Coho or Steelhead?

[birdhunter]

I know, I know, it really shouldn't be that hard to tell them apart, but take a look at these pics. This was first brought up by David Johnson. I've been reviewing them and having a hard time deciding what they are. Here's the story. The following two fish were caught in the Clackamas. The first one Cody is holding was caught in late December. The next was caught in early February. They were both wild and released. We've caught many more identically bright fish like these two as well. I'd say about 20 or so this winter. I had automatically assumed they were steelhead due to the fact that they were so bright. Looking again I'm not so sure.



To get a frame of reference, here's that big coho they got in October. This thing is very dark and very distinguishable.



The fish we caught are much much brighter for that late in the year. But the heads and bodies just don't look much like steelies. Here's a steelie for those who forget what the look like (BOE):



So basically this boils down to me trying to see what you all think. Were these really really late coho or just funny looking steelhead? I'm leaning toward late coho, but I'm having a really hard time getting past the run timing. Thoughts?

[Ramstrong]

The one on the left is definately a coho. The one on the right, I can't tell from the picture definitively but looks like it might be a coho as well from what I can see of the jaw. The tail would have really given it away. Steelhead have even spots on both halves of the tail, coho have sparse spots mostly on the upper half. Plus the mouth of every steelhead I've seen has been pretty much all white or with light grey. Coho are darker in the mouth area.

[chuck 'n' duck]

I'm with Ramstrong on this one. The fish on the left is without a doubt a silver. The mouth of the fish on the right is too obscured to determine whether or not it is a silver. I'm going to say that based on the compact size of the body and dark color near the mouth that it is a silver. However, early february seems pretty late even for the late Clack native silver run.

CnD

[Artwo]

Ben,
They both look like silvers to me as well, the tell tale signs are the body shape, spots on the upper tail lobe and in the mouth (silvers have a white lower gum line with a black tounge).

JK

[Beek]

They both look like 'ho's to me.

[crabbait]

I go wit da 'hos, but what do I know?

[Ramstrong]

Hey Matt, good to see you lurking down here on the american sites. I'll be up in your neck of the woods fishing with Vic for Socks on Aug 6th and fishing on my own the 7th. Maybe we'll be able to hook up this time?

[RichH]

I'm with the other fellas though the one on the right could go either way. Just going by general body shape it looks like a ho to me.
[img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]

[birdhunter]

Thanks guys. Anyone have any insight into the run timing? We did catch some huge native coho in December on the Clack, but they were much darker. Very distinguishable from those other bright fish. Is there a later winter run that normally would go unnoticed, but due to the HUGE runs this year they're showing up?

Here's another shot of Cody's fish BTW. Looks very different in this picture. This is the same fish.

[FishinMission]

Ben...I used to catch some native Coho in December on the Clack. Yes...they do come there that late.

Mark

[spinnermaker]

Thay both look like coho to me. I have seen coho in the clackamas as late as the end of Jan.

[David Johnson]

Lookin like coho. ODFW has done tracking studies with the late coho on the upper Clackamas and found them spawning into February and March.

We caught a darker coho on Christmas Eve this year and in years past I've caught chrome coho durring Christmas Break.

[chuck 'n' duck]

After looking at some fishing pics at home, one key difference I noticed between silvers and steelhead was the angle the **** fin makes with the "wrist" of the tail. On a steelhead, the end of the **** fin makes a 90 degree angle with the body of the steelhead near the tail (directly underneath the adipose). On silvers, the **** fin terminates in a more gradual slope and makes closer to a 45 degree angle. With that observation, I would say the fish on the right is definately a sliver.

CnD

[MasterCaster]

The first thing that caught my eye to say SALMON/COHO was the dark grey or black on the fins.
I dont believe i have ever seen a bright steelhead with any darkness to its fins.
Am i right in this?
its just the first thing in the pic that i noticed. it cught my eye right away :smile: :whazzup: :smile:
Jon

[Richard]

Check out:
www-ops.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/frd/Sport/IdKey/salmid.htm

and

www.wa.gov/wdfw/recovery.htm
(there is link to a salmon/trout ID key here)

Trout have < 12 **** fin rays, pacific salmon have > 12 rays. Steelhead have white mouths, coho have black mouths with white gums.

Richard

[birdhunter]

Alright, so they are coho. I feel pretty silly for not noticing it before, but when you catch mint bright fish in the Clack in late December - early February you'd expect them to be steelhead. This fish were only handled for a few seconds before being released. It does seem really obvious looking at the pictures now.

I guess what threw me is that we did catch some really dark coho along with some of those brighter coho. This was all around the 27th of December. Never caught any dark coho after that. Only bright ones. I was under the impression that the native run came in during November. I can understand them still spawning or being alive in December-January, but these are still really bright fish from the lower river. They've got a ways to go before the turn.

Does anyone have any insight into why we were catching bright coho in early February? [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

[ 04-03-2002, 12:33 PM: Message edited by: birdhunter ]