What do you consider a trophy steelhead?

[njg0621]

So I caught my biggest steelhead to date in the river last weekend, the fish was 33" 13.2lbs.  I decided to mount this fish because it is my biggest to date and I considered it a trophy IMO.  Just wondering what everyone considers a trophy as far a minimum requirements before you would mount a fish? 

[Trouthunter]

I would say a twenty pound fish as a  trophy but any fish can be a trophy in the eyes of the beholder

 

[bandrus1]

Over 18

[ifishy]

Situational the when where how matters


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[Trouthunter]

Mine would be a 20lb Steelhead 20lb Brown 10lb Atlantic & 40lb King

[fisherman21]

I think any 10 plus pound steelhead is a trophy. We obviously would all love to land a 20 pounder one day though lol


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[just me]

heck with the weight .its 33 inches

[Crestliner1850]

For a guy living close to the great lakes a fish that size could be common but hear in Quebec for most peaple a trout that size is a trophy fish. 

[HBC]

20 - my largest and only over 20 was 21.68lbs.  About another ten fish in the 16 - 19.75lb range over the past 38 years.

Edited November 20, 2018 by hairybumcrack

[whaler1]

There is no right answer, it’s completely subjective. If it’s a trophy to you, you’re proud of it and you’d love to look at it and reminisce? , have at it.

If in doubt, put it on the wall.

 

 

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[whaler1]

For me, it was my then 6 year olds LOC fish. 2001


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[Lucky13]

Definitely a trophy there!!  And in the summer, too!

 

Back in the day, when there were a lot of bigguns around, I passed on mounting anything under 20, never broke that mark, and could have been admiring 5 bigger than 17, including a gorgeous 17 lb 5 oz hen, which I kept and weighed at Whitaker's at the request of the owner, Jim Rusher.   As Whaler says, if it looks good to you, go for it.  If you want to do C+R, take a lot of pix and go for a reproduction mount, they are really great these days, as you can sometimes see on ths website. 

[TyeeTanic]

+20 lb steelhead, +25 lb brown (they are getting fat on gobies), +35 lb king, +2L beer bottle.

[copperpin]

I got a 14lb female steelhead a few years ago. 33" fish.  I am finally going to have a replica mount done.  I debated and debated because it was only 14lbs.  But I agree if there is a good story behind the catch, the fight, personal best, beautiful fish etc.  It doesn't really  have much to do with weight as it has to do with your experience and you.  You could wait all your life and never get one mounted even though you may have caught hundreds of more fish than the next guy went out once and just got plain ass lucky. Congrats

[GAMBLER]

Man, some really high steelhead and brown standards here!  It goes to show how spoiled we are with a great fishery in our back yard.  Here are my standards for trophy trout and salmon from Lake Ontario:

Steelhead - 15lbs

Brown - 15lbs

Lake Trout - 20lbs

coho - 18 lbs

King - 33lbs

Atlantic - 15 lbs. 

[Gator]

How much room do you have on your wall lol?

 

One of the two I've ever caught over 20 lbs went to a taxidermist who used to work out of Rochester Hollow Grinder. She passed away before I got my mount back, and when I went down to the shop it was a free-for-all. Somebody had taken my steelhead , but the guy who was trying to sort it all out offered me an unclaimed mount of a fish in the 14 lb range. Since I'd given her half the $ up front, that seemed 40% more than fair to me . That mount sits above my desk in my office at work. And that's my story. The fish isn't a trophy to me, but the story lives on.

[GAMBLER]

12 minutes ago, Gator said:

How much room do you have on your wall lol?

 

One of the two I've ever caught over 20 lbs went to a taxidermist who used to work out of Rochester Hollow Grinder. She passed away before I got my mount back, and when I went down to the shop it was a free-for-all. Somebody had taken my steelhead , but the guy who was trying to sort it all out offered me an unclaimed mount of a fish in the 14 lb range. Since I'd given her half the $ up front, that seemed 40% more than fair to me . That mount sits above my desk in my office at work. And that's my story. The fish isn't a trophy to me, but the story lives on.

Just because I consider them trophies doesn't mean I mount them all!  I do have 2 lakers, 2 browns, a steelhead, a pike, a walleye, a perch, a chain pickerel and a blue gill on my wall. 

[Sk8man]

To me the issue seems to be a little like "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I only have one mount on my office wall and it is of a Brown trout at 16.18 lbs. and it won a derby but on Lake O it might not be viewed as "gigantic" but on the Fingers it is up there pretty good. It also depends a lot on who does the mount as I have seen some that i would not be in a hurry to put on the wall regardless of size. Mine was free so I look at it as a "bargain" In this case it is the event that it symbolizes that is more important than the quality of the mount. If I had paid for it I would be considering the quality first

 

Edited December 16, 2018 by Sk8man

[Pete Collin]

It might depend on how much fishing you do.  Back when I used to hit the tribs hard every spring and fall, I could expect a number of steelhead that were about 32 inches.  Once you got bigger than that, they became exponentially more rare.  If you fish hard every year, chances are you will get a bigger one than that eventually.  By all means take a lot of pictures, framing and lighting them carefully.  I have never gotten a fish mounted, but I have scores of fish pictures that I enjoy looking through.

[rdebadts]

My goal steelie is 15 lbs- or anything over 32 inches. We did one on our boat last year finally, but it is going on my brothers wall (he caught it). A brown, coho or Atlantic in that range is worthy as well. My goal for salmon is 31+ and laker is 21+. Those are rare fish- in my time owning a boat, with well over 1000 fish boated, we have had 5 that have “made the grade.”


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[Fishstix]

I will throw this out there . Many years ago out of Hughes  the "Patty B"  boat caught a fan tail rainbow.

I know he got it mounted. Tommy if you see this a picture would be nice.

Look it up a cool fish....

Edited December 22, 2018 by Fishstix
change fancy tail to fan tail

[youp50]

I know its Lake Ontario..... I have a 27 inch buck mounted from a Lake Superior trib.  It was beautiful from the stream, not so from the taxidermist.  Lesson to be learned take lots of pics for the artist to try to replicate.  I was fishing a two month long derby, weigh a fish a week.  No frozen fish and no upgrades, weigh your fish and that's it for the week.  (FWIW I placed second)  I had the fish mounted as a memento; not for the size or beauty but for my personal feelings as I was fighting it.  It was a time of low flow and fish were hard to come by.  All I thought about was "I can't lose the fish, I need it for the week's weight"  The more I pondered it, the more I realized I do not fish for personal gain, but for personal enjoyment.  Its the last derby I ever fished.  I am perfectly fine with competitors that have a need to fish in derbies.  Not for me, if a fish is lost at the net it doesn't matter to me.

 

As stated before, why you mount a fish is a matter of personal preference.  

[Sk8man]

youp50 - you bring up a good point.. I would add that there many facets to derby fishing and for some the money isn't a major factor (believe it or not). For many of us it is the spirit of competition as it is in many sports. If people are in it only for the money they may be missing out on a lot and they may be setting themselves up for some disappointment as there usually isn't much control over the variables at least when fair play is involved. There are a lot more consistent (and perhaps easier) ways to make money.

Edited December 23, 2018 by Sk8man

[Fishnut]

I’ve caught a lot of big fish, musky 53”, pike 43”, Walleye 11 lbs, brown trout 20.2 lbs, several bass over 10 lbs. steelhead 18.4 lbs. king 39.5 lbs. and I’ve never mounted a fish. I’ve taken lots of pictures, but never considered mounting any of them. I think it was the way I was brought up? My Dad has caught more musky over 48” than anybody I know and he has never mounted a fish. I guess I’m a catch and eat fishermen. When I have my winter supply of fish I’m a catch and release fisherman. I’m the same way with hunting, I’ve shot some nice bucks and more than a few bear. I have not 1 mount. My kids on the other hand have several mounts. Maybe it’s a generation thing?


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[njg0621]

35 minutes ago, Fishnut said:

I’ve caught a lot of big fish, musky 53”, pike 43”, Walleye 11 lbs, brown trout 20.2 lbs, several bass over 10 lbs. steelhead 18.4 lbs. king 39.5 lbs. and I’ve never mounted a fish. I’ve taken lots of pictures, but never considered mounting any of them. I think it was the way I was brought up? My Dad has caught more musky over 48” than anybody I know and he has never mounted a fish. I guess I’m a catch and eat fishermen. When I have my winter supply of fish I’m a catch and release fisherman. I’m the same way with hunting, I’ve shot some nice bucks and more than a few bear. I have not 1 mount. My kids on the other hand have several mounts. Maybe it’s a generation thing?


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Well let's see the pics of all those fish!