Native rainbows are spring spawners with the timing varying from river to river with typcially spawning falling in the range of early March into June. The exact timing depends on the flow and temperature characteristics of the the system; a side note they have the same spawning timing as the native steelhead of the system in question. An example on how the environment effects spawn timing of rainbows is in high lakes were spawning is just after ice-off which can be as late as August. Domestic rainbow stocks have been developed so that some spawn ever month of the year - the most commonly used stocks spawn either in the late summer/early fall or spring spawners.

Cutthroat are also generally spring spawners. The coastal cutthroat of western Washington spawn over a fairly long period with spawning potentially beginning as early as mid-January and lasting through May.

Our other "trout" -the Dolly Varden/bull trout are fall spawners. With spawning occurring with the onset of cold water temepratures (below the mid-40s). Depending the location and elevation that can occur as early as late August or as late as November/early December.

All of our salmon are fall spawners so their eggs/redds can be an important consideration if one is fishing anadromous waters in the fall. Chinook in particular are late summer/fall spawners that typically spawn in main rivers so anglers are likely to encounter their redds.

The change from Memorial Day to June 1st for the stream opener was done for consistency after taking in the biological needs of the various salmonids. Memorial day can occur as early as May 23 or 8 days before June 1. While that doesn't seem like a big differences in some cases it is huge. For example the peak out migration of wild steelhead smolts generally occurs between the 10 and 20th of May with substantial nubmers still migrating in late May. The same applies with the spawning of our resident trout and steelhead.

Tight lines
Smalma