tell me about steelhead

Erie has lake run rainbows... not steelhead (sorry guys)
there are no steelhead in the great lakes

G.L. fish are a potamodromous fish that migrate in fresh water... no part of the life cycle in is salt...
steelhead are an anadromous rainbow that spends part of its life cycle in salt water...
rainbows and steelhead are the same strain of fish...but a rainbow becomes a steelhead due to the part of its life spent in salt water

while evidence of some natural reproduction in erie... it is not a sustainable population
there are however native fish in the pacific northwest... and a sustainable population of wild fish in the other G.L.

Genie, I think you need to fact check on the 42# world record 'bow.  I believe it was recently surpassed by a Kamloops strain of rainbow in Saskatchewan.
 
 

ORIGINAL: Storm Warning 2

Genie, I think you need to fact check on the 42# world record 'bow.  I believe it was recently surpassed by a Kamloops strain of rainbow in Saskatchewan.

 
Thanks Storm.
wasn't aware of the new WR
 
wish it was on the end of my line
(smile face icon)
 
 
..L.T.A.

You can see photos here:  http://www.laketrout.org/world-record-rainbow-trout.htm
 
Story is here:  http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/news/story?id=2901070
 
Cool pics from the lake where it was caught here (including some monster rainbows):  http://www.trophytroutguide.com/gallery/index.php

where did u hear that?

That is apparently a triploid fish.  A few years ago they put kings with similar genetics in Lake Michigan (and Ontario, I think) to try and produce Great Lake kings over 50 pounds.  Don't think that ever happened, though.

I would argue that we do have steelhead. The physiological changes of our steelhead are the same as steelhead the world over regardless of the salt content of the water in which they live. The look and act very different than, say, the lake run rainbows of the Finger Lakes and anyone who has not seen both might not understand. We may have PA Frankensteel Mutts, but they're steelhead nonetheless. IMO, saying that these fish are not steelhead because there's no salt in Lake Erie is silly. Landlocked steelhead is a better description, after all a landlocked salmon doesn't stop being a salmon because of where it lives. But landlocked steelhead just sounds silly, well because it's a goofy arguement to begin with.

Any trout stocked in Elk Creek will probably move into the lake by the end of June regardless of their lineage. When the stream become unsuitable to sustain coldwater fish they will seek life elsewhere, this is the source the big browns occasionally caught in the fall.

ORIGINAL: pa1000

Any trout stocked in Elk Creek will probably move into the lake by the end of June regardless of their lineage.

will they come back to the streams in fall though?

 
When it's time for them to spawn, I'd s'pect they would.
 
 
Stalker,  I'm curious, could the reason the 'Bows in the Finger lakes you mentioned be different because of the forage base?
I'm sure the strain has something to do with genitic differences.
Some stains run in the Fall, Spring and Summer.
Also, some are long and skinny, some are short and fat.
But they're all still considered Bows, no??
 
 
..L.T.A.

Actually the stockie Rainbow MIGHT get as big (eventually), but the growth rate would be slower. Forage fish are only a part of their diet. In the great lakes, the mainstay of their diet in the early stages, and for a large part of the year as adults, is the Spiny Water Flea. Another factor, is ROOM to grow. Fish tend to naturally adjust their growth rates to the size of a body of water, and it's population. Put five Goldfish in a bowl, and one in a bowl. Provide the same amount of food per fish, and the ONE fish will still grow larger than the five.

Its all about forage base . Bigger the body of water bigger the average size of each year class of fish. The trout you are speaking of are pellet grown from the hatchery they grow to 7" in thier first 15 months of life and then average an inch each month while feeding is supplemented . While the fish in lake Erie have natural larger shad , alewife , shiners , crawdads , perch , smolt , walleye fry , gobies to eat . The smaller bodies of water cannot grow such large fish smaller less frequent meals..... The insects also play a role in the natural diet as well. A trout expends probably the same amount energy to eat a bug as it is valued for growth..... Alot of variables here. It is my belief the steelhead is the same as a rainbow trout ; but that is speculation on my end through conversation with others ???? Chime in anyone.

The steelhead/rainbow debate has always interested me. It is my understanding that they are the same fish genetically, but just lead different life cycles mainly due to smoltification.
 
But, I feel they are definitely closer to being the same than they are being different, especially our PA mutt fish that I do think have more regular rainbow in them. Don't forget too, each waterway where wild fish are present, sort of has their own "strain" of fish too. I fish several waters for wild browns, and I can generally tell by looking at a picture which stream a fish came out of. Each one has it's own features to an extent, and the fish are just hued a little bit differently on each water.
 
I also think that most rainbows stocked in a lake will become lake run fish also, if there is ample feed to hold them over, and an attractive stream to run. The spawning urge is still there. Actually, I am fortunate to know of a very small lake in PA, that is in a very remote area, that has it's own little run of wild reproducing rainbows. These fish run the tributary each spring from mid March to mid April, and honestly look identical to a silvery, fresh steelhead. Only difference, they are very, very slender, and seldom over 21" or 22". But, none the less, it is a pretty cool deal.

i am not from Canada... but have this onoing convo with some westcoasters...

i am still sticking to the facts...
anadromous fish live in the sea and breed in fresh water...
potamodromous fish migrate within fresh water only...
GL have no salt... oceans do...
steelhead (by definition) are anadromous fish...


Steelhead are exactly the same species as rainbow trout. However, the difference is anadromy....
steelhead are sea-run rainbows...
all steelhead are rainbow trout... not all rainbow trout are steelhead...


am i wrong???

ORIGINAL: dano

Kjh807,
Then, explain salmon as an anadomous fish and it's part in the Great Lakes system.

i'm not sure what you are asking...
its a non-native species that was planted in the G.L...

if it lives in a G.L. it is not anadromous...

woo kAres dUuds
 
tHarE jIst fIss

ORIGINAL: dano


So by your reasoning, the salmon in Lake Ontario are not really salmon because by definition, salmon are an anadromous fish.
Do I have that right?

not all salmon are anadromous...
landlocked salmon won't go to salt, even if unobstructed...

the chinook and coho in the G.L. are not a native fish... they were orignialy introduced to destory alewifes in MI in the late 60s...

man has created a "landlocked chinook" in the G.L.
this is not an anadromous fish... rather a potamodromos fish

???