Fall 2027 PA OUTDOORS woods and waterways
Fall Trout Fishing
The Spawn, Ethics & Conserving the Resource
Photos and Story by Evan Buck
Fall Is Here
Fall Is Here
You wake up on a cool morning, make your coffee, grab your fishing gear, and head to the trout stream. After putting your waders on and rigging up your rod, you begin the trek to your favorite spot, taking in the familiar sound of the crunch of leaves underfoot and the smell of that damp earthy air. After you get to your favorite pool, you begin picking the structure apart to look for one of those big pre-spawn brown trout with a sense of urgency that can only be brought on by shorter days. Fall is here; as surely as you have noticed these changes, the trout notice them too.
In Pennsylvania, we are lucky enough to have a thriving native brook trout and wild trout population thanks to countless miles of streams full of excellent habitat and flowing with cold and clean water. Every fall, these wild trout begin their reproductive cycle, known as the spawn. It is imperative that we as anglers know how the trout spawn works so that we can fish ethically during this time period to minimize our impact and ensure that there are wild trout for generations to come.
What Is the Spawn?
The spawn is triggered by a combination of shortened day length and cooler water temperatures. Fish will begin to feed heavily pre-spawn to ensure that they have sufficient energy to spawn since it is a very energy-intensive process. It is also common for trout to become more aggressive this time of year as they defend their feeding and spawning territories. As the days get shorter and the water begins to cool down to the lower 50s to mid 40s, female trout will begin creating beds to lay their eggs in, known as redds. This typically occurs in mid-October, but brook trout can spawn as early as late September. Redds can appear as clean patches of gravel that can be round, oval, or teardrop in shape. They are made by the female trout using their bodies and tails to clean a patch of gravel and dig a small impression to lay eggs in.
These redds are built in shallow oxygenated riffles where the gravel is free of silt and the right size - think of gravel ranging from the size of coins to baseballs in diameter. Once the redd is built and the eggs are laid, a male trout fertilizes the eggs and then the female buries them. The eggs will then sit and incubate until late winter or early spring. The timeframe of the spawn can vary by watershed and seasonal conditions. Not every trout spawns at the same time, and juvenile and immature trout will not participate in the spawn.
Ethics of Fishing During the Spawn
The spawn is incredibly stressful for trout, many of which are prone to infection, illness, or death due to being weakened during this process. Some may even be physically injured from building redds or fighting over territory. In my opinion, the best time to target trout during the fall is pre-spawn. This is a great time to throw large streamers and baitfish imitations. During pre-spawn, trout want to store as many calories as they can as fast as they can. This can make for some really fun and fast-paced fishing and is when many anglers catch their largest fish of the year. Another benefit of pre-spawn fishing is that you do not risk catching a fish that is actively spawning, which can easily result in the death of the fish.
Once fish begin to pair up on redds, I cannot stress enough how important it is that you do not target those fish. A successful spawn is what allows us to have wild trout to catch year after year. Once the fish are paired up and sitting on redds, you may be able to fish in parts of the stream where fish do not spawn. Remember, trout build redds in shallow riffles with smaller gravel, so super fast runs, pocket water, and deep slow pools with larger boulders tend not to have redds. You should still double check before these spots before fishing them.
Fish that are not spawning will still respond well to nymphs and small streamers. Oftentimes, I will fish a heavy nymph with a weightless trout egg imitation. Eggs are very calorie dense, and trout will feed on them when they dislodge from redds. After the fish are done spawning, they tend to drop back into deeper pools and settle into their winter lies. Post-spawn fishing can be very slow. I tend to fish really small flies this time of year in very slow and deep pools and hope for the best! Pools where springs come in can fish well post-spawn, as the springs keep this water slightly warmer in the late fall and early winter.
One last thing to keep in mind while fishing for trout during the fall is to watch your step! It is easy to see a redd while fish are paired up, but once they are done spawning, they can be a little harder to pick out. Keep an eye out for clean patches of brighter-colored gravel that are round, oval, or teardrop in shape and give them a wide berth through the fall and winter. It is critical to not step on the redds; one wrong step can destroy hundreds of eggs. Spawning is a numbers game - out of the hundreds or thousands of eggs that a trout will lay, many of them will not survive to hatch, and many of the fish that do hatch do not survive to adulthood. With that in mind, we should do our best to help give the fish a successful hatch.
Be a Steward of the Resource
The fall is a very special time of year to me. I love the cooler days, the colors of the changing leaves, and the damp smell of the woods that we as outdoorsmen know and love. Some of my largest trout have been caught this time of the year during pre-spawn. Sometimes I find it just as rewarding to put my rod down, enjoy the scenery, and witness the incredible and arduous process that these fish go through year after year. Be a steward of the resource, watch your step, don’t target spawning fish, and do your part to ensure that future generations can enjoy this wild trout resource just as you and I do.
In Pennsylvania, we are lucky enough to have a thriving native brook trout and wild trout population thanks to countless miles of streams full of excellent habitat and flowing with cold and clean water. Every fall, these wild trout begin their reproductive cycle, known as the spawn. It is imperative that we as anglers know how the trout spawn works so that we can fish ethically during this time period to minimize our impact and ensure that there are wild trout for generations to come.
What Is the Spawn?
The spawn is triggered by a combination of shortened day length and cooler water temperatures. Fish will begin to feed heavily pre-spawn to ensure that they have sufficient energy to spawn since it is a very energy-intensive process. It is also common for trout to become more aggressive this time of year as they defend their feeding and spawning territories. As the days get shorter and the water begins to cool down to the lower 50s to mid 40s, female trout will begin creating beds to lay their eggs in, known as redds. This typically occurs in mid-October, but brook trout can spawn as early as late September. Redds can appear as clean patches of gravel that can be round, oval, or teardrop in shape. They are made by the female trout using their bodies and tails to clean a patch of gravel and dig a small impression to lay eggs in.
These redds are built in shallow oxygenated riffles where the gravel is free of silt and the right size - think of gravel ranging from the size of coins to baseballs in diameter. Once the redd is built and the eggs are laid, a male trout fertilizes the eggs and then the female buries them. The eggs will then sit and incubate until late winter or early spring. The timeframe of the spawn can vary by watershed and seasonal conditions. Not every trout spawns at the same time, and juvenile and immature trout will not participate in the spawn.
Ethics of Fishing During the Spawn
The spawn is incredibly stressful for trout, many of which are prone to infection, illness, or death due to being weakened during this process. Some may even be physically injured from building redds or fighting over territory. In my opinion, the best time to target trout during the fall is pre-spawn. This is a great time to throw large streamers and baitfish imitations. During pre-spawn, trout want to store as many calories as they can as fast as they can. This can make for some really fun and fast-paced fishing and is when many anglers catch their largest fish of the year. Another benefit of pre-spawn fishing is that you do not risk catching a fish that is actively spawning, which can easily result in the death of the fish.
Once fish begin to pair up on redds, I cannot stress enough how important it is that you do not target those fish. A successful spawn is what allows us to have wild trout to catch year after year. Once the fish are paired up and sitting on redds, you may be able to fish in parts of the stream where fish do not spawn. Remember, trout build redds in shallow riffles with smaller gravel, so super fast runs, pocket water, and deep slow pools with larger boulders tend not to have redds. You should still double check before these spots before fishing them.
Fish that are not spawning will still respond well to nymphs and small streamers. Oftentimes, I will fish a heavy nymph with a weightless trout egg imitation. Eggs are very calorie dense, and trout will feed on them when they dislodge from redds. After the fish are done spawning, they tend to drop back into deeper pools and settle into their winter lies. Post-spawn fishing can be very slow. I tend to fish really small flies this time of year in very slow and deep pools and hope for the best! Pools where springs come in can fish well post-spawn, as the springs keep this water slightly warmer in the late fall and early winter.
One last thing to keep in mind while fishing for trout during the fall is to watch your step! It is easy to see a redd while fish are paired up, but once they are done spawning, they can be a little harder to pick out. Keep an eye out for clean patches of brighter-colored gravel that are round, oval, or teardrop in shape and give them a wide berth through the fall and winter. It is critical to not step on the redds; one wrong step can destroy hundreds of eggs. Spawning is a numbers game - out of the hundreds or thousands of eggs that a trout will lay, many of them will not survive to hatch, and many of the fish that do hatch do not survive to adulthood. With that in mind, we should do our best to help give the fish a successful hatch.
Be a Steward of the Resource
The fall is a very special time of year to me. I love the cooler days, the colors of the changing leaves, and the damp smell of the woods that we as outdoorsmen know and love. Some of my largest trout have been caught this time of the year during pre-spawn. Sometimes I find it just as rewarding to put my rod down, enjoy the scenery, and witness the incredible and arduous process that these fish go through year after year. Be a steward of the resource, watch your step, don’t target spawning fish, and do your part to ensure that future generations can enjoy this wild trout resource just as you and I do.
