Brook trout spawning 2023

[@owenmanning3518]

Absolutely stunning Steve. Footage is amazing...just another day in the life of a brookie.

[@stevenoakes7991]

Thanks buddy!

[@wrightfrost5593]

2:17 Whoa -- one of them got a pretty good bite on the tail! Shows how aggressive they get during spawning season. Beautiful footage. What incredible fish!

[@stevenoakes7991]

Thanks! The clip has been shortened but it’s a female laying eggs, she spins around comes up behind the group of males egg raiding, picks one out and drags him away by the tail.

[@MooseFromBelarus]

Amazing!!!

[@stevenoakes7991]

Thanks!

[@robertcristant6107]

Really unbelievable footage Steve. Love seeing this.

[@stevenoakes7991]

Thanks Robert!

[@mauroaiello4497]

amazing footage Steve!

[@stevenoakes7991]

Thanks buddy! Much appreciated.

[@tansui4296]

Beautiful ！

[@stevenoakes7991]

Thanks! I was watching your videos the other day…excellent!

[@tansui4296]

Thanks！

[@fluffage]

Incredible stuff, well done

[@stevenoakes7991]

Thanks very much!

[@tannersmith2000]

Fantastic!

[@stevenoakes7991]

Thanks Tanner, much appreciated!

[@Belowbluewaterdiver]

Beautiful footage thanks for sharing! If you don’t mind me asking which river system is this in? Brook trout have always escaped me here in Michigan. Would love to see these beauties one day

OMG !!!! Steve, is there a way I can email you? I have some question about your setup to record these videos. Long story short, I was wading around a lake in BC that had amazing colors and came across some red kokanee spawning. I fumbled around with my gorpo for an hour trying to get a footage but it was complete junk and I ran out of space on the SD card. I totally need to get something going so next year I can also go get footage of one of the creek and giveaway the footage to the watershed society to promote their work and get engagement for their fund raisers and volunteers program. THANKS ! Ben

[@stevenoakes7991]

Sounds like a good project Ben! Kokanee are amazing.

[@natecamiscioli5965]

What state was this in? Because anywhere on the East Coast those are impressive fish.

[@stevenoakes7991]

No state…great white north eh! Southern Ontario. Unfortunately 70-80 percent decline in the last couple decades with all wild brook trout populations in S. Ontario. Thanks for watching!

[@Franky46Boy]

Beautiful colors and beautiful images! But these redds don't seem complete and the spawning doesn't seem very successful...

[@stevenoakes7991]

Selection of the most photogenic clips from five or six weeks of spawning activity, over 200 redds at this location…all completed and 100 percent successful (at least in terms of the physical act itself). Numerous redd sites shown with a wide range of activity from excavation to fertilization events, egg eating etc. etc. Not easy to edit down thirty hours+ of 5k footage (over ??? number of days of filming) to four minutes and make it interesting for the average person…even if in this format the activity is out of context and in no particular order or sequence. Not meant or intended to show any individual redds or overall spawning activity from start to finish. Maybe I’ll do that one year but honestly it’s been done before and wouldn’t be as visually spectacular, actually would probably bore the crap out of most people. Some clips are of redd sites where spawning activity is almost finished while other clips show sites where it’s barely started, some sites half way through. Happy to answer any specific questions.

[@Franky46Boy]

@@stevenoakes7991 Thank you for your very logic explanation. 👍

[@stevenoakes7991]

Thanks for watching!

[@ericluscombe3272]

Never seen that before what I can't believe is there eating the eggs. Unlike salmon brookies I noticed 2 males 1 on either side of the female both fertilizing eggs weird

[@stevenoakes7991]

Eggs drifting outside of the redd have a very low chance of surviving and the fish won’t pass up the opportunity to gain some extra protein. The bulk of egg eating takes place during spawning events when large amounts of eggs are dislodged, occasionally when the female is excavating. Females often spin around quickly to eat eggs that are dislodged from their own redd during egg laying or excavation. Males compete to fertilize the eggs, often with a very small male sneaking in underneath the cluster of spawning activity, referred to as the precocious male.

[@ericluscombe3272]

@@stevenoakes7991 it was pretty amazing i live on vancouver island I fish salmon steelhead and it's totally different its male female any other male gets close its a fight. none of those species eat the eggs at all. the brookies reminded me of pirahnas like a mob.