Hi Y'all,
I've been told that there are no steelhead rivers on the east coast, but based on what I've read the only criteria for steelhead is an anadromous rainbow trout, and there are plenty of spots in Atlantic Canada with rivers flowing into the sea where there are rainbows.
The river this rainbow was caught on is brackish as you near the ocean, and this trout (not mine) was caught about 2km from a bay, and 7km from the open ocean. Does that make it a steelhead?
Most of the trout I've seen in this part of the river have the same markings as this one, which is why I chose it.
Posted by Beanmaximum
4 Comments
I vote rainbow. So many spots, and on the anal fin.
Id say big bow. Can the river support trout in the Summer?
[There’s a chance!](https://www.wildsteelheaders.org/science-friday-steelhead-invade-the-east/)
This is one of the most hilariously debated topics in all of fishing. West Coasters are insistent that they are the only region with steelhead. I grew up in Michigan, as far as I’m aware the original rainbows that were stocked in the Great Lakes genetic steelhead from the West Coast. I call ‘Lake Run Rainbows’ steelhead, its what I grew up hearing, they’re big ol fish that spend most of their lives in gigantic bodies of water and migrate into streams to spawn. No one has a problem calling Great Lakes Chinook Salmon ‘Chinook Salmon’, but for some reason calling Great Lakes Steelhead ‘Steelhead’ ruffles feathers.
As for Anadromous Rainbows coming upstream out of the Atlantic? I have no idea what their genetic history is, but I have no problem calling them steelhead. Given the fact they live in an actual ocean, I’d consider them to be ‘more’ of a steelhead than what I grew up calling a steelhead. I’m intrigued to see if this post gets ignored, sparks open minded discussion, or crashes and burns with arguments. Regardless, they’re all rainbow trout, they can all breed with eachother and create viable offspring whether its a west coast fall run anadromous or a small stream spring spawner stocked outside of its native range, its all one species thats been stocked all over the world. My personal opinion is thaylt behavioral distinctions make more sense than geographic or genetic distinctions, since again… its all one species.