Spawning time questions

[vogel451]

After doing alot of reading on trout spawning I have quite a few questions.  Every year trout season starts in april due to spring spawning.  Most websites Ive came across say that rainbow trout spawn in spring to early summer and brown trout spawn in fall, true? .  But we are able to fish right through the fall spawning  months and not in spring.  If my info is correct, why are the rainbows protected so much and not the browns?  Is it because the browns do much better in our NY waters?  Now Ive also seen alot of browns caught in the tribs in the spring.  why are they there?  I have alot of question on this topic but I wont ask all at once.   Here is a site that i have aquired some very useful info
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/fishing/freshwater-tips/trout/trout-spawn.htm

[vogel451]

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/fishing/freshwater-tips/trout/trout-spawn.htm

[vogel451]

Here is a Great video on Walleye Spawning on Conesus Lake inlet, Check this out!!! Tooooo cool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS11lyoFZ_Q

[dmntd169]

Cant answer as to why the season is opened during the brown/ brookie spawn and not in the spring but a lot of browns seem to follow the bows upstream for a free meal when the bows, suckers, chubs ect start to spawn in the spring.

Keep in mind while the fish are spawning they are not feeding as heavily as they would be the rest of the year. They will gorge before the spawn to fatten up and then start doing so after if the waters not too cold but while they are actually spawning thats whats on their minds rather than eating.

[SNAGGER]

  These regs go back to the 60's, should be able to fish Finger lake's trib's all year too!  That's just my opinion!  Probably just New York State nestalga! Mostly a put and take fishery down there too, with only a handful of Adult fish needed to replenish all of the natural reproduction needs of most smaller tributaries anyways!

[trapper2000]

makes no sence you can fish the main lakes year round  right? same fish

[Somers]

Interesting topic Vogel.  The way I understand it is the statewide reg 4/1 - 9/30 does attempt to protect naturally spawning fish on both ends for most streams in the state. 

Beyond that there are a lot of regional/water/county regs that make accomodations to certain species (bows, browns, salmon) depending on the viability of the fishery.  We all know some actual spawning and natural reporoduction occurs in the tributary waters of the great and finger lakes, but by and large these are put/grow/take waters and protecting these fish during a spawn that does not have a lot of natural return is not in the best interest of the angler or the state's/municipalities' coffers.   

[SNAGGER]

Interesting topic Vogel.  The way I understand it is the statewide reg 4/1 - 9/30 does attempt to protect naturally spawning fish on both ends for most streams in the state.  

Beyond that there are a lot of regional/water/county regs that make accomodations to certain species (bows, browns, salmon) depending on the viability of the fishery.  We all know some actual spawning and natural reporoduction occurs in the tributary waters of the great and finger lakes, but by and large these are put/grow/take waters and protecting these fish during a spawn that does not have a lot of natural return is not in the best interest of the angler or the state's/municipalities' coffers.    

 To add to your good info, the state did a study back in the 80's on little sandy creek! They closed the creek for a couple of years to all fishing in an attempt to bring back Atlantic's, it failed miserably, but during that study the DEC found NO MORE SPRING OF THE YEAR NATURALLY REPRODUCED STEELHEAD in any of the pools that they Seine netted! So they ( DEC) came to the conclusion that you only need a handful of adults to meet the needs of a pretty good size stream like little sandy. And believe me, back in the 80's just about every steelhead got ripped out of there! Catch and release has very little if not no impact on natural reproduction on the Finger or Great Lakes Tributaries!  It does however extend good fishing for other anglers, being that they are not harvested so rapidlly!

[fishingjason]

Do the browns maybe come back into the tribs in spring because the lake water is warming up and they feel the colder water from the tributaries? Maybe they are following bait fish? I am constantly curious with the same kind of questions. Fall creek in Ithaca is now c and r after the end of december until the second week of march.

[SNAGGER]

  They go into the trib's and estuaries to eat Rainbow & sucker eggs in the beginning, then sawbellies! Not because there cooler, tribs warm faster after the snows gone!  

[filetandrelease]

don't forget we also have a fall spawning bow to , hey snag you must be ready for some eye casting , hope you had a good year ,tite lines ,FAR

[SNAGGER]

don't forget we also have a fall spawning bow to , hey snag you must be ready for some eye casting , hope you had a good year ,tite lines ,FAR

  How have you been Filet, yep I'm ready! 6 weeks of fish cleaning has ran it's course! Hooked some steel, got that out of my system, now off in search of Mr. waldo!   I know where theres some fall spawners at! 

[Baitfisher]

Larger lake or reservoir run Brown Trout that are in the creeks during seasons outside of their spawning run are there for any number of reasons. Some that you find in springtime are holdovers from the preceding fall, fish who ran and for one reason or another didn't drop back and wintered over in the deeper holes. Others run up the creeks in spring with fish who are spawning to either eat their eggs or in the case of Smelt and buckeyes ect to eat the fish themselves. During the summer months an influx of cold water, such as a heavy cold rain in July, could spark a false run of fish up a stream or river. On the similar note Trout who live in smaller, warmer bodies of water such as some ponds or Beaver dams will definitely run up a spring fed creek to find water temps that are favorable for them.
 

[trapper2000]

not true in the oswego! i have seen major runs of browns in july and the river water temp was higher by far then lake ontario!.... it wasn't for food spawn  river water was actually low in july...so i have come to a conclusion,fish do strange things and we spend vast amounts of money in research tring to figure it out.....in my study i find oswego summer run browns are tasty on the grill and i get a great drift  fishing in a t shirt instead oy a down jacket

[double-aught]

steelhead can and do spawn succesfully in finger lakes tribs.
not so much now in catherine, the state ruined it in the mid 90's when they channelized it, removing all of the nice, deep log jam holes where the smolts would hide through the summer.
the stream is  just a slimey green streak in the warmer months now.
as far as trout season opening on april 1st, i always thought why not close it on the first, allowing the fish to spawn in peace for the rest of the spring.