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Post by todd13 on Mar 7, 2018 23:42:09 GMT -6
Did you ever notice when watching steelhead videos on youtube, they never hook a rainbow trout? ( I know steelhead are rainbows sorta - you know what I am getting at) Seriously, hours and hours of fishing, consequently days sometimes without hooking a steelhead and you never see them hook a trout.
I've thought about this and looked at the streamers. Sure they are big, but would prevent an 18" trout from hitting it? I doubt it. Also the streams are flowing pretty well, but I have seen plenty of vids where they catch steelhead in slow moving water. Surely those waters are holding some decent trout. I suspect they just edit out those "small" rainbows b/c that isn't what the video is about.
Any thoughts on this? or do I have too much time on my hands?
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Post by dainw on Mar 8, 2018 6:41:40 GMT -6
I’ve often wondered this same thing Todd. Several theories here. Keep in mind I’m not a biologist and I’ve never been steelhead fishing.I have business degree and sell commercial insurance for a living, so take these with a grain of salt.
1 Rainbows and steelhead are the exact same thing, (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
The only difference between the steelhead that people are fishing for in the PNW and a rainbow is that those fish are anadramous, or live most of their life in the salt before returning home to spawn. Theory 1 is that estuary rivers with populations of anadramous rainbow trout, don’t also generally hold resident fish. Would think the rainbows in a river system either all go out to sea, or they don’t. Although the Deschutes river is a notable exception, so maybe that’s complete crap.
2. The steelhead these guys are fishing for are generally the largest fish in the river. Theory 2 would be that when these fish are in the river, they displace any smaller resident fish from their normal lies so they wouldn’t be holding in the same water as you’d be fishing when targeting steelhead.
3. Theory 3 is maybe they do catch resident fish, but those streamers are so big and gaudy that it’s kind of like streamer fishing on the white. You MIGHT catch a 15 inch fish throwing a double deceiver, but anything less that 20 inches isn’t going to be able to fit that thing in its mouth very well.
Also fwiw, I’ve seen videos of guys steelhead fishing in Canada where pacific salmon are a bycatch. I’ve also seen some of guys fishing in Oregon where they are getting bumps and the guy is like that’s just trout hitting that. You’ll know when a steelhead take it. So maybe your theory is right, they just edit out the bycatch.
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Post by FlyAndStream on Mar 8, 2018 8:56:28 GMT -6
Before moving to East Texas a few years ago, I was born and raised in Oregon and fished rivers, like the Deschutes, as my 'home-waters'. Most PNW river systems have resident trout populations such as Redbands as well as seasonal steelhead (anadramous trout) runs. From my experience, when swinging (or skating) flies for steelhead, you will at times catch Redbands (Columbia river system rainbow trout subspecies), bluebacks (sea-run cutthroat trout), and Coho or Chinook (King) salmon. Of course when the steelhead are running, catching a trout while fishing through a run for steelhead is an inconvenience at best. If the folks in your video are catching trout as by-catch, they're probably not including it in the their footage. Here's younger me with my first Chinook (King) salmon on the fly, we were actually skating flies for steelhead at the time, but this was a welcomed 40-lbs by-catch, and it was a hatchery fish in which case harvesting is encouraged.  |
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Post by dainw on Mar 8, 2018 9:13:45 GMT -6
Safe to say we can consider theories 1 and 2 debunked then?
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Post by todd13 on Mar 8, 2018 9:22:29 GMT -6
Good discussion....fun.
I think theory 2 is still quite plausible. Makes perfect sense actually b/c those steelheads are predators and would drive away trout. However, if a steelheader is fishing all day with no takes and the water is slower (we've all seen steelhead caught in slower water also), then it still makes sense that trout could/should be around. We hear the stories of the steelhead fisherman fishing days and days without a strike.
That is a fat looking salmon. Very cool.
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Post by dainw on Mar 8, 2018 9:56:06 GMT -6
So in my opinion, given the option between faster riffled water and slower water, rainbows tend to prefer the faster water, more insects and oxygen. Again disclaimer here, not a biologist. Just what I’ve observed in my limited time on the water. Not to say you can’t catch rainbows in slower water, especially in streams that they dump a lot of fish in and habitat is at a premium, just that given the choice I think wild bows prefer fast water.
Fly and Steam may want to chime in here bc he’s actually fished for steelhead, but from the videos I’ve seen, they tend to hold in water that is moving like a “fast walk.”
Again, no idea on that. Haven’t fished for steelhead but have watched some YouTube videos.
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Post by FlyAndStream on Mar 8, 2018 10:22:27 GMT -6
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Post by paul01 on Mar 8, 2018 10:24:02 GMT -6
Other than skating a fly across the water, has anyone ever caught a steelhead (excluding "1 pounders") on a regular dry fly? Therein lies another difference between rainbows and steelhead: Feeding habits.
My favorite difference between the two is the way in which people will inquire about your catch, which is "how many rainbows per day?" versus "how many days per steelhead"?
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Post by FlyAndStream on Mar 8, 2018 11:05:26 GMT -6
"Other than skating a fly across the water, has anyone ever caught a steelhead (excluding "1 pounders") on a regular dry fly? Therein lies another difference between rainbows and steelhead: Feeding habits." I have never caught a 'sipping' steelhead with a dry that wasn't skating or on the swing, though I do know of a few folks that have. But, it makes sense though when one considers how a steelhead feeds while out at sea. They're not sipping the surface in any way. Which for a trout, as we all know, is a primary feeding behavior. "how many rainbows per day?" versus "how many days per steelhead"? The "how many days per steelhead" comparison is really just a sad indication of the waning steelhead runs. Years ago, the steelhead runs were much stronger, as was the average catch rate. Of course the steelhead count of each watershed differs drastically, many of which are listed as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Either way from a conservation stand-point, my opinion is that no one needs to catch many steelhead in one day, even if they're practicing catch and release. They're a special fish. |
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Post by golferjeff on Mar 8, 2018 12:50:50 GMT -6
Donaldson Rainbows (steelhead) are a popular private ranch fish in Utah and Nevada. I've caught those on dries. I have no interest in 'Days per steelhead' though. Too many great places to catch quality and quantity of trout.
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