What months do rainbow trout spawn at lakes in So Cal?



See you at the lake!

I think it depends on what laboratory they were built in!

They don't.If by some small chance they did,it would be in a creek or river.

Peace,
FishjunkeyOG

There are a lot wild trout in Southern California. Most put and take anglers are not aware of the wild trout or they don't care to go fish for wild trout. Talk to a fly fisherman and I'm willing to bet most can name at least 3 or more bodies of water that hold wild Trout in the Southland. No I'm not a fly fisherman. I didn't say I don't fish flies. I'm firm believer in using flies because usually work I just don't use fly gear.

Actually there are many places where the brown trout dominate. These areas have very few rainbows. I've had thirty fish days on the browns locally. So why don't more people fish these spots? Well first of all you have to hike to get to the better areas. At most of these locations less than a mile of walking will put you in a good bite. Waders are not required but very strongly recommended and from my experiences that eliminates about 99% of all trout anglers in Southern Cal. Based on the fact that if you took the total number of trout anglers fishing on any given day here in So Cal probably less than 1% would be fishing wild trout waters. I've formed some of my own theories on why people don't fish wild trout in SoCal.

-They don't like catch and release.
-They don't like walking.
-It's not a lawn chair friendly fishing experience.
-They will miss out on a chance of catching a whitning super trout.
-And the number 1 reason I came up with is wild trout don't ussually get hooked on crave. Sorry guys save the cravy for the rave and leave cheese bait at home.

Sorry I can't give up any spots but I will say that the most well known area but definitely not one of the better areas in my opinion is the West Fork SG River. Honestly most of these spots I found on my own and I would recommend it to anyone with a strong will to fish and spirit for adventure. Good luck. By the way browns spawn in Fall. Raibows I'm not sure about. I do know browns need running water and they travel up the rivers like spawning salmon.

JerryG

Rainbows spawn 2-4 degrees lower than Browns. I lived in the San Bernardino area for 4 years and yes there are some areas that hold wild fish that spawn in the Inland Empire. I can also tell you that some places such as Lytle Creek have naturally reproducing populations of 2nd and 3rd generation stockers a mile or 2 from the heavily stocked areas. Big Bear L. has 2 creeks that have spawning runs in early Fall. Some of these fish might be "natural" fish, but I'd bet most, if not all, are actually the offspring of stockers. I've seen Rainbows over 5# caught out of one of these creeks. There are better places for numbers and average size than what I've mentioned but you'll have to do the research.

Tight lines,
Wade

Tight lines,
Wade

I know there are many creeks that hold wild Trout.He was asking when they spawn in the lakes here in So.Cal.All trout require moving water to spawn.I guess what I'm trying to say is they don't spawn in lakes.I fly fish and agree with you about most local anglers being to lazy to fish for our local wild Trout.It's better for the fishery and the enviorment around those waters that they don't.Not all fly fishermen target Trout exculsively.I like to mix it up a bit.

Peace,
FishjunkeyOG

Trout don't spawn in lakes, but in moving water usually sometime in fall. Brown Trout spawn in slightly warmer water than Rainbows and Brookies in colder water usually, this eliminates most all natural cross breeding. Trout in lakes will form eggs/milt in early to mid Fall regardless of wether or not there's moving water to spawn in. If there isn't suitable spawning water (read: moving, cool enough, etc.), the eggs/milt will be reabsorbed by the trout's body, in late fall, making it fatter than a successfully spawning trout of the same age. The eggs/milt may never even get to a useable size, but they will be formed to some degree. BTW milt is the term for fish sperm. If there is suitable spawning water the males will go upstream 1st and find an area with pea sized gravel and current that isn't too slow or way too fast. When the females come up the males will dig shallow holes with there tails called Redds. Then the male will try to hurd a female over his redd and nip her until she releases her eggs and he will release his milt at the same time. The eggs and milt will fall into the redd and then he will shallowly bury them with a layer of gravel. Any eggs that don't get fertilized usually don't sink as fast and will drift further down stream. Rainbows especially will eat these unfertilized eggs, which is why salmon eggs can be so effective in fall. Some people think they get some extra hormones by eating the eggs in nature, but that these hormones break down in packaged Salmon eggs. I think this maybe right but hasn't been proven.

Tight lines,
Wade

Before rainbow spawn at lake in lower evelation lake, I don't think they can survive in such a hot water in summer. That's why DFG don't plant fish in summer. Some lakes in high evelation like big bear L, arrowhead L have comfortable water temp.
But they don't have big enough water for fish to go up and spawn.
And rainbow spawn in spring usually. fall spawning ranbows are not many.

Trout can survive localy through summer if the lake is deep enough to sustain a suitable thermocline. Castiac, Piru, Perris, Silverwood, and Pyramid are some examples of local lakes that are deep enough to support trout through summer. For those fish who where fortunate enough to make in to Piru they even the option of spawning up in Piru Creek. What I don't understand is why the DFG plants trout in Echo Park all the way through summer. I wouldn't think that it's deep enough for trout to survive in summer but according the papers they plant it right through summer. I to go check out some bass fishing at Echo back in July one day and I did see people catching trout so I can only asume it was not a misprint.


JerryG

I was talking about majority of trout and lake. Most of lakes DO NOT have big enough creek to support spawning trout. There are some exceptions like pyramid lake, piru lake that have creeks. Maybe a few trout will be able to survive through summer in so cal. GENERALLY they don't, because of the lack of oxygen. Trout needs a lot of oxygen to grow. Depth of the lake is NOT the point for the fish to survive. The point is the AVERAGE water temp and good river or creek for fish to spawn and clean water. Trout loves moderate cold water between 50-60 digree. Brown like a bit warmer water than rainbow. Rainbow is not strong against disease which caused by high temp water. They need clean water. We don't have many clean water in So Cal lakes, Of Course, Maybe A FEW will survive for a while in lake. West fork is not good place to fish anymore since we didn't have enough rain last winter. DFG did not plant fish in most lakes in summer at lower evelation lakes. Maybe they did plant some trout in tiny city park lake that most serious fisherman don't even care. It doesn't matter if they can survive or not and deep enough or not as long as local kid are happy. Those extreme low water level in So Cal killed thousans of trout in many creeks. But we have had good rain in So Cal for the last a few month. Thanks to EL NINO. I hope we will have good trout fishing next year.

I fished over 100 times this year and I don't think I fished trout once. I have done a fair share of trout fishing over the last 25 years and I can't argue that minijig and lure bites can be fun but outside of that bait dunking is just not my bag. There was a period of time I did a lot wild trout fishing locally and based on my experiencies I can say that the trout which escape being caught (by anglers or predators) GENERALLY DO SURVIVE in Southern California's deep lakes during the summer. As I said they survive not spawn.

This summer if you find yourself wanting to catch a hold over trout but you don't want make the drive up to the Sierra's then try spending a morning deep trolling needle fish on leadcore in front of the dam at lake Perris this summer. There are a few guys who do it and get limits of healthy fish year round. I read an article in Western Outdoors a couple years that noted they catch many of their bigger fish in summer. For those who are considering this I recommend passing on the hold overs trying your luck at fishing the bass. Bass are much more exciting fish to catch IMO. Now if there's anyone out there who has a logical reason why they plant trout at Echo Park all summer I would love to hear the reasoning behind that one. Every other park lake in LA county recieves plants of catfish during summer for the kiddies to catch so why plant trout? They do plant some cats too which the kids seem to catch just fine so still it doesn't make sense.







I was talking about majority of trout and lake. Most of
>lakes DO NOT have big enough creek to support spawning trout.
>There are some exceptions like pyramid lake, piru lake that
>have creeks. Maybe a few trout will be able to survive through
>summer in so cal. GENERALLY they don't, because of the lack of
>oxygen. Trout needs a lot of oxygen to grow. Depth of the lake
>is NOT the point for the fish to survive. The point is the
>AVERAGE water temp and good river or creek for fish to spawn
>and clean water. Trout loves moderate cold water between 50-60
>digree. Brown like a bit warmer water than rainbow. Rainbow is
>not strong against disease which caused by high temp water.
>They need clean water. We don't have many clean water in So
>Cal lakes, Of Course, Maybe A FEW will survive for a while in
>lake. West fork is not good place to fish anymore since we
>didn't have enough rain last winter. DFG did not plant fish in
>most lakes in summer at lower evelation lakes. Maybe they did
>plant some trout in tiny city park lake that most serious
>fisherman don't even care. It doesn't matter if they can
>survive or not and deep enough or not as long as local kid are
>happy. Those extreme low water level in So Cal killed thousans
>of trout in many creeks. But we have had good rain in So Cal
>for the last a few month. Thanks to EL NINO. I hope we will
>have good trout fishing next year.

First of all,I just don't want to argue with the guy who only fish once or twice a year for trout. I have been fishing for ONLY TROT FOR 22years since I was kid. and I fished eastern sierra this year almost every 2 week, I know what's going on up there and I know what problem there is in eastern sierra. Every time I go up there, I am always worried about weather because they don't like warm water. I always hope the water temp doesn't go up. especially summer time. Fishing become really slow down because of water temp. Rainbow is most easiest target for fisherman. But on top of that before the summer comes, the population of rainbow is dramatically reduce. Most of rainbow has been taken by fisherman before summer comes. I am not insulting rainbow. But Rainbow is stupid enough to take anything it move. after that, figure how many fish can survive? I understand what you saying. Then ask some SERIOUS TRUT fisherman why montana or wyoming is famous for trout fishing. I know you never been up there. but I WAS THERE at siver creek. Do you know why the water come out from reservoir makes fish grow fast and makes good fishery? Do you know why DFG plant 250000 rainbow and 3000 brown in Crowley?
DO you know why davis lake in oregon creat huge population of rainbow fishery? There are no same reason Again it is not general for rainbow to survive in So cal lake BECAUSE THEY DON'T LIKE WARM AND LOW OXYGEN. that means they don't glow fast or they don't get big enough to carry many eggs. So think about how many trout can survive in So cal lakes? And also If you have been checking this calfishing site ALL THE TIME LIKE ME THOUGHOUT THE YEAR. YOU WILL KNOW WHY PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS ALWAYS ASKING ABOUT TROUT PLANTING SCHEDULES IN WINTER!!!!!!!!!

Dude relax.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy......

Clay

Your going to have a heart attack guy,chill.You got yourself all hot for no apparent reason.

Peace,
FishjunkeyOG