Milk And Eggs

[Joe C]

My son and I were able to fish the flats above and below Outlet 1 weds and thurs. I noticed several redds being created and caught several in the 18" range that were either milking or spilling eggs. How successful are the rainbows reproducing in Taney? Do they survive? How can you tell if its a hatchery fish?

Quick report:

We caught the majority on black or green zebra midges. Had mixed results with peach or yellow egg pattern, and did catch one on a griffiths dry on weds with no generation.

[Randall]

There have been several discussions about your question and from what I have picked up, only a few eggs, if any actually hatch.

If you do manage to catch a streambred (for those who don't think all streambred are wild) fish you'll know it. They fight a lot harder than hatchery fish. They also generally have much better colors as well, but a hatchery fish can look identical after being in the stream for a while. Generally speaking, if you start catching baby fish with parr marks, probably gonna be streambred.

[Tangled Bill]

If you do manage to catch a streambred (for those who don't think all streambred are wild) fish you'll know it. They fight a lot harder than hatchery fish. They also generally have much better colors as well

That perfectly describes the 16" stud 'bow I got yesterday just downriver from the cable. 10+ minutes to get him to the net (partly because of my flyfishing newbieness, I would think.) Every time I got him to within about 10' of me he'd decide that he wasn't playing and - ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz - off he'd go. It was getting to the point that I started worrying about tiring the fish out way too much. Finally got him in the net and safely released. He was a good 2" across the shoulders and the colors?... out of this world.

Compared to a colorless 18"-er I caught a couple of weeks ago that came to the net like a 19 year old blind chihuahua on a leash.

[Joe C]

That perfectly describes the 16" stud 'bow I got yesterday just downriver from the cable. 10+ minutes to get him to the net (partly because of my flyfishing newbieness, I would think.) Every time I got him to within about 10' of me he'd decide that he wasn't playing and - ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz - off he'd go. It was getting to the point that I started worrying about tiring the fish out way too much. Finally got him in the net and safely released. He was a good 2" across the shoulders and the colors?... out of this world.

Compared to a colorless 18"-er I caught a couple of weeks ago that came to the net like a 19 year old blind chihuahua on a leash.

That was my feeling too. They fought very hard and I felt really bad about the sow spilling eggs when they could be the next generation of streambred fish. Between me and my son we caught at least 3 that spilled eggs.

[Phil Lilley]

MDC says they do NOT reproduce in the lake.

[Leonard]

If they DO NOT reproduce in Taney ..

(even though nobody brags about them)..

How many trout do we catch in the 5-8 in range.... very few and far between but they are there

They release a stock trout at about 10-12 in.... right???

[laker67]

caught several in the 18" range that were either milking or spilling eggs. How successful are the rainbows reproducing in Taney? Do they survive? How can you tell if its a hatchery fish?

First off I'm glad to hear you had a good day on the water and caught some quality fish.

MDC says that there is less than one percent spawning success rate, statewide. Spawn areas at taney and the trout parks get so much foot traffic that I would say the odds are even less. Eggs are buried in the gravel of the redd until they hatch. 3 weeks after spawn time, that redd looks just like the rest of the stream bottom. Most egg deposits will be destroyed unknowingly, by foot traffic. Areas like nfow and the 11 point should have better pre- hatching survival rates. When you think 1% of a million eggs, that's 10 thousand par marked little bait fish swimming around. If you only fish taney and the trout parks, you can assume that you have never caught a streamborn fish.

Is it a hatchery fish or a streamborn fish? It makes for a very entertaining argument. Use the one percent figure that mdc uses.

Someone mentioned the fighting ability of a wild, or a streamborn trout. How do you know that one fish over another fish is wild, or streamborn? I don't think that it is possible to ID one from the other.

[Indiana Trout]

Don't know whether they do or not, but I've caught at least two that were about four inches long, perfectly formed and had parr marks.

[perchjerker]

A Rookie Question... What are parr marks?? Thanks in advance to any answers.

[laker67]

A Rookie Question... What are parr marks?? Thanks in advance to any answers.

Vertical bars on the sides of immature salmonoids. Parr marks will be visible for the first year. Parr is also a time frame of growth for young trout and salmon.