Mature female trout
BC Fishn
Late winter and early spring is that time of the year when rainbow trout are starting to get ready to spawn. Soon-to-spawn male trout bucks are much easier to identify than the females.
The girls can sometimes appear to be still silver or just have a slight hint of “greying” to their scales. Biologists have seen many anglers come into the boat launch, while conducting fishing surveys, with female trout that they were sure were NOT spawners - but unfortunately they were
Some obvious and not so obvious hints to recognize females preparing to spawn are:
- Obviously – a great big belly and a belly that is soft and floppy. Sometimes just the belly area is fat and there is a more “normal” look to the fish from the anus to the tail.
- A distended ovipositor (anus). See picture above. The anus is often sticking out a bit in many spawning females. Easy to identify if you take a close look.
- Not always but most of the time – the red streak down the side of the fish is prominent. Especially be cautious in the spring time (March to June).
- Where you caught the fish. Near rivers or creeks is obviously an area you will more likely find mature females in the springtime.
Protecting female spawning trout by releasing them during the spawn will help sustain our fisheries for years to come.
This information has been courteously provided by Jason Webster, Fisheries Biologist with Chara Consulting. You can follow Jason on his Okanagan Anglers 101 Facebook Page.
Originally published here.
Editor's note: We ran this article last spring but always worth repeating, as a refresher or for those new to our website. One of our readers commented last time around that another way to recognize them is that they may expel eggs when handled. Handle carefully and do the right thing: follow catch & release protocols.