Spawning in the River

Yesterday evening, while we were walking along our river path to go check a camera, Gail spotted a large fish hovering in a shallow spot.  Then we saw a couple more.  The lighting was not great, but they sure looked like salmon.  This morning I went back down (Gail had Jury duty!) and I witnessed more large fish occasionally thrashing about  and chasing each other.  I found a good vantage point in the bushes at the edge of the bank, and watched what looked like spawning activity in shallow water over gravel. I was able to get some pictures, although the thin branches in the way caused focusing hassles. Upon examining the photos this evening, I'm now quite sure the fish are Steelhead Trout.  They are more closely related to salmon then trout, but unlike salmon, don't die right after spawning, and can return to the ocean or remain in freshwater.  When they swim to the ocean, they grow much larger than the ones that stay in the streams. These fish appeared to be at least 2 feet long.

 

                 Spawning activity?

I read that Steelhead can leap 11 feet out of the water to clear a waterfall, and can accelerate from zero to 25 mph in one second.

A pair of Mallard Ducks were in the area.

Steelhead that haven't gone to sea are Rainbow Trout.  This is a Steelhead.  It's hard to tell their size in these pictures, but they appeared to me to be disproportionately large for our little river.