German brown trout, native to Europe and found in the tailwaters of Beaver, Bull Shoals, Norfork and Greers Ferry dams, typically start their spawning run during fall and winter.
Brown trout offer anglers a chance at some fantastic fishing, but biologists ask anglers to keep a conservation mindset when chasing these gems of the tailwater so everyone will be able to enjoy them for years to come.
Chief among fishing faux pas with the wading community is the destruction of trout nests, called redds, which serve to keep the population going.
Christy Graham, Arkansas Game and Fish trout program coordinator, said anglers should be aware of spawning activities and the damage caused when redds or spawning trout are disturbed.
“The trout management program recommends anglers be mindful of spawning activity during this time of the year and to be careful when wade fishing to avoid trampling over redds,” Graham said. “Anglers should also be aware that there are some seasonal regulations in effect that coincide with the brown trout spawning season on both the White and Little Red Rivers.”
Trout are nest guarders, and they can be nest robbers. Removing a large brown trout from the redd it is guarding not only can cause harm to an already stressed fish, but enables predators, including other trout, to destroy the redd. Simply walking through a trout redd can have disastrous results, which is why the Bull Shoals catch-and-release area along Bull Shoals White River State Park is closed to angling from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31 each year.
The area immediately downstream of the Bull Shoals catch-and-release area becomes catch and release only for brown trout during this time. Both regulations are intended to prevent spawning brown trout from being removed from the tailwater during the spawn.
Graham said trout redds can be identified fairly easily. They appear as clean, oval patches of small to medium-sized gravel and are typically 2 to 3 feet in diameter. The gravel in them is typically lighter-colored than surrounding gravel. There may be a small depression or mound, where gravel has been excavated and deposited over the eggs.
Fishing the trout spawn can produce some exciting action because extremely large brown trout tend to show themselves a bit more and become more aggressive during this time. But many dyed-in-the-wool trout anglers will avoid fishing for spawning fish entirely. Rainbow trout and cutthroats often produce some exceptional fishing on egg patterns and corn during this time because of their tendency to capitalize on brown trout eggs that become dislodged from nests and float downstream.
Graham said anglers can help provide next year’s fish by following a few simple steps: Avoid snagging fish; use bar-bless hooks to minimize damage to the fish’s mouth; land the fish as quickly as possible; wet hands to land the fish; and minimize the amount of time it stays out of the water.