Do Atlantic Salmon spawn in the lake or do they need a river?

[ShawnM]

Do Atlantic Salmon spawn ? If they do is it in the lake or do they need a river? We are getting ready to stock Atlantic Salmon here in NJ & the two lake's that there are going to stock have small creek's coming in.
Thanks Shawn

[bigredonice]

Atlantic Salmon need moving water to spawn.  Char are the only trout species that don't need moving water to spawn, specifically Lake Trout and Brook Trout (brookies still need upwelling springs to spawn).  The Salmon will run up the creeks to spawn in the fall, in NJ, i would expect that to be any time from early october till late december.  The salmon also tend to cruise around creek mouths in the spring, feeding on minnows

[ShawnM]

Thanks
Do they die or go back to the lake & what happen's if the lake has no river's or creek's . We are stocking Land lock Atlantic Salmon

[Pasquatch]

I believe that Atlantic Salmon live after spawning.

If their habitat is devoid of running water, I guess they just don't spawn.

[GAMBELL]

I tend to disagree with char being the only trout species to spawn in water that is not moving.  Take a trip to Lake Ontario in late October and drift in the shallow.  My buddy and I have watched browns spawning in the shallows along the lake shore. 

[bigredonice]

I tend to disagree with char being the only trout species to spawn in water that is not moving.  Take a trip to Lake Ontario in late October and drift in the shallow.  My buddy and I have watched browns spawning in the shallows along the lake shore. 

then that is very much an exception to the rule.  I have never even heard of that before from Browns.  VERY interesting GAMBELL.  Hmm.

[qflies001]

Gambell you are sure right i seen it myself before too . Boy do they love white zonkers when they are on the spawn beds

[JJ]

Shawn,
I would not expect to see many stocked landlocks attempt to spawn in the creeks.  They used to run up some streams around Lake George, but a few years ago they would show up where they had been stocked come spawning time; one particular boat launch comes to mind.
There is one lake, that I know of, in the Adirondacks that contains a wild, naturally reproducing population of landlocked salmon.
Also, there certain strains of landlocks that are outflow spawners.

[Scotty D]

i know this is a thread from a few years ago but they will spawn. We have Landlocked salmon in MA in the Quabbin and Wachusett Resevoirs. they were all originally stocked because they are both man made. And everyfall if you fish a river that flows into one you have a good chance of hooking up

[Got Ice?]

Lake trout spawn in the lake and Kokanee (landlocked sockeye salmon) are also known to spawn in lakes. 

[BigCougar]

Lake trout spawn in the lake and Kokanee (landlocked sockeye salmon) are also known to spawn in lakes. 

There are lakes and lakes. In some cases in BC there are huge rivers flowing through lakes, so kokanees, rainbows and salmon can spawn in many spots along the shore.

I have also seen rainbows spawning in lakes with no significant tributaries or outflowing water, yet I cannot tell how successful the spawning was.  You would think that if the oxigen level is high enough, the bottom has good gravel and the temperature is right you may expect some sort of reproduction success. 

Still, if there has never been a population of atlantic salmon in this water body or another established salmonid population, expectations should be modest.

[salmonboy41]

Well lets put it this way I live on lake Ontario and sometimes there isn't enough water in the fall to get the creeks flowing and so the salmon will just spawn in the rocky bottom parts of vary lower end of creek where it empties into the lake, so i would guess that landlocks would do the same, also they live after spawning and can live to be about 10 years old, I also know they have a natural instinct to try to get out of the lakes that they are stocked in, in an attempted to make it back to the ocean.

[tench]

Atlantic salmon don't die after spawning, only Pacific salmon do. Both species spawn in moving water, and once they are parr or fingerlings, I don't remember which, they return to open water and grow to sexual maturity, at which time they return usually to the same river they came from. As with other salmonids and trouts, a clean bottom is prefered. Silt will suffocate the eggs.

[buddah]

You will be very lucky to see a stocked landlock successfully spawn unless conditions are absolutely perfect.Here's a ton of info on landlocks and our fishery here in maine......



http://www.maine.gov/ifw/fishing/species/management_plans/landlockedsalmon.pdf