Spawning Colors ?

[Tony Buzolich]

I know this could go in the section below but colors can relate to other fish as well.

For the last few weeks I've been seeing more and more steelhead in the Feather. Most are nice half-pounders running 18"-22" and an occassional large fish of 8#-10#s. All of these have been very bright and seem to be right out of the ocean.

A couple of days ago I saw another large steelhead which seemed to have spawn colors in full gear with reddish sides and olive back. Today I spoke with a friend who has been really getting in to them and he showed me pictures of two fish he took this past week. One was a classic chrome sided blue-back. The other had the same type of spawning colors that most rainbows have during winter.

I don't know enough about the spawning habits of steelhead but I find it strange to see both in the river at the same time.

Any thoughts,
TONY

[Darian]

Hi Tony,..... It's my belief, based on some observations and reading, that Steelhead arrive in stages. Not all at once. Summer run fish arrive at any time during the summer/fall and spawn later in the winter/spring. I'm thinking that those fish arriving early undoutedly revert to the natural colors of resident Rainbow in order to adapt to their current environment..... 8) 8)

In shorter, coastal rivers/streams, I've seen Steelhead that were spawned out but still very silvery in color, too. Many of these fish spawn within a mile of the ocean. 8) 8)

So, maybe spawning colors are really just their freshwater dress.... :?: :?:

[Hairstacker]

I thought I also read somewhere that a steelhead returning to spawn that has spawned before will arrive with "spawn colors" versus a steelhead returning to spawn for the first time. Thus, on some, you may almost detect a double red stripe after they spawn? I'm certainly no authority on this stuff as you may have detected from the "what is this fish?" thread. . . :oops: :lol:

[Eyecatch Tinytrout]

There's some interesting info on spawning and coloration in Robert Behnke's book "Trout and Salmon of North America." Highly recomended read! (A little pricey though.) The illustrations are really amazing.

[ycflyfisher]

I know this could go in the section below but colors can relate to other fish as well.

For the last few weeks I've been seeing more and more steelhead in the Feather. Most are nice half-pounders running 18"-22" and an occassional large fish of 8#-10#s. All of these have been very bright and seem to be right out of the ocean.

A couple of days ago I saw another large steelhead which seemed to have spawn colors in full gear with reddish sides and olive back. Today I spoke with a friend who has been really getting in to them and he showed me pictures of two fish he took this past week. One was a classic chrome sided blue-back. The other had the same type of spawning colors that most rainbows have during winter.

I don't know enough about the spawning habits of steelhead but I find it strange to see both in the river at the same time.

Any thoughts,
TONY


Tony,

I'm guessing the darker colored fish your freind caught was a male fish. It's fairly normal to see fish in various stages of sexual maturation in the river at the same time. There are several references in the scientific literature that actually addresses and discusses this issue. The ones I can think of off the top of my head that discuss this issue are:

Fish Bulletin #98: The Lifehistories of the Steelhead Rainbow Trout and Silver Salmon with Special Reference to Wadell Creek and Recommendations Regarding Their Management. by Leo Shapovalov and Alan Taft

Males as Vectors to Hatchery/Wild Spawning Interactions. And the Reshaping of Wild Steelhead/Rainbow Populations Through Fishery Management . by Bill McMillan.

The intial Kamchatka reports, Can't remember what they were called.

Males as Vectors and other interesting stuff can be found here:
http://www.wildsalmoncenter.org/publications.php
Wild Salmon Center > Publications
Among other things, Males as Vectors describes the mechanism by which those genetic hatchery disasters have imperiled the self sustaining runs of wild fish that are linked to millions of years of evolution and sucessful survival strategies via spawning interactions. McMillian was of course one of the first legendary steelhead anglers to question the value of hatchery fish and wonder out loud about their contributions to the demise and imperilment of wild fish. IMO it's his best work, and something I think any angler that is disillusioned about the biological value of Hatchery fish should read.

It's has been observed and is not totally out of the ordinary for some fish to be in full blown spawning colors and to have fully reached sexual maturation prior to arrival in freshwater even if they've got a several hundred mile trek upstream. Most of the sexually precocious, early maturing fish tend to be males. In the works I've read, biologists theorize that this is a buffer to insure that there are some availible males to spawn with any females that may ripen early. I believe it is Males as Vectors that actually shows a picture of several fish that were trapped in Kamchatka near a river mouth( McMillan was there) where one fish was milting and in full blown spawning colors and the rest of the fish were bumper bright. The fish had a ways up river to go and COULD not spawn until several months later after the spring thaw in that river. Yet the fish was obviously ready to "get his groove on" so to speak right then and there.

[Tony Buzolich]

That explanation fits exactly and not having to wait for a thaw would encourage more fish to be ready to spawn over a longer given period. The run on the Feather seems to last from now through March and even then there is quite a population of resident trout that stay all year.

This past couple of weeks I have seem more steelhead come in to our shop than ever before. These are all being taken by bait and lure guys but it points out the great run we're having on them. I've had three steelhead come in to be weighted and photographed just yesterday and today. All weighed between 8#-10# and were taken on glow bugs and Blue Fox spinners. One taken at Shanghai Bend and the others up river.

If the winter fish are much bigger than these, it'll be a fantastic season.
TONY

[ycflyfisher]

That explanation fits exactly and not having to wait for a thaw would encourage more fish to be ready to spawn over a longer given period. The run on the Feather seems to last from now through March and even then there is quite a population of resident trout that stay all year.

This past couple of weeks I have seem more steelhead come in to our shop than ever before. These are all being taken by bait and lure guys but it points out the great run we're having on them. I've had three steelhead come in to be weighted and photographed just yesterday and today. All weighed between 8#-10# and were taken on glow bugs and Blue Fox spinners. One taken at Shanghai Bend and the others up river.

If the winter fish are much bigger than these, it'll be a fantastic season.
TONY

Tony,

That's interesting. It's been a weird year on the Feather for steelhead this year for me.

1- I still haven't hooked anything before 9am(nor has anyone I'm fishing with) and the fishing has generally been best for me, mid day on. That's unusual for me as we usually start doing really well at first light in Oct.

2- I've caught (and seen caught) just as many multisalt fish that are in the 25+ inch range as the typically more numerous, one salt fish in the 18-22" range. This really isn't suprising to me, since the larger fish are from a different age class(2 years ago) and we had good returns last year and really good conditions for outmigration that year that yeilded the good returns(and a correspondingly good return this year of the larger fish).

3- I haven't caught anywhere near the amount of fish that I've normally caught by this time of year. And I mean in a big way. I'm guessing I'm at about maybe a third of my normal bodycount of fish caught for the Feather by this time of year. Most of the flyanglers I know are in a similar boat. Some really good sticks too! Although not a totally definitive sample size by any means, I'd say as a whole, the experienced fly anglers( mainly fishing from then bank not boats) I know who typically catch their share of fish from August-Oct on the Feather are having a very much less than average year in terms sheer numbers. But a much better than average year for bigger, multisalt fish. I've got to admit, I've been reading your posts here where you've made references to a banner steelhead year on the Feather and wondering what your "yardstick" for this observation was. I simply forgot you work at the shop and talk frequently to the gear anglers. ](*,)
I'm glad to know they're having a good year because none of the flyanglers I know seem to be.

The only thing in the equation that seems to be different to me this year from years past, is the fact that the water temperature this fall is running much colder than normal. It seems after that high water temp fiasco we had this summer caused the DWR to not only drop the temps, but drop 'em way down into the low 50's at the Robinson temperature gage.

I'm theorizing( that means a wildass guess...) that the lower temps are maybe causing a larger portion of the fish to hold in runs where they can be caught by the gear guys and but not neccessarily the flyanglers. The FFer's I know simply ain't catching lot's of fish. Are any of the flyanglers here that are fishing the Feather experiencing anything different?


By my experience on the Feather the bigger fish are always taken early in the run progression, and most of the bigger fish taken later seem to have been in the river for a while. I've never caught a fresh fish over 7 pounds after say mid December. Interesting thread!

[steve sullivan]

I know this could go in the section below but colors can relate to other fish as well.

For the last few weeks I've been seeing more and more steelhead in the Feather. Most are nice half-pounders running 18"-22" and an occassional large fish of 8#-10#s. All of these have been very bright and seem to be right out of the ocean.

A couple of days ago I saw another large steelhead which seemed to have spawn colors in full gear with reddish sides and olive back. Today I spoke with a friend who has been really getting in to them and he showed me pictures of two fish he took this past week. One was a classic chrome sided blue-back. The other had the same type of spawning colors that most rainbows have during winter.

I don't know enough about the spawning habits of steelhead but I find it strange to see both in the river at the same time.

Any thoughts,
TONY

Hello Tony, besides the fresh winter run fish coming up, there are also the spring run fish that came up a while ago. Plus, their is a decent resident trout population in the low flow. These resident fish are definitely around bedrock, the gazebo hole, and maybe outhouse and matthews. The spring run steelhead stay in the river and spawn the same time as the winter run fish, so they will not be chrome at this point.

[slimfishin's]

I have to agree with 'ycflyfisher' on this one. It has indeed been a weird year on the Feather. Even with the salmon spawning now, I'm still not seeing the numbers of fish caught compared to previous seasons. Perhaps the fish just haven't moved up yet.... late timing? The size distribuition is also noticably different from previous years as well. Perhas we could see a late run with consistently large fish, but not the same hookup rates. Who knows... I'm curious to see what happens when the rains come in. Until then, I may give it a rest for a while and get into that great fall trout fishing while the Feather is still slow.
SF