Trout spawning: place, time, conditions and features

Live food for trout

Live food feeding is very popular.
It has many benefits for trout. This is a natural way of feeding fish and increases its vitality. Providing a balanced and filling diet is very important. The range of live food is quite large, but choosing the right food is not always easy

For example, red mosquito larvae are often used for this purpose. They have a characteristic red color, which is due to the oxygen content. Fish love this food, and thanks to its red color they immediately notice it. The larvae can be stored in a cool place for one to two weeks.

When do trout spawn?

Trout reaches sexual maturity, at which time it is ready to go to the spawning grounds, in the third year of life. Some species of trout reach sexual maturity at 2 years, and some at 5-6 years. But ordinary brook trout are ready to spawn at the age of 3 years.

Spring is considered the optimal time for reproduction not only in fish, but also in many species of animals and even in humans. Nature begins to come to life and makes all living things think that it is time to leave offspring. But trout does not fit into the overall picture a little. Trout spawning begins when everyone has long forgotten about the spawning of other fish. Its usual spawning time is late autumn and even winter.

Trout spawning usually begins in October-November. This date may shift depending on many factors, such as the type of trout, water temperature and the climatic zone in which spawning will take place. The further north the region, the earlier the trout begin to spawn.

Typically, the earliest trout spawning period is September, the latest is December. But there are species of trout that can spawn all year round, like crucian carp. But still, the bulk of trout spawns precisely in these few months - October and November.

When the trout reaches the spawning grounds, active spawning begins. The most active spawning hours are in the evening, after sunset and before midnight. Then, the trout goes to rest and returns to spawning in the morning at dawn. But in the morning, trout spawn not as actively as in the evenings, so to speak, in a lighter mode.

Trout spawning can last more than a month. Each female spawns all her eggs in just a few rounds and this can take more than a week.

Places where trout spawn

In the first or second month of autumn, trout already begin to travel to traditional spawning grounds. Trout spawning sites are not chosen every time, regardless of the distance to the place where the fish grew as juveniles, it covers the distance, each time returning to its favorite area. Sometimes trout have to overcome hundreds of kilometers, various under- and above-water obstacles, waterfalls and other obstacles.

Trout loves places nearby with rifts and other rapids. Eggs are not laid on the current, but in close proximity. Trout prefer a rocky bottom for spawning. The fish lays eggs on rocks. The most interesting, according to trout, are places with small pebbles up to 30 mm in size. If a place with small stones has not been found within reach, the fish begins spawning on the bottom with large pebbles. The depth of the areas rarely exceeds 1 m. Curious spectators periodically appear near spawning trout.

What kind of trout should I breed?

There are about 20 species of trout. But you can grow a smaller part of them at home. Keeping trout is difficult because it is a predatory type of fish. Therefore, before breeding it at home, you need to make sure that you have enough finances for feeding.

Each type of trout has its own preferences for keeping. It is necessary to decide in advance which of them will be bred in order to organize suitable conditions.

Rainbow

Rainbow trout are native to North America. It is accustomed to cold temperatures, but grows better in warm conditions. It is recommended to keep rainbow trout at temperatures between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius above zero. This type has a number of advantages:

fry weigh no more than 30 grams, making them easier to keep at a young age;
in just a year, fish can grow up to 125 grams;
young females can bring up to 800 eggs.

The disadvantage of rainbow trout is that sexual maturity in representatives of this species occurs at the age of about three years. For this reason, in the first years it is impossible to breed trout.

Males can be identified by their wide iridescent stripes. It appears during puberty. For trout farming, it is recommended to keep females until they become adults. At this age they are able to produce up to 3 thousand eggs. The birth of fry occurs in the spring.

Ruchevaya

Brown trout grow slower than rainbow trout and produce fewer offspring. In the first year, young fish reach a weight of only 25 grams. For a trout to weigh 500 grams, it must be at least 3 years old.

Benefits of brook trout include:

adult fish reaches a weight of 12 kilograms;
the female is capable of producing up to 1500 eggs;
The diameter of one egg is only 7 millimeters, so storing them does not require much space.

Sexual maturity in brook trout occurs at the age of 3 years. By increasing the temperature to +8 degrees Celsius, the incubation period can be reduced to 65 days. If the eggs are stored in water at a temperature of +2 degrees Celsius, the incubation period will take about two hundred days. Young fish are born in autumn.

How trout spawn (spawn)

As the spawning season begins, fish begin to move from lakes and ponds to rivers and large streams. She goes upstream, overcoming rapids up to 1.5 meters using jumps from the water. Females from 4 years old and males from 3 years old go to spawn. By this time, the females have ripened eggs, and, moving upstream, they look for the optimal place to lay them.

Article on topic: Silicone baits for trout

Spawning occurs in shallow water. The female descends as close to the bottom as possible and creates a depression using her fins, nose and tail. She quickly lays several hundred eggs in this depression. Nearby males fertilize the clutch.

At the same time, the female may not allow weaker, younger representatives to approach her. Instinct kicks in: large individuals are perceived as more suitable for procreation.

To prevent the eggs from being carried away by the current, immediately after fertilization the female quickly buries them. This protects it not only from fast waters, but also from predators that can easily destroy the entire clutch. Pebbles additionally protect against external dangers.

The entire spawning process takes no more than a few minutes. The rainbow subspecies must bury the egg immediately, since its eggs do not have a sticky surface. The stream variety throws eggs with sticky outer walls, but this effect quickly disappears in water.

After 1.5-2 months in rainbow trout and after 2-3 in brook trout, fry appear from the eggs. They begin active life only after they have completely eaten the remains of the nutritious film of the eggs.

Article on the topic: Wobblers for trout

How long has it been since you had a really BIG CATCH?

When was the last time you caught dozens of HUGE pike/carp/bream?

We always want to get results from fishing - to catch not three perch, but ten kilogram pikes - what a catch! Each of us dreams of this, but not everyone can do it.

A good catch can be achieved (and we know this) thanks to good bait.

It can be prepared at home or bought in fishing stores. But stores are expensive, and to prepare bait at home, you need to spend a lot of time, and, to be fair, homemade bait does not always work well.

You know that disappointment when you buy bait or prepare it at home and only catch three or four bass?

So maybe it’s time to use a truly working product, the effectiveness of which has been proven both scientifically and in practice on the rivers and ponds of Russia?

Of course, it is better to try once than to hear a thousand times. Moreover, now is the season!

Find out more about the bait!

Diet

Trout feed on other fish, and soft-bodied aquatic invertebrates such as flies, mayflies, caddis flies, stoneflies, clams and dragonflies. In lakes, various species of zooplankton often make up a significant portion of the diet.

Read: Sharpening Fishing Hooks at Home

Typically longer than 30 cm (12 in), trout prey almost exclusively on fish when possible. An adult trout can eat fish up to 1/3 of its length. Trout can feed on shrimp, grub larvae, bloodworms, insects, parts of small animals and eels. 1 trout fillet (79 g) contains: 117 kcal; 5.22 g fat; 0 g carbohydrates; 16.41 g protein; 0 g.

Trout and char from fish farms are sold as food fish. According to the British Nutrition Foundation, trout contains the least amount of dioxins (environmental pollutants) of any fatty fish.

Spawning grounds

When it's time to reproduce, the pike perch looks for a suitable place to build a nest. Groups of predators leave deep waters, rushing to coastal shallows. These can be river oxbows, bays, eriks, small channels. Even marine and lake inhabitants enter river waters to spawn.

Photo 1. A shallow bay is one of the spawning areas.

The fanged predator makes its nests in areas of the reservoir with an abundance of grass, snags and other debris. Before the mating season, flocks break up into small groups consisting of one female and 2-3 males. Pike perch spawn in special nests, which females begin to prepare in advance. To build a cradle, the fish actively uses its pelvic fins. In this way, it is possible to remove remnants of grass and debris from the bottom, forming a clean area. The males join the female, leveling the ground with their bows. By joint efforts, a space is created with a recess of 5 to 10 cm, shaped like an oval up to 60 cm long. The nest is surrounded by branches and roots, which will protect the masonry from lovers of easy money.

In some regions where the walleye population is endangered, people are trying to help the fish spawn safely. The problem with the reproduction of this predator often lies in the fact that sexually mature individuals do not find a place to lay eggs. As a result of spontaneous spawning, the entire clutch dies. Therefore, caring ichthyologists proposed making artificial spawning grounds.

To organize them, first the reservoirs are cleared of remnants of vegetation so that the fish do not deposit sexual products on them. And then they make nests from stainless steel or vine branches. A special substrate is placed in the formed frame. It consists of nylon ropes and plant roots. To mark artificial spawning grounds, floats on thin cords are attached to the nests. Such spawning grounds do not cause fear or criticism among fish. In them, the caviar safely turns into fry, increasing the number of this predator.

Habitats

Rainbow trout prefer exceptionally clean water. Found in rivers with moderate currents and rocky bottoms. It can also be found in mid- and deep-water lakes, shallows and gravel bottoms of tributaries.

Despite its widespread distribution in Russia today, North America is considered the birthplace of rainbow trout. Later, the fish spread to other countries thanks mainly to artificial stocking. The main purpose was to grow it for sport fishing. The size of the fish, habits and methods of catching it turned out to be very convenient for fishing competitions. Recently, trout have been increasingly bred in commercial fisheries for commercial purposes.

On a note! Ichthyologists conducting experiments encountered an interesting fact. It turned out that rainbow trout taken from artificial reservoirs cannot exist in natural conditions. Fry released into rivers either go to sea, turning into common trout, or become stream pieds, taking root only in mountain streams.

Life cycle of brown trout

The life cycle of brown trout lasts about 20 years, their anadromous counterparts are slightly shorter, 17-19 years. They go out to spawn on average 9-10 times during their life. Females are fertile, but the number of eggs laid depends on age and reservoir, and therefore varies from 3 to 25,000. The size of the eggs is large and reaches 6 mm. The female throws them under a stone or into a nest, which she makes in advance with her tail.

A characteristic feature of brown trout is that the breeding season does not affect its appetite. She continues to forage intensively.

Several males can follow one female, but the one with more mature milk becomes a contender for paternity.

In the seventh or eighth week, the eggs hatch into fry. For four or five years, the juveniles stay in the river, grow and gain strength. It feeds on insect larvae and crustaceans. Then some roll into the sea, while others remain in freshwater bodies.

Individuals reach sexual maturity by three years, but already fully ripened milk is found in two-year-old males.

The population size is influenced by natural causes:

95% of the eggs released by the female are eaten by pike, grayling and their own eggs that have not reached sexual maturity;
in subsequent years of life, the number of remaining individuals decreases by more than half.

The numerical composition of brown trout is decreasing not only as a result of natural selection, but also as a result of fishing, especially commercial fishing.

Choosing bait for brown trout

There are not many trophy winners in the ranks of our brother, so let’s land and look at “fish K” from the point of view of a professional spinner. The use of the adjective “professional” in the context of any sentence sounds somewhat bragging, but here this word will come in handy. And that's why.

Let me make a reservation right away - trolling is not considered in this material and is equated to fishing with a net, dynamite, spear, bleach and other methods that run counter to the philosophy of modern spinning.

By the time the author of the material was puzzled by fish K, he already had experience working with brook trout and grayling, so no problems were seen in this event. But in vain. Over the course of 4 seasons, two weeks each, I couldn’t even hold on to this fish.

Although, catching only brown trout was not the goal. It’s just that in promising places there has always been an emphasis in this direction. For example, the bait was changed, a dozen more casts were made, and so on.

“Excellent,” I thought as I approached the foam-white threshold, “a so-so place to catch pike.” Indeed, at first glance, fishing in a roaring stream seems impossible, if only because the fish simply cannot survive in this terrible whirlpool.

So, let's break stereotype number one. The choppy waters are full of fish. We see a surface turbulent current, but the fish are below, behind the rocks, on the border of the streams. The water is saturated with oxygen, the streams carry food, carry away weakened fry, which is still necessary for the fish. And it’s easier for salmon to hide from pike here.

As for Olanga, almost all local species are caught from the stream, with the exception of whitefish and ide, but pike, perch, grayling, brook trout and brown trout quite well bite on spoons in the stream.

When determining the type of bait for such fishing, do not reinvent the wheel. The most effective under these conditions is the good old shaker. To be specific, for the Park it is worth assembling a working set of four scales - 15, 20, 25 and 30 g.

During the history of communication with Olanga, I tested a huge number of spinners of various configurations, but in the end, the choice settled on the one that flies far, holds the stream and attracts fish. Yes, you guessed it, this is the well-known and accessible old Kastmeister.

If you hesitate when choosing a shaker, choose Kastmeister. By the way, about Chinese and other replicas of classics. Don't look for this ax under the bench - it's not there. In order to save money, many copies were tested, up to “from Uncle Vasya from the motor”, but this was not it. The jet is demanding in terms of form and content. Especially if you consider the manner of presentation of the bait in these conditions.

Features of trout fishing

Regardless of the conditions in which you have to catch trout, you must have certain skills. To catch this beautiful fish, you will have to demonstrate all your skill and skill.

In addition, it will not be amiss to familiarize yourself with the nature of the reservoir, learn about its features and the location of promising places. But the most important thing is the availability of suitable gear and catchable baits. If all the nuances are taken into account, then you can always count on catching this amazing fish.

Brook trout fishing

Brook trout fishing is more actively practiced by anglers, since fishing is carried out in natural conditions. When fishing, you should remember that this type of trout is quite shy and cautious. If you consider that the river where the trout lives is fairly clear water, then it can easily notice the silhouette of a fisherman. In order not to frighten the fish once again, it is better to move along the river in the direction of the current. What makes fishing interesting is that it is quite difficult to catch brook trout. In addition, you have to move along the river, the banks of which are overgrown with vegetation, and this is another serious obstacle.

Rainbow trout fishing

Rainbow trout are not particularly shy like brook trout, so they are not as difficult to catch. It is especially not difficult to catch it on a paid reservoir, where it is mainly caught. To catch it, it is better to select brightly colored baits. As a rule, trout bite well on red or yellow wobblers or flies. No less catchy are rotating spoons with bright petals, as well as widely used silicone baits that imitate the movements of various insects.

Lake trout fishing

Lake trout are characterized by a constant habitat. This type of trout becomes attached to the place where there is a sufficient amount of food. She can live here throughout her life.

Anglers are aware of this fact and with great pleasure go to the lakes with the hope of catching lake trout, which, in terms of taste, is not much different from other types of trout.

Lake trout are being actively caught on flies. The main thing is to determine which fly is currently catching fish. As many anglers testify, the ideal option is to fish with a larvae or dry fly in clear or flowing water. If the water is still, then you should give preference to a wet fly.

Lake trout lives in many water bodies in Russia. At the same time, you should always remember that trout can only be active in clear, clean water. When fishing in still water, it is better to use a wet fly.

When fishing in summer, it is better to look for trout in the depths, where they escape the summer heat

It is very important to know the moments when the fish are feeding, then the catch is guaranteed

How to catch river trout

River trout prefer fast water. Such areas are characterized by cool and clear water, with a rapid current. In addition, such areas should have a rocky bottom or flooded trees.

Description of trout species

The general name “trout” includes various freshwater forms of salmon of the genus Salmo. Lake, river, rainbow and brook trout are found.

lake trout

Lake trout
Lake trout

found in Lakes Ladoga and Onega, as well as in many cold-water lakes in Karelia and the Kola Peninsula. Its special forms live in the high-mountain lakes of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia (Lake Sevan, etc.). It feeds mainly on small fish, as well as insects and their larvae.

Lake trout have all the characteristics that make them similar to other salmonids such as brook trout and char. She has a strong body with a prominent abdomen, a compressed head and a wide mouth with strong teeth. Large eyes are located above the jaws. The lateral line is clearly visible, the caudal fin is strongly notched. Lake trout color: reddish-brown back, silvery sides, silvery-white belly. Blackish spots are scattered on the sides, back and gill covers; sometimes they are also observed on the dorsal fin.

Unlike other salmon, lake trout spawn twice: from December to February and in July to August. Spawning takes place at a depth of about 100 m, the female lays about 1,500 eggs. Almost a month later, larvae 15 mm long appear. Very rarely, this fish reaches a length of 80 cm and a weight of 1.5 kg.

This schooling fish lives at a depth of 50 to 100 m, sometimes in hot weather schools approach the shores. It feeds mainly on plankton, but occasionally consumes benthos; Obviously, it can swallow small fish, but treats them with lukewarmness and rarely attacks. Recent studies have shown that lake trout also feed during spawning. Thus, the widely rooted myth that spawning salmon completely refuse any food was dispelled.

Brook trout

Brook trout
Brook trout

- fish of the salmon family. The Latin name is salmo trutta morpha fario. Body length 25 - 55 cm, weight 0.2 - 2 kg and more, at the age of 12 - 13 years - up to 10 - 12 kg. The body is slender, torpedo-shaped, covered with small but very dense scales (115 - 130 scales along the lateral line). All fins are relatively small, in the dorsal there are 3-5 unbranched and 9-11 branched rays, in the anal there are 2-4 and 7-9 rays, respectively. Behind the dorsal there is a small adipose fin in the form of an elongated fold of skin. The large mouth is lined with numerous teeth.

In the taxonomy of fish, brook trout belongs to a special taxonomic unit - a morph, that is, a modified form weakly fixed by heredity, which, with a corresponding change in external conditions, easily returns to its original state. It is recognized that brook trout is a freshwater form of the marine anadromous salmon fish - brown trout (Salmo trutta), which easily forms residential forms in fresh water bodies that adapt well to the freshwater lifestyle, never go to sea, but are smaller compared to the original marine species growth rate and fertility.

The general body color of brook trout is from dark brown to yellowish, the back is usually dark, brownish-green, the head is almost black, the gill covers are golden, the underside of the body is whitish. Its entire body is dotted with numerous dark and red spots, often bordered by a light rim, most intense on the upper body and on the dorsal fin, which is why in many places the trout is called a pied trout. Trout never has the silver color characteristic of other salmon fish. In general, its color varies greatly depending on the color of the water and soil, the time of year, the nature of the food and other factors. It is interesting that in different habitat and feeding conditions, the meat of brook trout can be either white or pink - common for most salmon fish.

Brook trout leads a sedentary lifestyle and does not make large migrations. Adults immediately after autumn-winter spawning go to deep sections of the river to spring springs, where they feed on small fish all winter. Trout leave these places only in the spring, when high water brings muddy streams of melt water into the river. But as soon as the trees and bushes turn green and the first insects appear, the trout take up their summer habitats: large individuals settle alone for the whole summer near waterfalls, steep banks, mouths of streams and rivers, near whirlpools, small ones stick more to rocky rifts, in small flocks they all summer they wander from one place to another. They can usually be found behind large rocks or clumps of bottom thickets, where the current is not so strong and forms small eddies.

Brown trout usually become sexually mature in the 3rd year of life. Spawning occurs in November - December, at a water temperature of about 6 degrees, in shallow areas with a rocky and pebble bottom and a fast current. Quite large (2.5 - 3 mm in diameter) eggs are deposited in grooves and holes specially dug by the female and, after fertilization, buried by her with energetic strokes of her tail. This method of spawning has a number of advantages: as a result of double turning, the soil is cleared of silt and other harmful impurities; eggs covered with pebbles are preserved from being eaten by other fish and are available for fresh water, which provides good aeration of the eggs and other conditions for the development of the embryo throughout the winter and spring. Large trout eggs remain sticky for only about 30 minutes after being spawned, and then are held in place only mechanically. The relative fecundity of brook trout is very low - about 2 - 3 eggs per 1 g of fish body weight, the absolute fecundity ranges from 200 to 5000 eggs.

The larvae hatch from the eggs in early spring, but remain in place for a long time, using the nutrients from the rather large yolk sac. Only after 4 - 5 weeks do the fry emerge from their shelters and begin actively feeding on small insect larvae. From this moment, the juveniles begin to grow rapidly, already in the 1st year reaching a length of 10 - 12 cm or more.

The growth of brook trout is quite rapid, but is highly dependent on habitat conditions. The larger the river in which the trout lives, the more food there is in it and the faster the trout grows and reaches large sizes. In small streams, as a rule, large trout are not found, while in large forest rivers, where there are many insects and small fish, they are not uncommon. Under favorable conditions, trout is capable of reaching a weight of up to 500 g already at the age of 2 years, but in unproductive reservoirs and at 3-4 years it barely reaches 80-90 g. When growing trout in cold-water ponds, using high-quality fertilizer, you can get 50 to 150 centners of marketable fish per hectare of water area.

The food for brook trout are small crustaceans and larvae of aquatic insects, caddis flies, small mollusks, insects falling into the water, small fish, tadpoles, frogs and even small mammals carelessly swimming across the river. Trout feed mainly in the morning and in the evening, and often jump out of the water after flying insects. They often eat fish eggs, including their own, if they are not well covered. Large individuals are not averse to feasting on their own young. Trout get the most abundant food during strong winds and thunderstorms, when a huge number of insects are blown onto the water. It is at this time that trout are very active and move close to the surface. Apparently, this is why trout prefer rivers whose banks are densely overgrown with trees and shrubs, the branches of which attract a large number of insects and provide desirable shading on hot summer days. In summer, during intense heat, when the water temperature rises high, trout stay close to the springs, and in their absence they can climb into holes, where at times they fall into a state of so-called thermal torpor - at this time they can be caught with bare hands, although at other times trout are very agile, extremely cautious and rush headlong for cover at the slightest noise near the water.

Brook trout meat is moderately fatty, tender, and in taste is second only to the meat of sterlet and, perhaps, eel.

Rainbow trout

Rainbow trout
Rainbow trout

- fish of the salmon family. The Latin name is salmo irideus. Length 50 - 90 cm, weight up to 2 kg, less often 6 kg. It differs from brook trout in having a longer body, a notched caudal fin, a wide iridescent stripe along the lateral line, and the absence of red spots on the body. The dorsal fin has 4 unbranched and 9–10 branched fins, and the anal fin has 3 and 8–11 rays, respectively. The scales are small, there are 136 - 148 scales along the lateral line.

Many scientists consider rainbow trout to be a freshwater form of Pacific steelhead (salmo gairdneri). Under natural conditions, rainbow trout live in the fresh waters of the Pacific coast of North America from Alaska to southern Oregon. Since the end of the last century, this valuable fish has been acclimatized in Japan, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, South Africa, Madagascar and a number of other places around the world. In Western Europe, it is a widespread object of pond fish farming and is also acclimatized in some rivers.

In adult trout, the rainbow stripe along the lateral line, from which the fish gets its species name, is especially brightly colored in purple and red during the spawning period. The body and fins of the fish are covered with numerous dark spots.

Rainbow trout are native to clear, cool waters, but are much more tolerant of rising water temperatures than brook trout. The optimal water temperature for its growth and development is 15 - 20 degrees (at a lower temperature, life processes are inhibited). It is also somewhat less demanding on the oxygen content in water - 7 - 8 ml/l can be considered optimal, a decrease to 3 - 4 ml/l causes depression and death of the fish. The trout's reaction to light is very peculiar: it does not tolerate bright sunlight, hides in the shadows, under stones, snags, goes to deep places, however, it does not tolerate complete darkness. Rainbow trout are most active on cloudy, cloudy days, in the evening and morning hours. Unlike other open-bladder fish (in which the swim bladder communicates with the pharynx), it requires constant access to the surface of the water to fill the swim bladder with atmospheric air. Therefore, it cannot live in closed cages completely immersed in water, as well as in reservoirs that freeze completely in winter. Otherwise, the lifestyle of rainbow trout is almost no different from brook trout.

Sexual maturity occurs in females at the 3rd - 4th year of life, in males a year earlier. Unlike brook trout, rainbow trout spawn under natural conditions in March - April, and the development of eggs lasts up to 1.5 - 2 months, depending on water temperature. Fertility is about 1.6 - 2 thousand eggs per 1 kg of fish weight. The caviar is large, bottom, not sticky, the diameter of the eggs is 4 - 6.5 mm.

After hatching from the eggs, the fry live for a long time off the contents of the yolk sac and only after 1 - 2 weeks they begin to switch to independent feeding on small zooplankton. Adults feed on a wide variety of animal organisms - from small crustaceans, insect larvae to small fish. Nutrition from insects falling into the water is of great importance. This fish adapts very easily to new food, which served as the basis for its pond cultivation using artificial feed mixtures.

Rainbow trout grow faster than brook trout. When reared in ponds, growth fluctuates greatly depending on feeding and feeding conditions. Typically, two-year-olds reach a weight of 350 - 450 g, three-year-olds 1 - 1.2 kg, four-year-olds 2 kg or more.

Rainbow trout is of great economic interest for pond fish farming and as a breeding object together with carp. In many countries of the world, it is grown in cages and planted in small rivers and lakes for industrial and recreational fishing. Its meat is incredibly tasty and is highly valued everywhere, which is why serious attention is paid to its production in many European countries. The generally recognized centers of trout farming are Denmark, France, and Italy, where 140 - 180 thousand quintals of this fish are grown annually. Experience has shown that with a high degree of intensification in pond trout farms, it is possible to obtain up to 300 centners of marketable fish per blue hectare.

Trout Spawning

Trout spawning time is from September to November. Spawning sites are fast rocky and pebble-sand rifts, as well as areas above rapids. Having spawned, brown trout either go to sea that same fall or remain in the river until spring. The percentage of death after spawning is insignificant.

Young trout spend 3 to 6 years in the river, after which they slide into the sea.

Trout feed both in the sea and in the river on crustaceans, insects and small fish.

Lake trout is found in Lakes Ladoga and Onega, as well as in many cold-water lakes in Karelia and the Kola Peninsula. Special subspecies live in high-mountain lakes (for example, in Sevan in the Caucasus).

In addition to some subspecies, trout is an anadromous fish, that is, it constantly lives in the lake and spawns in streams and rivers flowing into it.

It enters rivers for spawning in the fourth to sixth year of life. In most rivers it rises in spring and summer and spawns in the same year. In addition, in the rivers Vuokse and Svir, an autumn movement is observed in September-November. Trout that rise in the fall are called the “winter” form and spawn the following year. Spawning occurs in fast rapids sections of the river from late September to November. After spawning, the fish does not die.

Lake trout that hatch from eggs live in the river for 3 to 5 years. In the lake they grow up to 2.5–3 kg,

occasionally up to 10
kg.
Having risen to the river to breed, they sometimes feed during the entire period of their stay in the river, and sometimes (in particular, in Vuoksa) only after spawning.

In the lake, trout feed mainly on small fish, mainly those living in the upper layers of water and away from the shore (for example, vendace, smelt, juvenile whitefish). In summer, the trout's main food consists of insects, which it catches on the surface of the water.

Brook trout (pied trout) inhabits many fast and cold-water rivers in the European part of the USSR. It is common in the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, on the Kola Peninsula, and in the Baltic Sea basin. There are in the Caucasus and Crimea. Usually found in those reservoirs where sea or lake trout could get into. It is believed that brook trout are lake or sea trout that have degenerated over many generations spent in the river.

It differs in appearance and color from other trout. Characteristic are red or orange spots surrounded by a light rim.

The usual weight is 300–500 g, occasionally specimens weighing 1–2 kg are found.

In summer, the medium-sized moth stays in small groups on the rapids of the river, choosing quiet areas. Large moth prefers deeper places near shelters, such as a tree fallen into the water, large stones, bridge abutments, etc. It likes to stand on dumps - the transition of shallows into depth, near steep banks into which a stream of water hits, and on the border of fast and slow currents. In spring and autumn, it does not go far from its favorite sites, choosing deeper and quieter places nearby.

He spends most of his life settled. It makes small movements only in search of convenient spawning areas and sometimes during floods, rising upstream in both cases.

Spawning, even in the same river, is extended and lasts from October to February, at water temperatures from 0 to 6°. Spawning sites are shallow and fast riffles.

It feeds throughout the year, except for the spawning period, the hottest days in mid-summer and moments of sudden turbidity of the water. The food is small crustaceans, insect larvae, insects, fish eggs, and for large damselflies, sometimes small fish, mainly minnows. In summer it fattens mainly in the morning and evening. In the north it also feeds on white nights. In spring and autumn, as well as in cold cloudy weather, it feeds almost all day.

Spawning of river or brook trout

River trout usually becomes capable of breeding offspring and laying eggs in the third year of its life; it reaches sexual maturity. Spawning time is usually in late autumn, closer to winter, like many salmon fish, but it depends on the location of the place in terms of latitude, altitude and water temperature. The further north the place and the colder the water, spawning begins there already in mid-September. And in flatter terrain conditions, the spawning of river trout shifts towards winter, and occurs in January and February.

Brook trout spawn when water temperatures are only around 6℃ or so, in rivers and streams in shallow areas with fast currents and rocky bottoms. Just before spawning, the body of the pieds changes its color and becomes darker, dirty gray in color, the red spots become almost invisible, and in some they disappear completely.

The spawning process occurs in a very original way: the female trout uses her fins to dig grooves and holes at the bottom, where she lays eggs, then the male fertilizes the eggs with milk, and the female then, with energetic swings of her tail, buries the grooves with eggs with pebbles and small stones. This method of spawning is very practical, since when the soil is turned twice during the current, it is cleansed of silt and various harmful impurities.

And covering the eggs with pebbles protects them from further eating by other fish, and at the same time, the eggs always have access to fresh water enriched with oxygen for the further development of the embryos. Sprinkling the caviar on top with pebbles is also necessary so that it does not get carried away by the current, since the stickiness of river trout caviar does not last long, about 30 minutes, and then it can only be held in place mechanically, just sprinkled with pebbles and pebbles.

According to research by ichthyologists, trout spawn not annually, but every other year. The fertility of brook trout is very low, the number of eggs in one female is relatively small, usually in the ratio of 2-3 eggs per gram of weight of the brook trout itself, approximately 200-1500 eggs, each 2.5-3.0 mm in diameter. The survival rate of trout eggs is 2-5% of the total mass of eggs, so this fish is bred artificially in many countries and the fry are released annually into their natural habitat, into rivers and streams.

Trout larvae hatch from eggs in early spring and remain in place for a long time, feeding on substances from the yolk sac. After 4-5 weeks, the fry emerge from their shelters and begin to actively feed on small insect larvae. Young trout grow quickly, and already in the first year they reach a size of 10-12 cm or even more, depending on the abundance of food in the river or stream.

Description of the fish

The rainbow trout fish is relatively small: the weight of an adult reaches 2 kg, the body length is no more than 1 m. A medium-sized specimen is 35 cm long and weighs about 500 g. If it lives in places where it has the opportunity to eat plentifully, its size increases significantly , and a well-fed “champion” can weigh up to 1.5 kg. The most outstanding, record specimen gained a body weight of more than 5 kg!

This fish is distinguished from other species by a noticeable detail: on the sides of the body it has a red stripe, shimmering in various shades from deep purple to bright orange and similar to a stripe. In spawning males, this stripe becomes pronounced: a beautiful mating plumage! It is because of the iridescent decoration that the fish received its scientific name - Salmo irideus.

The body of an adult specimen is dotted with small dark spots extending beyond the fins. And in the iris they are always dark, and not colored, like in brook trout.

The body shape of this trout is elongated, the tail fin has a pronounced notch. The body is flattened laterally. The muzzle looks short and truncated. Body color depends on the habitat: it is light where the bottom is light, and darker where it is dark.

Ichthyologists, having studied the life cycle and properties of the fish, concluded that its ancestor was one of the ancient species of Pacific salmon. Today it is classified as a freshwater form of the saltwater salmon Salmo gairdneri, also known as steelhead or steelhead.

Weight and size

Most often sold in carcasses weighing 1-2 kg, less often in portions of 300 gram fish. It makes no sense to grow it too large; its taste will deteriorate. In its natural environment, rainbow trout can weigh several kilograms, but such fish are less versatile in preparation.

Where does it live?

Rainbow Trout Habitat

Habitat: clean running water with a high oxygen content. In the natural environment it is found in Kamchatka and Alaska, as well as in South America. In artificial conditions in Russia it is bred in all regions. Sometimes mykiss are released into paid water bodies for fishermen.

What does it eat?

Rainbow trout is a predatory fish; it feeds on smaller fish and sometimes eats small crustaceans, insects and eggs of other fish. The taste of the finished fish will depend on the nutrition.

Lifestyle

This fish chooses exceptionally clean habitats: fresh, cold springs with a transparent rocky bottom. Once a reservoir becomes polluted, trout are the first to die of all the underwater fauna. It follows that trout meat is environmentally friendly, and therefore healthy.

After spawning, the fish move down to the river beds and stay closer to the bottom. It feeds on minnows (small fish).

In summer, when the water warms up by more than 15°, schools stay at the mouths of rivers and springs, since the water temperature there is much lower.

Individuals that have not reached half a kilo in weight are not predators and parasitize at the expense of their older relatives, feeding on their eggs. In addition, they feed on earthworms, which are washed out of the soil with rain.

Diet

This is a very voracious fish. Eats all year. The amount of food eaten per day corresponds to 2/3 of its weight

When catching fish, it is important to know what trout eat: plankton, fry, insects, and crustaceans are part of its diet. As fish age, their appetites increase: they hunt small fish or eat younger relatives.

Predators jump like flying fish above the water, which allows them to feast on winged insects. A lot of food gets into the water thanks to the wind. Grasshoppers, flies, and midges also form part of the fish’s diet.

Spawning process

Trout spawn when an individual reaches two years of age. They go to spawn in the fall, from permanent places where trout are found, and swim to shallow water areas. Eggs are laid in underwater depressions, which they build with their tail.

Biological features

This species has an elongated, slightly laterally compressed oblong body.
The surface of the body is covered with dense small scales. Trout is a cold-water fish. The optimal environmental parameters are water temperature 14-20 °C and oxygen content 7-8 mg/l.

Interesting fact. Although it is generally accepted that trout like cold water, they also feel comfortable in relatively warm water. The point here is not so much the temperature itself, but rather the sufficient amount of oxygen dissolved in the water. Trout are found in cold, deep-water lakes, both at great depths and near the shore, where the water is warmed by the sun.

Under natural conditions, the fish reaches about half a meter in length and 1-1.5 kg in weight. However, in large lakes there are specimens one meter long and weighing more than 8 kg. In rare cases, the life expectancy of rainbow trout can reach 11-12 years. Most trout live only 6-8 years.

Varieties of coloring

The color of the body changes depending on the color of the bottom, the transparency of the water and the shade of the impurities it contains. Most often, the belly of the fish is silvery-white, and the back is greenish. There are numerous spots on the body and fins, with more of them above the lateral line, and closer to the abdomen they almost end.

The color of the fish may vary depending on habitat conditions, spawning and general condition. In general, the young individual has silvery sides, the back is always darker than the sides.

The inhabitants of small lakes are paler and have fewer black spots. They are more silvery and almost devoid of the distinctive reddish stripe inherent in river and stream forms of fish.

Spawning

The most aggressive males that have passed the selection follow the female and immediately water the eggs with milk.
The female fills the nests with fertilized eggs with fine gravel. Puberty occurs at 3-4 years of age. Spawning occurs in the spring from mid-April to the end of June, but some populations can spawn in the fall, and fish can spawn during the day and at night. Trout caviar ranges in color from orange to almost pink. The eggs are quite large, their diameter is 4-6 mm.

First, the female makes peculiar nests in the ground, which look like depressions among the stones. Then she lays a certain number of eggs in each nest. In one nest there can be approximately from 500 to 10,000 pieces.

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Nutrition

Rainbow trout is a voracious predator. Juveniles mainly feed on insects, and the menu of large individuals consists of fish (minnow, verkhovka, dace), frogs, small rodents and chicks of waterfowl.

The fish continue to feed, albeit with varying intensity, all year round. In summer, with the appearance of aerial insects, trout hunt mainly at the surface of the water. In winter, fish go to the depths, where their diet already consists mainly of bottom organisms, crustaceans, mollusks and insect larvae.

On a note! In trout farms, fish are accustomed to both natural and artificial feed. In such favorable conditions, it grows much faster and reaches large sizes.

At first, the fry stay and feed in schools, the number of which decreases as the fish grow older. Adults like to hunt alone, occupying certain areas of the reservoir and driving away other fish from there. When the food supply in the reservoir is scarce, the predator begins to migrate in search of a more suitable place.

Growing cycle and technology

Growing trout takes quite a long time. In order for the fry to grow to the size of an adult fish within a few years, it is necessary to create suitable conditions. The equipment used for trout farming is also suitable for other types of fish. The difference lies in the unique conditions. To do this, it is recommended to first study the features of the natural environment in which the trout lives.

Suitable water chemistry for keeping trout includes the following standards:

oxygen level - from 7 to 11 milligrams per liter (the necessary indicator will be provided by the aeration column);
pH value – not lower than 6.5 and not higher than 8 (if it falls below the permissible norm, the fish stops reproducing; if it rises higher, the trout may die);
nitrate concentration – up to 100 milligrams per liter (above this value poses a risk to fish);
ammonia level - 0.1 milligrams per liter;
hardness index – from 8 to 12;
carbon dioxide content – up to 35 milligrams per liter;
chlorine level – up to 0.01 milligrams per liter.

To check chemical indicators, special devices are used, which can be purchased at hardware stores.

Feeding fry and adult fish

Proper feeding determines how long it will take for the fry to grow to the size of an adult, and how tasty the fish will be. There are two types of trout food: organic and dry. Fish tastes better if the first type is used.

To give fish meat a red color, canthaxanthin should be added to the food.

Feeding of fry and adult fish is different. You should start feeding trout from the moment it is born. The diet for fry consists of:

zooplankton (egg yolk may be added);
meat and fish flour;
fish oil.

You can prepare a mash by combining different feed options. The optimal number of feedings per day should not exceed 9 times. A thousand individuals require about 90 grams of food. There is a special floating and sinking type food available for sale that simplifies feeding.

Adults can be given dry and live food. The ratio of these species is divided approximately equally with a bias in favor of living species. The diet for adult fish consists of:

chopped animal meat;
fish waste;
shrimp;
water snails;
insects

Fiber is also used to feed fish. It does not provide any benefit to the trout, but it loosens other types of food, making them better digestible.

Temperature

In a body of natural origin, it is difficult to regulate the temperature. Therefore, it is recommended to keep trout in a RAS. Depending on the age, the following indicators are suitable for this type of fish:

from +6 to +12 degrees Celsius – for the ripening of caviar;
from +10 to +14 degrees Celsius – for fry;
from +14 to +16 degrees Celsius – for adult fish.

The temperature gradually rises as the trout grow.

Care and cultivation standards

In order for trout to develop well, you need to follow a number of tips. The water must have the right temperature and sufficient oxygen. It is necessary to check the serviceability of filters - water contamination can harm the fish.

It is recommended to separate small and large fish by placing them in separate containers. Thanks to this method, weak individuals will get more food and they will grow faster. During the spawning period, the best individuals should be selected to produce offspring.

With normal development, the weight of rainbow trout is:

30 grams – at the age of fry;
125 grams – one-year-old individuals;
200 grams – fish over two years old.

Brown trout develop more slowly, so the indicated indicators for it are lower at the same age.

Fishing for trout of various types

Whatever time of year you go fishing, remember that hunting for trout requires special skill and dexterity, and you also cannot do without excellent knowledge of the reservoir; if you have all this, you can safely go to the river for a good catch.

Brook trout fishing

Especially popular among fishermen is brook trout, or, as it is popularly called, pied trout. This is perhaps one of the most beautiful representatives of its order; the body of the pied bird is painted with black and red spots and shimmers with the brightest colors of the rainbow. Fishing for brook trout requires the utmost precaution. You should fish by walking, that is, moving along the shore of a reservoir downstream, otherwise you risk scaring the fish, and it, in turn, by rising up, will scare away all its fellow tribesmen. Then you shouldn’t count on a good catch. It is also worth moving because after catching several fish in one place, others stop responding to the bait and leave the place that is dangerous for them.

Rainbow trout fishing

Catching rainbow trout does not require such careful camouflage from the fisherman; unlike pied trout, it is much less careful and timid. Fish of this subspecies are practically not afraid of either the tackle itself or repeated casts, but one cannot say that they are completely fearless - upon seeing a fisherman or his shadow, rainbow trout almost immediately disappears forever. This trout responds well to very bright, challenging baits; red and yellow fluffy flies made from bird feathers, as well as wobblers of similar colors, are especially attractive to it.

Fishing for lake and pond trout

Many fishermen are attracted to their shores by reservoirs rich in lake trout. The main feature of this species is that the fish are very attached to their habitat; having found a place where there is no shortage of food, they never swim away from there. Fishing for lake trout with a fly is one of the most popular and successful ways of hunting this fish; it is only important to correctly determine what type of flies the trout prefers in the body of water where you came to fish. There is only one universal piece of advice: you can fish with a dry fly or larva only in clean, transparent water, and if the water is still, then it is better to use a wet fly as a bait.

You can find pond trout in many cultivated reservoirs in central Russia, where there are small dams. The activity of the fish depends on the temperature of the water; the colder it is in the reservoir, the more active the fish, at this time it is not so picky about bait. Fishing for pond trout in warm water is most promising in the deep parts of the reservoir, where the fish climb to hide from the heat. And if you are planning to fish in a paid reservoir, find out in advance when and where the fish are fed, luck will visit you there, and with it a good catch.

River trout fishing

River trout fishing can be especially successful in fast water. This fish loves cool rivers with a good current, especially if there are rocky areas at the bottom. It is most often found where there is cover from submerged boulders or fallen trees.

Much of the success of trout hunting depends on how quickly the angler can adapt to the constantly changing behavior of these fish. Knowing the characteristics of a particular species, you can easily choose the most suitable fishing tactics, and a big catch will not keep you waiting long.

Trout spawning All about trout

When do trout go to spawn?

The name trout combines many forms and subspecies of freshwater salmon of the genus Saimo. There are lake, river, stream and trout. The sea trout (trout) that lives in the coastal strip of the sea stands apart.

All trout spawn in pairs. Trout are fish with an autumn spawning period, the time of which depends on the water temperature and location of the reservoir. For trout of the Leningrad region, Karelia and Kola, spawning usually begins at the end of September. This wonderful fish is caught in the summer.

Brown trout

Unlike freshwater forms of trout, sea trout become sexually mature much later. Usually this beauty comes to its first spawning at the age of 6-8 years, less often earlier.

Brown trout begin their ascent to spawning grounds in May or June and last 2-3 weeks, but unlike salmon, they do not make long-distance migrations. In many rivers it continues to feed during its passage.

Adult females spawn, depending on age, from four to eight thousand eggs with a diameter of up to 5 mm.

How trout behave after spawning

After spawning, trout do not die, as narrow-minded fishermen claim, they simply return to their usual stopping place. While sliding down the river, the fish consumes various foods, as it needs to gain strength after a difficult period in life. After a short rest and active feeding, the trout returns to its usual way of life.

Fry from eggs do not appear soon, they take about 2-3 months, that is, the first fry are found with the arrival of the first warmth. At first, the two-centimeter fry feed exclusively on the remainder of the egg yolk left over from the eggs. Being in the yolk sac for 3-5 weeks, the fry cannot move; the only way to survive is to hide inside. All the time the fry are between the stones and absolutely do not leave the shelter. When the little thing gets stronger, it begins to independently search for and obtain food. Initially, the fish’s diet consists exclusively of plankton.

The survival rate of the fry depends on the water temperature after the eggs ripen and other factors. Most of the little fish inevitably die, some do not hatch from eggs, others die as a result of the destruction of clutches, and still others encounter predators along the way. The main enemies of eggs: burbot, grayling and young trout. If the conditions are favorable, during the warm period the fry grow to 7-9 cm, one-year-old trout - 9-14 cm.

Originally posted 2018-09-19 10:06:55.