The Differences in Winter Fish

One of the amazing this I like about steelhead is unless you fish a hatchery pool, you really never know what you are gonna get. That is of course if you get anything at all. Just like women, they come in all shapes and sizes. However in this game we are not that picky. Then again there are guys who are not that picky either. This chunky monkey is why we get out on the water regardless of high flows. 

If this was in the late Summer or Fall, I would think that this is a summer fish, even a Skamania by the look of the body morphology. But alas, I have never seen a Skamania on the coast and with the full body on this one, it has to be a winter steelhead. Oh and yes that is a spinning reel in the background. 

There is a not a lot to say about this egg wagon. She is by far a winter hen and a prime specimen at that. Other then a slight gash on its back, it was perfect. 

Here again you may think this also is a Summer fish, but again I believe it to be a winter due to location, quality and girth. It took a swung fly in the same location as the above fish and it really doesn't matter. The dark color and rosy cheeks are awesome.

Well they do not get much brighter then this and this is what we are all after. This buckaroo caught on a Columbia River Tributary is what brings us back every year. Awesome fish Benny!

Dark, big, mean and full of color. Though not chrome, we all want to catch fish like this. Swung monster bucks like this do not come every year. Well except for Chou.

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The fish everyone dreams about on a river no longer open in the later Winter and Spring. A true nate of epic proportions and quality not matched anywhere else. They do not get any better then this!

This one is easy, long, skinny, Skamania, still full of piss and vinegar, but very much last years summer steelhead. Still a nice fish for New Years day, but not what we are looking for in the winter.

The body morphology of steelhead is amazing. Each river or strain has their own slight changes in characteristics that make them all special. They also have different obstacles to face and risk factors in their upbringing that make them unique. Each of these fish were caught this month by a number of different anglers from low clear water to high almost flooding streams.