fishing below spawning fish

matt_feeley · Newbie

fishing below spawning fish

lorax · Member

I am certainly no exert. I'm replying because I just read an article in Flyfisherman about the lower sac, and it struck me as odd that they would explain, as one of the main tactics on the river, the method of drifting an egg and a nymph past spawning salmon for the trout scavenging below. They explained that you need to start your drift above the salmon and occasionally you may hook one and when this happens simply break the fish off so that it may get back to biz. hmm

�I guess this is ethical since the salmon will expire soon.

Seems to me it is ethically blurry to fish for the species in spawn mode anywhere near redds, but other species scavenging below are clearly fair game. If there's only one type of trout in the river, (putah?) that definitely could get sticky confuse

-- Edited by lorax at 19:28, 2009-01-25

fear no fish · Veteran Member

I would not fish near them at all. You just cant be too careful especially on a creek where planting has stopped for the year-- you know that the reds will be getting a ton more pressure now and wild fish will be caught more. You really need to be careful in these times on putah.. catching no fish can be better than killing one that is full of eggs that putah would really benefit from.

bono · Master Fly Fishing Guide

I personally do not think fishing for trout below spawning salmon is unethical because the trout themselves are not spawning.But fishing for trout below spawning trout is not a real good idea because in my mind any trout in the� vicinity of a redd is a potential spawner. Even spawning fish move around quite a bit chasing each other around establishing territory and protecting their eggs. Bono