Know Your Fish -
Steelhead
 Steelhead (Oncorhynchus
mykiss)
Ocean Phase
Identification Characteristics:
Typical silvery sides common to all Pacific
salmon
Back and upper sides can be green,
blue-green, or steel blue with a silvery hue.
Small black spots above lateral line, on
dorsal and adipose fins and tail fin
Square-shaped tail fin with radiating pattern
of spots
Belly white to silvery-white
Inside of mouth and gums white
 Spawning Phase Identification
Characteristics:
Male has a hooked lower jaw that extends just
past the eye
Female has a blunt head and short jaw that
does not extend past the eye
Distinct dark spots on dorsal fin
Often has reddish stripe along sides
Gill cover reddish Records:
Length up to 45 inches
Summer-run record: 35.06 lbs, Gilbert
Pierson, Snake River, Whitman Co., 11/23/73
Winter-run record: 32.75 lbs, Gene Maygra,
East Fork Lewis River, Clark Co., 4/14/80
Sea-going rainbow
trout, known as steelhead, are one of our better-known
anadromous fish. Steelhead start their lives in freshwater
rivers and creeks, migrate to the ocean, then spend one to six
years in the Pacific ocean before returning to their natal
rivers and streams to repeat the cycle.
Unlike the
Pacific salmon, steelhead don't always die after spawning,
although a large number, especially males, don't survive the
harsh spawning process. Steelhead may travel as far as 1000
miles inland to spawn, but most are found nearer to the ocean
waters. Some steelhead spawn three or four times during their
lifetime and return to the ocean to feed for 10 months or so
between spawnings. It is believed that the largest of the
returning steelhead are first-time spawners. The steelhead's
ocean feeding grounds are spread out over the North Pacific,
although exactly where remains a bit of a mystery. It is known
that they can roam a great distance from their natal rivers
and streams.
Most steelhead spawn from mid-winter to
late-spring, but two different runs, summer and winter, return
to freshwater at different times. Summer-run steelhead return
to freshwater from April to October, and anglers catch these
summer fish in good numbers from about three dozen Washington
rivers and creeks. Winter-run steelhead return to over 100
Washington streams from November through April. Some of these
streams have wild steelhead runs that provide good fishing and
a self-sustaining population. But a loss of clean spawning
gravel and suitable rearing habitat, coupled with other
problems, has greatly depleted the wild steelhead runs in many
river systems.
Most adult steelhead return from the
Pacific after two or three years, ranging from about 5 to 14
pounds. The true trophies are fish that stay at sea four to
six years. These are the 20-, 25-, even 30-pounders that an
angler may get a shot at only once in a lifetime.
Many
fishing methods take steelhead, but drift-fishing is the most
popular. It involves casting upstream and letting the lure
sink to the bottom, where it drifts downstream with the
current. Standard baits and lures for steelhead drift-fishing
include clusters of fresh salmon or steelhead roe, live ghost
shrimp, brightly colored steelhead "bobbers" and tufts of
fluorescent nylon yarn. Casting wobbling spoons, spinner and
artificial flies also produces steelhead strikes, as does
drifting a leadhead jig suspended beneath a bobber.
For
more information about Washington State's game fish you can
download these PDF files: Pacific salmon identification
(1446KB), trout and salmon identification (560KB), and
selected game fish (2553KB). To read these files you will need
the free Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader that you can obtain from
Adobe's PDF Reader web page.
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