just a few more details worth sharing- the above applies in streams in the Willamette, Central, and NE zones. In the NW and SW zones, all rainbows over 16" in streams are considered steelhead. In all these cases, once a rainbow is determined to legally be a steelhead, then the rules for steelhead for that exact location would apply: in almost all locations, wild steelhead must be released as carefully as possible; in locations open to harvest of hatchery steelhead, then a fin clipped fish could be tagged and retained. cheers, roger