David Johnson
04-13-2003, 06:32 PM
For a lot of people there are questions they have about the difference between a summer and a winter run steelhead. On rivers that have overlapping runs this can be a little confusing.
On a recent trip I was assisted by "Hot Rod" Lesley Broos and her husband Kevin in getting a good sample of both kinds of steelhead. All were chrome bright and from first appearances they were hard to tell apart.
http://www.ifish.net/uploads/325017102.jpg
The picture above is of a chrome bright, wild winter run. Most winters will have at least a little rose color to their gill plate but some will look just like a summer, except they have that nice, big adipose fin still intact.
http://www.ifish.net/uploads/223317102.jpg
In this picture there is both a winter run (left) and a summer run (right) Both looked identical except the winter steelhead had two fin clip marks and the summer only had the adipose.
The coloring and the fin clip marking are what I use the most but the once and for all test is what's inside the fish. The sexual organs will be mature in a winter run and they will be very small and undeveloped in a summer run.
http://www.ifish.net/uploads/084317102.jpg
Summer eggs on the left and winter eggs on the right. The skein of summer eggs was about as big around as my finger.
Summer steelhead will also have a large store of fat inside the body cavity.
The winters run during winter and late spring and spawn one to three months after interring the stream.
Summer run steelhead return during the spring, summer and fall and will not spawn until the following spring. Their original range was to river systems that the fish had to travel a very long distance and they have to start six to nine month in advance in order to get to the spawning grounds on time.
[ 04-13-2003, 06:43 PM: Message edited by: David Johnson ]
On a recent trip I was assisted by "Hot Rod" Lesley Broos and her husband Kevin in getting a good sample of both kinds of steelhead. All were chrome bright and from first appearances they were hard to tell apart.
http://www.ifish.net/uploads/325017102.jpg
The picture above is of a chrome bright, wild winter run. Most winters will have at least a little rose color to their gill plate but some will look just like a summer, except they have that nice, big adipose fin still intact.
http://www.ifish.net/uploads/223317102.jpg
In this picture there is both a winter run (left) and a summer run (right) Both looked identical except the winter steelhead had two fin clip marks and the summer only had the adipose.
The coloring and the fin clip marking are what I use the most but the once and for all test is what's inside the fish. The sexual organs will be mature in a winter run and they will be very small and undeveloped in a summer run.
http://www.ifish.net/uploads/084317102.jpg
Summer eggs on the left and winter eggs on the right. The skein of summer eggs was about as big around as my finger.
Summer steelhead will also have a large store of fat inside the body cavity.
The winters run during winter and late spring and spawn one to three months after interring the stream.
Summer run steelhead return during the spring, summer and fall and will not spawn until the following spring. Their original range was to river systems that the fish had to travel a very long distance and they have to start six to nine month in advance in order to get to the spawning grounds on time.
[ 04-13-2003, 06:43 PM: Message edited by: David Johnson ]