When do rainbows spawn

[LOVBASS117]

When do rainbows spawn
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[remo_5_0]

Generally in the Spring,,,although some don't seem to know it[]
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[DKStroutfitter]

The planter Rainbow Trout can spawn either in the spring or fall. It depends on when they spawned themselves.
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[Ngrumm]

There are 2 strains of rainbow trout used for stocking in Utah. One spawns in spring, one in fall. FYI..... Deer Creek has both strains.
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[gaardvark]

I am unaware of any exceptions, so I will make the general statement that stocked rainbows in Utah do not truly spawn. Utah stocks rainbows that are called triploid strain, meaning they have a third chromosome that causes them to be sterile. They may still have some instinctual urges to act as if they wanted to spawn, but they cannot reproduce.

There have been other discussions about these fish previously, so I will just say that the triploids are regular rainbows from fertile stock, which are shocked with warm water during the developmental process, that causes them to develop the third chromosome that renders them sterile.
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[skis_flies_ice]

I can attest that the stock bows do indeed go through a spawning behavior and physiology change. Whether they successfully fertilize the eggs or not is up for question. The wild rainbows I catch in the reservoirs had to successfully hatched from somewhere. Have caught both planter male and females both excreted their respective elements, while being handled and released. Have caught bows in "a"river in october that were spawn-y. As well caught bows from under the ice in Jan and Feb that were spawning colors.
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[Kent]

[quote skis_flies_ice]

...The wild rainbows I catch in the reservoirs had to successfully hatched from somewhere...

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Curious how you know a rainbow you caught was a wild rainbow?
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[DKStroutfitter]

The DWR stocks Community Ponds in the late fall with spawning Rainbow Trout. These Rainbow trout produce the eggs used at the Hatcheries. So there are some Rainbow Trout that do spawn in the Fall.
The eggs may be tripolid but the Brood Stock are not.
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[gaardvark]

Good call on the brood stock. Like I said, I was unaware of exceptions but that would definitely be one. I would venture to guess though, that they are only stocked after doing their duty for the DWR, and in the put & take fishery they are unlikely to ever spawn again.

And I don't mean to imply that there are no fertile rainbows left in the state's waters, just that as a general rule, they are no longer stocking rainbows with the realistic expectation of reproduction. So while they may still experience the urge, they would be "shooting blanks". My potentially flawed understanding is that they are striving to protect native stocks by eliminating the possibility of finless freddies interbreeding or out-competing native fishes for limited resources.
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[dowhatwecan]

Rainbow trout are historically a spring spawning fish. They are one of the main reasons that many of our native cutthroats in the west are threatened or endangered or extinct. However fisheries professionals have artificially selected strains and fish within strains to lengthen the spawning season on hatchery raised rainbows. We do this to provide anglers a "catchable" rainbow trout throughout the year. I believe we take eggs starting in September in 1-2 strains and our last rainbows spawn in March.

We also have sterile rainbows as well for each strain that do go through the spawning cycle and even produce eggs and milt. However the eggs and milt are not viable. We produce triploid rainbows (about 50%) in all strains. We use them to eliminate the possibility of cross breeding with our native cutthroat trout. The remaining 50% are fertile and although in many of our reservoirs they don't reproduce they technically could if conditions were right to do so.

In short rainbows are so domesticated that although they are historically spring spawning fish they have been artificially selected to spawn across many months from late summer through spring.


Drew
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[gaardvark]

Thank you for that clarification! I love learning from someone with firsthand knowledge.
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[DKStroutfitter]

Thank you Drew for taking the time to give us the correct answer to this question.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

They might have been faking it, but they do make eggs. Then you can make things WITH the eggs - like roe sacks...

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[skis_flies_ice]

Obviously the finless freddy bows are pen fish. The concrete and crowding rubs off their fins. I make my determination on wildness mostly on how much of a white band is present on the fins. Full, big fins with white bands , as well as very large tails,are my cues to believe a select few of the bows caught on the weber reservoirs are wild fish.
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[Fishrmn]

If they're planted as fingerling they have all of their fins. You'd be hard pressed to tell a wild fish from one that was planted as a fingerling.
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