Columbia Basin Redband Trout

Introduction: These redbands or resides as they are commonly called are native to the Columbia basin east of the Cascade mountains and the upper reaches of the Fraser River drainage in Canada. Some major popular fishing rivers within their native range include; the Yakima River, the Spokane River, and the Methow River of Washington, and the Deschutes River of Oregon. These fish have both a resident and an anadromous variety (Redband Steelhead). Redband steelhead have to travel much further inland than Coastal Steelhead, and while they have the ability to spawn more than once, very few of these fish survive to spawn a second time. Unlike Coastal Steelhead which have commonly winter and summer runs, Redband Steelhead only have a summer run.
Resident Redbands in small streams tend to have an average size of between six and ten inches, and spawn at around two years old, with a life span of three to four years of age. In Washington these trout are often found in small spring creeks across the desert of the Columbia Basin, or streams draining the eastern slopes of the cascades. While these fish were native to the Yakima River, they have pretty much been completely replaced by hatchery rainbows. Every so often one of these fish is caught in the Yakima though (such as the fish in the lower left), and these fish have most likely been flushed downstream out of tributary streams during floods or high water.

Description: These trout got the name reband from the red coloration that the have along their lateral line and. These fish have large spots spread across their body and fins, and orange or yellow coloration on there lower half. Lake residents and redband steelhead often have a silvery coloration that hides their spots and the coloration that is typical of stream residents. These fish get confused with cutthroat at times, because they often have yellow or orange colored slashes under their lower jaw. They also have rosy gill plates, like other subspecies of rainbow trout.