FISHBUOY Pro Fishing App for North Americal Anglers
FISHBUOY Pro Fishing App for North Americal Anglers

STEELHEAD

How to identify a Steelhead

Steelhead are sea-run versions of rainbow trout but lack the ‘rainbow’ coloration, being silver with black dots sprinkling all sides. By contrast, the fish known as the rainbow trout will be much more colorful and live solely in freshwater. The steelhead and its closest relatives in the Pacific salmon group (cutthroat, golden, Mexican golden, Arizona native or Apache, and gila trouts) are known as the black-spotted trouts because they are covered with numerous prominent black spots. These spots may cover the entire body or may be more abundant near the tail. The spots characteristically extend onto the dorsal fin, the adipose fin, and the tail. Those on the tail radiate outward in an even, orderly pattern. Spots may or may not be present on any of the lower fins and there are never any red spots such as occur on freshwater and spawning specimens of brown trout and Atlantic salmon.Steelhead are a highly sought after species on the Pacific Coast and in the spring and summer, small runs of fish will average around two or three pounds. During the fall runs of steelhead, 10-15 pound fish are very common and they are known to reach weights of over 40 pounds.

Where to catch Steelhead

These fish are native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America and have been introduced for food or sport to at least 45 other countries. The steelhead is an anadromous fish that will live most of its life in the saltwater of the Pacific Ocean. After about 2-3 years, these fish will look for freshwater tributaries and estuaries to enter so that they may spawn in the freshwater.

IDENTIFICATION

How to Identify a Steelhead
 1 Head blunt, jaw short - does not extend past the eye

 2 Square-shaped tail fin with radiating pattern of spots

 3 Often has reddish stripe along sides, gill cover reddish

TARGET AREAS

  • Bays and Estuaries
  • Coastal Waters
  • Dams and Falls
  • Eddies
  • Outsides of Bends
  • Rivers and Streams
  • Small Pointed Waves
  • Undercuts
  • Channel Entrances
  • Current Edges
  • Drop-Offs
  • Merging Currents
  • Overhanging Trees and Bushes
  • Rock and Boulder Pockets
  • Standing Waves

Acknowledgements:  We thank TAKEMEFISHING.org (www.takemefishing.org), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Indiana Department of Natural Resources for their contributions to these FISH FACTS.

  • WEATHER

    ALL NEW chart provides you with the ability to check out weather, wind and moon phase conditions.

Real-Time Weather Data for Anglers
  • LAKE MAPS

    Plan for places to fish with detailed lake contour maps by Navionics (Uses your existing Navionics app login)

Real-Time Weather Data for Anglers 8
  • MARINE

    Before you head out on the water, make sure to check out real-time NOAA marine buoy data.

Real-Time Marine Buoy Data
  • GAUGE DATA

    Watch river and reservoir water levels, flow rates, temps and even turbidity across North America.

Real-Time Water Gauge Data
  • LOGGING

    Automatically log your catch details every time you take a photo.

Fish Catch Digital Logs
  • GALLERY

    Conveniently search your fish photos using species and date range filters.

Manage and control your fishing history in one place!
  • TRIP STATS

    View your top three fish species, lures and bait colors at the end of your trip.

Post-Trip Personal Fishing Stats
  • DERBIES

    Create private events, invite competitors to join, share live feeds of your fishing derbies!

Fishing Derbies and Event Management
  • LOGGING

    Quickly add fish details to your photo - select from fish species, size, lure and primary lure color.

Fish Data Entry
  • WEIGHT

    Automatically estimate fish weight.  Simply measure the fishes length and girth to see the resulting weight.

Fish Weight Estimator
  • FISH ID

    The Fish Identification Tool was designed to help anglers correctly identify freshwater and saltwater sports fish.

Fish Identification Tool
  • LURE COLOR

    The Lure Color/Depth Tool was designed to help anglers pick the best lure color based on depth.

Lure Color Depth Tool

More than just a photo.

Anglers now have the ability to automatically log fish catches with a single photo.  Why wouldn't you?

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