Steelhead and Salmon hanging out together?

[Yard Sale]

I always thought that Steelhead and Salmon made sure to avoid each other once they got into the river. Over the years I've definitely noticed a slow down in steelhead fishing when the salmon show up and start rolling. For at least that first week or two I'd done better fishing tailouts and avoiding the heart of the runs where the salmon hang out(or at least are actively rolling).

So the past 2 weeks as my local has come into shape and the salmon have moved in we've been having good success just fishing the run like normal. We've been finding steelhead right in the same sections where salmon are actively rolling. We are fishing wet flies on floating lines, so its not like we are dredging behind spawning fish or anything.

So is it a myth? Does it matter what type of salmon they are? Maybe with the rivers this low fish just have to deal and be next to each other?

 

[Shad]

I caught 3 late summer steelhead from the same hole in the same small river while fishing for salmon. There were kings, coho, and even chums in the hole at various times. I will say that the steelhead seemed to be mostly at the back of the pack, lending some credence to the "pecking order" theory, but they were right in there with the salmon.

 

[SurfnFish]

common if sharing a river for steelhead to hang just below spawning salmon to target loose eggs tumbling downstream, the Trinity River fall run an example.