Redding's defining fact is its spawning value. The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC's 2023-2024 rivers program names Redding,
Dewar and
White creeks as the known primary bull trout spawning tributaries of the upper St. Mary, and staff ran an enumeration fence and trap on Redding from early September to mid-October 2023, counting about 110 post-spawn bull trout working back down toward the St. Mary. That window, and the redds themselves, are worth staying well clear of rather than treating as a fishing calendar.
A 1999 habitat assessment of Tributary 780 to Redding Creek called the drainage a regionally significant recreational fishery and a high-priority restoration watershed for both westslope cutthroat and bull trout, and documented logging, windthrow and channel avulsion in that side tributary alongside restoration work meant to rebuild fish habitat and reduce channel instability. That history is part of why the creek still gets careful handling today.
No creek-specific hatch survey has been recorded for Redding, so anglers work from the same
St. Mary and East Kootenay hatch spine:
stoneflies near the opener,
mayflies,
caddisflies, midges, summer
terrestrials, sculpin and fry, and kokanee or kokanee fry where the creek connects toward St. Mary Lake. Where legal and well away from redds, a
Stimulator,
Chubby Chernobyl,
Royal Wulff,
Adams or
PMX covers the dry-fly water, an
Elk Hair Caddis backs up the caddis hatch, and a
Hare's Ear,
Pheasant Tail,
Prince,
Copper John or
Pat's Rubber Legs covers the subsurface. A sparse
Woolly Bugger or
Muddler Minnow only makes sense away from spawning fish and with bull trout handling in mind.
Bull trout spawning water: fish it with care
Redding Creek is a known primary bull trout spawning tributary for the upper St. Mary system. A 2023 enumeration fence counted about 110 post-spawn fish moving back downstream between early September and mid-October. Give redds and staging fish a wide berth through that window, and handle any bull trout you do hook the way
St. Mary River Classified Water rules require: a quick fight, kept wet, released without delay.