Need advice on Brown Trout spawning behavior

Hi All,

In October our Brown's spawn. I would love your opinion on
the following. But first some data on my stream.

There is only about a half a mile open to the public.
At the top of it is a broken down dam that is a barrier
to migration (unless they can jump ~ 40 feet straight up).
Below the dam are lots of spots with sand and gravel.

Below the half mile, there is about five miles of downstream
that is private that you can not get to for wild ones to
migrate from. I have verified from several source that
this stretch does have a healthy Brown population.

Questions:

1) do Brown migrate upstream to spawn? If no, don't
bother with the rest of these questions.

2) To get them to strike, am I
a) trying to feed them, and/or
b) trying to **** them off?

3) do they leave after they spawn? If so, is
it immediate, or do I have a bit of time to
get at them?

4) are their spawning revs close to feeding lies?
Or should I abandon my know lies and go for the gravel?
If gravel, what should I target?

5) what flies would you use under these circumstances?

Many thanks,
-T

Hi All,

One more question,

6) Do the Rainbows follow the Browns to their revs, like they
do to Salmon, to gorge on Brown trout eggs?

Many thanks,
-T

In message , Todd writes
Hi All,

In October our Brown's spawn. I would love your opinion on
the following. But first some data on my stream.

There is only about a half a mile open to the public.
At the top of it is a broken down dam that is a barrier
to migration (unless they can jump ~ 40 feet straight up).
Below the dam are lots of spots with sand and gravel.

Below the half mile, there is about five miles of downstream
that is private that you can not get to for wild ones to
migrate from. I have verified from several source that
this stretch does have a healthy Brown population.

Questions:

1) do Brown migrate upstream to spawn? If no, don't
bother with the rest of these questions.

2) To get them to strike, am I
a) trying to feed them, and/or
b) trying to **** them off?

3) do they leave after they spawn? If so, is
it immediate, or do I have a bit of time to
get at them?

4) are their spawning revs close to feeding lies?
Or should I abandon my know lies and go for the gravel?
If gravel, what should I target?

5) what flies would you use under these circumstances?

Many thanks,
-T

Take a look at:-

http://www.answers.com/topic/brown-trout


Otherwise Google is your friend
--
Bill Grey

"Bill Grey" wrote in message
...

Take a look at:-
http://www.answers.com/topic/brown-trout

Otherwise Google is your friend

The web site describes brown trout inter alia:
"Length 55.1 in (140 cm); weight 110.4 lb (50 kg). Coloration varies
.. . . The adipose fin has always a red margin."

We may think even Google more reliable than this . . .

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

In message , Don Phillipson
writes
"Bill Grey" wrote in message
...

Take a look at:-
http://www.answers.com/topic/brown-trout

Otherwise Google is your friend

The web site describes brown trout inter alia:
"Length 55.1 in (140 cm); weight 110.4 lb (50 kg). Coloration varies
. . . The adipose fin has always a red margin."

We may think even Google more reliable than this . . .


If I caught a brown trout that size I'd run like Hell :-)
--
Bill Grey

Bill Grey wrote:

Take a look at:-

http://www.answers.com/topic/brown-trout

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Life history is similar to that of the Atlantic salmon,
reproducing in rivers, producing about 10,000 eggs, and
taking between three and four years for maturation.

Uh.... not much help.


-T

On Sep 20, 8:36*pm, Todd wrote:
Hi All,

In October our Brown's spawn. *I would love your opinion on
the following. *But first some data on my stream.

There is only about a half a mile open to the public.
At the top of it is a broken down dam that is a barrier
to migration (unless they can jump ~ 40 feet straight up).
Below the dam are lots of spots with sand and gravel.

Below the half mile, there is about five miles of downstream
that is private that you can not get to for wild ones to
migrate from. * I have verified from several source that
this stretch does have a healthy Brown population.

Questions:

1) *do Brown migrate upstream to spawn? *If no, don't
bother with the rest of these questions.

2) *To get them to strike, am I
* * * * a) trying to feed them, and/or
* * * * b) trying to **** them off?

3) do they leave after they spawn? *If so, is
it immediate, or do I have a bit of time to
get at them?

4) are their spawning revs close to feeding lies?
Or should I abandon my know lies and go for the gravel?
If gravel, what should I target?

5) what flies would you use under these circumstances?

Many thanks,
-T

Although, I do not believe in fishing for fish on their redds, that is
a personal decision that I don't try to foist on others. If its legal
and you have no qualms about fishing for spawning fish go for it.

1.& 4. Browns will migrate to good spawning habitat whether that is
upstream or downstream, and it is not linked to feeding lies. Ideal
spawning habitat has a bed of clean gravel from pea sized to ping pong
ball size - with little sand present, a depth of ~1-4', and a flow
speed about as fast as a brisk walking pace. The redds will be
recognizable by being dish shape (to slightly eliptical) depressions
in the gravel from ~1 1/2 - 5' in dia that are much lighter in color
than the surrounding gravel and with a slight berm on the downstream
side.

2. & 5. Browns will aggressively defend their redds and will attack
any fish,crayfish or predatory insect that encroaches. Thus a streamer
( a Wooley bugger would likely be a good choice) that is stripped
through or hung into an occupied redd would probably draw a vicious
strike.

3. They will leave fairly soon after spawning, but not all fish spawn
at the same time. In many areas spawning stretches well into
November.

Rainbows will hang below spawning Browns to pick up any stray eggs and
to pick up any nymphs that are dislodged while the Browns build their
redds, so fishing for these Bows (if present in the stream) is a good
alternative to fishing for spawners.

If you do decide to fish over spawning fish, please take care not to
wade through redds since you may crush eggs that are present.

Bob Weinberger (now residing in DuPont,WA)

Bob wrote:
On Sep 20, 8:36 pm, Todd wrote:
Hi All,

In October our Brown's spawn. I would love your opinion on
the following. But first some data on my stream.

There is only about a half a mile open to the public.
At the top of it is a broken down dam that is a barrier
to migration (unless they can jump ~ 40 feet straight up).
Below the dam are lots of spots with sand and gravel.

Below the half mile, there is about five miles of downstream
that is private that you can not get to for wild ones to
migrate from. I have verified from several source that
this stretch does have a healthy Brown population.

Questions:

1) do Brown migrate upstream to spawn? If no, don't
bother with the rest of these questions.

2) To get them to strike, am I
a) trying to feed them, and/or
b) trying to **** them off?

3) do they leave after they spawn? If so, is
it immediate, or do I have a bit of time to
get at them?

4) are their spawning revs close to feeding lies?
Or should I abandon my know lies and go for the gravel?
If gravel, what should I target?

5) what flies would you use under these circumstances?

Many thanks,
-T

Although, I do not believe in fishing for fish on their redds, that is
a personal decision that I don't try to foist on others. If its legal
and you have no qualms about fishing for spawning fish go for it.

1.& 4. Browns will migrate to good spawning habitat whether that is
upstream or downstream, and it is not linked to feeding lies. Ideal
spawning habitat has a bed of clean gravel from pea sized to ping pong
ball size - with little sand present, a depth of ~1-4', and a flow
speed about as fast as a brisk walking pace. The redds will be
recognizable by being dish shape (to slightly eliptical) depressions
in the gravel from ~1 1/2 - 5' in dia that are much lighter in color
than the surrounding gravel and with a slight berm on the downstream
side.

2. & 5. Browns will aggressively defend their redds and will attack
any fish,crayfish or predatory insect that encroaches. Thus a streamer
( a Wooley bugger would likely be a good choice) that is stripped
through or hung into an occupied redd would probably draw a vicious
strike.

3. They will leave fairly soon after spawning, but not all fish spawn
at the same time. In many areas spawning stretches well into
November.

Rainbows will hang below spawning Browns to pick up any stray eggs and
to pick up any nymphs that are dislodged while the Browns build their
redds, so fishing for these Bows (if present in the stream) is a good
alternative to fishing for spawners.

If you do decide to fish over spawning fish, please take care not to
wade through redds since you may crush eggs that are present.

Bob Weinberger (now residing in DuPont,WA)

Bob,

Wow! Thank you!

I would not worry too much about me catching spawning
trout. I am really not that good at it. And, I usually
let them go, unless they bleed out on me. Then
it's the dinner table.

I also prefer to fish from the bank and seldom wade.
(In this river, except at the low water point in the
fall, you'd probably get killed if you attempted to
wade it.) I prefer to target the rapids and the tops
of the pools and the hydrolic cushins at the backs of
the pools. The pools themselve are usually fished out
by the bait fisherman.

I have always thought, maybe incorrectly, that spawning
fish are not entirely interested in eating. So, I
am thinking I should target the bows. Any thoughts on
that subject?

-T
p.s. you are an excellent writer.

On 2009-09-20 23:36:41 -0400, Todd said:

4) are their spawning revs close to feeding lies?

Aha. You are a troll. It's spawning REDDS. And leave 'em alone when
they're spawning. Would you like someone interupting yours sexual
habits?

Dave
(another great day on the river)

David LaCourse wrote:
On 2009-09-20 23:36:41 -0400, Todd said:

4) are their spawning revs close to feeding lies?

Aha. You are a troll. It's spawning REDDS. And leave 'em alone when
they're spawning. Would you like someone interupting yours sexual habits?

Dave
(another great day on the river)


Hi Dave,

Thank you for correcting my spelling. In my defense, I
went to publik skool.

Salmon and Steelhead fisherman must really annoy you.
Imagine, targeting spawning fish like that!

Around these parts, we all pay a license fee to
go fishing. Part of that fee is to pay game managers
to tell us when and where we should fish. Several streams
are placed off limits during this or that season.
I trust their judgment: that is what I am paying them
for. My little half mile of stream is open all
year. The game managers are just fine with it.

Now, I should come clean with you. I really, really
annoy the poor little dears (trout) when they are
minding their own business TRYING TO EAT THEIR DINNER.
How absolutely rude of me!

Do you have any comments as to how to target the
bows who are targeting the spawning browns or
do you just like to call me names?

-T