Side by Side

Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush

Typical: 24–32 in, 5–15 lb

Quickest tell: A deeply forked tail with pale haloless spots on a dark body identifies lake trout; browns and steelhead have squared tails, and brown trout add red/orange haloed spots. (Worm-like vermiculations belong to brook trout, NOT lake trout.)

• Dark gray to gray-green body covered in pale cream spots
• Deeply forked tail (deepest fork of the region's salmonids)
• Pale spots without halos extend onto the forked tail
• White leading edge on the lower (pelvic, pectoral, anal) fins
• No pink stripe and no dark or red spots
• Spots may extend onto head, dorsal, and adipose

Full Lake Trout guide — season, gear and rules →

Steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss

Typical: 24–30 in, 5–10 lb

Key field mark: A white mouth AND white gums with spots radiating across the whole tail separate a steelhead from coho (dark mouth, white gums, spots on the upper tail lobe only) and chinook (black mouth and black gums).

• Bright chrome-silver sides, white belly
• Small black spots scattered over the back, dorsal, and entire tail (both lobes)
• Squared tail; 8-12 anal fin rays (fewer than salmon)
• Faint pink-red lateral band (bright on resident/mature fish)
• White mouth and white gums inside
• Small head relative to a same-size Chinook

Full Steelhead guide — season, gear and rules →

When Each Is Running July — current month highlighted

Where Lake Trout and Steelhead Overlap

Both run in Great Lakes — that is where telling them apart actually matters.

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