Here in the Smokies, native mountain specks are coming back downstream more and more every year after a hundred years of forest regrowth in the park. The only thing holding them back are the rainbows and browns. I'd love to be able to catch those 14"-16" specks that grandpa and the old folks used to talk about when they were still in the main creekstems instead of the headwaters.I voted unsure because there is a lot to it that I don't understand. I think maybe the native habitat ain't what it used to be in most cases except for some parts of extreme NE Georgia, so trying to do this would be a waste of time.
I know that just in my short 48 years the summer fishing has moved WAY north (and uphill) from where it used to be, even for stocked rainbows. We do most of our fishing on Middle Broad until about the end of May and then we start to head to the Soque and creeks up in Rabun more and more. Nowadays, by the time mid-July rolls around, we're getting skunked fairly often on the upper Talullah and over at West Fork unless the stocking truck just left, and seeing dead fish on the Soque, Middle Broad, Panther Creek, and Wildcat Creek.
The only problem is that you have to have a significant barrier on the stream that the rainbows and browns can't get over.
If it's a place where it can be successfully done and the habitat is suitable, yes, certainly. You can catch a rainbow anywhere. I have fished a few creeks around here that have been restored successfully.