I've been trying to get information on why fall stocked trout immediately seem to go into a false spawn. i caught a few browns in the wee hours of the morning yesterday but after the sun came up all we could see were the stockies pairing up and bumping the females like it's spawning time. since most of these stocked fish are rainbows and rainbows spawn in the spring, why are they acting like it's spawning time? How long before they settle into a feeding pattern as opposed to ignoring everything and focusing on sex? by the way, the stockies only fight about 1/2 of their potential if that right now (maybe the low warmer water?)
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false spawn
- Thread starter springman
- Start date
Pete
Trout Hunter
Re: Spawning
See Jeff's post at http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/153813-post33.html
Conditioning the fish to spawn "out of season" makes it easier for the hatchery to have all three species ready to stock at the same time.
Re: Fight
I had a similar experience last fall. A (nearly) 20" recently stocked rainbow, didn't fight as well as a typical 10" spring stockie.
See Jeff's post at http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/153813-post33.html
Conditioning the fish to spawn "out of season" makes it easier for the hatchery to have all three species ready to stock at the same time.
Re: Fight
I had a similar experience last fall. A (nearly) 20" recently stocked rainbow, didn't fight as well as a typical 10" spring stockie.
coolkyle
De nalgas!
This sounds like a question for Dr. Phil.
I found the post that the rainbows are conditioned to spawn ahead of their natural time very interesting and thought provoking. Since some of those rainbows may holdover, and others drop downstream and find their way into the Delaware, I'm wondering if that will effect fish that revert to a natural environment. In other words, I'm curious as to whether those fish will always spawn unnaturally, or their future spawning urges will be induced by the natural environment once they become wild?
I can venture an uneducated guess that Mother Nature will dictate future spawning times. Anyone know for sure?
I can venture an uneducated guess that Mother Nature will dictate future spawning times. Anyone know for sure?
eddavidson9
how's that for a slice of fried gold
far from knowing for sure, but i've read some revert and some remain imprinted.
Corndog
Ephemerella Subvaria
Springman,
I think they will feed when the males aren't chasing them around. I caught a bunch of them Tuesday on a #18 BHPT. I doubt they would hit a fly that small out of agression. The brookie hens I caught were squirting eggs while I was removing my fly.
Cdog
Back in college we were taught that the primary spawning trigger for rainbows was photoperiod (I use that fancy word because I forget if it was the length of the day or the length of the night). One way to fool bows to spawn early is to put them in a closed building where the lights are controlled to speed up a year. Photoperiod gets the hormones and physical changes going, but there are also secondary triggers like water temperature, flow of the spawning stream, and flow on the spawning beds that have to be met for the fish to spawn.
Since the spring and fall photoperiods are the same (difference is whether the days are getting longer or shorter) a rare rainbow would be fooled to spawn in the fall naturally if something threw off their internal clock.
I don't know how rainbows get back on track, but I think I have seen wild bows going both ways.
Since the spring and fall photoperiods are the same (difference is whether the days are getting longer or shorter) a rare rainbow would be fooled to spawn in the fall naturally if something threw off their internal clock.
I don't know how rainbows get back on track, but I think I have seen wild bows going both ways.
eddavidson9
how's that for a slice of fried gold
wonder if they're comfortable with their sexuality or just confused
This question was actually asked once of Bob Bachmann in a meeting I attended. Dr. Bachmann's reply was that they found that yes the rainbows did revert back to spring spawning, and almost immediately so (depending upon when they were released from the hatchery.)
bluecollarbleached
New member
shit, drydog is nymphing. bad signs for us all
Thanks Ryan R, but the words "almost immediately" puzzle me.
I would think that the biological process of forming the eggs and aquiring the sexual urge would be cyclic, and require at least another season. In other words, I have a hard time believing that a rainbow which spawns in the fall can successfully do so again in the spring.
Understand that I'm not doubting Bob Bachman; just finding it hard to believe.
I would think that the biological process of forming the eggs and aquiring the sexual urge would be cyclic, and require at least another season. In other words, I have a hard time believing that a rainbow which spawns in the fall can successfully do so again in the spring.
Understand that I'm not doubting Bob Bachman; just finding it hard to believe.
Rusty Spinner
Active member
Naw, I know Corndog and I'm sure he had plenty of floatant on that beadhead
Ryan is correct in his quoting Bob Bachman. Hatchery bows revert quickly once in the real world. But they often can't successfully spawn in many rivers due to pH levels during the spawn. But that's another topic for another day.
mbwmn
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”
Dude!
You DID buy nynphs!
Is everything OK? You feel alright? There are people who can help w/ this kind of thing...It's perfectecly natural...
mbwmn
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”
just experimenting-
Corndog
Ephemerella Subvaria
I knew this wouldn't get to rest. Corndog Jr. wanted to fish the Flatbrook and those big breaders wouldn't come up and he was out catching me and making fun of me, so I blew the dust off my nymph box, pulled out a FBBHPT, and caught up. Hey, I even used a bobber. It's never about the numbers unless your son is laughing at you.
Cdog
Well, the conversation was a brief aside from a meeting we had on issues regarding the Lehigh River tailwater so he didn't go into great detail but if I remember it correctly basically what he said was it didn't take an extended time or more than one season. If the rainbows were released in the spring of one year they could definitely attempt to spawn in the following spring (I think 'bows spawn in very early spring.) And if they were released in the fall, and hadn't developed eggs, etc. prior to their release they would most likely spawn in the spring. I honestly forget if he said rainbows that were released in the fall that had developed eggs could also attempt to spawn again the following spring. His response was to an angler's question as to whether it took multiple seasons for them to become "re-conditioned" to spawn in early spring and he said no they begin reverting back to their natural spawning time quickly, from the time they are released.
This makes me believe that the gorgeous, wild-looking rainbows that some of us know move up into certain Delaware tribs around here in the fall aren't coming up to try to spawn themselves but rather are following the browns in to try to feast on their eggs (and the brookies eggs too.)
Like Joe Humphries, I could listen to Bob Bachmann talk about trout for hours, and wish he could have that night.
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NJAngler
Daily trifecta - brookies, browns and rainbows.
Just out of curiosity how exactly did you know they were females? Its easy to differentiate male brook trout from female brook trout and to some extent male browns from female browns but bows? I think even a trout biologist would have a hard time even if they had a closeup look.
Twism
Troop Leader
Does anyone have a link with pics explaining the visual differences? I have no clue when i catch a trout if its male or female.
bluecollarbleached
New member
i always wondered how people knew that. i havent caught one with the kype jaw yet. but hopefully this weekend i can find one
