Ol' Bottom Lip

[matt johnson]

My friend and co-worker Jerermy (notch on this board) recently landed this fairly outrageous Rainbow on the Lower Sac. . In addition to being rather large, it had a distinctive protruding lower jaw. Nice work Notch. Cheers, Matt.

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee281/ozziebooboo/olbottomlip.jpg

[SteelieD]

Geeez! :shock: Nice fish.

[Bernard]

A huge thank you for posting this. Did you take the photo? The fish is stellar but the image is also just right. I am floored by the beauty of that fish.
B.

[ryeflyguy]

Love that kype! Nice job!

[Paul B.]

Holy smokes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

That is just a "stud" of a trout..............the "big dog".

Not a Steelhead?

[alaskanfish]

That is an awesome fish!!! That would be very nice even by Alaska standards. Congrats.

[SteelieD]

Not a Steelhead?

I was thinking that too Bill... but I don't know the system that well.

[Adam Grace]

Wow, that's one hell of a rainbow trout. Both Matt and Jeremy know their fish, they are both fisheries biologists...if I remember correctly.

[SteelieD]

Wow! One heck of a 'bow!

[alaskanfish]

hmmm.... steelhead? Good question. The difference between rainbow trout and steelhead is a bit challenging sometimes. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists offer these guidelines: The mouth rarely extends past the eye on the adult rainbow and the steelhead has a white mouth with white gums at the base of the teeth on the lower jaw.

In this photo, the mouth definitely extends beyond the eye. But the mouth is difficult to determine. It appears white with the inside of the lower jaw being white at the base of the teeth.

Honestly, who really cares... it is great catch. =D>

[jlmelend]

Wow, what a fish...no matter what you call it! :shock:

[jbird]

That fish is a textbook rainbowhead..er, uh...steelbow :D Love the red fins! Great catch!

Jay

[matt johnson]

Hi all,

Glad to see the board is enjoying this fish. It was a good one!

Bernard,

Yes, I took that shot. I appreciate your admiration of the photo! I have a whole stack of fishing pictures that really suck. I felt that I had finally got a "good one" with that shot.

Steelhead or Rainbow? Good question!! The fish was taken well up in "town" (Redding). That is well above the tributaries that are KNOWN to still carry a few native Central Valley steelhead. That being said there are a couple little creeks up around Redding (Middle, Stillwater, etc.) that certainly could harbor anadromous forms of O. mykiss, not to mention the mainstem Sacramento itself...... then we could get into the straying of steelhead from tributaries lower in the system such as Cow, Cottonwood, and Battle Creeks..... A resident/anadromous conundrum indeed! The only way to know for certain would be to whack the fish and extract its otoliths. The fish was released unharmed of course... We just "felt" that that fish was a big old resident Rainbow that made a fatal error. How Scientific is that?! Matt.

[Adam Grace]

Well, I don't care what you call it as long as you call it a NICE fish! :D

BTW, that is a great picture Matt :thumbsup:

[Hairstacker]

Man, what a beautiful fish!