What is your largest coldwater Rainbow? (new pic)

[lamiglass drifter]

I cought one a few years ago on the Rogue when I was just learning how to steelhead fish that went a little over 10 lbs. I just was wondering if many get that big in oregon's coastal river system.

[ 02-20-2003, 12:58 PM: Message edited by: lamiglass drifter ]

[Blake]

How do you know it wasn't a steelhead?

[Keta]

Unless it was above the Lost Creek Dam it was a steelhead. Now I've caught several big trout out of Klamath Lake.

[willametteriveroutlaw]

I caught one that was 14 or 15 lbs in Skilak lake on the kenai pennisula when I was 13. On eggs right off the bottom. That was a PIG and a half, I look for a picture. It was 32 inches long and damn near as thick.

[Keta]

Outlaw,
Now that's a TROUT. No steelhead in the Keni Drainage.

[Flatfish]

Can I include the hog I snagged tonite at the sportsman show? If so 7 maybe 7 1/2 ". A real pig in anyones book.

Mark and the trophy hunting dog.

[Joe]

Are there warmwater Rainbows?

My biggest Rainbow Trout was 6 lbs. and 24". Caught it when I was 12 or 13 out of a Helicopter pond in the Tillamook burn. :wink: Caught another one that day that was 4 1/2 lbs. Definatly was worth missing a day of school. :cool:

[KingFisher85]

Got one that was about 13 pounds at a pond down the road. Its a big brooder trout in this guys small little 1.5 acre pond.
Got pictures of it and will try to get them up.

[lamiglass drifter]

The one I caught was below lost creek but is defenitly a rainbow not a stheelhead. It's on the wall now. I know the state record of 28+ is also from the Rogue just down the river a little from where I caught mine. Warm water/Lake fish is not what i'm interested in...I'm talking Big wild River slabs that outfight most steelhead!!!

[tag-a-long]

So far it has been a 4 pounder at detroit lake... Hoping to hook one of the brooders realeased in Salem last week. 3-4 year olds 8-12 pounds. They count?

[kwik karl]

My biggest was nearly nine pounds, caught in Agency Lake. My brother caught one over ten pounds at the mouth of the Williamson River, but it didn't put up much of a fight, he thought he was snagged on a stick.

[Steelie28]

My largest was a 27" that had an amazing 17" girth. A true slab. Caught it on the Newhalen River in Iliamna, AK. While guiding up there, one of my clients landed a 33" x 18" monster. Largest trout I have ever seen.

Steelie28

[The Fishing Geek]

18". Pfffft.

[fishchaser]

Lets see now, mine was a 5 1/2 pounder I pulled out of Craine Prairie, and my husband's was a 3 pounder pulled out of Diamond lake in 1998, His wasn't a rainbow though. It was a Williamson Trout. Big Fat Fish, with lots of little scales all over it. They were stocked into diamond a couple of years ago to see if they could bring down the Chui-Chub population. It didn't work. Too bad. I hope the Chinook they planted works.

[spin33]

My son caught one of the brooder stock last week, a real pretty fish, weighed in at 9.5 pounds, took a pic, and put it back for someone else to catch.

[nerta]

:grin: Klamath Lake 12lb13oz lost the big fish contest that year to a 17+ pounder caught from the same lake. Williamson trout are rainbow.

[Keta]

Nerta,
What about the big one Martin caught that I was going to release before you guys jumped on me?

[lost_sailor]

I think it was the 22"-er from the bank at Lava Lake late last season ...

A 10 lb. rainbow from the Rogue is a STEELHEAD, unless it was above Gold Ray dam. I thought the only resident fish in the Rogue were whitefish.

[Pete]

I kept my biggest yet. 9 pound 7 ounces on a fly ... the fly is dangling in front on the fish. Caught it on the Tongariro river in New Zealand.

http://www.mcube.net/images/trout.jpg

[Snapset]

I caught one 27" in Georgetown Reservoir i Montana. That is a great place, would be greater if it was closer.

[id. painter]

O.K. this is where the Idaho shines... I have landed loads of 4 lb trout. Henerys lake, Clark canyon res., American Falls res., Snake river ect.... I got a 13lb'r and a couple around 9lb's and many , many 6 and 7 ,,,,, I landed several right around 27-29 inch. Ive seen several that were right at 13-15 lbs. These fish grow fast , small heads and big fat bodies. id. p.

[Fishing freak]

My son caught one on the Rogue ( below the dam) that weighed 6lbs. ( caught and released)
It was a rainbow trout ( not a steelhead) we spend 2 weeks every summer drifting the Rogue in this stretch. He has caught numerious rainbows over 4 lbs. in the last few years.

[No Wishin Just Fishin]

14 pounder in American Falls resevoir in 1967 with tom morrison of Idaho state Gazzette and later that year a 15 pounder in flaming gorge also with Tom

[GutshotApe]

Lostsailor - I think there may be a few resident rainbows in the Rogue but I can't believe any get over 2 or 3 pounds. Those big 10 lb. & bigger trout must be steelhead.

[Steelhedslayer]

At The Bville hatchery in the trout show ponds there was one rainbow that weighed in at
26 lbs 9 oz. now that' a TOAD. unfortunately she past away last year....

[lamiglass drifter]

Ok well so far it looks like mine might be the biggest wild rainbow from an oregon coastal river. Next to the 28+ monster that is... and to all who say it must be a steelhead I'll post a few pics as soon as I get this computer figured out.
Keep up the good stories and pictures.

[stick flicker]

I caught and released a 26" rainbow in the Kootaney River in B.C. I got it on a flyrod in April bankfishing. :dance:

[Keta]

Lamidrifter,
It was a steelhead.

[Walleyed]

Got a 24" at Odell last year on a flook.
Casted out as far as I could with a buzzbomb and was messing with my real trying to get the line to go out when zing!!! it started going out and I couldn't stop it. :dance:

IT WAS A GOOD DAY

Walleyed

[lamiglass drifter]

keta ...Wate for the pictures

Not a steelhead

why do you guys try to be know it all's?

[Joe]

Back in the early 90's I saw some large resident (not native) Rainbows on the North Umpqua. They swam into the trap at Rock Creek Hatchery. They are just hatchery catchable Rainbows that survive and take up residence. They don't even look like a Steelhead. More like Rainbow Trout colored footballs than anything. I would guess that there are some on the Rogue as well.

No trout were finclipped back then so it would be hard to know if it was truly wild.... I would bet it was a hatchery trout that survived a few years.

[Keta]

Lamiglass,
Read the regs.

[lamiglass drifter]

I have and i know what you are refering to. any rainbow over 16 in. in the rogue Is "concidered" a steelhead for tagging reasons. A Rainbow is still a rainbow not a steelhead.

and This fish was caught 2 years ago so the the fact that it had it's fin makes me beleve it wasn't a hatchery because if it was It would make it what almost 10 years old...maby? but not likely.

[lamiglass drifter]

I have and i know what you are refering to. any rainbow over 16 in. in the rogue Is "concidered" a steelhead for tagging reasons. A Rainbow is still a rainbow not a steelhead.

and This fish was caught 2 years ago so the the fact that it had it's fin makes me beleve it wasn't a hatchery because if it was It would make it what almost 10 years old...maby? but not likely.

[lamiglass drifter]

It's funny how some people critisize the reported size of fish. I post a question and get a lot of good positive responces but a few people just don't give up thinking they know more than they do with out anything to back it up. :shrug: and just in case ....You can keep nates early in the year on the Rogue.

I found this so maby some of you might beleave the story and see where i'm coming from.

I found this on the web:


Oregon Cold Water Game Fish Records
Species Weight Year Where Angler
Trout, Rainbow 28 lbs 0 oz 1982 Rogue River Mike McGonagle
Trout, Steelhead 35 lbs 8 oz 1970 Columbia

[Jettin' Fool]

graemlins/lurk.gif

[Keta]

Trout, Rainbow 28 lbs 0 oz 1982 Rogue River Mike McGonagle

Caught above Lost Creek Dam. I think it was a steelhead that got traped by the dam.

[lamiglass drifter]

caught above gold ray but below lost creek

Lost creek is where the hatchery is and the fish don't go above that.

if you still think that oregon has 2 records for steelhead think what you must.

Keep kalling me a lier if you want...I'm not.

I am however a bad speller. :grin:

[ssteelheadsteve]

12 lb. Keichavk River Alaska on a Attorney Fly.
Have seen Rainbows over 20 lb on upper Tularik Creek.
In my book untill you catch a large Bristol Bay Rainbow you haven't seen a real Rainbow fight. Alaska Bows in BIG water will test your skill. But then I have not fished in Chile.

[lamiglass drifter]

Alaska sounds like the place to be!

[Keta]

Lami,
I'm not calling you anything. The record rainbow was caught above Lost Creek Dam.
If it was caught below the dam they would have called it a real nice steelhead. I also remember reading about it in the Klamath paper sometime around '80 or '81.

[ 02-07-2003, 11:15 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[nerta]

:grin: Mom caught this one a few years back. She usually out fishs the rest of us. :shocked:


http://www.ifish.net/uploads/01161237.jpg

[crabbait]

keta - Lighten up.

[GutshotApe]

Crabbait - What's Keta need to lighten up about? :whazzup: Everything he posted here is true and accurate. The discussion is about coastal rainbow trout and whether a 10 pounder in the Rogue is a trout or a steelhead. Legally and biologically, its a steelhead. Keta's right, lamidrifter is wrong. Resident rainbows in westside rivers do not get much above 2 or 3 lbs. Only in certain Alaska streams with huge sockeye runs do rainbows reach 10 lbs. If you talk to the biologists or read the literature this will be borne out.

[lost_sailor]

A steelhead is a rainbow trout. I'm waiting to hear exactly how you tell the difference, unless you catch it in salt water.

[GutshotApe]

I think you can tell by examining the scales under magnification. Steelhead grow much faster while in the ocean so their annular rings will be spaced wider. Resident rainbows just don't have an equivalent food source so their annular rings are much narrower. But residents don't live long enough to reach 10 pounds under natural westside Oregon stream conditions so the scales of any large "rainbow" will indicate ocean feeding and fast growth = steelhead.

But, I could be wrong. :wink:

[5-Cents]

Ok back to the question posted... :wink:

I got several 4 to 7 lb trout last year in Klamath Lake and one huge 11lb + daddy (estimate) that was 32" long... how much would that weigh. :whazzup:

First time I ever fished that lake. I will be back!

:cheers:

[HOGTIDE]

I remember photos of that big rainbow caught on the Rogue. It had a big round belly. Was almost built like a chinook, but the wrong colors and markings. Wasn't that actually caught below Lost Creek...and then they made a big deal to try to determine that it actually was a rainbow ? I can't remember the story that well.

Never weighed my biggest rainbow. But, there were a few years on Crane Prairie where we caught lots of fish that may have went #3 or #4 or maybe #5 pounds. Bobber and a bug!

[ 02-08-2003, 09:47 AM: Message edited by: HOGTIDE ]

[Keta]

Crabbait,
:smile: No offense to Lami but I just feel that the facts here should be corrected when they're wrong. I remember when this fish was caught because there was much discussion as to whether it was a steelhead trapped behind the dam or a rainbow. Lost Creek Res. doesn't usualy produce LARGE trout, nice ones but not like Klamath Lake or Crane Prairie. In SE Alaska there are resident rainbow as well as steelhead in many stream systems.

5-cents,
The Klamath rainbow do get big but they aren't as strong as a sea run rainbow.

Here's a Klamath Lake trout that my brother caught

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/37312037.jpg

[ 02-08-2003, 11:09 AM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[Joe]

Lost Sailor,
Steelhead were Rainbow Trout ( Salmo Gardneri ) then someone decided they were Salmon (Onchoryncus Mykiss). It seems like I heard they were going to be switched back. :shrug: Anybody know?

GSA,

The Rainbows I observed in the North Umpqua were very fat (around 6 pounds) and happy.

[ 02-08-2003, 02:38 PM: Message edited by: Joe ]

[Applegate]

Keta, If memory serves me, the big fish in question was caught right below Gold Ray. I remember because I had a good friend who lived at Gold Ray Estates at that time and we fished springers there alot. I have lived and fished on the Rogue for approaching 50 years now. The biggest trout I have caught was probably 15 inches. Steelhead in the Rogue are smaller on average than most of the fish in other rivers. A 20 pound steelhead here is almost unheard of. We always thought there was something phony about this record Rainbow. Sombody looking for publicity? I don't know, stranger things have happened.

[GutshotApe]

Originally posted by Joe:
GSA, The Rainbows I observed in the North Umpqua were very fat (around 6 pounds) and happy. [/QB]<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">Where/when was this? How do you know they were rainbows?

[Joe]

GSA,

As I mentioned in my previous post it was around 1990. They swam into the fish ladder at Rock Creek Hatchery. I'm only talking about a few fish and only two that I think were 6 lbs. The only reason I mention it is because I remember being very surprised at there size and that they had survived in the river. I realize it is very unusual to see Rainbows of that size in a westside river.


There was no question that they were hatchery ( domestic stock) Rainbows. Much shorter and fatter than Steelhead. If I had a picture of them I'm sure you would agree. :shrug: The females were even squirting yellow eggs.

At that time the hatchery was planting thousands of Rainbows in the rivers down there. I moved up North ten years ago but I assume that's stopped?

[outfishem]

My biggest trout was caught at Klineline pond in the Salmon Creek and it weighed approximately 6.5 lbs. it probably was a brooder that was releasedin there. But anyways a big trout I caught it while I was trying for a big Bass it was about 1 ft from shore with a whole nightcrawler no weight. :smile: :cheers: :smile:

[lamiglass drifter]

Does any one know who Mike McGonagle the record holder is or where he is from...That would sure shed some light on the subject. It sounds like everyone has herd of the record being caught in a diferent place...I heard it was caught in the pump hole from lots of people from southern oregon who fish the river all of the time. If anyone knows him and It would be nice to hear first hand where and what the official findings were when it was scored.

[Chris Nordling]

Lamiglas Drifter-

If you need help with putting your pic up, let me know, I can help you if you can email it to me.Chris@CatchSomeFish.Net. I will gladly help you post it tomorrow evening.

Why are you so sure that this wasn't a steelie? I'm not trying to disagree, but help me understand a few things please.

What time of year did you catch this fish ?

What is the length of the fish?

I agree with GSA. Scale samples would reveal that this fish made it to saltwater sometime in it's life. More than likely this fish migrated out to sea after spending 2 years is freshwater(typical for a steelie), then returned after 3 summers in the ocean. But a scale sample would have told all.

The food supply in freshwater simply would not be enough to supply this fish with enough energy to grow that rapidly. Your fish would be well over 10 years old, and even you thought that sounded unreasonable.

I guess the fish could have been a brooder trout that wandered away from the hatchery (is there one near by ?), that didn't get clipped.

To answer the post question, my largest coldwater rainbow is around 18" or so. Maybe 2 or 3 pounds from the Clack.

Like I said, I'd be more than happy to post your pic for you, if you don't get it up before I get back from fishing.

I'm sure it's a beauty of a fish :cheers:

Chris :cool:

p.s. My thoughts are based on my Fish Tech. studies, and class notes from a few weeks ago.

[lamiglass drifter]

I'm working on getting the pic in the cumpiter, scanner is broke i'm going to see if i can barrow a digital camera though. The thing that makes me think the fish is a trout is that it's 23 inches long and it looked like a football nothing like the many steelhead i have caught sence. Also thing faught harder than any steelhead i have caught to date and i know first hand most bruder trout fight like a floating **** . :grin: I guess it is possible that it made it to the ocean at one point in time but it dose not look like a steelhead at all. I'll be working the picture....

[Grantspastor]

16 pounds on a wooly worm from the Copper River Alaska (Lake Iliamna area)

[Shrimp&worms]

Lets see my biggest would have to be the eight 1/2 # rainbow I landed in my favorite hi mountian lake,there is a story on it in the new members thread and pictures to be posted as soon as i get the hang of posting pictures,fun fish to catch though.
And hello to all Im a newbie here at Ifish.

Josh
AKA SHrimp&worms :dance:

[Bankbound]

What about German Browns?? Does that count? My largest was just over 7 lbs. it came from east lake and is probably still swimming today!

Let's hear about some big browns, NOT out of the willamette!!

MH

[Keta]

Are browns trout?

My son's Lake of the Woods browns

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/384021347.jpg

[Baskett-o-fish]

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/ODFWhtml/InfoCntrFish/FishRecords.html

[Bankbound]

Keta I thought you were one of the fish gods??? :wink: Yeah browns are trout (I don't know about the willamette version though?)lol

Those are a pair of nice browns!

[KingFisher85]

My UGLY trout :blush: . Should have never kept it, but that was back in the day. But hey, I had fun at the time. ON A FLY TO!
http://www.ifish.net/uploads/37011840.jpg

[garyk]

For Oregon waters only:

Metolius River fall 1987 ~ 28-29" redband, fully finned, not broodstock.

Davis Lake fall 1994 34" rainbow.

Both released.

Regarding the big Rogue River 'bow caught at Shady Cove. I remember that one and I do believe is was analyzed and declared to be a resident rainbow. I was told it was caught in the "Holy Water".

[Fishing freak]

Lamiglass Drifter,

You are correct. There are alot of big rainbows in the Rogue. People just don't target trout alot during their feeding periods. My son has caught a minimuim of 10 rainbows in the last 5 years that would exceed 4lbs. The 28 lb. trout was a rainbow, NOT A STEELHEAD. It was caught in the pump hole, about 2 1/2 mile below the hatchery.

[Fishing freak]

By the way, If anyone wants to see the 28 lber. TROUT, there is a picture of it in a little ma and pa store called "Sunset on the Rogue"
(about 4 miles below the fish hatchery). This fish was caught BELOW the hatchery while fishing for salmon from a driftboat. To the best of my knowledge people don't drift the Rogue for salmon above lost creek resevoir :rolleyes:

[lamiglass drifter]

That's what i heard....pump hole but I guess a lot of other people who don' t even fish it think that steelhead can get up into lost creek resivore....I guess those ones have wings :laugh: The Rogue Grows Em Big!!!

[lamiglass drifter]

finaly got one but it isn't that good....

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/29252349.jpg

I'll try and get one of the mount soon. :smile:

[Kruechief]

28", 7lb "Cranebow". When I open the hog up she had about a 10" rainbow that was in the digestion process. I was fishing Quinn River back in the snags about 20-years ago. That day I lost one that could have ate the one I caught. :shocked: I swear every time it would jump and it water it was like someone threw out a chunk of cord wood.

I have caught numerous "Cranebows" since then. I like to fish Rock Creek mainly. And have recently been on a mission to KILL EVERY BASS IN CRANE PRAIRE! (Sorry) The introduced thing really chaps my hide!

Krue