i know this may be a stupid question but this fish is 22lbs 34in long girth unknown but fat i know what this fish is supposed to be but it just doesn't look right to me.notice the spots behind the gill plate what is this fish?
http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/uploads/UP1883.jpg

That looks like a Atlantic Salmon, good to eat, bad to have swimming in PNW waters.
Most likely an escaped fish from a net pen but then again they have been documented spawning in Canadian rivers, hope you had a nice dinner.
Dr.

Looks to me like a mammoth brown trout.


Atlantics have three spots on the gill plate.

Atlantic Salmon? I can't see the gill plate very clearly to check for spots, but it is a fat fish.

this fish was taken in lake michigan and they claim it is a steelie,but i just don't see it that way it was even brought to a taxidermist for mounting.

here is another pic i don't know how to get the pic to just pop up like EL did so i will just post the link
http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/uploads/UP1885.jpg

Hmmmm.... Now I don't know. Could be a rainbow or coho. To pretty to be a laker (Mackinaw).

i am kind of leaning towards a big coho myself but hard to tell

It's not a coho. It has a square tale and coho have forked tales.

I would say that is an Atlantic, those spots are the give away sign. Notice how they are not round, kinda rectangular almost. Use those in the restaurant business all the time, and don't believe in all that anti-farming rhetoric that (I believe) the commercial guys are spreading. Most of the general public can't tell the difference in taste from the so called "Wild salmon" that the guys from the fleet down the street have been advertizing.
Funny how that lately some of the Commercial boats have been posting signs that state "Wild Salmon for Sale" off their vessels.....these fantastic tasting fish are none other than Chums....yuk!

Ng

While I'm certainly no expert on them (never seen one in person), from all the pix I've seen, I'd say an Atlantic as well.

Ceratinly isn't a steelhead ...

Easy limits was correct the first time - Brown trout!

Coloration and body shape is typical of those large lake dwelling browns found in waters with good forage. Believe there have been Grerat Lake browns caught that push 40#.
Tight lines
Smalma

Ah-ah ... Smalma knows all

I had thought about that, but the coloration comapred to the pix I've seen of them from that area didn't seem right. But then again, can't say I've ever fished for tham and don't know all that much about them!

I've seen some articles on the monster browns, I think the current world record cam from some tailwater fishery in Arkansas or nearby and I seem to recall some mention of some of the Great lakes area browns.

I just ran a quick search for a Great lakes brown pic and here's one:



Perhaps spawning colors I imagine as opposed to the one referred to in the thread?

What'd they use, a telephone pole to bonk that fish?

(the brighter one)

i would have to say it is a seeforelen brown trout i have fished lake superior and lake michigan a lot i lived in wisconsin and minnesota and have taken a lot of browns look at that big belly typical brown,they are known for their football shape.that pic of the brown bob found wow that thing looks like it was in the smoker already sun dried trout mmmmmmmmm its funny that the taxidermist that he brought it to couldn't have told him it wasn't a steelhead he must have a lot of experience

Maybe that's why they call them "Brown Trout"…because they are somewhat brown in color! That fish does not appear to have the coloring of the browns that I have seen. Most of the ones I have seen have a light olive brown color when first caught and turn darker the longer they are out of water. It's entirely possible that this fish may have been a freaky cross breed of nature or man.

I had heard that years ago they had played around with a bunch of different species of salmon and steelhead in developing that lakes fishery, and I am pretty sure that they even tried to do some cross breeding to develop a species of fish that would successfully survive and reproduce there. I know that the Cowlitz stocks of salmon and steelhead played a big role in developing that fishery. And look what a genetic mess we have here (especially steelhead)!

Cowlitzfisherman <img border="0" alt="[santa]" title="" src="graemlins/santa.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[santa]" title="" src="graemlins/santa.gif" />

I fished for browns in the great lakes area some time ago. The browns we caught in some of the tributaries ranged from chrome fish that looked like a salmonoid, to yellow bellyed pigs, to fish that had a rust colored stripe across their side. With those fosh they are all brown but all different. If I had a scanner I'd post some pics.

~steelymann~

The big oblong spots are very distinguishable. Many browns in E. WA look like the first picture (the fish are not as big though).

Looks like an atlantic salmon to me - those "peacock spots" kind of give it away. But it could be a brown trout - atlantic salmon and brown trout are fairly closely related and I have seen brown's of that size and brightness - pictures of them anyway. Brown trout would be a common catch in Lake Michigan - the only way an atlantic salmon could get up there is through the locks, but along with lampreys and alewives that's certainly possible. Sure not any kind of pacific salmon or steelhead.

Steelhead and Atlantics are a closer link. The yellowish tinted halo around the spot is the dead giveaway, and the first thing I thought of when I saw it. This is a brown. My next thought was Atlantic because of the brightness. I have to admit though I have never seen a brown that had that much silver on it. Even in the dead of winter. That may be the difference of coming from a lake with depth and a difference in forage.