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ChannelCat3
02-18-2009, 08:51 PM
Where are all the steelhead reports. No one caught any steelhead this Tournament? I was waiting to see some reports on how hard they fought. I guess not.

troutdog
02-18-2009, 09:00 PM
I saw a couple of the smaller models caught by Kewlwhip, but they were few and far between from what I saw. It is just a matter of time though, I saw the fish stocking and the fish were AMAZING....anyone else that was there will undoubtedly agree. I was hoping to get a few myself, but it was just not in the cards....when these fish go on the bite we are going to be hearing plenty of the "one that got away" stories.


TD

calico killer kevin
02-18-2009, 09:05 PM
Coulda sworn my five pounder was a steelhead. Took over six minutes to
bring in on 2lb. test and was pulling drag and jumping the whole time. No
tail though.

troutdog
02-18-2009, 09:08 PM
Coulda sworn my five pounder was a steelhead. Took over six minutes to
bring in on 2lb. test and was pulling drag and jumping the whole time. No
tail though.

All the fish I saw stocked had tails, so I kinda doubt it but ya never know...the steelies don't have any spot below the lateral line if that helps at all.

Did you not get in the tourney Kev? :Confused:


TD

FISHJUNKIE4446
02-18-2009, 09:23 PM
My buddy:Cool: and I:Smile: fished the Vine on Sunday, and it was a tough day out there!!!! the bite shut off at 11:00am!!!!:Angry: The wiegh in was weak :Confused:2lbs got you in the money!!! If this tells you anything...... Oh....:Idea:I think thier where a couple Steelies caught on Sat. I did not see any evidence of of these 6 lbs.FISH:BFish:When I was there on Sun.

Marley
02-18-2009, 09:33 PM
I fished Sunday's edition and took two, maybe three steelhead from Marley's Secret Spot. The "maybe" had a small patch of spots right on the lateral line. All three fish fought twice their just-short-of-two-pound size or better, and they each took air several times. All of my fish had full tails and fins. Oddly, four of my limit came on a nightcrawler under a bobber, including a nice little brookie, with my limit fish coming on the PMS, or Power Mouse Special (pink tail on white egg).
I lost an unseen fish (probably 9 pounds, LOL) due to a break-off. It hit a blown mealworm fished just above the weeds and got wrapped. Tried to let it run out calico-style, but left the bail closed. The fish did free itself and promptly busted me off while I was playing the other fish in my only double of the morning.
I also C&R-ed a 2-pound LMB and a nice bluegill.

troutdog
02-18-2009, 09:41 PM
My buddy:Cool: and I:Smile: fished the Vine on Sunday, and it was a tough day out there!!!! the bite shut off at 11:00am!!!!:Angry: The wiegh in was weak :Confused:2lbs got you in the money!!! If this tells you anything...... Oh....:Idea:I think thier where a couple Steelies caught on Sat. I did not see any evidence of of these 6 lbs.FISH:BFish:When I was there on Sun.

I had numerous friends fish Sunday as well and they skunked out too, Monday was really tough too...Saturday was the best day of the 3 hands down.

I am not blowing smoke at ya FJ4446...like I mentioned above I saw the stocking and it was an awesome sight to behold. 3 tanks full of fish went in and the majority of the fish were over 4lbs....I just hope I am there the day those fish start going off.


TD

Marley
02-18-2009, 09:45 PM
....I just hope I am there the day those fish start going off.


TD

Here, here! My fish had been eating shad. I betcha that a small swimbait would work well, maybe a 3" Big Hammer or the likes.

FISHJUNKIE4446
02-18-2009, 09:55 PM
What day did they drop them in the pool?::???: I ve had a great season so far with limits in less than two hours several times!!! And a couple in the 4 to 5 lbs. range!! I just hav'nt peek at the right time..... I will be out there at the next tourny.. The VIne has been going off most of the season..and Loving it!!

troutdog
02-18-2009, 10:12 PM
What day did they drop them in the pool?::???: I ve had a great season so far with limits in less than two hours several times!!! And a couple in the 4 to 5 lbs. range!! I just hav'nt peek at the right time..... I will be out there at the next tourny.. The VIne has been going off most of the season..and Loving it!!

Fish went in on Friday...sounds like you've have a good season, what would you say has been the best bait for you thus far? Plastics seems to have gotten more fish, while crawlers and trolling cranks have gotten the bigger fish. Keep up the good work!


TD

calico killer kevin
02-18-2009, 10:42 PM
All the fish I saw stocked had tails, so I kinda doubt it but ya never know...the steelies don't have any spot below the lateral line if that helps at all.

Did you not get in the tourney Kev? :Confused:


TD
Nah, I wasn't in the tourny. I thought it would be bad luck.:LOL:
Probably wasn't a steelie, but it was one hell of a hard fighter.

calico killer kevin
02-18-2009, 10:43 PM
Here, here! My fish had been eating shad. I betcha that a small swimbait would work well, maybe a 3" Big Hammer or the likes.

Same here. Most of my fish were loaded with 2" shad. Gonna try trollind a shad
crankbait next time. Maybe even an anchovy colored big hammer.

Frenchy
02-18-2009, 10:43 PM
aaron u are only partially correct about the spots below the lateral line this is true in wild steelhad 99 percent of the time but farm raised steelhead like the ones in irvine as week speak sometimes do have spots below the lateral line especially the bigger ones since the have been raised in pens the kinda adapt to the bottom etc and some have spots my 8.4 for instance had spots below the lat line but was a steelie and 2 of my other 3 fish were steelies too

troutdog
02-18-2009, 11:03 PM
aaron u are only partially correct about the spots below the lateral line this is true in wild steelhad 99 percent of the time but farm raised steelhead like the ones in irvine as week speak sometimes do have spots below the lateral line especially the bigger ones since the have been raised in pens the kinda adapt to the bottom etc and some have spots my 8.4 for instance had spots below the lat line but was a steelie and 2 of my other 3 fish were steelies too

I knew I should have never listened to what Jimmy was telling everyone! :ROFL:


TD

Frenchy
02-18-2009, 11:03 PM
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o24/irvinelake/Steelhead2.jpg




this is a pic from jimmy aka vineassist in his steelhead preview look at the spots below the lat line

he shooda known better hes holdin this one and it has spopts

Eat Sleep Fish
02-19-2009, 02:09 PM
those steelies they put in look almost identical to the bows. they arent really like native steelheads. steelheads are supposed to have more length than girth, rainbows have more girth than length. those steelheads have the more silverish colors but are shaped like bows. still pretty lookin fish though. would love to catch some. probably better tasting than the bows too.

DarkShadow
02-19-2009, 02:27 PM
Is the main difference between a rainbow and a steelhead the fact steelhead are anadromous?

mullet
02-19-2009, 03:25 PM
Is the main difference between a rainbow and a steelhead the fact steelhead are anadromous?

They are extacly that,a rainbow that has been to sea and come back.
How they can call these fish steelies is a farce.
I go north to norcal or Oregon every year,
the steelies up there are a completly different looking animal.
Mike

MAVERICK27
02-19-2009, 03:32 PM
Well, whether they are different or not....they fight COMPLETELY different than the bows usually stocked. Saturday, I could tell if it was a steelhead or bow when I hooked up. The steelhead ripped 30' of line out while still in the pole holder with the drag set hard. They ended up being about 3 lbs with pink meat. I agree though, I wasn;t used to seeing steelhead with so much green on them.

Eat Sleep Fish
02-19-2009, 04:48 PM
They are extacly that,a rainbow that has been to sea and come back.
How they can call these fish steelies is a farce.
I go north to norcal or Oregon every year,
the steelies up there are a completly different looking animal.
Mike


one word...TRUE.

Steve Carson
02-19-2009, 06:55 PM
This issue comes up every year when we do this stocking, so I'm going to try to do the short version.
The fish stocked in Irvine are a hybrid hatchery strain, since true "wild" steelhead take very sophisticated [expensive] facilities such as are maintained at the handful of DFG hatcheries that produce them for release in northern river systems.
The Irvine Lake fish start as a "true" steelhead crossed with a hatchery cutthroat, then backcrossed again to where the fish is roughly 75 to 80-percent steelhead.
Although not as efficient as hatchery-strain rainbows, these fish can be raised much more easily than what is required for the true "wild" strain.
FYI, all rainbows "can" become steelhead; but steelhead-strain fish have a kidney function that allows them to pass between freshwater and saltwater with only about 24 hours of acclimation time.
"Regular" rainbows would need 30 days or more of gradual acclimation in a brackish estuary to head out into saltwater.
There are numerous populations of "landlocked" steelhead that will never see salt water, both in California and other areas, most notably the Great Lakes.

Troutman65
02-19-2009, 07:00 PM
This issue comes up every year when we do this stocking, so I'm going to try to do the short version.
The fish stocked in Irvine are a hybrid hatchery strain, since true "wild" steelhead take very sophisticated [expensive] facilities such as are maintained at the handful of DFG hatcheries that produce them for release in northern river systems.
The Irvine Lake fish start as a "true" steelhead crossed with a hatchery cutthroat, then backcrossed again to where the fish is roughly 75 to 80-percent steelhead.
Although not as efficient as hatchery-strain rainbows, these fish can be raised much more easily than what is required for the true "wild" strain.
FYI, all rainbows "can" become steelhead; but steelhead-strain fish have a kidney function that allows them to pass between freshwater and saltwater with only about 24 hours of acclimation time.
"Regular" rainbows would need 30 days or more of gradual acclimation in a brackish estuary to head out into saltwater.
There are numerous populations of "landlocked" steelhead that will never see salt water, both in California and other areas, most notably the Great Lakes.



Steve Carson, Thank you for taking the time to explain the Steelhead trout that were stocked into Irvine Lake last Friday. It sure clears up alot.:Wink::Big Grin:

mullet
02-19-2009, 07:52 PM
Extactly landlocked steelie=rainbow
nothing else.
Mike

Steve Carson
02-19-2009, 09:00 PM
The separation of steelhead from rainbows is much more complicated than the "Wikipedia" definition.
Yes, any rainbow trout "can" become a steelhead, but thousands of years of genetic separation and "survival of the fittest" in an ocean environment of the wild anadramous runs has created a superior strain of fish.
California has "true wild" populations of landlocked steelhead in lakes like Sonoma [trapped when dams were built decades ago], also in lakes like Oroville's Thermalito Forebay where they stock wild steelhead in a lake for recreational fishing, and of course the midwest's Great Lakes have a large population of wild steelhead [also hatchery help] derived from the Pacific's wild strains.
There are even a few situations for little kids fishing events [Bedrock Park in Oroville] where it is a legal requirement by DFG that steelhead-strain rainbows be stocked instead of the "regular" variety.
To top it all off, about 10 years ago the Federal government [not CA] decided that steelhead were not trout at all, but were instead a species of Pacific salmon, this decision due to their life cycle and DNA differences from non-steelhead rainbows.
Anyway, Irvine Lake's fish are as close as we can get for a body of water such as ours, and even at only 75-percent they offer a unique SoCal inland angling experience.

FISHJUNKIE4446
02-19-2009, 09:37 PM
O.K.:Neutral: I have a bad feeling about this!!! That I will get alot of:Angry:guys & gals that think that the NC is the way togo... Including my partner:Cool: in crime that has to have them onboard every time we fish together. Which is most of the time I fish the Vine !! I:Smile: personaly like PB and have had alot of luck with it for years..I Know... I know.. alot of you swear by the NC . But the truth hurts... That berkley is the world leader in dough baits and now there plastics baits are really starting to show results. I, like most you out there, like to mix it up. I came up with a :Secret: secert weapon last year that gave me limits almost every time I fished the Vine. But it was taking all dam day to get the limit in the boat 10 hrs. for five fish was not good anough for me !! So my partner:Cool: and I:Smile:came up with a great idea of injecting power dough. Now we have the Super secret weapon!!!!:Secret::Secret::Secret::Secret:Now I have had limits in less than two hours and heading for the cleaning station around noon several times, a matter of fact it has been 48 fish in ten trips to the Vine this season!!!! my personal best for the 20 + years fishing there!!! So there is someting to be said about PB and berkley plastics. So this is why I have givin up the NC!! wile waiting for my partner :Cool:to get his share, witch has'nt been working for him with that Dam NC drenched in garlic sauce!!!:ROFL:I keep a record of the fish that I catch..I keep the sticker tags on the inside of my tackle box and wright down the # of fish I caught:Fishing Catch: for the day this gives me a avreage for the season. We:Smile::Cool: only troll when it gets too windy to bait and wait.... O.K.:Envious: I have to say that my partner:Cool: did get in the Masters w/a 6.04 Bow on a dam NC ,But nothing since. Tight Lines and See ya on the water....

Marley
02-19-2009, 10:24 PM
....injecting power dough. Now we have the Super secret weapon!!!!:Secret::Secret::Secret::Secret:Now I have had limits in less than two hours and heading for the cleaning station around noon several times, a matter of fact it has been 48 fish in ten trips to the Vine this season!!!! ....You're injecting the stuff into what? You'd have to cut it with something or use a caulking gun to get that thick a substance to inject into anything. I KNOW you're not shooting up a worm with it. And (I must be very careful here not to jinx or violate myself), getting to the tables by noon with a limit is not exactly stellar fishing. If it took me and my herbed wigglers that long to bag a limit...

FISHJUNKIE4446
02-19-2009, 10:42 PM
Think of what baits are hollow....:Smack: You take it from thier

Koontaj
02-19-2009, 11:09 PM
Sooooo where are the steelies?

Marley
02-20-2009, 10:08 PM
Think of what baits are hollow....:Smack: You take it from thier

hmmmm......I'm still worried about the injector. I'll work on it. Used to be a catfish "lure" that worked something like that. Jimmy Houston reportedly caught a bunch of big cats at Irvine while fishing the face of the dam, behind the buoy line.

Marley
02-20-2009, 10:10 PM
Sooooo where are the steelies?

Oh, yeah! The steelies! Didn't they win the Super Bowl?