Black Nosed Dace in Small Streams

[flyfishgb]

I fished a local small stream in the Berkshires about two months ago, there was still some ice on the ground but like just the last bit. I had noticed that in alot of the pools there were schools of dace. The dace were actually up to about 4-6 inches.

Could this be taken as a sign that there aren't trout in the area, or haven't been in the area, or do they co-exist in small streams. I didn't catch any trout, but it could have been too cold still. The only tug I felt on my line that day were from good sized Black nosed Dace's.

I believe that this is prime brook trout habitat but in all of the spots you'd find em' I found dace. Actually when you go to the park that its in the sign says fishing, hiking, camping!

I am still left to wonder if that should be taken as a sign of trout or a sign of no trout.

[Uplander]

I find dace quite often in small Berkshire streams, especially ones with beaver dams scattered in the mountains. By August the numbers of dace are often quite fierce. But, there's still trout lurking there....

[hoxie]

My experience is the same as Uplander's, although I tend to find dace more common in larger than smaller streams.

Speaking of dace, what's the largest one anyone out there has caught? Last week, I caught a couple that ran 13 or inches long on the West Housatonic in Pittsfield (my "personal best").

[ctroy36]

As an old fishing buddy of mine -- now deceased -- used to say.
"As you get closer to summer, the dace grow longer."

[jlibs]

CTROY,

Was your friend one of the Marx brothers? -Just kidding. I know you're not that old!

flyfishGB, when the water warms, I often catch dace on the Housy. The dace hot just like trout often and I catch them by accident in the same types of water where trout could be expected to be found. They are abundant in the Housy in the center of GB (where all the smallies hang out) and most are 9-12". They'll eat wooly buggers to most flies in your tool box.

JLIBS