Please Avoid Those Redds This Time Of Year!!

[SilverDoctor]

I only had to work half a day as my employer owed me some time. This isn't a fishing report. Two of the areas I hit had numerous redds. A few with with browns on them. One southern stretch has enough to make me not fish the area at alll. Please if you see light cleared patches patches of gravel and rocks... stay well away from the area and give it a very wide berth. These areas are very important and we should all act as thier guardians so treat them gently. Lots of places to still fish the Bow.

 

Thank you all.

[headscan]

Pics of redds in this thread from last year for anyone unsure of what to look out for.

[rusty]

What sort of depth are we talking about here? I've seen what I thought were redds in 1' of gravel like those pics, but doesn't it freeze right to the bottom in those places?

[maxwell]

ive usually seen redds in knee deep too waiste deep.. usually tailouts, moderatefast riffles or sidechannels... could be test redds and maybe she wont freeze too teh bottom? if there was only a few inches of water traveling over the eggs i figure they should be fine. but that is a hella good quesiton russ

[SilverDoctor]

What sort of depth are we talking about here? I've seen what I thought were redds in 1' of gravel like those pics, but doesn't it freeze right to the bottom in those places?

 

I've seen redds in between less than 1 foot and 4 feet of water, I believe its more to do with the fish finding the right bottom structure that is the right sub straight with smaller pea gravel under a bit larger rocks. That with a combination of the right type of moving water and perhaps water temp in a given area. There is certainly common factors here that I see. Watching browns spawn over the years the females after digging rounded saucer-shaped nests in the clean gravel that lines the bottom to deposit to their eggs in.

 

The area is created by the fish while lying on its side and beating its tail, allowing the current to move the gravel slightly downstream. After spawning with a mail or two the female then moves to the upstream edge of the redd, beating its tail one more time on the stream bottom, burying the eggs in lighter gravel. It's quite amazing. The freeze usually only gets to the tops of the heavier rocks because I assume the of the moving water. I have often checked on redds that I have noted the position on and there always seems to be moving water above them.

 

I am certainly not a biologist but I believe the eggs incubate through the winter, hatch during late winter I believe, and the fry emerge from the gravel during the first warming days of spring. Anyone with more information on a biological level would be welcome to jump in here.

[SilverDoctor]

I've also seen a second and different female beat the hell out of a previous redd and use it.

[osprey]

I've heard that the redds downstream of the Wastewater treatment plants are not viable due to bacterial contamination. Any one know if this is the case?

[thefisherking]

I think i will leave the river alone for a while. Anyone know how long the spawn will last?

[FlashGordon]

i was wondering the same thing...since i know very little about the spawning habits and would prbly fall face first into a redd before i saw it...i dread pulling a fish off one,i should research this more instead of spey rods...ha

 

 

 

very curious to hear some insights to osprey's post

[SanJuanWorm]

The whole river is a bacterial cesspool. If anything the thermal polution of the plant would kill em.

[maxwell]

browns should be spawning for a few more weeks if not till the end of the month.. in the flood year i seen some fish still doing there thing first week of december...

[Taco]

varies from river to river too, OMR browns seem to spawn more in November

[Harps]

The typical time for Browns is Mid Oct through Nov.

 

The redd in the last thread were in water less than an inch deep and likely wouldn't survive the season.

I'm not too familliar with the Bow, but I don't see why they wouldn't attempt to spawn if the termperatures and flows were right.

 

Doc's got it right in regards to the mechanics of spawning, in terms of when the eggs emerge it depends on temperatures. For rainbows it takes 30 days in water temps at 10 deg. Longer if the water is colder. I don't know the degree-days required for Browns, but you can likeliy find out at the Sam Livingston Hatchery.

[SanJuanWorm]

[gmac25]

maybe a dumb question...what does redd mean?

[SilverDoctor]

redd

noun

1. A spawning nest made by a fish.

1.

* 2007, Michael Klesius, Fishes' Riches, National Geographic (March 2007), 32,

*

* : A female chinook salmon digs her , or nest, prior to spawning in Oregon's John Day River.

 

verb

 

1. (colloquial) To put on order; to make tidy; generally with up.

 

''to red up a house.

 

1. (colloquial) To free from entanglement.

2. (colloquial) To free from embarrassment.

3. (context, Scotland, and, Northern England) To fix boundries.

4. (context, Scotland, and, Northern England) To comb hair.

5. (context, Scotland, and, Northern England) To seperate combatants.

6. (context, Scotland, and, Northern England) To settle, usually a quarrel.