Eighteen volunteers – including five volunteers from the Mershon-Neumann Heritage
Trout Unlimited – participated in the annual South Branch Redd Survey on Friday, November 4, 2022. Together with chapter members from Mason Griffith Founders Chapter of Grayling and many additional local volunteers, the south branch of the Au Sable River - from Chase Bridge to Smith Bridge - was surveyed for brown trout redds. Each redd’s location was recorded, along with its size and if there was adjacent protective cover available for the female trout while spawning. Participating in this year’s survey from the MNHTU chapter was Don Albrecht, Larry Brown, David Fisher, Mike Meyer and Tim Weiler.
The location and size of spawning trout redds provides:
DNR Fisheries an estimate of the female trout population
Yearly averages of redd sizes identifies trends of fish size
Identifies protective cover needs
Identifies productive and non-productive river reaches
The results of this year’s survey were consistent with prior years - with about 100 redds found within the eleven reaches. Due to the lower water conditions and a favorable number of volunteers, additional reaches were surveyed this year. The raw data generated by the survey will be entered into a database to determine the number of redds per mile and compared to prior years.
If you are interested in helping with this survey next fall, please contact MNHTU chapter advisor Howard N. Johnson for details at ausablecedars@gmail.com