Thanks for the report funfish and nice job! I managed to get out on March 3 as well. I posted this report on the BCFR forum...
Hey guys. It's definitely been a while, but I finally went for my first fishing trip this year. A buddy and I hit the Vedder yesterday (Friday) as we decided to take the day off work. Hit the run just after 7 AM and it was quite busy, but still plenty of room to fish. Not much action for about an hour and a half. Then a guy above me hooks a fish and just loses it close to the beach. About 10 minutes later, another guy above me hooks a fish and the battle is on. During that fight, another guy below me hooks a fish and we have a "double header". The two gentlemen land their fish - both hatchery fish of about 9 - 10 pounds each. So, they're done.
About five minutes after that, the drennan goes down and I can feel strong head shakes. The fish doesn't come out of the water, but rather just rolls underneath the surface. After some tugging back and forth, I lead the fish close to shore. A fellow angler shouts out "nice hatchery". At that point - I'm reminded of what FishFinder told me the night before. I told him that I wasn't really planning on keeping a steelhead, but then FF said that if I landed a nice chrome hatchery steelie - I'd be keeping it! Hmm. Anyway, the adrenaline starts to flow. One of the guys who just landed a fish looks into the water and yells out "it's a beauty!'. Oh my. I get the fish in close to land it, and I think I have him subdued - then my 6 lb leader breaks! But a guy standing right beside the fish picks it up and puts it on the beach! OK - I guess I'm done! The fish was actually quite a bit larger than I first thought. It turned out to be a 15 pound hatchery buck (thanks to the guy with the electronic scale). My first fish of the year and first steelie on a gear rod!
Anyway - here's a couple of pictures...
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/albums/Steelhead/P2230061.sized.jpghttp://www.fishingwithrod.com/albums/Steelhead/P2230053.jpgWe stayed until just about noon as I was hoping my buddy would get a hook-up. But then we decided it was time for lunch. In that time, I saw a couple of fish hooked and lost. However, it seemed to slow down. I wonder how the afternoon went. Anyone?
So - back to the fly rod or stick with the gear? Hmm... In any case - I hope to get out at least a few more times. Good luck out there everyone!
Author
Topic: Vedder March 3rd (Read 4235 times)