When do rainbow trout spawn in the PNW?

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fisherben
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When do rainbow trout spawn in the PNW?

Post by fisherben » Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:09 pm

I went to the Foss River recently, and I stopped to fish slighty upstream from the NF-6840 bridge before heading downstream. The water where I fished at was slow moving and relatively shallow (average: 2.5 ft deep). There wasn't much structural cover either, but lots of deep runs and pockets. I saw TONS of trout fry but nothing over two inches. Even after three hours of fishing stimulator dry flies and a bead-head prince nymph I didn't even get a hit. I think that the reason the trout aren't this far upstream is because they prefer the deeper pockets and pools downstream, where there is tons of structural cover such as partially-submerged boulders that produce slow-moving holding water. I also believe that the small trout fry are farther upstream not only to avoid being cannibalized, but also because there is lots of gravel in that area; perfect spawning grounds. After catching a total of nine good fish downstream, my assumtions were confirmed! The bottom line is that the upper river where I fished would be awesome and easy water to fish, but there was no fish present there when I fished it. When do rainbow trout spawn around here? I think that would be the time to try fishing there... If anyone knows anything about this, please let me know. Thanks!

zen leecher
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Location: Moses Lake

Re: When do rainbow trout spawn in the PNW?

Post by zen leecher » Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:10 am

Rainbows and cutthroats spawn in the spring. Brooks, browns and dollies/bulls spawn in the fall.

Might be kinda hard to fish your spots in the spring for two reasons. One the water will be too high and two, because the streams aren't open yet.

Good luck on your stream fishing. It should be lots of fun.

fisherben
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Re: When do rainbow trout spawn in the PNW?

Post by fisherben » Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:42 pm

Thanks!

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