Sat And Tues

[Brian Sloss]

I guided both Sat and Tues. Sat there were a lot of fisherman and floaters out for a Sat in Nov on the Eleven Point and though we caught plenty of fish, you could tell the added pressure did slow the fishing a bit. Still we had a 21 inch fish landed. Tues, no other people and the fishing was noticeably easier and we had an 18 inch male landed that was beautifully colored and ready to start the dance of love. Speaking of which, Sat we saw our first spawning redds of the year, but in only one place. By Tues there was spwning going on in a second location as well. On both occassions on Tues there was an eagle hanging out in a tree about 15 ft above the redds. What I am getting at is, between the stress the act of the spawn takes, plus other predation stresses, please leave actively spawning fish alone and don't get out and walk around in the areas of the redds if you can avoid it. We need these fish to have as much success as possible spawning and recovering from doing so to keep a strong fishery going.

[SmallyWally]

Good post.

[Mark]

I have a hard time even seeing fish in EP. How do you identify redds and spawning areas? I assume areas would be recently prepared circular beds. Would these be only in shallow waters near the banks?

[Brian Sloss]

Pretty much Mark. Gravelly areas areas with current, not always by the bank, more often near the bank.