5/16 NJ Steelhead??

[njflyfisher]

I went out yesterday to do some trout fishing because of all the good reports I've been hearing. I get to the river and within a couple casts I'm into a fish. This goes on for a couple of hours. It's starting to get dark and my dad say's we gotta go because there was a storm close by. I say a few more casts. On my second cast I hook up to what feels like a nice fish. It starts peeling some drag and jumping like crazy. After a minute or two I land it and this fish looks like a young steelhead. Dime bright, with all its fins, and it fought like one to. Quick picture and it was released to fight another day.You guys think its a stockie or a wild??

[bigfishy]

Stockie!! My guess is a smaller stocked kamloop...
I'm sure ppl will say , they only put them in once they reach 15" er so,
but they say alot of things when it comes to stocking that we ALL know are false, especially when it comes to numbers and size of fish...

Nice catch tho....Only a few select water hold native rainbows in nj and to my knowledge those waters are not stocked at all

[Suntzu]

If my recollection is correct I think the state stocked coho and steelhead in the Raritan in 1988. Completely unrelated but anyone know whatever happened?

[NorthJerzyG]

Nice fish!! Without knowing where it was caught, I'd say "non state" stockie (club fish)?

[Capt. Lou]

Originally Posted by Suntzu

If my recollection is correct I think the state stocked coho and steelhead in the Raritan in 1988. Completely unrelated but anyone know whatever happened?

Nothing ! The SR Donaldson strain lasted for a coupleof seasons in sixties but anything else NADA !

[yumasdad]

Check the tail-notice the tail (slight fork). That is a salmon. My guess is either a land lock or an ATLANTIC but the biologists on the site can probably narrow it down.

Caught a bunch of them yesterday along with 12 + rainbows, a few bass & a few mud snakes. The largest land lock was about 26".

YUP IN NJ

The bass were on fire Friday night up in NORTH NJ. The bite is on big time.

[JDTuna]

Originally Posted by yumasdad

Check the tail-notice the tail (slight fork). That is a salmon. My guess is either a land lock or an ATLANTIC but the biologists on the site can probably narrow it down.

Caught a bunch of them yesterday along with 12 + rainbows, a few bass & a few mud snakes. The largest land lock was about 26".

YUP IN NJ

The bass were on fire Friday night up in NORTH NJ. The bite is on big time.

Definitely not a landlocked or Atlantic salmon. Its definitely a nice rainbow, could be a stockie Kamloops.

FYI steelhead and rainbow trout are the same species. Steelhead are just rainbows that migrate to the ocean/Great Lakes.

[Chrisper4694]

yeah that is def not a salmon, sorry haha. both brown and rainbow trout can turn a silver color when they hold over for a time i believe. That one doesn't even look like it has any pink so it's possible if where you're fishing has no damns blocking it that this fish made an ocean run last year and survived i guess. My vote would go with the private club stocking, they put all kinds of special strains in their sections of rivers and those fish are then free to roam.

[njflyfisher]

I was kidding about it being a steelhead. But it sure fought like one and looked like one. But you guys are right its probably a club fish.

[gwl2oneida]

A landlocked is an atlantic