Go to the hatchery and look at the little guys they are going to release. You will notice that some still have that little rudder you covet so much. You may have been catching what you thought was a "wild steelhead" but in actuality it was a hatchery fish that was not clipped. They justify this by saying they are preserving the natural run. One biologist told me once that there was no such thing as a "wild fish" in some rivers anymore.