Had a very late start today so decided to fish one of the North shore rivers. Arrived at the river at 1:30 PM. Decided to fish the lower section to take advantage of the high tide which was at 2:10. The run I picked was deserted.
Started with yarn and corkie but switched over to a procured prawn after 10 minutes. On my fourth cast my float hesitated on it's journey down the seam. Having lost 3 steelies in recent trips I wasn't going to pussyfoot around setting the hook. I leaned back hard on the rod and was rewarded with some head shakes. Fish On ! After a spirited fight I brought the steelie to the beach and noticed that it was hooked in the eye. After a final desperate run I landed the steelie. Upon closer examination the steelhead was missing an eye. There was a white membrane covering where the eye should have been and that was where I hooked it. Bizaare ! I released it to continue it's journey. I fished an hour covering the water with roe sacs, worms, prawns and spinners but that steelhead was the only hook up for me today.