As mentioned earlier, if you could only scratch and sniff the picture.... You'd smell that springer!

Keith

it could be a little trickery ala curtis h. too, for all we know that fish is from a month ago

Anyone have a any clear photos of a steelhead missing *all* of the spots on it's tail?

That's supposedly this fish.

I still think it's a springer, but the spotless tailed steelhead thing got me all horned up.

I've never seen one.

Parker you already won..... It's a Dinger.....

Keith

Are we coming full circle to what I said in the very beginning?

Fish on...

Todd

P.S. I like this thread.

I'd bonk any of those fish mentioned. In the spirit of trashing all things "pondcrapper" related, it is a bloho.

Yes Todd I laughed hard at the fact you called it a Chinook at first. Now I'm laughing at myself for the obvious of it being a chinook... 1st Springer of the year in my eyes...

Good eye.....

Keith

leaning towards a cohead

so would you keep it if its clipped and only retention of steelhead hatchery?

To me it looks like...








Dinner

Haven't seen any springers. Sure resembles a coho in many ways, but just doesn't look quite right in the face for a ho.

Chinhoheadinger?

Can't see the definitive features on the inside of the lower jaw.... BUT...

No self-respecting chinook has an anal fin shaped like that! Neither does a steelhead.

The leading edge of a chinook anal fin is SHORTER than the base.

The leading edge of a steelhead anal fin is LONGER than the base.

Look at this pic to see the difference.

click here

Chinook anal fin = short and broad-based, trailing edge oblique to the body line.
Steelhead anal fin = long and narrow-based, trailing edge nearly perpendicular to the body line

***

Based on the anal fin and the gross scale loss, one can only conclude it's a coho.

I think the most puzzling feature is the lack of a protruding ovipositor on a coho hen returning this late.... unless of course the "Curtis H factor" is at work here. My gut feeling is that the pic is legit (trees are completely barren of leaves).

I'm goin with the Doc on this one. My second final answer...late ho.

Lock it in.

Coho.

Coho

Coho. Caught the short bus, somehow has a snub nose/birth defect.

Like I said in the first post, we have caught many coho in the Snohomish system especially the smaller tribs in Feb. so I suppose it is possible. Just never seen one that clean and large.

Another vote for coho, to much scale loss for a steelhead.
That fish is ultra chrome for this time of year...

Hmmm....



Keith

Damnit!

This has me perplexed. The angle in which the fish is being held makes it hard to say definitively that it is any one species

Forked tail......coho or chinook. That just doesn't have the spots or "square-ness of a steelhead's tail

Lack of heavy chinook spots on tail......coho

Tidewater fresh......early springer or winter steelhead

VERY white gumline......coho or steelhead(Todd, I'm surprised that gumline doesn't sway you against it being a chinook)

Lean, slender body.....Could be a hen of any of the 3 species.

Time of year......EARLY springer or winter steel. I've never seen a platinum coho this late in the year. Bright ones? yes. Platinum ones? no.

Bunghole not protruding......Very unripe winter steel or early springer

There's too much wrong with the fins for it to be a steelhead, I've decided. Any coho hen this late is going to be riper than ripe....too bright and no protruding bunghole so I have to rule out coho. (except for that white gumline; I can't get past that)

So, I'll grudgeingly say early springer on the assumption that the fish is just so damn early and fresh that the darker gumline and spots haven't become apparent in the river environment yet.

I still don't feel like I've solved a thing.

Bingo.......

Keith