It's almost that time of year again, when the rainbows get their love on...Soon, you may notice changes in the coloration of the rainbows as they prepare for their annual spawn. They become brighter or darker due to physiological changes associated with reproduction. They also become, well, a bit more dumb, visible, and easily fooled to the fly. Some decide not to fish the spawning periods entirely, for their own ethical reasons. Others love to fish the spawn seasons for all the reasons listed above. This entry is directed to the latter, ourselves included.
Yes, it can be an awesome time of year to fish, sometimes the best. However, it's important for everyone to understand that this does only happen once a year for rainbows and that future stocks are dependent upon the success of each year's spawn. So, what's all the fuss about? Well, trout love to spawn in shallow gravel areas. Specifically, research from the CDOW has shown that rainbows prefer the following habitat characteristics for spawning
First off, they prefer to spawn when water temps range from 45-56 F. Ideal gravel sizes range from 1/4 to 2 inches in diameter although a range of sizes from pea gravel to 3 inch diameter is usable. Water depths from 6 inches to 3 feet are used and velocities ranging from 1/2 to 3 feet per second are desirable (Hooper 1973). The lower ends of pools seem to be the preferred locations for redds.
Okay, think about what you just read. That description of river characteristics, specifically the depth, speed, and location often resemble the exact same places that fisherman love to wade in and cross rivers. This is what we hope to avoid! This is a good trick to learn when crossing streams in the fall and spring - find areas where you see bigger rock bottoms, slightly deeper water (knee high ish), and/or vegetation. These areas are typically not used by spawning trout. But wait, what's a redd. Aren't there too many "d"s in that word. Nope, a redd is a spawning bed. These are the things we want to try our best to avoid. All it takes is a simple glance in the water before you go trudging in to fish or cross, and you can easily avoid disturbing these redds and potentially interrupting the spawning of rainbows and future stocks of fish. One person can't make too much of a disturbance, but over the course of the spawning period (Feb-May), some spawning areas may get completely trashed. PRIME EXAMPLE: Just above the confluence of the North Fork Gunnison and Gunnison Rivers at Pleasure Park. That half mile long slow shallow stretch just above the confluence is a prime spawning area and it gets hammered with folks wading in it. Please be aware of the redds and avoid disturbing. So, what the hell do these things look like...
A redd is essentially the spawning bed for male and female trout. This is the spot where trout "clean" off an area of gravel in the stream where the female lays her eggs and the male covers those eggs with his white milt. For some people who are unaware of what a redd is and how important they are to protect, the sight of dozens of fish congregated in a stream clouds their thinking and they can't resist disturbing these fish. While we're not saying that you can't fish, we want everyone to be on the same page about not walking through their spawning beds and educating others on the water when you have a chance. This is our fishery at stake. So, we're going to post some photos of what Redds look like below and a video from another fly shop that helps as well. One thing to remember as well is, if you find yourself in the middle of the stream during spawning season and discover that you're really close to a redd and are trying to avoid it, often times they are surrounded by other redds, and you have to pick your way through them. Please remember that the important part of the redd, the area of that cleaned off gravel that contains the eggs, is actually the HUMP not the downstream and biggest portion of the cleaned gravel. This is contrary to what you would assume, but if you think about it, it makes sense. So, if you're stuck in a spawning area suddenly, remember that if you absolutely have to, step on the downstream portion of the gravel, and not the raised upstream hump. That's where eggs are!
Here's some photos of redds. They are almost always found in shallow gravel areas, where the gravel is golf ball sized. If you see moss in the stream, you can assume that section has no redds and can dance your way across. Lastly, remember that individual redds can be one right behind the other for hundreds of yards, if the stream conditions allow. So, it may be harder to tell the difference between cleaned gravel and surrounding non-spawning gravel, since all you see is clean gravel. Do a good check upstream and down before crossing. Now, go have fun!
Click HERE for a great article on fishing the spawn from Fly Fisherman Magazine.
All of the images of various redds in the slideshow below came from a quick google search of "rainbow trout redd" and are not ours.
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