Steelhead or Salmon.?? ..please help w ID

Recent hook up and release on Snoqualmie.
Could i please get some help with proper ID as to Steelhead or Salmon?
Thanks for your help

Coho, aka Silver

Male Coho

Why do people go fishing and then not know what they are fishing for, or what they catch.

iagree

Looks like a very rare, could be the last of doe doe salmon.

I know what I'm fishing for...I lack the skill to control what bites my fly.
coho buck...burner

Usually males have a far more pronounced kype by the time they turn that red. Also females run quite a bit grayer, like this example. I suggest it is most likely a female. I would be leery of betting it is male.

Here is an example of an "almost" coho male. Note the far larger kype at the same relative stage of coloring up. art

http://moldychum.typepad.com/moldy_chum/images/2008/12/01/great_lakes_coho.jpg

AWESOME! Just awesome!

Nice Silver.

There are second run silvers and some can be really bright that start showing up in January.

It is not legal to retain Silvers after Jan 1st.

Dave

I literally caught hundreds this year, like most... Tended toward earlier, brighter fish, but there were plenty of dark fish. I would be far more inclined to call it a hen. I caught a few silvers in WA while going to college at CWU (actually CWSC, too) and they looked just like the silvers I grew up catching, so I doubt there is much geographic variation, aside from timing.
art

Jerry
Please take a look at the similar age coho I posted the link to... The kype is huge. That is what I would expect from males of the same apparent aging time frame. The modest kype on the fish above is in the very ordinary range for female coho, IME. I will grant it could be either, but I am pretty convinced it is a hen.
art

OMJ that kind of a dumb bitchy comment even for you.

Guys, I have been fishing the Snoqualmie for years, look at the gums, tail, and spots.....this is an ATLANTIC SALMON! its trying to spawn in the wild. Obviously....how did you guys not catch that?

that was a joke by the way. didn't want to get slaughtered.

Nate you beat me to the punch!! :clown:

I was going to ask Nathan for his opinion too...:ray1:

Nathan are you out there??

Male coho-
and I second the OMJ grumpy comment- I rarely comment on him- but sometimes I just can't help it :-{

I guess I am in the same boat as Jim!

It isn't like there aren't resources available for identifing the primary fish in our rivers and lakes. that too is a part of fishing! In fact it is a responsibility!!!

Though I can appreciate someone asking what is this fish? That is part of the learning process. There has been more than one pic of someone posting a pic of a bright Snoqulmie Silver caught in January thought to be a Steelhead.

Long threads go on and on about rods, lines, reels, waders etc. The gear is just the gear and has very little to do with the fish! If competance is the goal then the gear means little. It is the fish you need to focus on. You need to know your quarry if you really want to become competant!

Dave