Now I'm pretty sure that a salmon's digestive system shuts down once they get ready to enter their natal stream but steelies, I'm not so sure. Last weekend amidst the high water and all I got a couple of winter brats. when I began to dress up the buck I noticed that he was "stuffed" with eggs. I'm guessing chum eggs judging by the size. Okay, I've seen this before, but after further examination of the stomach there was a band-aid, more eggs, and a about half of an aerofly. What's your theory on this? I thought it was worth posting.

MMMMMMMMMMMMM band-aid

I have on numerous occasions found stuff in steelhead bellies. From dyed shrimp, eggs, grass hoppers, and once even a rubber worm.
There is a debate, whether the digestive system is active, or the steelhead are just swallowing as a reflex. My theory is that the digestive system is partially active, and that the steelhead can milk their food like eggs, or juice shrimp etc. Evolutionarily speaking, I don't think it would be a good design if steelhead ran up the rivers voraciously feeding. I think that mostly they don't feed, but minimally some do. Just my two cents.

I do think that in post spawned steelhead, you will also find a higher instance of feeding.

I think they feed while in rivers, summer runs for sure.

For winters it may just be instinct who really knows.

Come on guys!

Steelhead continues to feed as long as they are alive! That's why they may spawn numerous times during there life cycle before they finally die.

Spawning is a big event in there life's cycle, and many don't make it the second time around. But they do keep eating, and they will go back to sea and feed heavily during this rerun process if they were not weakening too much during there spawning process.

There are several biologists on this board that can explain it even better!

Cowlitzfisherman

I also have caught steelhead stuffed full of chum (I'm assuming) eggs. I have never caught a summer run full of bugs, smolts, or any other type of feed a steelhead might find in the river during summertime. I think if a steelhead was actively feeding in the summer you would find the evidence in it's stomach like you do in a trout that lives on bugs. "Feeding" is different than "biting" though, obviously they bite lots of stuff.

The only steelies I've seen with stomach contents were of the Snake and the Grand Ronde.
Found small fresh water bullheads, aquatic insects, algae, and cured coon shrimps.

A couple small streams on the Hood Canal side of the Kitsap peninsula had early winter runs that were notorius for eating eggs - they were so predictable that all you had to do is find a riffle full of spawning chum and fish the first slot or bit of cover below the riffle. You didn't even have to present the eggs on the bottom - feed a cluster down to them and they would rise right to the top to nail them. These fish would usually swallow your hook if you let them - usually I would try to hook them on a tight line so I could release them if I wanted to. Those I kept and cleaned were stuffed with chum eggs, and were very immature with small gonads - they entered the rivers in November but looked like they weren't going to spawn until March. These were all wild fish, and they pretty much all dissapeared after Boldt and during the Blum's Desert years.

Spawnout,

I yousto fish the Union a ton for Sea Runs, back about 8 years ago was when I stopped. I always fished eggs

I never killed any of them but I would catch a good number of steelies in there from September through November. Not a ton but one or so every third or 4th trip..

Anyways they were all wild, and between 16 and 21 inches, (One Salts) always covered in sea lice. I caught them all the way up to the Old Belfair Highway still covered in lice. They were about the most agressive and wild little *******s I had caught.

They were about the same size as the cutts and they were always with cutts. Ushually behind some summer chum.

Could these be the same fish you are talking about?

I don't know how many fish I've cleaned / filleted over the years from the rivers ... still only once have ever found anything ... that was a gooey-bob from a brat in the Lyre about 15 years ago.


Guess we must catch the really hungry ones

Rich, these were fish that ran 6 to 8 pounds, and often were in with cutthroat - used to get those up to 5 pounds too. The steelies looked like 2 salt fish, never read the scales but they were the right size. I also caught an even mix of hens and bucks so I'm pretty sure they were adult fish, just on the small side size-wise, probably from returning so early. The unique thing about them was their aggressiveness and that they were obviously actively feeding.

By January and February in these rivers there would be 2 distinct types of wild fish, bright large fish and smaller darker ones - I always thought that the smaller ones were the early fish that just were hanging around waiting to spawn, and the big ones were late returners that put on a few pounds out in the salt before returning - either that or they were 3 salts that liked ocean life. Never seemed to get any early spawnouts unless they were hatchery fish - at the time (60's and 70's) steelhead weren't marked except by the stubbed dorsals and worn off fins - those were hatchery fish and we killed them all. Most of those streams closed in February but I think the Union at least used to be open through March and we pretty much just caught dark fish or spawnouts then.

The only thing ive ever found in a steelhead was a small sandshrimp somebody must have tossed in after fishing...

Im amazed at how steelhead will hammer our presentations and after cleaning them, find nothing! THis couldnt be the only time it tried to inhale something??

Im stil undecided when it comes to steelhead eating in freshwater. I think its mostly a positive "reaction" to whatever is wisked by there face. Not necessarily a need to "eat"????

Over the years I have found stuff in the stomachs of a several dozen different steelhead, both winters and summers.

I also can report finding odd late summers/early winters with the chums eggs (usually a handful in their stomachs). The first couple years that the NF Stilly was open in November (years ago most rivers used to close at the October and re-open December first) the hot bite was the first deep water below the spawning chums - interesting enough the fish would take virtually any fly we showed them.

Other food items I have seen in their stomachs include egg clusters, various pieces of sand shrimp, a whole 6 inch spot shrimp, periwinkles, mayflies, grasshoppers, and a sculpin. The interesting thing about all the food items is that I have never seen anything in the fish's stomach that I could not identify, everything look fresh and whole. When one looks at the contents of most feeding fish's stomachs such as a trout most of the items are in some state of parial digestion - not so with steelhead, at least in my experience.

It appears to me that once the fish are in the river their digestive processes shut down and even if they happen to swallow something they gain little or no benefit from it. This is further support by an experiment at Reiter in the 1980s were the summer brood stock were taught to feed on trout pellets (had to put several trout in with them which seem to teach the steelhead to feed). The thinking was that if the steelhead would feed their condition could be maintained until spawning 6 to 10 months later. Even though they seem to eat with vigor there was no corresponding increase in the condition of the fish at spawing. When the fish were killed at spawning they had no more fat - that to say none then when the fish were not feed. Thus it continues to be my belief that while the fish may occassional swallow an item or two they are not really feeding.

Other items have included various feathers, including a whole water dipper, pebbles, twigs, leaves, and one that had two pearl shirt buttons - how one fish found two different buttons I could never figure out but perhaps a button thread on a leader might be the next hot lure!!

Tight lines
Smalma

So Smalma, you say them 'buggers' have been eating my 'kin', damn!!!!

Actually 'peri' tails peeled are good summer run bait if they are fresh.. :p

I caught a 16# Winter Run from the Cowlitz last December that had part of a bird (feathers & bone fragments) a 2" piece of nylon strapping material and a cluster of eggs with a cheater and hook in it in its stomach, I have the cleaning and contents on video if I can locate it I'll post it, I still can't believe what I saw.

Ooops --- darn, that's 2 mistakes in my last two posts!!

My 2nd sentence should have read --- Actually, CRAYFISH tails peeled etc..

Everybody knows P/W's don't have tails to peel.

Maybe I'd better go back to being a 'peeper'..
Gosh, I wasn't even sipping some merlot.

I have also cleaned a steelhead that had one of those little dunking birds, I believe they're called Water Ouzels (Sp.?) in its stomach. Quite a mouthfull. Quite aggressive for a fish to do this. Interesting topic.

I once caught a summer run that was spitting up sticklebacks down in Orgeon. I then put on a Matuka pattern and caught two more. Infact the Matuka style fly was adapted to steelhead fishing because a few decades ago a guy caught a steelhead full of sticklebacks and thought about this pattern. The Matuka pattern features a back/body that has spikes that stick up on the back. I believe that if the food is there and in abundance, the steelhead will eat it. Summer runs are known to eat large nymphs, October Caddis flies, and grasshoppers. I don't believe winter runs eat as much, except the early ones that enjoy Chum eggs. After the spawn, steelhead become very aggressive, but elusive, and will hammer big flies and lures as they feed on what ever they can find diring March and April while they head back to the salt. In all steelhead are active feeders in freash water.

So a little twist on the feeding idea. It is obvious they are willing to 'eat' while in fresh water, but that doesn't mean they are feeding. Just like with most other animals, etc., when it comes to breeding and continuing the life cycle, there is a distinct advantage when you wipe out the competition via any means available. With fish, the easiest way to do that is to suck down the competition's eggs, leaving more space, food, river for your own offspring. As far as birds and other little smolts or what have you, the steelie may be in protection mode knowing those are threats to it's redd.

This would seem to have a potential to hold water since there doesn't seem to be a lot of digestion going on, but plenty of eating.

And I thought that I was the only one to see a bird in a steelies stomach. On a fishing trip to the Bogey a few years ago I caught 2 steelhead. One on a spoon, and the other on eggs. I always look to see what they have been eating, so when I cut the spoon caught one open I was completely surprised to see a full bird in there, and a number of eggs. The other was stuffed with beatles, egg clusters, shrimp tails, a worm and a spider. The egg clusters and shrimp tails tell me that these fish are very sneaky and get our bait quite a bit, very, very, neaky. But finding the bird was very much a amazing thing.

I've hooked and landed Winter Steelhead using a #1 Garden Hackle before (nightcrawlers). With a #14 corkie and just plain on the hook.
They were hungry <img border="0" alt="[eat]" title="" src="graemlins/eat.gif" />