on July 14. They were placed in the stream in small groups that were dispersed up and down the creek.
Lynn Camp Prong is in the Tremont section of the park near the Townsend entrance. It is a medium size stream and the primary tributary of the Middle Prong of Little River.
Lynn Camp Prong should have plenty of nice brook trout like this one in a few short years
Rainbow trout were removed from the stream last September when biologists cleared the way for native brook trout to make a come back in the stream. A few natives still persist in the upper headwaters of the stream but biologists had to bring in fish from other areas to help the fish recover throughout the stream.
More brook trout will be brought into Lynn Camp Prong through the summer and into the fall. The stream will remain closed to fishing for several years while brook trout numbers grow. Biologists will monitor the population to see how fast the fish are reproducing in their new home. Lynn Camp Prong is expected to be open for fishing once brook trout populations are comparable to those in surrounding streams.
The restored portion of Lynn Camp Prong is upstream of 85′ tall Lynn Camp Cascades and includes about 8 miles of water. Brook trout populations in the stream should eventually be about 2000 per mile.
