Massive Redd in the bow downtown

[Dan Foss]

I am not 100% sure as I have never seen one. But I think I found a giant redd in the bow. You can see it from the west side of the tenth ave bridge downtown when your walking across to kensington. It was huge. there is an island in the middle there and on either side it is open water and must be no more than 2-4 feet of water. There was a red on both sides of the island and ran from right under the bridge 40 feet up the river and probably 15 feet across. check out the pictures and maybe someone can answer some questions for me

1. is it a redd?
2. Is a red only a redd if it is trout or is it still called the same thing if it is whitefish, etc.?
3. If it's not a redd what the hell is it?

[SalmoTrutta]

Redds are not that big, Redds are typically 3-4feet wide up to 10 feet long and in less than 2 feet of water, what you seen i'm guessing is gravel wiped clean from passing ice??

[Dan Foss]

Originally Posted by SalmoTrutta

Redds are not that big, Redds are typically 3-4feet wide up to 10 feet long and in less than 2 feet of water, what you seen i'm guessing is gravel wiped clean from passing ice??

no. definitely not. there was a distinct difference between the strips of gravel and what this was. the one picture even shows the difference. it is a milky colored cloud that was in the water. and the cloud wasnt moving.

[deepfried]

not to derail the thread , but what the heck is a red ?? I thought it was a fish or something .... obviously Im not getting it !

[SalmoTrutta]

Redds are a nest fish build to spawn in.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2447/...8203c3e8_o.jpg

Typical Redd, to the best of my knowledge Whitefish do not nest, It's late/early in the year for anything to be spawing, but anythings possible with the weather these days.

[blackmamba]

Originally Posted by deepfried

not to derail the thread , but what the heck is a red ?? I thought it was a fish or something .... obviously Im not getting it !

Im gonna guess spawning grounds ??

[Dan Foss]

My bad. It is spelt with 2 Ds: Redd. Trutta described it well

[SalmoTrutta]

Not real familiar with that section of the Bow, I know south of the city like the back of my hand. Are there storm water drains near by? It is possible it could be a bloom of Didymosphenia geminata (Rock Snot).

[biggyJ]

My guess is that it is ice that has formed over the rocks with the fluctuating water level. River is up and now covering the ice, but too cold to melt it.

If it was a redd it would have to be a 400 foot brown trout.

[SalmoTrutta]

If it were ice it would just float away ??

how biggy is that J .. j/k

[fishpro]

That appears to be anchor ice. It's caused when temperatures drop below zero and the water gets cooled but an icy surface can't form due to the current. So what happens is you get tiny pieces of ice flowing through the river that stick to the first hard surface they touch. Due to the turbulent flow of rivers, these pieces get pushed down and make contact with the bottom of the river. After a while of this happening repeatedly you get large sections of ice covering the bottom of the river.

[just_dave]

Don't pour it, store it. No just kidding. ^^This guy, this guy nailed it.

[Fisher_man#1]

Originally Posted by fishpro

That appears to be anchor ice. It's caused when temperatures drop below zero and the water gets cooled but an icy surface can't form due to the current. So what happens is you get tiny pieces of ice flowing through the river that stick to the first hard surface they touch. Due to the turbulent flow of rivers, these pieces get pushed down and make contact with the bottom of the river. After a while of this happening repeatedly you get large sections of ice covering the bottom of the river.

2X anchor/frazil ice, happens a lot in the NW part of the river. Not a good sign ends up killing the eggs in the redds.

Cheers,

[Dan Foss]

Interesting. I will have to venture down there this week and poke it with a stick. never heard of anchor ice before. this makes more sense than it being a redd. Cause I thought it was waaaaaaay to big to be one but that is sure what it looked like

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by Dan Foss

no. definitely not. there was a distinct difference between the strips of gravel and what this was. the one picture even shows the difference. it is a milky colored cloud that was in the water. and the cloud wasnt moving.

Not moving? Definitely ice.

[Dust1n]

Its ice i was out on the bow today and seen some stuff by glenmore just like it and picked it up out of the water. Lots of ditomo in there aswell

[Kokanee9]

Wait for the next week and you will see a lot more of it on the bottom and on some larger rocks that are submerged.

Just ice that isn't melting because the water temp is so cold.

[Fishtech1986]

Hey Guys,
So I do fisheries research for my job and all fall we perform redd survays. From my experience this isnt a redd. Redds are much smaller and in shallower water, almost always in the headwaters of rivers. Its winter so the spawning fish in the bow are: Bull Trout, Brown Trout and Brook Trout. Mountain Whitefish are also spawning but they are broadcast spawners and do not dig redds. This looks like ice forming on the rocks on the bottom. Hope that clears it up.

[Fishtech1986]

Heres a pic of a big redd. About 1.5 meters wide and 3 m long. One of the biggest we found the whole year. Made by a Bull Trout.

[Fishtech1986]

Heres a Bull on her redd.

Redds aren't always in extreme headwaters for all species. From the pictures in this case, it looks like anchor ice. I've watched large browns spawning in the mainstem of the Oldman, in up to 1 metre of water. Browns like sidechannels as well but they do utilize the main stems more than one may think. Best defining feature, look for the hump at the tail (downstream end) of a deppresion. They leave a defined rock pile, like 20-30 cm of gravel can be worked by a large brown easy. Bullies same thing, and not exclusively in little creeks. Remember, fish can be very instinctive, and fall spawning species will often choose areas where redds aren't lost to ice.

This redd for example, was made by relatively small bullies (3-4 pounds i'd estimate) in a very unproductive river system, you can make out the hump if you look closely. Over 50 cm deep, id say this was an average redd in an area with lots of springs and very little winter ice.

[WayneChristie]

almost on topic, biggest rainbow Ive ever seen in Alberta was under the bridge at the zoo, on the Memorial drive side channel, huge hook jaw, and was playing with a nice silver female rainbow, chasing her around. dont remember what month it was, but it was likely springish. he was scary big, looked like one of the big steelhead I saw out on Van Island.

[Fishtech1986]

Originally Posted by jrs

Redds aren't always in extreme headwaters for all species. From the pictures in this case, it looks like anchor ice. I've watched large browns spawning in the mainstem of the Oldman, in up to 1 metre of water. Browns like sidechannels as well but they do utilize the main stems more than one may think. Best defining feature, look for the hump at the tail (downstream end) of a deppresion. They leave a defined rock pile, like 20-30 cm of gravel can be worked by a large brown easy. Bullies same thing, and not exclusively in little creeks. Remember, fish can be very instinctive, and fall spawning species will often choose areas where redds aren't lost to ice.

This redd for example, was made by relatively small bullies (3-4 pounds i'd estimate) in a very unproductive river system, you can make out the hump if you look closely. Over 50 cm deep, id say this was an average redd in an area with lots of springs and very little winter ice.

I said almost always in headwaters, but definitly not always. Browns especially. They a warm water trout and dont travel to the headwaters of alot our rivers The Old Man for example. Good pic of a Redd.

Originally Posted by Fishtech1986

Heres a Bull on her redd.

Are your pictures down south here? Just looking at the rock colors..Nice shots.

[BeeGuy]

Great pics!

[Fishtech1986]

yeah those pics were taken in the Castle Drainage. Ive got sooo many pics of bulls.

[Speckle55]

Looks like a Chemical flocculant to me could be a spill that has coagulated on this spot i would call SRD/Envrio Alberta to do a test better to be safe than sorry.. i have Run a Water Treatment plant and have seen all kinds of _____ in the water in a River ie Athabasca Hinton Northern River Basin Study

can you get a sample of it in jar (that first pic) not sure what but?

Food for Thought
David

[Jayhad]

It's not a spill it's anchor ice, it happens almost every year in this section of the river. I'm not discounting your expertise, it takes a quick drive and a few minutes of wading to see it for yourself.

This year it was surprising to see as we had warmer than traditional weather, anchor ice ussually doesn't form in this area until it gets really cold.

Not only does anchor ice negatively effect eggs, it can have drastic impacts on bug life if it gets deep enough into the gravel.

A friend contacted me about the anchor ice a few weeks ago when crossing the river on the train, i was very surprised to see it..... today I wouldn't be surprised with the temps we are experiencing.

In Fly Fishing Western Rivers Jim McClennan talks about the issues anchor ice can cause in our systems

[SalmoTrutta]

Originally Posted by Fishtech1986

yeah those pics were taken in the Castle Drainage. Ive got sooo many pics of bulls.

that's nonsense, there's no Bulls in the Castle System

Originally Posted by Jayhad

It's not a spill it's anchor ice, it happens almost every year in this section of the river. I'm not discounting your expertise, it takes a quick drive and a few minutes of wading to see it for yourself.

This year it was surprising to see as we had warmer than traditional weather, anchor ice ussually doesn't form in this area until it gets really cold.

Not only does anchor ice negatively effect eggs, it can have drastic impacts on bug life if it gets deep enough into the gravel.

A friend contacted me about the anchor ice a few weeks ago when crossing the river on the train, i was very surprised to see it..... today I wouldn't be surprised with the temps we are experiencing.

In Fly Fishing Western Rivers Jim McClennan talks about the issues anchor ice can cause in our systems

Yeah, i remember walking along the Red Deer River a few years ago and finding a side channel plugged with anchor ice. Returned the next day (much warmer day, this would have been in early april i think) to find nice adult brown trout that were crushed (looked like they went through a cheese grater) laying around in the channel. Redds were obviously destroyed in the same channel, but the adult (16-18'') mortality surprised me.