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This photo shows a spawning fall Chinook salmon in the Shasta River just downstream of the Louie Road Bridge and upstream of Big Springs Creek. The female Chinook shown has constructed the redd she is over which shows up because gravels are cleaner that in adjacent areas. Females usually protect the redd until they die whereas males will wander to other spawning areas.


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The entire streambed under the Chinook salmon in the photo is a large contiguous spawning area. Large congregations of spawning salmon can be very important in maintaining gravel quality of highly used reaches. This type of spawning behavior may lead to superimposition of redds, however, which can cause some egg mortality.