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Wallace River Report
Snohomish County, WA

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Details

01/05/2014
Steelhead
Afternoon
01/07/2014
5
3719

I'm giving a 5 for the simple fact that this was my first time catching a steelhead. She was a beautiful 14-16" hatchery hen. I lost another at a different spot on the wallace, but 1/2 is perfectly fine with me for day 2 during my first season!


Comments

The_chemist
1/7/2014 6:49:00 PM
Good job on the fish. Technically that's a trout as a steelhead are defined at sea run rainbow 20" or longer. For return estimates it shouldn't be marked on your punchcard.
4steelhead
1/7/2014 8:27:00 PM
I would measure it with tape. Looks like 20+ to me.
Steelhead6438
1/8/2014 2:03:00 AM
Good Catch Sparky.... I give you a 5 for catching a fish! I had to work! LOL! It's a beautiful fish don't let anyone tell you different! Trout, Steelhead.. what matters is that you instituted the right method, presentation and touch to catch a nice fish. That's all that matters! :)
riverhunter
1/8/2014 4:19:00 AM
Thats a steelhead. It has a clipped fin so definitely a hatchery. They dont clip rainbows and they are all wild in the wallace.nice catch.
TrophyHunter
1/8/2014 7:27:00 AM
Always cracks me up. Its a steelhead no its a rainbow.....Dude, they are the same thing. Only difference is they are considered steelhead once having gone to salt and back. They do say on a lot of rivers 20+ only because smaller fish generally wouldnt have made it to the salt and back at only 14 inches. So, yea I wouldnt mark that on my card unless it was measured at 20 inches. It does look like its pretty close maybe 18-20 looks to me. None the less a gorgeous fish! Great job.
The_chemist
1/8/2014 9:43:00 AM
Like I said, for accounting purposes it shouldn't be marked as a steelhead. I totally agree that rainbow & steelhead are basically the same thing but for bean counting the difference matters. We don't need cooked books screwing with policy.

A steelhead is defined as "a sea-run rainbow trout 20" in length and over" from pg 11 of the regs.
Rippasher06
1/8/2014 11:18:00 AM
That went to the salt and back. You can tell by the coloring. I have worked with a hatchery. After seeing so many fish, you can tell which have gone and and which have stayed home.
seattlesparky46
1/8/2014 12:14:00 PM
I didn't actually measure the thing. It was obviously a poor approximation; judging by the photo you can easily it is much larger than 14". And it has the clipped fin which, to my understanding, makes it a hatchery steelhead when combined with proper length.
Flytrap
1/8/2014 12:55:00 PM
What color is the meat? That should say a lot. Looks like a steelhead to me. I caught one the same day on the lower part of the river. It was slow so it's nice to see that someone else was catching fish that day. Good job
seattlesparky46
1/8/2014 1:03:00 PM
Darker red like salmon meat. Tasted amazing.
Flytrap
1/8/2014 3:08:00 PM
Good job. At least you got to eat the fish you caught that day. Mine was a wild fish and was set free right away.
riverhunter
1/8/2014 3:20:00 PM
I'm sure we all know that they are the same species but we also know the difference between the two. That being said it does make a difference whether it went out the salt or not for counting purposes. Good job marking that fish. Also if mr warden decided to pay you a visit you save yourself a huge fine.
Spiegel
1/8/2014 3:58:00 PM
If the meat was dark red it's definitely steelhead. Trout has an almost white (pinkish) meat. The color of the sea run (steelhead) is caused by the krill they gorge themselves on the ocean, there's no equivalent on the river hence the color difference.Congratulations, took me over 5 years to catch my first and only so far.
Bank drifter
1/8/2014 9:23:00 PM
Should have taken it to Three Rivers Marine, they do prizes for smallest and biggest out of Wallace, Sky and Snoqualmie, I think the smallest as of Monday when I was there was 3 lbs 12 oz, you might have won! I got my smallest ever yesterday at 22.5" and 4 lbs 8 oz, the fish I have caught this year are the smallest I have seen in 8 years of fishing( on average), nice job just the same catchin is always more fun than just fishin!
Matt
1/9/2014 7:58:00 AM
Ummm.. How about the fact that the adipose fin is clipped? It's a steelhead, and The chemist you are incorrect, it SHOULD be marked as such. There are no hatcheries releasing clipped rainbow trout.
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709