RAINBOW? STEELHEAD?

We have sea run rainbows here. Nobody calls them Steelhead.

Is there a difference? Do they look different?

-- Lionel

On 10/13/05 10:38 AM, in article , "Lionel
F. Stevenson" wrote:

We have sea run rainbows here. Nobody calls them Steelhead.

Is there a difference? Do they look different?

First loop connectors vs. nail knots, now "what is a steelhead."

Oh, if it were only an election year...

:-)

Lionel, the fisheries folks next door to you in Nova Scotia seem to call
them both sea run rainbow and steelhead:

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsaf/sportfishi...ies/rain.shtml

My guess is that it is just "local flavor" that causes naming differences.
Sort of like brook trout/speckled trout/specks, etc.

Bill

where is here?

The lake run rainbows in the Great lakes are called steelhead.

The classic hard nosed definition is a steelhead is a Rainbow that spends at
least one year in the Pacific Ocean - but I think that's more about bragging
rights.

Do they look different? There are many races of steelhead here in the
Pacific North West and British Columbia, some lean and thin others stout and
thick The legal definition of steelhead in BC is any rainbow trout of 50cm
or bigger from any stream known to hold steelhead. Does that help?

The Great Lakes Steelhead tend to be pretty chunky.

Rainbows are "plastic" fish - I mean they adapt quickly to local conditions.
It didn't take long for rainbows in the Firehole to tolerate much higher
temperatures than other 'bow. Rainbows in New Zealand quickly learned to
spawn in Oct-Nov when they used to spawn in Apr-May

Bottom line. A rainbow of any sort is a dam nice fish to catch. Remember
Shakespeare's famous line about a rose. Enjoy yourself
--
"Lionel F. Stevenson" wrote in message
...
We have sea run rainbows here. Nobody calls them Steelhead.

Is there a difference? Do they look different?

-- Lionel

" Ralph Heidecke" wrote in message
news:t9Y3f.200151$tl2.161394@pd7tw3no...
The legal definition of steelhead in BC is any rainbow trout of 50cm or
bigger from any stream known to hold steelhead.

In computer science that's called "infinite loop".

And what about if you caught the VERY LAST ONE...? Would that be a
'steelhead'?

--riverman

Rainbows in New Zealand quickly learned to spawn in Oct-Nov when they used
to spawn in Apr-May

Don't know where this info came from, most rainbows in the North Island at
least, spawn May through August, with peak numbers in June and July
(mid-winter). It is true that spawning fish will come upriver in April in
some rivers, and fish will continue to spawn into Novenmber, but in far
fewer numbers than during the peak runs.


--
Tony Bishop
www.bishfish.co.nz
New Zealand

"Bishfish" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...

Nice to hear from you Tony. Hope you are doing well?

TL
MC

G'day Mike,

am back to good health now - please send me your email - the one I have goes
nowhere.

--
remove 901 from reply email for valid address.


-----
remove
"Bishfish" wrote in message
...
Rainbows in New Zealand quickly learned to spawn in Oct-Nov when they
used to spawn in Apr-May

Don't know where this info came from, most rainbows in the North Island at
least, spawn May through August, with peak numbers in June and July
(mid-winter). It is true that spawning fish will come upriver in April in
some rivers, and fish will continue to spawn into Novenmber, but in far
fewer numbers than during the peak runs.


--
Tony Bishop
www.bishfish.co.nz
New Zealand

http://www.southernencounter.co.nz/a.../salmonids.htm

"Spawning in rainbow trout within New Zealand takes place in late autumn
and through the winter. "

may be a matter of semantics. by spawning I mean dig redds and lay eggs.
Steelhead typically enter streams in Jan & feb and spawn in MArch & April
(in Washington & british Columbia)

--
-----
"Bishfish" wrote in message
...
Rainbows in New Zealand quickly learned to spawn in Oct-Nov when they
used to spawn in Apr-May

Don't know where this info came from, most rainbows in the North Island
at least, spawn May through August, with peak numbers in June and July
(mid-winter). It is true that spawning fish will come upriver in April in
some rivers, and fish will continue to spawn into Novenmber, but in far
fewer numbers than during the peak runs.


--
Tony Bishop
www.bishfish.co.nz
New Zealand

http://www.southernencounter.co.nz/a.../salmonids.htm

"Spawning in rainbow trout within New Zealand takes place in late autumn
and through the winter. "



well the penny just dropped - autumn & winter as in April into July etc!
That mistake stuck in my head for a long time.

I can't fathom the water in the toilet bowl spinning in the opposite
direction either. LOL!