Abstract
Spirit Lake was grossly altered by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens and all air-breathing life perished. A rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) population was established circa 1991 and monitored from 2000 to 2014. During that time, the trout population increased, and individual fish size significantly decreased (both length and mass). Fish diets were primarily composed of small prey items, mostly aquatic insects and aquatic snails, and piscivory was not observed. The relatively recent (2011) observation of juvenile fish occupying streams draining into Spirit Lake suggests an increased suitability of stream habitat for both spawning and rearing, which may account for the changing population dynamics and annual variation.
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