We see a lot of video footage of migrating salmon spawning in Alaska and in other places around the world, but we often forget that our inland trout and char run upstream—just like salmon—to spawn, too. The video below shows spawning rainbow trout spawning this spring in a small tributary stream on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest.
As with the vast majority of inland trout, these fish spawn and rear in waters running from public lands, just another reason to keep these places intact and accessible. While this is not a fishing opportunity, any angler who understands the life cycle of trout knows just how important it is for these fish to have cold, clean water in which to create the next generation of trout that we’ll be casting to in bigger waters in just a year or two.
— Chris Hunt