People apparently wanted to see more Arctic char in spawning colors. And who wouldn’t? It’s like a Star Wars festival in 3D—wild special effects. Seeing photos is one thing, Seeing char in the water was startling, like watching a parade of bright, red sports cars drive up and park in front of you under the flow. Sometimes big red rocks fooled us for several casts under the rushing torrents of the Tree River—a magic place with magic red fishes, above the Arctic Circle and far from the maddening crowd.
The spawn takes place in fall (September or October). Peak spawning occurs in water as cold as 39°F. The gestation period is fairly long: Hatching doesn’t occur until late March or early April. When char reach 6 or 7 inches, they “smolt” and run to the sea. But way up there, reaching that length can take several years. According to biologists who studied char in Frobisher Bay, the first downstream migration to the sea took place at ages 5 to 7.
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