Jump to content


Photo

Great Lakes Salmonidae - Steelhead or Rainbow Trout?


  • Please log in to reply
3 replies to this topic

#1 ShadetreeIchthyologist

ShadetreeIchthyologist
  • Regional Rep
  • Charleston SC

Posted 09 April 2023 - 06:24 AM

Do you guys consider the Great Lakes (Oncorhynchus mykiss) a steelhead or a rainbow trout? If you ask me I say if it lives part of its life in saltwater its a steelhead and if it doesn't its a rainbow. What are your thoughts?


"Amateurs can potentially make valuable contributions to our knowledge of fishes". - Etnier and Starnes

#2 AquaHobbyist123

AquaHobbyist123
  • NANFA Member
  • Upper Catawba Watershed in Caldwell County, NC south of Boone

Posted 09 April 2023 - 09:14 AM

Same. I refer to individuals spending their whole lives in freshwater rainbows.

Thomas Lyons

 

 

 

Fortunate to have multiple watersheds within a reasonable drive, with the Upper Yadkin, Watauga, and Upper New watersheds within 40 minutes.


#3 Chasmodes

Chasmodes
  • NANFA Member
  • Central Maryland

Posted 21 April 2023 - 09:16 AM

Folks up North consider them steelhead. The Michigan State Government states, "Steelhead is a name given to migratory rainbow trout that are born in rivers but spend most of their lives in the ocean or the Great Lakes."

 

Here's a good read about the history of Great Lakes Steelhead: https://www.wildstee...akes-steelhead/

 

I've fished for them in NY and PA, and locals (at least my fishing buddies from up there) define the difference based on their appearance. Fresh steelhead that arrive in the creeks and rivers have the steel look, with the nickname "chromers", but if they stay in the creeks for a long period of time, they regain the usual rainbow trout colors. Smaller fish that they catch that have the usual rainbow colors are usually referred to anecdotally as resident fish. It's true that the "resident" fish appearance shows much richer coloration than even the colored up migratory fish. But, how do you really know, maybe the smaller colored up ones migrated in the from the lake too?

 

Also, here's another tidbit about Skamania Steelhead that are stocked by Michigan and NY. "Skimania are a summer run/spring spawning strain of steelhead which was developed by the State of Washington from wild stocks on the Washougal River". So, there are West Coast strains stocked in the Great Lakes.

 

Here's a supposed "resident" rainbow (PA)

 

2008elkrainbowkw2.jpg

 

Here's a "chromer" (NY) 

fatboy4.jpg

 

And here's a colored up migratory fish (PA):

2008elksteelkw10.jpg


Kevin Wilson


#4 ShadetreeIchthyologist

ShadetreeIchthyologist
  • Regional Rep
  • Charleston SC

Posted 27 April 2023 - 05:31 AM

Interesting Chasmodes


"Amateurs can potentially make valuable contributions to our knowledge of fishes". - Etnier and Starnes




1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users