Identification - The interior of the mouth is white, unlike either coho or chinook. Also, the entire tail area is potted. Cheek plates and sometimes a line along the side are a rosy pink. Normally, the anal fin has 10-12 rays.
Habits - Steelhead spawn in the spring, as early as March, but they begin entering the spawning streams as early as the preceding September. A recently introduced summer-run strain of steelhead may enter the streams in mid-summer. Special early and late seasons are held to take advantage of these runs. Stream fishing is prime in October, November, March and April. In late spring and summer, steelhead can be found in big water - usually within a mile of shore at depths of less than 50 feet.