Fish of the Month: Steelhead

As a fly fishing targeted sportfish, Steelhead are – maybe – only second to Atlantic salmon in terms of mystique and theories told in hushed tones around camp fires deep into the night.  They are certainly high on the bucket list for many anglers involved in our great sport. 

But what exactly are steelhead?  Well, one way to think of them is of a rainbow trout that acts like a salmon.  That’s right – they are the same species of fish as the rainbows you may have caught in creeks and lakes, but instead of staying in freshwater, they have decided to spend a year or more in the ocean, growing sleek, muscly, silvery, and strong.  They are large tough sportfish when they enter rivers to make their way upstream to spawn, and this is when fly fishers from the world over descend on rivers of the north Pacific basin to target them.  Unlike many species of Pacific salmon, steelhead can survive spawning and may return to sea several times, returning to rivers bigger and stronger every time where they are highly prized by anglers.  People might describe a large steelhead as a “two salt” or a “three salt” fish, indicating how many times an individual fish has returned to the ocean during its life. 

Steelhead with entirely freshwater cycles occur too – these have typically been stocked into areas they are not native to and spend most of their lives feeding and growing in large lakes before returning to rivers to spawn.  Some famous all-freshwater steelhead occur in North America’s great lakes, and in the Lake Taupo system of New Zealand.

Like the Musky of mid-western North America, steelhead have been described as “the fish of a thousand casts” due to the long hours and low catch rate the species is notorious for.  They are typically targeted with single-handed or double-handed fly rods, 7-9 weight with large streamers swung through rivers on lines with heavy sink tips. 

Due to many human-induced pressures, Steelhead populations are drastically reducing in many of their native areas, causing great concern for all of us who want to conserve the species throughout their native range.  They have been heavily supplemented with stock from fish hatcheries in some areas, however there is strong evidence that the hatchery fish actually harm the wild fish by competing for resources and dilute the wild gene pool by interbreeding with wild fish that have evolved to suit their particular catchment over thousands of generations.  Fish released from hatcheries can usually be identified by having no adipose fin (they get chopped off before release) and in some areas, may be kept if caught – but check local regulations!  Wild fish, with adipose fin intact, should be released unharmed if caught, with minimum handling using the ‘keep fish wet’ techniques.

Steelhead are a truly remarkable fish, found in the most beautiful places on the planet, and a steelhead fishing trip is a bucket-list fishing trip of a lifetime. 

Steelhead need our help now more than ever, for survival of the species.  If you would like to learn more, and maybe help to conserve the species, you can find out more information here.

Video Credit: Redington