The biggest sign is, well, how big they are.There are, however, telltale signs that can help an angler identify the trout they’ve caught.Īn Atlantic salmon with a “kype,” or hooked jaw, which is a telltale sign of a spawning male salmon or trout. It’s especially so when some areas have different regulations pertaining to steelhead vs rainbow trout. The difference between steelhead and rainbow trout is an unsatisfyingly fuzzy line.
#STEELHEAD TROUT HOW TO#
How to Distinguish Between Steelhead and Rainbow Trout The vast majority of steelhead will not spend more than four or five years in salt water before returning home. The largest weigh can weigh more than 20 pounds, and 30 or more is not unheard of. Three-, Four-, and Five-Salt steelhead spend the longest amount of time in the ocean, and grow to remarkable sizes.When they return, they’ll weigh around 10 pounds, significantly larger than their freshwater cousins. Two-Salt fish spend two years in the ocean, and will go deeper and farther away from shore.Instead, they stay along the coast, often in tidal estuaries Some are not even sexually mature when they return to fresh water, and live out their lives much like the rainbow trout that never leave.
Since they don’t spend long in salt water, they rarely venture out into the open ocean. While they’re known as “half-pounders,” they commonly range from 2-6 pounds in weight.
One-Salt or “Half Pounders” are steelhead that have spent up to a year in the ocean. Fishermen have developed a lingo for steelhead that corresponds to the numbers of years spent in salt water. Earning Their SaltĮven out in salt water, not all steelhead are created equal. If a barrier, natural or otherwise, blocks their way, a trout that might have migrated to salt water will stay in fresh water. In fact, some steelhead never make it out to the ocean in the first place. Others stay and spend the rest of their lives in fresh water. Unlike salmon, steelhead don’t die after spawning, and some end up returning to the ocean. When the time comes, they migrate back to the freshwater areas that they were born in to spawn. Whatever the reason, these trout start migrating to the sea, and will spend up to five years in saltwater. Scientists are still trying to figure out what causes this change, but think it may be due to a mix of genetic and environmental factors. They start spawning after two years, and most will weigh somewhere in the range of 1-10 pounds.įor some trout, though, a switch flips after 1-3 years in their freshwater habitat. “Normal” rainbow trout are perfectly content to stay there, spending their entire lives in the water body they were born in. They hatch out of eggs laid in freshwater streams, rivers, and lakes. Steelhead and rainbow trout are the same species, Oncorhynchus mykiss, and start out life much the same.īoth steelhead and rainbow trout start out their lives in much the same way.
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