When do rainbows spawn?

I fish a "local" Wa. river during September and October. Don't need a boat just wade. Years past every trip I would catch at least one hog (18-20"). This year was difficult. Fewer large fish concerns me. When do they spawn? I would hate to think my wading up and down the river was affecting my future exploits. Thanks.

I think it is in the early spring. I could be wrong (it happended once), but I think the June 1 opener is timed to allow the trout time to finish spawning.

Nice answer,but I don't think that it's the right one. I think that the June 1st opener was set up to standerize streams opening on the West side. They used to always open on Memorial day every year,so to make it simple they opened them all on the 1st of June. But then I could be wrong also. Memorial day was a different day every year. <img border="0" alt="[fragile]" title="" src="graemlins/fragile.gif" />

Edit:I don't really know when they spawn,But I would guess that it would be about the same time as their big brothers and sisters do.

Just a guess here but I'm trying to think when I hit Lake Lenore, I think it is April or May when all the fish gather to spawn. Someone else can probably pin point it, I haven't hit it in a couple years.

I don't know about cutthroat. And I don't know if the lahotton (sp?) variety differs from west slope and other species. Anyone? I'm pretty sure it is the spring time though.

And I do know that brook trout and brown trout are fall spawners and that rainbow are spring spawners. But each region and specific trout strain could vary - esecially if the hatchery has a hand in their genetics...

here are some quotes I came across online:

"tributaries are the last to open as they contain rainbow trout spawning areas and rules relating to trout fishing have always controlled anglers access to waters where trout are spawning. "

"Rainbow trout spawn in the spring immediately after the ice melts. The usual spawning site chosen is a bed of fine gravel in a riffle above a pool. The female digs a redd (nest) in the gravel by turning on her side and beating her tail up and down. During spawning, the eggs fall into spaces between the gravel and immediately the female begins digging at the upstream edge of the nest covering the eggs with the displaced gravel. The eggs usually hatch in approximately 4 - 7 weeks; however, the time of hatching varies greatly with region and habitat. The fry commence feeding about 15 days after hatching and their diet consists mainly of zooplankton. The growth rate of rainbow trout is variable with area, habitat, life history and quality and quantity of food."

"Brown trout spawn in late fall to early winter, from mid-October to January depending on location. The usual spawning site is in shallow, gravelly headwaters of streams or gravelly shallows of lakes. The female makes a shallow depression (redd) in the gravel into which the eggs are deposisted during spawning. When spawning is completed, the female covers the redd with gravel. The time of hatching and growth rate varies greatly with region and habitat. Brown trout habitat and spawning requirements are similar to the native brook trout, with which it is usually in competition."

Most streams I know of on the west and eastsides of the hill have spring spawning of rainbows.

And Old Man in North Central and North Eastern Wa there is a June 1st opener for most streams. And as you said it used to be Memorial day and was always different.

I was always told it opened opened June 1st for two reasons #1 to give the bows time to spawn and also to standardize(sp?) the opener.

I notice that our spelling sucks but what the hey. What is the difference between Memorial day and the 1st of June. About two or three days depending on the year.

It used to be that when Memorial day hit you could plan to go camping and catch a few fish for eating. As fact some people used to do just that thing once a year. Then they were thru for the year. But the June 1st opener changed all that.

Now people go camping on Memorial day and still fish the rivers anyway. They think that "I have a license why can't I fish" thing.

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