# Spawning



## spencerD (Jan 14, 2014)

Alright, this is gonna open a whole can of worms (no pun intended) in terms of discussion, but we've got a bunch of knowledgeable guys on here who can probably lend some really good insight to this topic, and I mean that will all due respect. 

So, to get started - A few years back, I caught some rainbows that were spawning. I caught them in October in the middle of a snowstorm. The males were squirting milt all over my boots and the females were dropping eggs faster than Donald Sterling drops racial epithets. I knew nothing about fishing at that point, so I assumed that's just when rainbows spawned.

Now, fast forward a few years - I know slightly more than nothing about fishing now, but I know that rainbows generally spawn in the spring. Some strains of rainbows (and from my understanding, there are more strains of rainbow trout than Cutthroat trout, but I could be wrong here) do spawn in the fall, or even into winter. 

With that in mind, let's talk about the cutthroat trout. I caught a cutt a few weeks ago, and she was full of eggs. It was a Bonneville cutt, and I know that because the fish biologist in charge of the lake where I was fishing has been very clear that these are Bonneville cutts in there. 

Now, here's the question - can cutthroat also spawn in the fall? I was under the impression that they're strictly spring spawners, much in the same way that browns only spawn in the fall. 

Anyways, if any of y'all have some insight into this, I'd appreciate it.


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

Not sure about the bonnies, but rainbow trout spawning times can be altered. I think the one you caught was messed up. :grin:


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

My understanding was the same as yours. Cutts spawn in the spring. Maybe the DWR has done some manipulations on their brood stock to have them spawn in the fall? How big were the eggs? Maybe the fish would still have spawned in the spring and the eggs were still slowly developing? 

Not really sure. :noidea:


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## spencerD (Jan 14, 2014)

A buddy of mine fished the lake a few weeks back and found a cutt with eggs in her as well. Maybe it's got something to do with the lake? 

Cath - the eggs were normal sized, at least I think so. They seemed like they'd be able to be fertilized and hatch. I gotta find a fish biologist to talk too.


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

There are strains of fall spawning rainbows . Though many times one will say I caught rainbows spawning in the fall- or browns in the spring and they are just catching those that are following browns or cuts and eating their eggs as they spawn- but there are fall spawning bows.


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## Improv (Sep 8, 2007)

Deer Creek has a fantastic population of fall spawners. Higher elevation lakes can have late spawns too.


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## BRN (Sep 18, 2007)

If you caught the fish in a lake, most likely she didn't spawn this spring (which, if high elevation, could have been late June or early July) and is slowly reabsorbing the eggs. This is very common.


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