When you "Google" on "Trout spawning" you see articles saying Rainbows, Brookies and Browns all spawn in the fall. Contradicting this you see an article about New York State Rainbows spawning in the spring. What's the story here ?
Trout spawning times
When you "Google" on "Trout spawning" you see articles saying Rainbows, Brookies and Browns all spawn in the fall. Contradicting this you see an article about New York State Rainbows spawning in the spring. What's the story here ?
New Yorkers are generally tardy so that explains the rainbows. Typical excuses are traffic jams and difficulty understanding directions.
Here in PA our natural reproducing Rainbows typically spawn in the spring, BEFORE the New York Rainbows.
BTW - X-NYC boy here so I'm just kidding!
Rainbows are typically spring spawners, but a "domestic rainbow" strain has been stocked in many NY state waters (certainly Lake Ontario, and at one time Lake Erie). This strain was originally manipulated to become a fall-spawning strain. So NYS does have some fall-spawning rainbows, but in general rainbows spawn in the spring as mentioned by Bamboozle.
Marty
Fishing the Great Beyond
Ray, who wrote the articles? What magazines were they from? Interesting.
Could the difference be sea-run vs. resident, I wonder?
In Washington the hatchery rainbows have been switched to fall spawners, but wild trout (not of hatchery origin) spawn in the spring. Fish will not switch back to spring spawners in successive generations as I understand, either. Brooks, browns, and Bull trout all spawn in the fall.
Adam
It's all in the light
Fisheries biologists have been manipulating light levels on trout to change their spawning times. Why? I'm not sure, it's probably something kinky.
See http://www.springerlink.com/content/l0r7174405451246/ for an abstract.
I assume that the female rainbow trout insists on getting into the proper mood and, not unlike the female Homo sapiens, desires just the right lighting. That is why "the best" restaurants have the worst lighting. The poor male was probably ready six months earlier.
Like MFTG said, our state use to "train" the lake-run rainbows to spawn in the fall. The idea was to create a "better" fall fishery.
Light levels are changed because fish use day length as a signal to indicate time of year. Much like mammals do, hence the reason animals have a warm coat before the cold weather comes. Oddly enough once you dupe the fish into spawning at a different time of the year they will continue to spawn at the same time through successive generations.
Adam
Here in Missouri..
the browns spawn in the fall (the bigger fish are now going)
after the browns lay their eggs that when the rainbows move in... early winter (now).. the end of Feb...
Im now see rainbow... 6-10lbers... MONSTERS!!
btw... spawning rainbow bites at night..
I'll have some nice bow pictures really soon...
Leonard
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