# First Steelhead!!



## TroutSniffa (Jul 14, 2012)

M. Tonello said:


> I think that's just mud toward the tail of the fish, not fungus like you would see on a salmon. Looks like a nice steelhead to me. Congrats to the OP! Takes me back a few years to my first steelhead. Hopefully there will be many more to come!


gotcha gotcha .. wish i could zoom in or see any of the markings a little more clear.. makes a lot of sense if its mud if its not mud reather fungus or discoloring of the flesh would you still assume it a steelie? i have caught them with pretty thick slime coats that cause a little discoloration on the upper back but never seen one with a browned out tail/ back half.. that was the only thing that made me think it mighttt be an atlantic.. mbooter do you recall if the fish had mud on it or if it was the flesh that was discolored at the back end of that fish??


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

M. Tonello said:


> Definitely a steelhead.


You might want to take another look. Look at the tail and the back spotting and coloration of the tail. It is pretty thin also. I am guessing that it is a fresh run spawned out female chinook. I have to guess the size but it looks to be about 32" and about 8lbs. A 32" fall steelhead would weigh 11 to 16 pounds. The flesh would also appear to be firmer and rounder on a steelhead. A silver steelie would reflect more of the camera flash, I would think.


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

I took another look at the fins and gill plate I really think that what you have is a Chinook. Did you fillet it? Was the meat white, red, or orange. If it was white or really a pale pink you have a chinook. It is not a coho or atlantic salmon for sure. Go to AuSable Steelheaders pics and you will have some great pics of steelhead for comparison.


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## o_mykiss (May 21, 2013)

Robert Holmes said:


> I took another look at the fins and gill plate I really think that what you have is a Chinook. Did you fillet it? Was the meat white, red, or orange. If it was white or really a pale pink you have a chinook. It is not a coho or atlantic salmon for sure. Go to AuSable Steelheaders pics and you will have some great pics of steelhead for comparison.


It's not a chinook. The fins and gill plate are 100% steelhead. How many chrome chinooks have a rosy red gill plate? And a perfectly square tail? And a triangular shaped anal fin (chinooks are shallower and longer)

Even if they weren't 100% indicative of a steelhead, it was caught in late April, which (nearly) eliminates the possibility that its a king


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## TroutSniffa (Jul 14, 2012)

Robert Holmes said:


> I took another look at the fins and gill plate I really think that what you have is a Chinook. Did you fillet it? Was the meat white, red, or orange. If it was white or really a pale pink you have a chinook. It is not a coho or atlantic salmon for sure. Go to AuSable Steelheaders pics and you will have some great pics of steelhead for comparison.


good call mr holmes.. i ruled out king due to it being November in the sw mi thread and that fish still looking real fresh to be spawned out in novemeber in sw mi no?? not that im a fish biologist by any means but if you don't mind what allowed you to rule out atlantic for sure? that was my first reaction when i saw it was "atlantic" .. fish is realll long and thin.. glad to see im not crazy in thinking it wasn't steel..

ps none of this is in anyway to discredit your catch! great job on a great fish regardless of its species.. again as Robert asked did you clean it what color was the meat?


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## TroutSniffa (Jul 14, 2012)

[QUOTE="

Even if they weren't 100% indicative of a steelhead, it was caught in late April, which (nearly) eliminates the possibility that its a king[/QUOTE]

LOL.. "caught in late april!! ahhh i thought this was a new thread!! lol / fresh pic/fish


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

TroutSniffa said:


> [QUOTE="
> 
> Even if they weren't 100% indicative of a steelhead, it was caught in late April, which (nearly) eliminates the possibility that its a king


LOL.. "caught in late april!! ahhh i thought this was a new thread!! lol / fresh pic/fish[/QUOTE]
Looked at the post date okay I will give you my final decision a dropback spawned out hen steelhead. Unless by chance it was actually caught in the fall and posted in the spring then I will say I wish that the picture was a little more clear.


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## TreeDizzle (Oct 19, 2005)

It doesn't matter what month of the year that pic was taken, the pic just screams out steelhead


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## TroutSniffa (Jul 14, 2012)

TreeDizzle said:


> It doesn't matter what month of the year that pic was taken, the pic just screams out steelhead


less the brown/ multed looking tail.. not sure most people realize how much alike some of these species can look.. google atlantic salmon and you will see many pics that look just like steelhead pending where the fish is at in its life cycle.. also fresh coho or even kings.. agreed the fish could well be and most likely is a steelhead the only reason I brought that into question was the brownish tail..


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## o_mykiss (May 21, 2013)

the brownish tail is just mud on the fish


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## GuppyII (Sep 14, 2008)

This thread is from April! !! It's a G.D. steelhead!!! Some of you have really lost credibility calling it a chinook. ..


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## msfcarp (Jun 6, 2006)

Yea, I like how a couple of you guys are calling out a fisheries biologist on his identification, R.O.T.F. F.L.


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## slowpaya (Oct 23, 2011)

GuppyII said:


> This thread is from April! !! Some of you have really lost credibility . ..


 things have been slow around here


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## TroutSniffa (Jul 14, 2012)

lol @ losing internet credibility! where can I sign up for an extra credit assignment I would hate to not be the most popular kid in class, I forgot how un cool it was to ask questions and challenge the norm.. silly me now ill never get a date to the forum social! also no one called out the fish biologist I simply asked what he thought about the brown on the tail and from that picture what made him sure.. at least from my view the darkened tail was enough reason to raise question.. not make definitive statements of certainty but simply question..

yawnnn the high n mightiness


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