Vic -
To tell the difference between summer steelhead and whitefish is easy - one takes you into the backing in the blink of an eye, jumping 5 feet into the air, and puts a lump in your throat. Whitefish.... dont. }>
Seriously, you will eventually be able to tell real quickly by a number of things. First of all, it's hard to see the shadow of suckers (which are probably the big ones you see) and other so-called coarse fish on the bottom below the fish, but it's easy to see the steelhead's shadow.
Bright steelhead (and salmon) have an almost luminous silver glow on the fringes of their bodies that is unmistakable, coarse species don't.
But once you spend time staring at them for a while you will be able to tell just by looking at the shape, fins distribution and even the way they move.
If I am not mistaken this is a humpy year and I am surprised you are not talking about many different species being packed like sardines in a pool.
For an example of comparing steelhead to other fish visually, I would suggest the Oso railroad bridge on the Stilly.
To tell the difference between summer steelhead and whitefish is easy - one takes you into the backing in the blink of an eye, jumping 5 feet into the air, and puts a lump in your throat. Whitefish.... dont. }>
Seriously, you will eventually be able to tell real quickly by a number of things. First of all, it's hard to see the shadow of suckers (which are probably the big ones you see) and other so-called coarse fish on the bottom below the fish, but it's easy to see the steelhead's shadow.
Bright steelhead (and salmon) have an almost luminous silver glow on the fringes of their bodies that is unmistakable, coarse species don't.
But once you spend time staring at them for a while you will be able to tell just by looking at the shape, fins distribution and even the way they move.
If I am not mistaken this is a humpy year and I am surprised you are not talking about many different species being packed like sardines in a pool.
For an example of comparing steelhead to other fish visually, I would suggest the Oso railroad bridge on the Stilly.