When to trout begine to make redds?

[CRB]

I am looking for information concerning when do trout begin their fall spawn, brown and brook trout? Looking for information for the north central-north western part of the state when to avoid fishing these streams, etc. Is there a general date when this occurs?

 

[troutbert]

Brook trout in northcentral PA usually start spawning in the first week of Oct. and the peak spawning is usually around the second and third week.

 

[salmonoid]

The shortening day (fixed every year) and water temperature (this varies from year to year) are what control the actual timing of the spawn. Step outside tonight and feel the cooler weather - that will translate into cooler water temperatures and larger browns will start to make the trip into smaller tribs, and brookies will be in search of upwellings.

Dwight's number are good general dates. In SE PA, add a couple of weeks. Browns usually spawn a few weeks after the brookies do.

If you fish during the spawn (October through as late as January on some limestoners) and through the time that the eggs hatch (usually late February), try to stay out of the water as much as possible. It's hard to damage a redd from the shore. If you have to be in the water for some reason, avoid the light colored areas in the shallow gravel areas, as those areas are the redds, or do some major rock hopping. The redds will quickly lose the light color though, as silt covers them.

 

[Fishidiot]

troutbert wrote:
Brook trout in northcentral PA usually start spawning in the first week of Oct. and the peak spawning is usually around the second and third week.

This ^

Browns tend to be a bit later, typically Nov, but I wouldn't be surprised to see spawning browns in Oct in NC PA.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I have spend the 2nd weekend in October fly fishing in NCPA the last 2 years and neither the brookies nor the browns were spawning yet.

 

[RLeep2]

While it can vary from stream to stream, Nov1 is a good average date when you can expect to see browns begin redding up in most of NW Pa. But they'll usually start their pre-spawn goofiness a week or more before this date.

I've seen brook trout on the redds in the NW part of the state from the end of Sept. all the way to the 2nd week of buck season. It seems to vary quite a bit.

 

[Chaz]

The easy answer is, when they begin spawning. Typically for brookies, anywhere from the end of September until the end of November, with the middle of Nov. the end on most streams. For brown, the start is November 1 the end is usually the end of November. But it varies a lot from region to region, and stream to stream.

 

[CRB]

thank you.

 

[dsmith1427]

More important to me is how to identify Redds so you know what to avoid. I learned by searching for images. There is a good article on the home page with pictures by Dave Kile. Thanks Dave for writing the article!

 

[DaveKile]

dsmith1427,

Thank you. There is a lot of great fly fishing anglers on the site and like many gained knowledge from the collective. The whole spawning process is very interesting.

Dave

 

[RyanR]

The_Sasquatch wrote:
I have spend the 2nd weekend in October fly fishing in NCPA the last 2 years and neither the brookies nor the browns were spawning yet.

Depends on the type of stream but I wouldn't count on your statement.. In past years when I've been up for the PATU meeting when its been a 2nd or 3rd weekend in October meeting we've actually seen some redds in Spring Creek then although the biologist said the bulk of the wild brown spawning doesn't begin until some time in November. Shortly before actual spawning some trout may start out making test redds if I recall the biologist correctly. Those could be the first redds that appear or they could be actual spawning redds. Either way I think it's good practice to be real careful and wade sparingly once October comes 'round.

My chapter, spearheaded by the efforts of current PATU president Brian Wagner, has conducted an annual redd count survey on sections of Bushkill Creek near Easton. It's typically held on Black Friday.

 

[Chaz]

RyanR wrote:

The_Sasquatch wrote:
I have spend the 2nd weekend in October fly fishing in NCPA the last 2 years and neither the brookies nor the browns were spawning yet.

Depends on the type of stream but I wouldn't count on your statement.. In past years when I've been up for the PATU meeting when its been a 2nd or 3rd weekend in October meeting we've actually seen some redds in Spring Creek then although the biologist said the bulk of the wild brown spawning doesn't begin until some time in November. Shortly before actual spawning some trout may start out making test redds if I recall the biologist correctly. Those could be the first redds that appear or they could be actual spawning redds. Either way I think it's good practice to be real careful and wade sparingly once October comes 'round.

My chapter, spearheaded by the efforts of current PATU president Brian Wagner, has conducted an annual redd count survey on sections of Bushkill Creek near Easton. It's typically held on Black Friday.

It could be a different species than browns spawning in Oct.

 

[Mike]

As of early last week ST in many cases had spawned already in the Schuylkill River.

 

[troutbert]

Mike wrote:
As of early last week ST in many cases had spawned already in the Schuylkill River.

Is that about typical for brookie spawning in SE PA?

Is it earlier or about the same as what you see in "typical" freestone streams running through a state forest or gamelands?

If it seems earlier in the Schuylkill River than average for the region, what do you think the reason could be?

 

[Mike]

I have usually seen ST spawning around mid-October,,but that may have been a function of when I was hiking along streams rather than an indication of when spawning began. They don't all spawn at once and perhaps the Schuylkill River fish are early...seemed so to me. Additionally, in late September and through much of October we are doing adult SMB and WE work at night on the Delaware and Susquehanna so I usually don't survey many wild trout streams during that time period. Alternatively, we are also finishing up warmwater stream surveys at that time of the year. We may only do one wild trout stream survey in all of October, but return to that work in November and December.

 

[Chaz]

I've seen brookies spawning as late as mid-November in SEPA, and as early as late September, but they (Sept) were probably stockies.

 

[sandfly]

brookies are spawning here already, early for sure. maybe a hard winter is coming.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Bob, west of you, they are not spawning yet. I fished this weekend up at Lyman, the West Branch, and "Stream X", no redds, no fish paired up, saw no signs of spawning...and the brownies don't seem ready either. Brookies are getting there. I even hiked up Commissioner's at the nursery waters and no signs of the spawn. Did not fish in Tioga, though.