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This question has been bothering me for years, and I am ready for an answer. Here are two definitions from merriam-webster(credible source). Steelhead:- an anadromous rainbow trout —called also steelhead trout..... Anadromous: ascending rivers from the sea for breeding....... So why do Great Lake fishermen call their Rainbow Trout, Steelhead? Rainbow Trout here in Idaho that live in large lakes do move to the streams to spawn, but they are still Rainbow Trout. The Steelhead that are born in Idaho, live in the rivers and migrate to the OCEAN (thus anadromous) and return, and we call them Steelhead. Steelhead and Rainbow Trout are genetically the same but Steelhead travel back and forth from the ocean (a trait). A Steelhead is a Rainbow Trout, but a Rainbow Trout cannot be called a steelhead unless it will live in the ocean at some point in it's life. So why do Great Lake fishermen make this mistake? Is it just a "thats what my grandpa called it" or is there some real reason. Before people start getting defensive about this and start calling me names, there are some really big RAINBOW TROUT that are caught out of the Great Lakes.
Question by babsfish4life. Uploaded on March 02, 2010
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Answers (17)
The Great Lakes are REALLY BIG lakes, akin to an inland ocean, and I think that the trout are called steelhead.
I dont know...I fish the great lakes, so when we catch one out there its a steelie, but if its small and in a river its a rainbow, I guess it has to be big to be a steelhead?????? I'm going to ask some of the old timers I fish with and hopefully get something back to ya, but nothing fights like a steelhead with the exception of a king, maybe.
I have no idea if this is true but i was told once that roe and milt was collected from true steelhead and transplanted to great lake tributaries.
Potamodromous. That is the latest term for these salmonids that migrate from fresh water streams to large bodies of fresh water and back. Such a strange word, so I still slip and call them anadromous.
No mistake. The steelhead in the Great Lakes are distinct from our resident rainbow in that they are imported from the West Coast. Thank you, very much. So, since they were once your steelhead, saying they aren't really steelhead is kind of self-incriminating.
Several different strains, too. Steelhead have been here long enough to become distinct unto themselves. They hatch in streams, migrate to the big lakes where the become chrome bullets, and return to streams to spawn. Once in streams they take on colors, especially the males, but they can usually be readily distinguished from the resident rainbows.
Oh, similar for our chinook and coho. They were brought in to eat the invasive alewife that die by the thousands and stink up our beaches. Atlantics were once resident and have been restocked.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no genetic distinction between steelhead and rainbow trout. Here's a bit of a newsflash for you guys: rainbow trout (a.k.a. steelhead) ARE NOT TROUT. They were reclassified as salmon back in 1989. This was accomplished through DNA. Also, DNA determined that the Siberian rainbow trout is the same critter as those found in North America. By the taxonomic rules laid down by Linneaus (the guy who devised the system of defining and naming species, genus, etc.), specimens discovered and named first are the ones that will have precedence over others discovered later. Therefore, because the Siberian rainbows were discovered first, the American rainbow trout is now officially extinct as both a trout and as a species. I had a lot of fun with that little bit of wierd trivia during my Park Service interpretive programs in Alaska.
Steelhead? Rainbow? Anadromous? Potamodromous? All I know they are a blast to catch.
I knew people would get defensive. I am not demeaning Great Lakes fish at all, just trying to figure out why they call them Steelhead. My understanding is that Adadromous means SALT water, not just a large piece of freshwater. MLH, in my mind, if you hatched an ocean run steelhead roe and milt and put them in an enclosed pond. If they stayed in that pond their entire life they would be rainbow trout. I consider the ACT of traveling to the ocean changes their bodies and characteristics enough to be called something different. I just don't understand how size of water would change what kind of fish they are. Just from the definition it seems to me that a steelhead is a Oncorhynchus mykiss that is has spent time in the SALTwater. The Steelhead and Rainbow Trout are genetically identical, so that being said it must be an action that defines the difference. I am still a white middle age male if I live in a small town (lake) in Idaho or live in Dallas Texas (great lakes). I am just trying to get to the bottom of this because I am confused, if you feel like I am attacking your livlyhood, I am sorry that is not my intention.
Wow, I didn't think that at all. Not sure where that came from. The salt water is bound to change the fish physically, otherwise they wouldn't be able to tolerate it. What is really amazing is that some fish can make the transition but most cannot. They're either fresh water or salt water. As far as I know (and my information is dated), we still are not clear how steelhead, Pacific (true) salmon, coasters (brookies), Atlantic salmon, sea trout (cutthroats), do it. By the way, Atlantic salmon is a trout not a salmon.
babsfish4life
I do not think your attacking a life/lifestyle or you or your thread/question, as far as what people call the fish over here as compared to what people call fish over there.
I like what OHH and MLH have to say, only due to the scientific back up they use to describe, but I'm in with Buckhunter, with one note attached, blast to catch and I believe Steelheads are one of the top 2 eating fish (walleye #1) that come from both great lake and river from a great lake.
OHH - isn't it great what genetic research has done to strip away what was once commonly known to be true?
babs - just having fun. I suspect the confusion is why they came up with the new term for fresh water.
The size of the Great Lakes surprises many people. Erie is shallow but Michigan and Superior are many hundreds of feet deep. Winds flip the thermals. Get away from shore and you will not see land. Sit on a sandy beach, and except for the lack of salt air and sharks, you would think you were at the ocean. One fifth of the world's fresh water supply. Large enough to affect temperature and weather patterns. Storms that'll rock your boat - plenty of sunken ships over the centuries - ever hear of the Edmund Fitzgerald?
And a brook trout is actually a char.
Is a bass still a bass? JK...good explanation Ontario MLH..I learned something new today! Often wondered
Yes, MLH, and lake trout, dolly varden, and bull trout are also chars. The only char actually called a char is the arctic char.
I understand that the great lakes are huge, but it seems to be that the salt water is the key according to the definition. That is ok, people can call them whatever they want. I am just not convinced, which should be ok.
The STEELHEAD we have in the great lakes were taken directly from Washington in the sixties. They are actual Washington strain Steelhead. Genetically, they are identical to the salt dwelling STEELHEAD in washington. However, We also have a type of RAINBOW TROUT, commonly known as domestic rainbow trout, which are genetically different from Steelhead. They also have deeper bodies, spots that range all across their bodies, and a comparitively smaller head. They run into rivers at the same times of year. But you seem to have a problem with the fact that the lakes are not salt water, and therefore couldn't possibly yield true steelhead. Well consider this; The great lakes also are host to Chinook, Coho, and Atlantic Salmon. By your logic, They are not true salmon because they never reach salt water. There is another word that is used to identify this type of anadromous fish. LANDLOCKED is the term used to describe ANADROMOUS fish which never reach the sea because they are locked inland. I am proud to say that I am a Landlocked Steelheader.
You are incorrect, Steelhead and Rainbow Trout are identical in genetics. Thus the conversation. If a fish is landlocked, it is not anadromous. Anadromous is an action not a genetic code. You may call it whatever you would like, I was just trying to find out a real reason.
Steelhead have recently been classified as a different sub species than rainbow trout Due to genetic and behavioral differences. But I guess you wouldn't truly understand unless you came out here to see the difference for yourself. Plus the Salmon River here in NY is a GREAT place to fish and I would recomend it to anyone who is into Steelhead. But if you do decide to come out at any time, what ever your opinions on the name of the fish, keep em to yourself, because there are a lot of proud Steelheaders out here.
You have to understand, We don't care so much what you out on the west coast call our fish. We just care that you acknowledge that the fish we are catching out here are in essence, the same as what you catch out there, and that our fishery is no less legitimate. To say that we're simply catching over sized bows just doesn't do the fish or the fishermen justice.Catching one out here is not an easy accomplishment. Catching one or two in a whole day of fishing is routine, and catching nothing all day is not uncommon. They are crafty, they are beautiful, and they are possibly the hardest and most spectacular fighting fish around.
While I'm at it, I'd like to clarify that not all the fish we get out here are hatchery fish.Not that you have challenged this in any way, but others have called us out on it. It may be hard to believe for some, but our catch ratio of stockeys to wild fish in the SR is probably something like 35 to 65. But no official survey has been done so the statistics will remain as an estimation for now.
That's a good question. I live in the great lakes region and I know that the fish can get BIG. I think that it is because many people around here associate the term "rainbow trout" with smaller fish, because that is what we call the 9-13 in. stocked trout, and the majority of the steelhead do not fit that size. Also possibly because when they run up the rivers and streams, the males do develop the dark spawning colors and hooked jaws and then they don't match the appearance of the small stocked fish associated with the term "rainbow trout".
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The Great Lakes are REALLY BIG lakes, akin to an inland ocean, and I think that the trout are called steelhead.
I have no idea if this is true but i was told once that roe and milt was collected from true steelhead and transplanted to great lake tributaries.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no genetic distinction between steelhead and rainbow trout. Here's a bit of a newsflash for you guys: rainbow trout (a.k.a. steelhead) ARE NOT TROUT. They were reclassified as salmon back in 1989. This was accomplished through DNA. Also, DNA determined that the Siberian rainbow trout is the same critter as those found in North America. By the taxonomic rules laid down by Linneaus (the guy who devised the system of defining and naming species, genus, etc.), specimens discovered and named first are the ones that will have precedence over others discovered later. Therefore, because the Siberian rainbows were discovered first, the American rainbow trout is now officially extinct as both a trout and as a species. I had a lot of fun with that little bit of wierd trivia during my Park Service interpretive programs in Alaska.
Steelhead? Rainbow? Anadromous? Potamodromous? All I know they are a blast to catch.
I dont know...I fish the great lakes, so when we catch one out there its a steelie, but if its small and in a river its a rainbow, I guess it has to be big to be a steelhead?????? I'm going to ask some of the old timers I fish with and hopefully get something back to ya, but nothing fights like a steelhead with the exception of a king, maybe.
Potamodromous. That is the latest term for these salmonids that migrate from fresh water streams to large bodies of fresh water and back. Such a strange word, so I still slip and call them anadromous.
No mistake. The steelhead in the Great Lakes are distinct from our resident rainbow in that they are imported from the West Coast. Thank you, very much. So, since they were once your steelhead, saying they aren't really steelhead is kind of self-incriminating.
Several different strains, too. Steelhead have been here long enough to become distinct unto themselves. They hatch in streams, migrate to the big lakes where the become chrome bullets, and return to streams to spawn. Once in streams they take on colors, especially the males, but they can usually be readily distinguished from the resident rainbows.
Oh, similar for our chinook and coho. They were brought in to eat the invasive alewife that die by the thousands and stink up our beaches. Atlantics were once resident and have been restocked.
That's a good question. I live in the great lakes region and I know that the fish can get BIG. I think that it is because many people around here associate the term "rainbow trout" with smaller fish, because that is what we call the 9-13 in. stocked trout, and the majority of the steelhead do not fit that size. Also possibly because when they run up the rivers and streams, the males do develop the dark spawning colors and hooked jaws and then they don't match the appearance of the small stocked fish associated with the term "rainbow trout".
I knew people would get defensive. I am not demeaning Great Lakes fish at all, just trying to figure out why they call them Steelhead. My understanding is that Adadromous means SALT water, not just a large piece of freshwater. MLH, in my mind, if you hatched an ocean run steelhead roe and milt and put them in an enclosed pond. If they stayed in that pond their entire life they would be rainbow trout. I consider the ACT of traveling to the ocean changes their bodies and characteristics enough to be called something different. I just don't understand how size of water would change what kind of fish they are. Just from the definition it seems to me that a steelhead is a Oncorhynchus mykiss that is has spent time in the SALTwater. The Steelhead and Rainbow Trout are genetically identical, so that being said it must be an action that defines the difference. I am still a white middle age male if I live in a small town (lake) in Idaho or live in Dallas Texas (great lakes). I am just trying to get to the bottom of this because I am confused, if you feel like I am attacking your livlyhood, I am sorry that is not my intention.
Wow, I didn't think that at all. Not sure where that came from. The salt water is bound to change the fish physically, otherwise they wouldn't be able to tolerate it. What is really amazing is that some fish can make the transition but most cannot. They're either fresh water or salt water. As far as I know (and my information is dated), we still are not clear how steelhead, Pacific (true) salmon, coasters (brookies), Atlantic salmon, sea trout (cutthroats), do it. By the way, Atlantic salmon is a trout not a salmon.
babsfish4life
I do not think your attacking a life/lifestyle or you or your thread/question, as far as what people call the fish over here as compared to what people call fish over there.
I like what OHH and MLH have to say, only due to the scientific back up they use to describe, but I'm in with Buckhunter, with one note attached, blast to catch and I believe Steelheads are one of the top 2 eating fish (walleye #1) that come from both great lake and river from a great lake.
OHH - isn't it great what genetic research has done to strip away what was once commonly known to be true?
babs - just having fun. I suspect the confusion is why they came up with the new term for fresh water.
The size of the Great Lakes surprises many people. Erie is shallow but Michigan and Superior are many hundreds of feet deep. Winds flip the thermals. Get away from shore and you will not see land. Sit on a sandy beach, and except for the lack of salt air and sharks, you would think you were at the ocean. One fifth of the world's fresh water supply. Large enough to affect temperature and weather patterns. Storms that'll rock your boat - plenty of sunken ships over the centuries - ever hear of the Edmund Fitzgerald?
And a brook trout is actually a char.
Is a bass still a bass? JK...good explanation Ontario MLH..I learned something new today! Often wondered
Yes, MLH, and lake trout, dolly varden, and bull trout are also chars. The only char actually called a char is the arctic char.
I understand that the great lakes are huge, but it seems to be that the salt water is the key according to the definition. That is ok, people can call them whatever they want. I am just not convinced, which should be ok.
The STEELHEAD we have in the great lakes were taken directly from Washington in the sixties. They are actual Washington strain Steelhead. Genetically, they are identical to the salt dwelling STEELHEAD in washington. However, We also have a type of RAINBOW TROUT, commonly known as domestic rainbow trout, which are genetically different from Steelhead. They also have deeper bodies, spots that range all across their bodies, and a comparitively smaller head. They run into rivers at the same times of year. But you seem to have a problem with the fact that the lakes are not salt water, and therefore couldn't possibly yield true steelhead. Well consider this; The great lakes also are host to Chinook, Coho, and Atlantic Salmon. By your logic, They are not true salmon because they never reach salt water. There is another word that is used to identify this type of anadromous fish. LANDLOCKED is the term used to describe ANADROMOUS fish which never reach the sea because they are locked inland. I am proud to say that I am a Landlocked Steelheader.
You are incorrect, Steelhead and Rainbow Trout are identical in genetics. Thus the conversation. If a fish is landlocked, it is not anadromous. Anadromous is an action not a genetic code. You may call it whatever you would like, I was just trying to find out a real reason.
Steelhead have recently been classified as a different sub species than rainbow trout Due to genetic and behavioral differences. But I guess you wouldn't truly understand unless you came out here to see the difference for yourself. Plus the Salmon River here in NY is a GREAT place to fish and I would recomend it to anyone who is into Steelhead. But if you do decide to come out at any time, what ever your opinions on the name of the fish, keep em to yourself, because there are a lot of proud Steelheaders out here.
You have to understand, We don't care so much what you out on the west coast call our fish. We just care that you acknowledge that the fish we are catching out here are in essence, the same as what you catch out there, and that our fishery is no less legitimate. To say that we're simply catching over sized bows just doesn't do the fish or the fishermen justice.Catching one out here is not an easy accomplishment. Catching one or two in a whole day of fishing is routine, and catching nothing all day is not uncommon. They are crafty, they are beautiful, and they are possibly the hardest and most spectacular fighting fish around.
While I'm at it, I'd like to clarify that not all the fish we get out here are hatchery fish.Not that you have challenged this in any way, but others have called us out on it. It may be hard to believe for some, but our catch ratio of stockeys to wild fish in the SR is probably something like 35 to 65. But no official survey has been done so the statistics will remain as an estimation for now.
Post an Answer