Mark went on to tell me about the history of steelhead and angling in Southern California. The fish was more than 30 inches and probably would’ve fought like hell if hooked on a fly rod. Mark said the specimen was pulled from the Ventura River just a few years ago. The first thing I noticed as I entered his office was an old photograph of a large adult steelhead sitting on the bank of a river. Capelli helped write the recovery plan for Southern California steelhead and is an expert on these fish.
My first stop was at the office of Mark Capelli, a fisheries biologist for NOAA working out of Santa Barbara. I was asked to make one such story about the Southern California steelhead. Part of my job with CalTrout is producing multimedia stories to help promote some of the conservation efforts we are engaged in. That was all it took, I had to go down there and explore these rumors and stories and investigate this phenomenon for myself. Then a friend showed me a photo of a chrome bright 30-inch fish from the Santa Clara River. But the non-profit I work for, California Trout, began to consider an office in Southern California, solely to protect these fish. I refused to believe they were real steelhead and dismissed the stories as merely rainbow trout trapped in small creeks and rivers being called steelhead. When I started hearing rumors of giant steelhead as far south as San Diego, I must admit my curiosity peaked.
They are always associated with being a coldwater fish and cold water usually isn’t associated with SoCal. Most people think of steelhead as only being in Northern California and along the west coast into Canada and Alaska. "Steelhead in Southern California……What?!?!" That’s the most common reaction when someone mentions steelhead and Southern California in the same sentence.
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