Throw this into the equation. A study in Oregon found that native rainbows are mating with steelhead. The study said that rainbow and steelhead are one and the same. That also dispels any talk of steelhead being salmon. There was also an article from a former head of our state's fishing debacle and he said they found that when the steelhead numbers fall greatly in a river they residualize into rainbow waiting for the right time to again hit the ocean and become steelhead. It’s funny that we all go over this stuff so much yet it still seems that all of us know very little when it comes to the mysterious steelhead. I'm the first one to admit that after 50 years of fishing for steelhead I still don't know sh!t!