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Effective fishway design requires knowledge of fish swimming behavior in streams and channels. Appropriate tests with near-natural flow conditions are required to assess the interaction between fish behavior and turbulent flows. In this study, the volitional swimming behavior of <i>S. prenanti</i> was tested and quantified in an open-channel flume with three (low, moderate, and high) flow regimes. The results showed that, when confronted with alternative flow regimes, <i>S. prenanti</i> preferred to select regions with low flow velocities (0.25–0.50 m/s) and turbulent kinetic energy (<0.05 m²/s²) for swimming, while avoiding high-turbulence areas. Moreover, <i>S. prenanti</i> primarily employed steady swimming behavior to search for flow velocities lower than the average current to conserve energy in low- and moderate-flow regimes. It is hypothesized that in regions with higher flow velocities, fish may change their swimming strategy from energy conservation to time conservation. Additionally, the average and maximum burst speeds of <i>S. prenanti</i> were 2.63 ± 0.37 and 3.49 m/s, respectively, which were 2.21- and 2.28-fold higher than the average (1.19 m/s) and maximum (1.53 m/s) burst speeds estimated from the enclosed swim chamber for fish of similar length. This study contributes a novel research approach that provides more reliable information about fish volitional swimming behavior in natural habitats, as well as recommendations for hydraulic criteria for fishways and the identification of barriers to fish migrations.