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Michigan Department of Natural Resources Heath Township Allegan County (T4N, R14W, Sections 34, 35) and (T3N, R14W, Sections 2, 3, 11) Surveyed August 6 and 8, 1991 James L. Dexter, Jr. Environment Silver Creek is a small, second-order tributary to the Little Rabbit
River in north-central Allegan County. It is a designated top-quality,
coldwater trout stream. Silver Creek enters the Little Rabbit River about
2 miles west of Diamond Springs. The nearest town is Hamilton, located
4 miles to the west. Flowing through forested land, the Silver Creek watershed is practically
unimpaired by man. Soils along the creek are mostly defined as Glendora
Sand loams that are poorly drained. The drainage area, however, is primarily
Oakville Fine Sand which is more rolling and well drained. The topography
of the area is nearly level to somewhat rolling hills, which support mostly
second- and third-growth hardwoods. Silver Creek has a definite source in a spring located at T3N, R14W,
Section 11. One small tributary branch joins the mainstream but this may
be intermittent. The creek falls over 50 feet in its short 2.8 mile length.
Discharge is estimated to average about 5 cubic feet per second. At the
two stations surveyed in 1991, stream width averaged 13.9 feet and depth
averaged 3.5 inches. The depth range was 0-36 inches. Fish habitat included
riffles (scarce), overhanging brush, logs, pools, rootwads, and undercut
banks (common to abundant, especially downstream of 134th Avenue). Overall,
habitat is much better in the upper half of the creek than the lower half. Bottom substrates in the survey sites consisted of 75% sand, 5% silt,
3% gravel, 2% clay, 2% rock and, most interestingly, 8% peat. The peat
formed clumps which look just like rocks in the stream. Water quality
information was collected in 1947 and 1960: dissolved oxygen was 9 ppm
or higher, pH was 8.0, and alkalinity values were 97-109 ppm. Water temperature,
surveyed many times, rarely exceeds 65°F. Aquatic insects are plentiful although many areas appear sandy and sterile
to the casual observer. Caddisflies, chironomids, and scuds were rated
as common to abundant, while mayflies were rated as scarce to common.
In 1971 it was noted that watercress grew almost completely across the
creek in a 350-foot sample area upstream of 136th Avenue. However, in
the 1991 survey at the same location the presence of watercress was not
even noted. Very little development has occurred in the watershed. There are scattered
agricultural activities, a few shallow oil wells, and a gas storage facility.
Only a few houses are in the area. The State formerly owned the land containing
the upper one-third of the creek (old Allegan State Forest boundaries).
That land was given to the county to administer between 1970 and 1972
due to vandalism associated with a rustic campground at 134th Avenue.
This campground is now maintained by the county, and access to the entire
stream is not a problem. Silver Creek has been managed as a trout stream since at least 1936.
Sporadic stocking of brook and rainbow trout occurred between 1936 and
1964. Brown trout must have been stocked at some point because their presence
was noted as early as 1947. No stocking has occurred since 1964. Stocking of catchable-size trout in the late 1950s and early 1960s contributed
to a management problem on this stream. Several dams were constructed
on the creek for mill, power generation, and logging operations from about
1900 to 1925. The largest dam, at 134th Avenue, impounded approximately
10 acres. This pond was one of the State's stocking sites and it attracted
a large number of anglers. As the dam fell into disrepair, attempts to
fix it in the mid-1960s by Fisheries and Wildlife personnel ceased due
to budget restrictions. A few years later, new District fisheries personnel
reasoned the dam and pond were not good for this high-quality trout stream.
Repair of the dam to restore the pond subsequently turned into a fight
between Fisheries DNR, the Hamilton Rod and Gun Club, State legislators,
and Allegan County (which was in the process of taking over the land).
The Hamilton Rod and Gun Club wanted the pond restored and stocked with
big trout. The outcome was that the dam was not reconstructed, some dredging
of the old pond took place to increase flow, and some habitat improvement
structures were added to the area. No blueprint of the placement or type
of structures could be found in the files. The earliest fishery survey on record was in 1947. This survey concentrated
on two of the small ponds and utilized a combination of experimental gill
net and common-sense minnow seine. Species collected included brook and
brown trout, creek chub, central mudminnow, and chubsuckers. In 1954 and
1960, limited surveys at two sites utilized a DC stream electroshocker.
Species sampled included brook and brown trout, mottled sculpin, mudminnow,
creek chub, blacknose dace, johnny and rainbow darter, white sucker, black
bullhead, and American brook lamprey (larvae). Only trout and sculpin
were abundant. Additional species collected during surveys in the 1970's
and 1980's included green sunfish, grass pickerel, and brook stickleback.
None of these were ever represented by more than a few specimens. Although
rainbow trout were stocked in 1943, 1944, and 1960, none were collected
until 1984. Brown trout were represented in every sample, although no
stocking record can be found. The 1991 fish survey used a DC backpack electroshocker at two stations
located at 134th and 136th avenues. They had an average length of 950
feet. Mark-and-recapture population estimates were conducted at both sites. The fishery available today in Silver Creek is somewhat different from
that of 50 years ago (Table 1). Brown trout have practically disappeared
from the stream. The majority of trout biomass is comprised of brook trout,
but rainbow trout are numerically dominant. Competition from other species
is negligible. Steelhead spawning is very successful in Silver Creek. Rainbows were
collected from 2.0 to 8.0 inches in length (Figure
1). Recruitment appears good, and the stream is capable of producing
a fair number of steelhead smolts for its size. Pooled population estimates
for the two sites indicate an average rainbow population of 736 fish/acre
(27.7 pounds/acre). Age group estimates indicate the stream is capable
of producing about 1,730 age I steelhead in August. The area around 134th
Avenue greatly outproduces the 136th Avenue area. Brook trout were collected from 1 to 14 inches in length. Over 11% of
the collection was of legal size. This species provides the vast majority
of the angling opportunity. Recruitment appears good (Figure
2), although electroshocking efficiency was poor (31.8% at 134th Avenue,
61.2% at 136th Avenue). The average population estimate was 260 brook
trout per acre (17.4 lbs/acre). Once again the 134th Avenue site outproduced
the 136th Avenue site. Growth rates of brook and rainbow trout in Silver Creek are very good.
All brook trout age groups are growing well above the State average (Table
2). Rainbow trout age groups O and I are growing above the State average
also; however the few age-II rainbows captured were growing slightly below
average. All brown trout were growing very poorly. This is most likely
due to environmental conditions favoring brook trout over brown trout. The analysis of age frequency data (Table 3) leads to three interesting
points. First, the ineffectiveness of the electroshocker on young-of-the-year
rainbows is evident. Second, there is a large mortality (or smolting movement)
of steelhead between ages I and II. Third, there is also a high apparent
mortality of brook trout between ages I and II. Silver Creek most likely
cannot support many larger, older trout. This creek, although narrow and
short, compares very well with several other wild-trout streams in the
area, such as Silver Creek in Gun Plain Township (Allegan County) and
Cooper Creek in Kalamazoo County. Table 4 compares electroshocking catch-per-hour statistics for all three
trout species at the 134th Avenue site from 1954 through 1991. Although
station length was not exactly duplicated, and the efficiency of the electroshocking
equipment has probably changed, some trends can be seen. The abundance
of brown trout has declined substantially in the last 40 years. Rainbow
trout have increased in number. Brook trout appear to be holding their
own, but showed high year-to-year variability, probably due to uneven
recruitment. Using these data alone, the catchable-sized trout available
to anglers has probably declined over the last few decades. The rainbows
probably don't offer much angling opportunity because they smolt and migrate
out of the stream at 7 to 10 inches. Their strong presence may be inhibiting
the brown trout population. Silver Creek and its fishery are a very rare resource in Allegan County.
There are few streams left in Southern Michigan that contain a quality,
wild-trout fishery. Although the stream has enjoyed a good reputation
for decades, it is not overfished. The watershed's environmental conditions appear to have changed little
in the last 50 years. Logging and further development of gas and oil wells
seem to pose the only threat to the stream in the future, and neither
are eminent. Silver Creek should continue to be managed as a top-quality coldwater,
designated trout, stream. Significant natural reproduction by both brook
and rainbow trout, as well as some reproduction by brown trout, should
continue to provide excellent angling opportunities. No fisheries management action need be taken at this time. Continued
monitoring of the stream conditions by anglers will help keep us appraised
of any negative developments. Habitat improvement is not needed. There
is an excessive bedload of sand in the lower reaches, however, sand is
the inherent material of the basin and a sediment trap would have little
effect. Our management goal into the next century should be to maintain
the existing fishery and environment. Report completed: January 1993. Table 1.-Species, relative abundance, and length of fish collected
by backpack electrofishing (marking run only) at two stations on Silver
Creek, Heath Township, August 6, 1991. Estimated weights are given for
trout only.
Table 2.-Average unweighted total length (inches) at age, and
growth relative to the State average, for fish sampled from Silver Creek
with backpack shocker on August 6, 1991. Number of fish aged is given
in parentheses.
Table 3.-Estimated age frequency (percent) of fish caught from
Silver Creek with backpack shocker on August 6, 1991.
Table 4.-Catch per hour of trout with electrofishing gear from
the 134th Avenue survey site over a 47-year period.
Last Update: 08/05/02
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