Maturation

Steelhead grow rapidly once they are in the Great Lakes or the Pacific Ocean, the adult steelhead ranging from eight to 37 inches in length. In the Great Lakes, steelhead feed mainly on smelt and alewife. In the Pacific Ocean, their diet can consist of a wider variety of baitfish plus shrimp.

Average weights of lower Great Lakes steelhead are four to ten pounds, with many caught each year weighing more than 20 pounds. Lake Superior steelhead average three to six pounds, larger fish being exceptional. On the West Coast, steelhead of more than 20 pounds are also frequently caught. However, steelheading can lead to some surprises. At Bell Island, Alaska, a 42-pound, two-ounce rainbow trout was caught in June of 1970, making the all-tackle world record in 1984. In Ontario the record steelhead was caught in 1975 in the Nottawasaga River. It weighed 29 pounds, two ounces.

Steelhead mature after spending several years in open waters. Then they usually return to their natal streams to spawn or to similar streams in the same geographical area. Scientists conject that many Great Lakes and West Coast steelhead have or are developing discrete stocks in certain rivers or groups of rivers, even though some straying to other spawning tributaries does occur.

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