Steelhead Trout are one of the greatest indicators of the health of a stream or river because they stay in the river longer than almost any other salmonid fish. The presence of Steelhead in any river system tells us that there is hope for the future of the stream. If it's good enough for the Steelhead it is pretty much good enough for all fish.
Steelhead follow salmon into the river and if you know when the salmon in any given river are moving to spawn you can rest assured that there are a few steelhead in their wake. If one looks carefully enough at a school of pre-spawning Salmon look behind the school and you might see a steely coloured fish or grey ghost lying behind waiting to eat some stray eggs. This is why anglers use Salmon Roe and other egg imitations when angling for Steelhead. The silvery ghosts feed on the eggs of all other fish in the river and on their own as well.
If salmon are in decline in any river system the steelhead will be in peril. If it wasn't for our hatchery it is likely that the Sooke River System would have little or no steelhead at all. We also capture Steelhead for brood stock and actively enhance the river with thousands of smolts every year.
One of the most interesting aspects of Steelhead is that they are very genetically diverse meaning that there are numerous little runs of fish moving into the river at all different times of the year. What is even more interesting is that the higher the latitude of the river location the more variation in run timing.
Here in Sooke (48.5 N latitude) Steelhead begin to arrive in late summer with the Chinook Salmon and then filter in right through until March. There are two distinct runs of Steelhead: the Summer Run fish which typically show up prior to mid December and is usually smaller; and the larger Winter Run Steelhead.
The Summer Run fish usually spawn a little before the Winter Run fish but even this can vary. In some cases they spawn at the same time - usually March or April. The greatest thing about Steelhead is that once they have spawned they do not die but they actually go on a feeding frenzy that revitalizes their bright silvery scales to a bumper chrome finish. We call this action mending and the term for Steelhead returning downstream is “Kelt.” Watch out for the “Keltic Steelhead” as they are voracious feeders and have insatiable appetite for almost anything that they can find!
In addition to the Sooke, other river systems in Canada known for large Steelhead are Cowichan River, Gold River, Yacoun River, Dean River and the Thompson River. The numbers of large specimens has been in recession for some time due to environmental damage, poor ocean survival, and over fishing.
Description: The average length of steelhead is 20-30 inches. A typical mature steelhead usually weighs 8-12 pounds but has been known to reach 36 pounds. The body resembles a silver bullet when fresh in from the ocean and has a rounded snout and a large mouth. The spawning male experiences minor changes to its head, mouth and colour gaining red sides. Females tend to be more silvery. All have a number of small black spots. The colouring varies drastically over the whole of its range.
Location: The native range of this species is the northern coasts Pacific Ocean and the fresh water mainly west of the Rocky Mountains and across the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. It has also been successfully introduced into the Canadian Great Lakes and into New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, Africa, Japan, southern Asia, Europe and Hawaii.
Steel Head Migration Area:
The female digs and spawns in several nests depositing 800-1000 eggs in each. These eggs usually hatch 4-7 weeks later. The life expectancy can be as low as 3-4 years but generally the steelhead lives 6-8 years. They first feed on plankton, then insects, and as they grow older, on crustaceans and other fish.
|
