1. Troutnut Forum
›
2. Photography
›
3. Salmon smolt

This picture is related to a post by Summer_doug and his mysterious little fish. Someone mentioned it might be a steelhead smolt. This picture is what steelhead smolts generally look like. Quite a bit different than
Summer_doug's fish. While this fish is about 7" long even smaller smolt's have this same appearance.

I agree with you Matt...See my response to his post. -Spence

I still believe it's a steelhead parr. These accounts are from California and show several lifestages of steelhead.


http://calfish.ucdavis.edu/species/?uid=39&ds=698

http://parkway.scrwatershed.org/theriver/species/southern-steelhead.html

I don't know - Summer_doug's fish has a deeply forked tail and there don't appear to be very many spots on the caudal fin like the steelhead smolt pictures I have seen. Maybe Jason could chime in hear with a more definitive and educated opinion of the origin of this little guy.

Yeah, I agree that Jason's opinion would be welcome. I don't know either - it could be a salmon parr.

A poster here referenced Chinook salmon parr as the most likely identification. After looking at numerous pictures online, I could see the resemblance.

I also see similarities with Coho salmon parr, but I don't really know what to look for.

I've been using this as an opportunity to try and understand the life stages of our Michigan fish.

Chinook is my guess. They do actually spawn here in MI once in a while!

Jonathon

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/library/pdfs/habitat/adfg_hr_id_cards_v1.1.pdf

Chinook for sure! As I said, a high number of parr marks is distinctive.

Jonathon

Hello new member here i am a lifelong trout nut looking forward to this forum
i cant help but think the pic is a rainbow they look alot like the wild rainbows we have here in a couple isolated headwater streams in pa jus a guess

Hello pabrown,

I posted the picture of a steelhead (rainbow) smolt (a young trout or salmon) in response to the OP by Summer_doug about the identification of a very small trout species he caught in Michigan. That smolt is by no means wild and it was most likely raised in a hacthery. PA stocks 1 million smolts into the streams entering Lake Erie every year. I've read they get about a 10% return of adult steelhead. That's at least 100,000 adult fish to no more than about a dozen little creeks.

I posted in Summer_doug's thread too, but I think Summer_doug's fish is a Coho, and of course Wbranch's fish above is a rainbow/steelhead. I explained the reasons for going with Coho instead of Chinook in the other thread.

I posted my picture because it is obvious Summer-doug's fish is NOT a steelhead.