Spawning Rainbows on the Donegal?

[Alnitak]

Recently Mike from the PFBC mentioned that the Donegal has a small population of wild Rainbows. I've seen one caught this winter--way too small to have been stocked as a fingerling and it had an intact adipose fin.

I've also noticed a trend, where it seems like all of the rainbows (or nearly all of them) I've caught this winter north of 772 appear to be gravid females from earlier stockings--as they are all a bit too large to have been put in last fall. Most are in the 10-12 range and look to have been in the water a while. Downstream in the FFO area I've mostly seen just the fingerlings and none of these bigger fish. Is it because they didn't stock fingerlings near 772 this past year? Or is that the females are moving upstream to lay eggs? I haven't seen any redds, but not only was I not looking, but the stream has also been pretty cloudy most of the past few months from runoff after rain or snow melt.

Anyway...something interesting to mull over. Take a look at the photos. My fishing buddies and I have caught several dozen rainbows in multiple outings in the last month and a half and every rainbow caught from 772 upstream has looked like these.

Jeff

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Well one thing's for sure. The ain't starving!

 

[salmonoid]

I meant to comment on one of your earlier posts about the 'bows.. I think these are from the 2012 fingerling stocking. I don't know where they placed the fish but since they largely disappeared from wherever they shocked, these could be some of those fish.

 

[laszlo]

Looks like they've been eating double bacon cheesburgers

 

[Alnitak]

Yeah, based on the size Mike says they're from the 2012 stocking. They certainly are all fat. I caught one 2012 male downstream below the 23 bridge based on his length--about 12" long. I think they put all of them in the FFO area, so these haven't moved too far, but they've clearly dispersed and at least some have survived the herons, environment and non-CR folks. I saw a guy up there the other day right at the 772 bridge with a regular spin cast setup and worms. Luckily he was fishing the wrong water and using the wrong methods to get the wild browns and/or these fatties.

 

[Fishidiot]

My guess would be that those are probably not wild rainbows.

The good news is, if they're 2012 fingerlings and there's a good number of them....this bodes well for the fingerling program.

 

[dc410]

I believe those fish were stocked the first week of October in 2012. The last fish I caught out of that stocking was actually about a year ago from today (haven't got a chance to fish it this winter) and according to my fishing log they were between 8 and 9" on 2/25/13. If these fish are pushing 12 inches at this time and looking at their present condition I would say they are eating pretty well!

 

[krayfish]

I will go on record stating that fish obesity is becoming an epidemic in the US. Those ate some chubby little guys!

 

[Alnitak]

Fishidiot wrote:
My guess would be that those are probably not wild rainbows.

The good news is, if they're 2012 fingerlings and there's a good number of them....this bodes well for the fingerling program.

I'm not saying these ones are wild--they're not. They're most likely 2012 fingerlings. The wild ones I've seen were little tiny fingerlings, too small to have been stocked and with intact adipose fins.

These appear to be gravid females from the 2012 stocking, and my point is that if I'm right, then they are likely spawning...and perhaps adding more little wild guys to the mix.

Jeff

 

[icyguides]

The Donegal does produce some streambred bows, but not in great numbers and I've never caught a bow bigger than a fingerling that I thought was wild. They don't seem to make it to adulthood like the browns.
I think I have some photographs somewhere of fingerling bows prior to the fingerling stockings, but I don't think they're digital and I have no scanner...I'll still see if I can find them and post them.

 

[geebee]

the browns and adult bows are likely getting fat by predating on the swim ups/YoY.

DTU should try build juvenile nurseries with xmas trees/brush etc in the shallow runs downstream from redds.

 

[Chaz]

I doubt it, Donegal was Fingerling Stocked in October.

 

[HopBack]

I posted this a while ago and it led to a debate as to whether it was a wild bow or or wild golden. I think its a wild bow but at any rate it was caught above the 772 bridge and the adipose fin was not clipped.
During the time I have fished the Donegal I can definatley say that the concentration of minnows/chubs or other forage fish is definately very high in that area. It is interesting to see the migration of these rainbows as I can tell you that most of them were down by the rt 23 bridge last summer. The flow was terrible during the warm months making it impossible for most fish to survive that far up.

 

[wgmiller]

Yes, there were some wild bows in there prior to the fingerling stockings. I caught this one just below John Kelleher's place (overlooking the stream). They aren't great in number, but they were there. As to what the fingerling stockings did to them remains to be seen... This guy was probably in the 6" range. The fingerlings were not float stocked, therefore their concentration was heavy in proximity to where they were dumped (the quarry hole and 23 bridge).

 

[MKern]

The fingerlings on Kish creek looked like this too after a couple years in the water. Last summer we even caught a few that had survived many years in the water and were in the 14 to 15" range.

The only downside I have seen with the fingerlings in Kish is no matter how long they have been in the wild they still tend to hang out next to each other.

 

[barrybarry]

Last summer was really bad. Hard to believe any trout could reside in that trickle of a steam last August. (I know they do. Guess that's what makes them special.) Put my rod away and headed to the river for the day. Hope they have better flows this year.

 

[Alnitak]

HopBack wrote:
I posted this a while ago and it led to a debate as to whether it was a wild bow or or wild golden. I think its a wild bow but at any rate it was caught above the 772 bridge and the adipose fin was not clipped.
During the time I have fished the Donegal I can definatley say that the concentration of minnows/chubs or other forage fish is definately very high in that area. It is interesting to see the migration of these rainbows as I can tell you that most of them were down by the rt 23 bridge last summer. The flow was terrible during the warm months making it impossible for most fish to survive that far up.

I've just started exploring that stretch and I agree, plenty of forage fish up there. That's a nice little wild rainbow.

Jeff

 

[Alnitak]

wgmiller wrote:
Yes, there were some wild bows in there prior to the fingerling stockings. I caught this one just below John Kelleher's place (overlooking the stream). They aren't great in number, but they were there. As to what the fingerling stockings did to them remains to be seen... This guy was probably in the 6" range. The fingerlings were not float stocked, therefore their concentration was heavy in proximity to where they were dumped (the quarry hole and 23 bridge).

Very nice wild 'bow! According to the PFBC surveys, they didn't catch many of the fingerlings in the summer 2013 follow-up to the fall 2012 stocking. Based on what I've seen and caught in the stream, it seems that many of them just simply dispersed, mainly further upstream.

It's pretty easy to distinguish the 2012 and 2013 fish, as the 2013 fish are still pretty small, ranging about 8-9 inches. They also tend to still look a little worn with missing scales and some fin damage. The 2012 fish I have caught are bigger--in the 10-12" range, and except for the clipped adipose fin they look very good. The fins have grown back as have the missing scales, and they've colored up a bit more.

My whole point with this post was that the large proportion of the fish I have caught north of the 772 bridge appear to be gravid females. Given that rainbows tend to spawn in the spring, that made me think they were in that area to spawn. Without cutting one open to look for eggs, I can't be sure, but its an interesting theory.

Personally I prefer brown trout, but I'll take any trout over no trout.

Jeff

 

[Alnitak]

For those who never saw this article, its a good read:

http://lancasteronline.com/sports/outdoors/the-case-of-the-missing-fingerling-trout-in-donegal-creek/article_f10d50be-a4eb-5c22-8e9e-3070b2fafda5.html

Jeff

 

[Chaz]

My suspicion is the stocked fingerlings from 2012 are eating the stocked fingerlings from 2013, and the wild browns are getting many more. It happens everywhere they stock fingerlings.