# Fish ID???



## NBman (Feb 29, 2004)

How do you explain the clip on the middle fish?


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

NBman said:


> How do you explain the clip on the middle fish?


 
How do you not?....it's the same as the bottom fish.....you guys are looking way too into it. I've caught them in all shapes, sizes, differences in mounth and gum color, differences in anal fins, differences in spots or specks....you have to remember that some of these fish are a year old and not developed 100%. Some are bigger, some are smaller, some have pronounced tails, some look...... Look at my steelhead smolt, it has a forked tail.

Color tells it all here....

If I didn't use a 35 mm camera for 15 years, I'd show you all kinds of cohos...up to 12 lbs.+

I should also add that most of the fish in Superior are slower growing due to the climate and water body. That's why most guys speak of steelhead as "footballs" here on the Superior shoreline. They average 4-6 pounds as opposed to an average of 8-12 pounds in Lakes MI in Huron and upwards of 20# is some cases. There were quite a few 20#+ fish caught on Lake MI tribs last year. Guys that fish the northshore of Superior see the same fish....football type.


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## NBman (Feb 29, 2004)

Ok you posted alot of pics, none of which have young steelhead fresh from the lake.


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

Straight from the lake:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=steelhead+ice+fishing&search_type=&aq=f


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

NBman said:


> How do you explain the clip on the middle fish?


"Continued increases in natural reproduction of Lake Superior lake trout could be very important. It is roughly estimated that 22 million lake trout yearlings were produced annually in pre lamprey days. Presently, two million yearlings are stocked each year in the U.S. waters of Lake Superior. That stocking rate has resulted in what many consider to be an excellent fishery. Just imagine how continued improvements in natural reproduction could build on that.

Coho salmon are successfully reproducing in many areas of the lake. Even in the Michigan waters of Lake Superior (the only place in Lake Superior where cohos are stocked), 70 to 90 percent of the cohos caught are naturally produced. If coho stocking stopped, good catches would probably continue. Cohos are second only to lake trout in the number caught."

...and more... http://seagrant.wisc.edu/greatlakesfish/cohosalmon.html


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

Benzie Rover said:


> the RP clip (right pectoral fin) fish in the middle is definately a MI strain steelie... only our MI strain steelies get the RP clip... none of our salmon get pectoral only clips (some of that K-strain coho used to get pelvic clips). Not to mention the bottom fish just 'looks' like a young yo-yo and the middle one looks like a rainbow.


Ontario also does a RP fin clip, so to say "only our MI strain steelies get the RP clip" is wrong.

Also, we have to remember here that we're talking about a fish that could have come from MN, WI, MI, OH, and anywhere down throught Lake Michigan and Huron....coho or not, steelhead or not. Sorta like the LSSU tagged atlantic caught down in either MS or MO....I believe MO.

Plus, we don't know if it's a private plant, a USFWS plant, a MDNR plant, an OMNR plant, a MNDNR plant, a WDNR plant, etc.


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## Ralph Smith (Apr 1, 2003)

uptracker said:


> Ontario also does a RP fin clip, so to say "only our MI strain steelies get the RP clip" is wrong.
> 
> Also, we have to remember here that we're talking about a fish that could have come from MN, WI, MI, OH, and anywhere down throught Lake Michigan and Huron....coho or not, steelhead or not. Sorta like the LSSU tagged atlantic caught down in either MS or MO....I believe MO.
> 
> Plus, we don't know if it's a private plant, a USFWS plant, a MDNR plant, an OMNR plant, a MNDNR plant, a WDNR plant, etc.


Very true. They sure do look like salmon, but middle looks more like a king than a coho, atleast with the vague pic.



TVCEAST05 said:


> Neither had eggs.


That would tell me, that its not a steelhead. If it were a male this time of year, would have some type of kype starting, and female would have eggs. Also some pink on the cheek, even if the colors on side are still silver from the lake.


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## UP POWER (Jan 17, 2007)

Color tells it all here....


I have to chime in that color is the single least reliable factor in determining species in Lake Superior fish. Not fish that have come upstream or are about to come upstream. Having caught a significant number of both jacks and immature steelhead, coloration can be very mixed on both. I happen to be in agreement with the OP that these fish are one of each. While I have never heard of Kings through the ice, i did catch a couple 2 pounders last year trolling right after ice-out.


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## fisherman89 (Mar 16, 2009)

ill chime in again on this...
ill agree thats its a rainbow and a coho...some will say over 16" in the Great Lakes make it a steelhead, but heres a pic of a steelhead (female with eggs), 3 cohos and a rainbow....i started bringing my fish ID book out there with just incase some one would like to read scientific fact for themselves...


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## Benzie Rover (Mar 17, 2008)

uptracker said:


> Ontario also does a RP fin clip, so to say "only our MI strain steelies get the RP clip" is wrong.
> 
> 
> Also, we have to remember here that we're talking about a fish that could have come from MN, WI, MI, OH, and anywhere down throught Lake Michigan and Huron....coho or not, steelhead or not. Sorta like the LSSU tagged atlantic caught down in either MS or MO....I believe MO.
> ...


not sure of your source of info, but when I spoke with MNR folks out of the Northeastern district office, Charles Henry said he was 'pretty sure' that MNR did not plant rainbows in Lake Superior or its tribs... They do support huge put-n-take fisheries in Lakes Huron and Erie, ofcourse. My comments were ofcousre in regards to where these fish were caught, which is again, Lake Superior. 

And exactly how are we talking about fish that could come from anywhere other than Lake Superior?? There are some serious aquatic barriers preventing Lake Michigan and Huron fish from getting upstream into Lake Superior dude... Let alone MS or MO fish... or heck, even FLA for that matter... 

Ok, and when did the USFWS ever plant rainbows anywhere in the Great Lakes!? nope, not them. Minnesota publishes their stocking records, as does Wisconsin and you can request hardcopies as well. Last I checked, neither used soley RP clips on steelhead/rainbows in Lake Superior... again, we are talking about Lake Superior. Wisconsin's clipping stategry for Lake Michigan fish is very complicated, although still, they have only rarely used just RP clips, usually it is in conjunction with an AD or vent clip. The overwhelming odds are that a Lake Superior salmonid caught in Michigan waters (assuming that cause we are on a MI website) with an RP clip is a MI strain steelhead.


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## fisherman89 (Mar 16, 2009)

heres a funny thought concering some fish id out in that area where these fish were taken from...

the day i caught the 5 from above i showed the steelhead to a guy out fishing out there, his first comment was "wow! its deformed!" he pointed to the adpipose fin and explained to me that it was not normal and needed to look like this, and pointed to the anal fin:yikes:....WOW looks like theres some real pro's out there:lol:


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## TheBigRedDog (Jan 26, 2007)

Looks to me that the middle looks like a king and bottom is a coho, but who am I to say.


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## ausable_steelhead (Sep 30, 2002)

Looks like the middle fish is a steelhead/rainbow, and the bottom fish is a coho to me.


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## diztortion (Sep 6, 2009)

They all look like something I would eat.


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## fisherman89 (Mar 16, 2009)

uptracker said:


> Straight from the lake:
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=steelhead+ice+fishing&search_type=&aq=f


 
i believe this link to be quite misleading on what a "true" big lake, open water steelhead looks like..if you notice most of the videos come from the same person, WIbigfish (or something like that) they seem to fish the harbors and river mouths over there in wisconsin, and seem to catch mostly the winter fish which hold and stage in the harbors, rivers and drowned river mouths over there during the winter before heading up stream, which gives them the darker colors, as seen in the steelhead during spawning season.

Therefore i feel the videos do not properly represent what a steelhead taken from lake superior at this time/ location would look like because steelhead do not winter over in the tributary at this location, therefore you could refer to them as looking like "chromers" or "silver bullets", rather than colored up steelhead

here is a pic of a chromer,









the pic i posted earlier is the best representaion of what a steelhead from that area looks like right now...because it was caught at the SAME PLACE


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

Benzie Rover,

You might wanna read "Steelhead Dreams". 

Ontario did a RP, for sure, from 2005-2008 or 2009.

On top of that, yes there are barriers from Lake MI and Huron to Superior, but I'm here to tell you they can get in there without a problem. One spot I fish right in town lets them through. I catch steelhead, whitefish, jacks, kings, atlantics, resident rainbows, etc. on the Lake Superior side of the water....point in case with the atlantics especially. If you lived up here, you'd know exactly what I'm talking about.


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

fisherman89 said:


> i believe this link to be quite misleading on what a "true" big lake, open water steelhead looks like..if you notice most of the videos come from the same person, WIbigfish (or something like that) they seem to fish the harbors and river mouths over there in wisconsin, and seem to catch mostly the winter fish which hold and stage in the harbors, rivers and drowned river mouths over there during the winter before heading up stream, which gives them the darker colors, as seen in the steelhead during spawning season.
> 
> Therefore i feel the videos do not properly represent what a steelhead taken from lake superior at this time/ location would look like because steelhead do not winter over in the tributary at this location, therefore you could refer to them as looking like "chromers" or "silver bullets", rather than colored up steelhead
> 
> ...


.....and it looks like a steelhead, just like my "chrome" steelhead do.

You guys are nuts to think that two fish look the same are two different fish.....that's all I have to say.


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## Ralph Smith (Apr 1, 2003)

Benzie Rover said:


> And exactly how are we talking about fish that could come from anywhere other than Lake Superior?? There are some serious aquatic barriers preventing Lake Michigan and Huron fish from getting upstream into Lake Superior dude... Let alone MS or MO fish... or heck, even FLA for that matter...


You ever hear of the straights of Mackinac or the St.Mary's river? :lol: If a 1000' freighter can make it to lake Superior, so can the fish if they want to.


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

Here's a quote I got rom a local guy in a PM that doens't want to be identified:

"Sometimes it is hard to tell if its a Coho or a Rainbow. especially when they are young fish like those. I have run into the same debate fishing in the ****** before. You really have to look at them close. I say they are Coho. You can open them up and tell forsure. Coho are fall spawners and Rainbows are spring spawners. That will tell you for sure."


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

Ralph Smith said:


> If a 1000' freighter can make it to lake Superior, so can the fish if they want to.


...and that's not even the area I'm talking about....the locks I mean.


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