Fall spawn is time to target big, brown trout
In early October, fall arrives in the mountains with the first dull-red coloring of sourwood, dogwood, and sumac leaves. By the middle of the month, the mountains are ablaze with color, and according to forecasts, this fall promises to be a spectacular color season.
October is the time of sweater mornings, shirt-sleeve afternoons and blanket evenings. It’s a bountiful time for both humans and animals, and it’s the time when brown trout and brook trout begin their annual spawning rituals.
The spawning ritual begins as early as mid-September and can continue into November, depending on weather and stream conditions.
Of the two species, the brown trout is the most visible and most active. The male brown trout’s colors, especially the distinctive red spots on its sides, become more vivid, and males develop a pronounced hook or kype in the lower jaw.
At the beginning of the cycle, adult browns leave their usual hiding places in deep pools and begin moving upstream, searching for likely places to spawn. During this period, brown trout feed heavily, building up strength and stamina for the mating ritual. This is prime time to target brown trout, and the constant movement can continue for a couple of months since all browns do not spawn at the same time. They’re easy to find, easy to see and much easier to catch.
Large flies such as Nos. 12 and 10 chartreuse, olive or black Woolly Boogers are especially effective for prespawn browns. Kevin Howell of Davidson River Outfitters in Brevard said browns will hit Woolly Boogers because they think they’re salamanders. Other deadly flies are a No. 10 Bitch Creek Nymph and a No. 12 Girdle Bug. Spinning lures such as a 1/4-ounce Mepps Aglia or a Panther Martin with a black body and yellow dots also work well on prespawn trout.
Females seek out the spawning sites; males merely follow to accommodate them. Once a female brown finds a suitable spawning site, she uses her tail to dig out a small depression, or redd, in a clean area free of silt and sand and with numerous pebbles.
Scott Loftis, a fisheries biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, said browns prefer the tail end of a run or riffle where water is shallow and flow is adequate to keep the redd oxygenated. While the female does the work, the male waits patiently until the redd is prepared and she is ready to deposit her eggs. When the female indicates she’s ready, the male joins her, and, side by side, backs arched, jaws open, they complete the ritual with the female depositing her eggs over the redd and the male emitting a cloud of semen. Using her tail, the female covers the eggs with pebbles and small rocks, anywhere from a couple of inches up to six inches deep. A female can have three or more redds.
During the actual spawning, neither the male nor the female feeds. The male, however, will strike at something he thinks is a threat to the female or her eggs. Once the eggs are laid and covered, the brown’s parental duties are over; the eggs and subsequent fry are on their own.
Eggs can survive even if temperatures drop to below zero, as long as the water doesn’t freeze, a rarity for high-gradient southern Appalachian streams. Once eggs are laid and covered, they remain in the redd until spring, hatching usually between mid-January and mid-March. When the fry are able to forage on their own, they leave the redd.
Once spawning is completed, browns return to their previous habitat. For post-spawn fish, egg patterns such as Glow Bugs are very effective because browns often eat the eggs and young of other trout.
Brook trout follow much the same spawning patterns as browns, only the spawning comes later. Prime spawning time for brook trout is mid-October through mid-November. Since wild brook trout usually are found in small streams, they don’t move as much or as far as browns.
As for catching either brook or brown trout during the spawning cycle, biologists say angling activity does not adversely affect a spawn if a trout is not injured or played to exhaustion when it’s caught. When released, the trout will resume its spawning activities. The key word is “release.” Kill a spawner, and you’ve destroyed an entire generation of trout.
The best places to find larger brown trout during the spawning cycle are in the tributaries of large streams such as the Tuckasegee River, Nantahala River, the East Fork of the Pigeon River, the South Toe River and Davidson River.
Tributaries that feed lakes also are prime spawning grounds for lake trout. Big browns from Lake Jocassee in South Carolina move up the Thompson River, Whitewater River and Horsepasture River to spawn. Big browns from Davidson go to Cove Creek and Avery Creek.
Fall is indeed a magical time in the mountains.
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