fished putah creek on 12/30 for the second time(i think access 4). Didn't catch any thing, but saw alot of fish.A 4lber got about 5 feet of air trying to eat something. Saw some trout that looked awfully beat up, with big white spots on them, almost salmon looking. What are the spots from?
I'd have to say its from spawning, spawning time is rough on these guys. Sometimes the fish i see jump like that are actually being chased by an otter. I was at the nimbus hatchery 2 weeks ago and alot of the steelhead had the same white spots. You could actually see big peices of skin hanging off these fish at the hatchery its gotta be from rubbing on the rocks and the cement of the fish ladder and the holding pool, some of them were so bad you gotta wonder if they recover and survive, so i assume the fish you saw in putah were pretty much doin the same thing, diggin redds and chasing egg eaters away. Onether thing i'd like to bring up is not all fish on and near the redds are spawning, quit a few are ther to simply eat eggs, just spend some time watchin em.
Where were the white spots? White spots on fin tips usually is a strain of native trout. White on the body (which is what I think you are talking about) is something i dont usually see, but I think it might be scarring either from rubbing on the bottom while spawning or from preditors.
The white spots are on top of their heads. Much the same as steelhead get especially in the American. Not really sure exactly what causes it. Would love to know why. I've always thought it had something to do with digging redds or battling other fish. I've also heard that the steelies get some fungus or something on them that makes them turn white on the head from the freshwater but they heal up when they go back to sal****er. That theory doesn't quite work for me at Putah.
The white spots can be caused by spawning. If you look at the big male spawners, they have kypes (hook jaws). These are not for decoration. They use them to fight off other males and egg-eaters. When the fish fight, they bite each other, leaving open wounds on the other fish's body. Some of these sores could be caused from digging redds and from otters as well. A freshwater fungus gets in the wound and leaves a big, ugly white spot on the fish. I believe that the fish's protective slime normally protects them from the fungus, but the open wounds leave them vulnerable.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Does anyone know if the trout can survive when they have these white fungus spots? I've seen several fish with the white fungus spots on their head. A couple of years ago I spotted a 24-26 inch fish sitting in about four feet of water. Normally, I would get excited about seeing such a big fish, but this guy had about 1/3 of his entire body was covered with the white fungus. I couldn't help but feel that he wasn't going to survive, but I was obviously hoping he would.
I did some research on the fungus that causes the white spots on spawning trout and salmon. It is called Saprolegnia. It is not a primary cause of death in spawning fish. The physical abuse and stress associated with spawning are primary causes of mortality. The fungus does further weaken the fish, though. Therefore, a fish that has the fungus covering the majority of its body is most likely going to die.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Since we are on this topic, here is a huge fish i found dead in the water on 1/2. Death due to spawning, because I checked the fish for otter puncture marks, or scars on the jaws from being hooked and everything looked clean. This fish was 27/1/4" buck, just a nice sized fish. I have fished the creek atleast once a week for 5 years and this is the 3rd fish I have seen dead. I would amsume that the otters or other putah native wildlife probilly get to them first.
