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[243Pete]

I think the jist of all this is just be able to ID the fish first, if you are unsure it's a safe bet to just let it go cause if you gotta question what is in your possession that can cause all kinds of unwanted problems.

[milo]

Not a bio Milo, just a grunt technician

Who probably knows more than a bio, just like the nurses today who know more about treating patients than the doctors they assist.

[BladeKid]

Regardless of whether the fish is a dead steelhead (which is the conclusion I have also deduced), the point which Cas has brought to hand still stands.

To reiterate, it is that new anglers (as well as experienced) should be fully aware of potential by-catch in the systems they are fishing, not matter how unlikely. Moreover, anglers should be able to distinguish by-catch from targeted species in all fishing situations, be them co-migrating Cultus sockeye during the red chinook run, or stray summer-run steelhead from coastal or interior systems.

[joshhowat]

The small mouth, is a dead giveaway that it's a clear steelhead doe.

Also it must be stiff as a board, looking like that.


The thing that rattles my chain the most is the bs about that fish being release.

[Every Day]

It's a dead fish 100%. Same reason stated above. Dead stare, open mouth, flared bottom of the mouth, indents where it was placed on rocks.

My opinion is that it is a steelhead.

It has:

- Visible rows of radiating spots on the tail
- Tail rays fanning out in the middle of the tail only
- Heavy spotting in rows on the dorsal from top to bottom
- Spotting on the adipose
- Short maxilla that doesn't extend past the eye
- A very short and deep anal fin, which is squared off rather than angled

I have never seen a coho with spotting like that on the full tail (small radiating spots from base to end in perfect rows), nor have I seen a coho with colourful tail rays in that particular fashion. Normally coho with tail rays look like this:



and not like this (which is what that picture appears to have):


I have also never seen a coho with that many small perfect spots below the lateral line. Coho tend to have larger spots mixed with the small spots, and they typically stay above the lateral line.

Lastly, it is incredibly rare to have any sort of dorsal spotting on a coho, especially one that chrome. That is also coupled with the adipose spots (dorsal and adipose spots are clearly visible in that picture).

The only dorsal spotting I have seen on coho is like this (irregular and large spots):



Not small spots that are again, in perfect radiating rows like steelhead have:



If I have seen spots on coho adipose/dorsal fins, they are typically not numerous (as they are on that fish), and are generally on only one or the other.



Just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth.

I would also like to add, that I would love to see people's pictures of coho with numerous spots on the tails, dorsals, and adipose fins. I just went through well over 300 photos and only found maybe a dozen coho with spots on the dorsals (and the one I pictured had the most by a long shot). I found none with full tail spotting. I also found none with both distinct adipose AND dorsal spotting. It would be a 1 in a million shot IMO for a coho to display dorsal, adipose and tail spotting in the fashion that the fish pictured does.

[Dave]

The thing that rattles my chain the most is the bs about that fish being release.

This

[swimmingwiththefishes]

This is the strangest Coho I've caught. Was taken in mid-december and thought it was a steelie as it has spots all over its tail and very square anal and tail fins. The fish has a huge hook nose, not shown in the zoomed in picture, so was an obvious male coho.

So I'm willing to give LostSockeye the benefit of the doubt on that one, but the fish does look pretty dead.

[Every Day]

I don't see a single spot on the lower tail of that coho by your hand (the fish pictured earlier has numerous small spots top to bottom of tail). It also - as I said before is typical of coho - only has 2 spots on the adipose rather than numerous spots.

The anal fin on your fish also is obviously angled and long, and doesn't have a single spot in view on the dorsal fin (again unlike the dead steelhead in the original photo).

[milo]

Thanks Dan for revealing a bunch of subtle steelhead identification details I wasn't aware of.

Anyway we look at it, it's an unclipped fish.
And that alone means it shouldn't have died from the hand of an angler. 

Very interesting and educational discussion.

[blaydRnr]

Funny thing is, I knew in my heart that fish was dead and because I've been involved in so many arguments over the years, I thought I would sit this one out after my first post. I'm just glad someone else had the balls to question the validity of the story and other top rods took the time to point out the obvious and not so obvious.

[TheLostSockeye]

i was afraid this pic would come back up. Yes it is infact a steelhead. This picture is super old. Sorry i lied about it. it was taken in march of 2012 i think... I did not catch this fish as i did not even fish for steelhead. It looks like its dead to me aswell... Cant even remember if its actually dead.

I say again i did not catch it! I did not fish the vedder for steelhead when this photo was taken.
I am extremely sorry for lieing about the fish being alive. Again im not sure what caused the mortality of this fish.
Only reason why i lied was beacuse i though it would be easier to say it was alive than explaining why there is a dead wild steelhead on the rocks there. OBVIOUSLY NOT!! if it stirred up this hornets nest.

This was the one and only post i lied about thats it.
here is when photo was taken not sure where it was taken:

[big_fish]

Way to embarrass members who have been supporting you... What are we supposed to believe now?

[milo]

Thanks for coming out and telling the truth. No sweat.
Show me a person who says they have never lied and I'll show you a lier. 

May this experience be a reminder that there are only two things in life that you cannot hide: coughing and the truth.

On another note, what happened? You stopped catching coho and chum?

[blaydRnr]

I am extremely sorry for lieing about the fish being alive. Again im not sure what caused the mortality of this fish.
Only reason why i lied was beacuse i though it would be easier to say it was alive than explaining why there is a dead wild steelhead on the rocks there. OBVIOUSLY NOT!! if it stirred up this hornets nest.

This was the one and only post i lied about thats it.
 

All you had to say was "I came across this photo or fish which I did not catch and was wondering...." and that would have been the end of it, saving you a lot of embarrassment and suspicion.

At least you Manned Up and proved you're well on your way to being a responsible member of this forum because we already know you can catch fish with the best of them. So tight lines and let's move on. 

[243Pete]

X2 on manning up on it LostSockeye, at least you got the balls to come forward to explain things in light of all that has been said. We all make mistakes once and a while cause after all, we are only human.

Like blaydRnr said "let's move on."