Hosmer Brook

2007 Fisheries Survey Summary

Hosmer Brook, located in south-eastern Erie County near the Village of Sardinia, was sampled by DEC fisheries staff on August 7&8, 2007 at three long-term sampling sites to estimate the trout populations. These sites had also been sampled in 2002, 2000, 1998, 1995, 1993 and 1991. The stream supports a fishery for wild brown trout and rainbow trout and has not been stocked with trout since 1993. Hosmer Brook has been managed with a 9" minimum size limit since 1996 and has had an extended catch and release season during the normally closed season since 2004.

Hosmer Brook In 2007, the yearling and older brown trout biomass and abundance (52 pounds/acre, 404/mile) in Hosmer Brook was near the long term average, while rainbow trout biomass and abundance (17 pounds/acre, 295/mile) is below that found in the early to mid-1990's (Table 1). The Route 39 site on Hosmer Brook had the best overall habitat of the three sites and accordingly, both brown and rainbow trout were most abundant at this site (644/mile for brown trout, 533/mile for rainbow trout). There were an estimated 196 brown trout/mile and 33 rainbow trout/mile greater than 9" in the 2007 sampling. The largest brown trout sampled in Hosmer Brook in 2007 was 15.8" and the largest rainbow trout was 11.0".

Table 1. Estimated biomass (pounds/acre) and abundance (#/mi age 1 and older) for brown trout (BT) and rainbow trout (RT) sampled in Hosmer Brook by year (1991-2007).
Year	BT lbs / acre	BT # / mile	BT # / mile ≥9"	RT lbs / acre	RT # / mile	RT # / mile ≥9"
2007	52	404	196	17	295	33
2002	70	466	225	16	277	28
2000	59	478	219	10	185	26
1998	24	266	62	8	134	17
1995	58	390	180	21	458	17
1993	33	347	67	12	213	2
1991	44	357	140	17	408	38