Interesting discussion, folks.
I have caught quite few bright silver 1/2 pounder (jacks) Vedder river winter steelheads weighting in around 1-1.5 pounds during last 33 years. I believed female coho jack is called a Jill.
Having never caught a steelhead jack myself, and not having fished the Vedder for steelhead in many years, I am interested how you can determine that a 1-1.5 lb steelhead is indeed a steelhead, and not a residualized rainbow trout that never smolted. Apart from a scale sample, that is
Not doubting you, just curious.