Fished John Day Dam and caught a 25 inch fish that had only about a 8 inch diameter. It's head was the fattest part of the fish. The I noticed that most of the fish I caught were on the skinny/small side. Last year they were big and fat.
Has anyone else seen this?
The fish I caught didn't seem fed well, or starving. What is up with these fish?

sounds like a spawner to me.

could be a spawner or could just be retarded. I've seen alot of fish like this over the years. for some its a genetic disorder. Hatcheries work fairly hard to discard these fish when collecting eggs and sperm.

In one of Bill Herzogs Books he's holding a fish like the one that you are decribing and he characterizes it as a fish that has "dumped" its load and is on its way back to the salt water.
DON'T KILL THESE FISH!!!!!! Let them do their job and come back to get em when they're worth something!!

We call them "come backs". They have already spawned and are coming back down the river to go to the ocean.

I call em downriver fish or two stripers


FJ...out.

I have heard/read the term 'kelt' for downriver post spawning fish as well. Also heard the term 'snake.'

Geekfish.

Have caught a few which had worms or other parasites. These are scrawny little buggars that certainly look close to death. We also caught the smallest steelhead I have ever seen on the Cow last year. He was in fine shape, just a wimp, I guess. (is it ok to say wimp, or should it be physically challenged?)

kelt is the british term for a spawner or comeback

Also sounds like a downstream fish or "spawner" to me. When they're brat downers, we like to call 'em pepperoni's 'cuz that's they tend to resemble.

Even though they may appear very bright at times, the meat quality is usually quite poor so keep that in mind before harvest ... usually better to let them go - always when a nate - and hope that they might return again and you might just get them on the way back up.

Only a small percentage of these fish make it back up the river a second time and they are a very important part of the steelhead population.

Somethingt to keep in mind is that these fish are usually actively feeding on whatever they can grab when headed back down ... I've watched them chase gear being reeled in on the water's surface all the way back to the boat. These fish will swallow baits very easily, so it it is important to be careful with use of bait when they are present ... bait / divers are especially deadly with these as they often swallow the offering as it is being slid downstream with current flow as opposed to swinging across and line drawing tight immediately when you're drifting (make sure you set fast to help reduce mortality to these fish with any offering).