We are in to salmon spawning season with the cold weather arriving.
Salmon will construct a “redd” and deposit eggs there (think of a redd as a ‘nest’ formed from gravel).
Canoeists and rafters (as well as grayling anglers!) are urged to take care if wading or portaging over gravel beds in our rivers – please avoid any patches of gravel that look ‘cleaner’ than the rest of the gravel!
This goes, too, for motorcyclists, mountain bikes, 4WD and other off roaders!
When the fish spawns (or redds), it turns the gravel over and the face of the stone that hasn’t algae on it is often turned uppermost, giving the ‘clean’ or fresh look to the stones that form the redd.
Salmon redd excavated in river gravel, leaving a ‘pot’ on the upstream side and a ‘tail spill’ on the downstream side (a mound formed from the excavated gravel)
Please avoid trampling the fish eggs (and, in a few weeks, fish fry) that are living within the gravel!