Spawning Rainbows

[RipLipper]

Just a subject I had some interest in.  I know most bodies of water in Montana are on a regular stocking schedule.  With that said actually how many of the lakes have naturally reproducing Rainbow populations as far as worrying about a big female rainbow if it is caught.  I have always wondered about Canyon Ferry.  I make it a habit to release an egg filled female but if it is a stale population is it really a concern???

[RipLipper]

I guess another question would be, just because a female has eggs, are the males in the lake necessarily capable of doing their part??

[Strippnthedream]

Canyon ferry rainbows spawn all over the shores n in many of the bays. Magpie for instants they shut it down during the spawn for a few weeks right at the head where the creek runs in. in my opinion they should do that in all the little bays where there is a natural creek coming in. People always rant about there not being trout in there or there hard 2 catch well during the spawn u see guys with stringers full of soggy spawning males n females who in there right mind would think they taste good with that soggy white meat. There is a private pond I fish. the guy stocked it with the kamloop strain when they planted them they told him they where starle well it's been many years n some how nature ran its course n they r producing fry. We've caught fish that were 15lbs 2 1lbers. Nature always finds a way.

[Strippnthedream]

I've fished CF for many years u can always tell a concrete tank fish from a native fish. The tank fish have no fins from rubbing on the concrete walls. The native fish also have a little more backbone 2 them.

[Fishman Teters]

I've fished CF for many years u can always tell a concrete tank fish from a native fish. The tank fish have no fins from rubbing on the concrete walls. The native fish also have a little more backbone 2 them.

Don't take this as a shot...but there are no native Rainbow trout. They are not a native species. This is why I freak about Fwp and their rainbow trout love affair.

[Strippnthedream]

No shot taken. You couldn't be more right. What r u talking about those beautiful speckled backs. That all the out of staters pay big money 2 come n fish these beautiful blue ribbon trout streams. Don't get me wrong I love bending any rod on them but I would way rather catch any real white meated fish for table fair.

[Spey_Ice]

It's amazing how many people don't know what fish are native...rainbows, browns, brook trout nope not naive...there is a strain of rainbow native to the far north west though...I'd rather a catch cutty anyway

[RipLipper]

So is there any data compiled, on Canyon Ferry just for example, on how natural reproduction replenishes the water as opposed to stocking?  I assume FWP would have historical data to be able to come up with their stocking numbers for a body of water based on fishing pressure etc.  How vital are the stocking numbers?

[Papa John]

Not trying to start a war here guys, but rainbow ARE native to Montana. The upper Kootenai River had a native population via the Columbia system, although it was a small concentrated population. I just checked it on the Montana field guide and the Idaho population studies before writing this.

[RipLipper]

Not worried about Native or not, just more of a stocking, natural repopulation question.

[jcmontgo]

I do a lot of fishing on holter, the gates, and CF and honestly those rainbows are stocked for the enjoyment of fisherman. Sure some spawn but at the end of the day.....keep all you want. A lot of the fish I catch have clipped fins, snubbed noses, etc. I keep a few but kick most loose. Those fish in that system are paid for by fisherman so have at em.

[Fishman Teters]

Not trying to start a war here guys, but rainbow ARE native to Montana. The upper Kootenai River had a native population via the Columbia system, although it was a small concentrated population. I just checked it on the Montana field guide and the Idaho population studies before writing this.

That is the Columbia Redband Rainbow. Not the Rainbow trout. It is a trout, but a different strain all together.

[Fishman Teters]

Believe me, I appreciate the opportunities that I have here in this state. Not too many places that a guy can catch perch, bluegill, LM & SM bass, rainbows and browns all in the same body of water...and I shouldn't complain about the stocking habits of Fwp, as they provide jobs for myself and a lot of others who guide here. It's very difficult and touchy to get into this conversation...we all know there are pros and cons. Thankfully, as long as there is a fishing pole in my hand, whether a fly rod or a cane pole, I'm all smiles andhhae no life problems.

[Wenger]

Canyon ferry rainbows spawn all over the shores n in many of the bays. Magpie for instants they shut it down during the spawn for a few weeks right at the head where the creek runs in. in my opinion they should do that in all the little bays where there is a natural creek coming in. People always rant about there not being trout in there or there hard 2 catch well during the spawn u see guys with stringers full of soggy spawning males n females who in there right mind would think they taste good with that soggy white meat. There is a private pond I fish. the guy stocked it with the kamloop strain when they planted them they told him they where starle well it's been many years n some how nature ran its course n they r producing fry. We've caught fish that were 15lbs 2 1lbers. Nature always finds a way.

Rainbows around the shore of CF are pseudo spawning. Some do run up the Mo as far as Toston Dam to spawn as do the browns. They  require running water and gravel for their redds. 

[RipLipper]

When a Rainbow is a Rainbow

April 21, 2011 | by Bruce Auchly


photo
Cam Dole of Helena grips a rainbow he
 caught recently in Holter Reservoir.

The rainbow trout catch is on at Holter Reservoir on the Missouri River, yet most anglers know little about the fish they seek.

Or worse, believe a couple of common myths: The rainbows now congregating around the boat ramps are there because they imprinted on a hatchery truck and keeping spawning rainbows will hurt the reservoir’s population.

The vast majority of rainbows in the three reservoirs on the Missouri between Helena and Great Falls – Canyon Ferry, Hauser and Holter – come from the state’s hatchery system. Natural reproduction is insufficient for a self-sustaining population.

There are at least a dozen types or strains of rainbow trout in existence. Although all the same species, the different strains come from different locations: some wild, some from hatcheries. As a result the fish display different breeding behavior, spawning behavior, size, appearance, habitat preference and environmental tolerances.

The two mainstays of Montana’s hatchery system are Eagle Lake and Arlee strains. Eagle Lake is considered semi wild; Arlee is highly domesticated.

The average angler cannot consistently tell the two strains apart, but they are different, and that is important to the average angler.

For example, Eagle Lake rainbows make up a majority of the fish now cruising the Holter Lake shore. Come warmer weather they will head to deeper water searching out other fish, their favored food, making them a target for anglers in boats.

photo
Walt Dalbey of Glasgow, left, hoists a stringer
 of Holter Reservoir rainbows he caught
 with Katie Hagengruber of Helena.

The Arlee strain eats more insects, or invertebrates, and so will spend the summer cruising the shore. That makes them more catchable for the shore angler.

Eagle Lake rainbows evolved in northeast California on the east slope of the Sierras. Though Montana’s Eagle Lake strain is hatchery raised, the eggs are gathered in the wild.

The Arlee strain was developed in the state’s Arlee hatchery where different strains were crossbred and over several generations certain characteristics were selected for, like fast growth and fall breeding.

That’s right, fall breeding. Rainbow trout in the wild breed in the spring, often the peak is mid-April. Easy enough to duplicate in a hatchery if the goal is stocking fingerlings in the early summer.

However, that doesn’t work well in the upper Missouri reservoirs as they have lots of hungry walleyes. Stocking 2- to 3-inch trout fingerlings merely turns them into forage, which is not the purpose of raising game fish in a hatchery.

Much better to stock 6- to 8-inch trout that stand a chance of survival. So fall spawning Arlees are stocked at that size in the spring and spring spawning Eagle Lakes in the fall.

The Eagle Lake rainbows now cruising the shoreline are looking for a place to spawn. Their genes are telling them to find suitable gravel not a hatchery truck. It’s just that the type of gravel they need usually occurs along a gradually sloping shoreline, like at a boat ramp.

And keeping a limit of 3- to 5-pound spawners from those reservoirs does not hurt the population. Those fish generally will not spawn because they won’t find the right spawning habitat. They have to be stocked to provide sport and food for anglers.

So have fun and hopefully catch a rainbow or two.

[RipLipper]

This article seems to answer a couple questions in the first paragraph.  Rainbows are not self sustaining in Canyon Ferry, Holter, & Hauser, and because of that, spawners do not seem to be a concern to FWP.

[WilleyBooger]

The following is from the FWP Upper Missouri Reservoir Fisheries Management Plan 2010-2019, p. 5: 

"Rainbow trout in Canyon Ferry Reservoir are primarily sustained through hatchery plants. Natural reproduction accounts for less than 10% of the total population of rainbow trout."

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