Snake river steelhead

[Quillback]

Never got a chance to fish the Snake river when I lived in Washington, just too far away.  Amazes me that some of these fish are repeat spawners, quite the obstacle course they have to navigate to get to the spawning grounds.

https://nwsportsmanmag.com/to-the-ocean-and-back-and-back-again-the-tale-of-an-idaho-steelhead/

[Al Agnew]

Never fished the Snake for steelhead, but did fish the Salmon, which flows into the Snake.  We caught about 6 or 7 a day among four of us during a four day trip.  What a hoot!  Most were hatchery produced fish, though (all hatchery fish have their adipose fin clipped).  We caught a few wild ones, which you must immediately release.  Really impressive to know they made it that far, and probably multiple times if they were bigger ones.

[kjackson]

I fished both the Snake and the Salmon, but not as often as I'd liked.  The returning steelhead are remarkable creatures, considering the challenges they face-- the dams, sea lion hordes, Indian nets, ocean capture, not to mention the hazards when they are young and heading out to sea. The B-run fish were awesome for size and power.