Ok, it started out with a simple question from my son about the “sea-run” part of cutthroat, expanded to sea-run dollies, a quick mention that Atlantic salmon are sea-run trout, and sea run rainbows are called steelhead, then it got sloppy. If Lake Crescent “Beardsley” are land locked steelhead then doesn’t that make them just plain rainbows? If the state plants half a tanker of rainbows in a lake they’re rainbows, if they plant the other half in a river they’re ??? Steelhead if they go down into the salt and rainbows if they stay in the river? Told ya it got sloppy.

Beardslees arnt landlocked steelhead.

Beardslees are there own species and lake cresant is the only place they exist I believe.

Rich G has it right, been fishing that lake for years, aint no land locked steelhead!

This should help confuse things even more. Until recently steelhead and rainbow trout were the same Genus and Specie. Steelhead were reclassified under a new Genus and Specie name to reflect the apparent similarity to other salmon. Below was copied from another site:

Until 1988, steelhead (the anadromous form of rainbow trout) was classified in the genus Salmo along with Atlantic salmon, brown trout, and several western trout species. With additional osteology and biochemistry data, biologists have now reclassified steelhead as members of the genus Oncorhynchus.

The reason for this is that new information suggested that steelhead are more closely related to Pacific salmon than to brown trout and Atlantic salmon. As such, the American Fisheries Society - American Society of Ichthyologists Committee on Names of Fishes voted unanimously to accept Oncorhynchus as the proper generic name.

The classification and scientific names of rainbow and cutthroat trouts. Fisheries 14 (1): 4-10. As such, the scientific name of steelhead was changed from Salmo gairdneri to Oncorhynchus mykiss. The generic names of the golden, Mexican golden, Gila, and Apache trouts were also changed to Oncorhynchus.

Since all of these western trouts including steelhead are biologically capable of repeat spawning and do not die after spawning, it has been suggested this group be called the Pacific trout.

Forgive my ignorance here, but doesn't the Lyre River drain Crescent Lake? So can there be anything land locked in Crescent?

There are impassible falls on the Lyre out of Lake Crescent.

captain q hit that one on the nail, the falls make it impossible for fish to travel into the lake, kinda makes u wonder how fun that lake would be to fish though if steelies could make it up.

trout scout- did u get that sea-run thing from a derek menniken article.

Learn something new every day!

Some people belive (scientists) that the beardslees are steelhead from the elwha, that is use to be connected some how long time ago???? you got me??

I believe baitcaster has it right, the park says they’re Elwha steelhead from the days when Lake Crescent and Lake Sutherland were connected , but I agree they don’t look like any steelhead I’ve seen. The ones I’ve caught have huge heads, not one of the nicer looking fish around.

Yeah and toothy lil critters too! I have always heard that they are a cuttie and rainbow cross, but they act like Mackinaw, but what fish wouldn't with a lake that deep huh!