Hitch number in the thousands and creeks teem with creatures eager to take advantage of this bounty. Hitch spawning is an uncomplicated act. A ripe female will seek out a shallow area, usually near a stream bank, where winter stream flows have deposited silt-free gravel. Overhanging vegetation such as willows or blackberries are a bonus, as they provide cover from potential predators. After selecting an appropriate site, a female is joined by one to five eager males which coax her into releasing her eggs.
Males fertilize eggs as they are released.
Unlike salmon, Clear Lake hitch are not summoned to death after spawning, although stress and predation make return spawning an uncertain proposition. Clear Lake hitch are not nest builders. Once fertilized, eggs swell to about four times their initial size and sink to the stream bottom where they disperse along the stream bed. Absent of any adhesive quality, many eggs settle into openings in the gravel bed, while others are carried by currents to downstream areas- including Clear Lake, where survival rates are very low. Eggs hatch in five to 10 days.