Another Reminder

[Andrew324]

Was in the park for a little today. Didn't fish much. Water is low. Lots of redds. At the tops of riffles and runs where the best water flows. No signs of spawning at lower wire. Almost lost my $$$ good polarized lenses. Had to find them in the dark!

[mic]

Was in the park for a little today. Didn't fish much. Water is low. Lots of redds. At the tops of riffles and runs where the best water flows. No signs of spawning at lower wire. Almost lost my $$ good polarized lenses. Had to find them in the dark!

I look and look, but never see any. I need someone to show me what to look for. Want to keep my wild's going well.

[Arofishing]

I was there Sunday and didn't see any redds either, but I spent nearly all my time at lower wire. I had a lot of fun fishing dry flies but didn't catch any trout. I plan on going when the weather gets nicer again next weekend, but not during any the Patriots vs Ravens, of course.

[Andrew324]

I have some photos from the day I met you there AJ. Really though, the photos do not do them justice. At first I was skeptical about whether they were redds but yesterday my thoughts were confirmed when I noticed them all in the same types of places and actually spotted several females sitting on them. There were also more yesterday then the day I met you. The water was so shallow that you could see their dorsal, adipose, and caudal fins breaking and swirling the water surface. Like I said most of them are in areas of the creek where the water quality is the best. This is usually at the very head of a run/riffle in the smooth water (this could also be called the tail end of long shallow runs and pools). Not all are perfect "dinner plates" but there are a few that are. I will post some pictures when I'm off work just for the hey.

[Arofishing]

I am still being real cautious about crossing the creek, and since you informed me where you previously *thought* they were, I've avoided walking near the tops of riffles entirely. I did spook a fish pretty much in that same exact spot we met for the first time a couple weeks ago (just down stream of the bridge). I couldn't figure out what would possess a fish to hang out in that shallow of water, since its fins were showing also. I looked around for a nest but didn't see one for certain. I assumed that's what was going on though.

I spooked a decent fish upstream of the bridge too, but it wasn't the one bigun' I saw there last time .

My time at the lower wire wasn't fruitful at all. I didn't even spook any trout down there. It was still nice to get out and walk the creek in any case. I'll probably see what the upper wire is all about next time, assuming there is water there.

Edit: So I just watched some more videos and looked at pictures of redds. They don't appear to be much different than a spawning panfish bed, which I'm familiar with. I may be fixating on the redness of the bed too much. It looks like I should be weary of any rock formation that seems contrived, is circular, and looks polished.

[Andrew324]

Photos are not that great. Hope we can tie at the coffee shop again, that was fun.

[Arofishing]

I don't know, those photos are pretty darn good. The first one is especially distinct. The second is a little tough to tell whether those are dry patches or beds, but there would be no reason for the water to mysteriously drop right there.

Sounds like more tying and even some fishing (possibly) this Saturday!

[ness]

My time at the lower wire wasn't fruitful at all. I didn't even spook any trout down there.

You just spooked them before you realized you spooked them. They're spooky!

[Bamboozle]

I may be opening a can of worms -- or Royal Wulffs -- here but it really is best to refrain from fishing right now. Even if the fish are not on a redd if they've recently bred they are likely in a weakened state and particularly vulnerable. Catching them, playing them on the line etc can potentially be fatal.

So while I truly admire everyone on this thread for trying to understand what redds look like in order to protect them, I do feel that those of us who are continuing to fish during this time of year are kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul: avoiding redds because you rightly care about the long term health of the resource while at the same time potentially (if inadvertantly) killing fish.

As I said in an earlier post this is a good time of year to watch fish, look for redds, use the openness of the woods to make new discoveries about the creek and generally revel in the miracle that are these fish. And, while you're at it, pick up trash, tires etc so that when we do go back to fishing in a month or so the experience and the creek will be that much more pristine.

[mic]

So while I truly admire everyone on this thread for trying to understand what redds look like in order to protect them, I do feel that those of us who are continuing to fish during this time of year are kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul: avoiding redds because you rightly care about the long term health of the resource while at the same time potentially (if inadvertantly) killing fish.

If that is the case, then from when to when would you not fish the wilds?