Hit the river today despite the barrage of rain we've had and was somewhat concerned to see visibility at the crossing down to a foot or so. Made a quick pit stop at On The Way and talked to a guy who had just come up from the river who confirmed what we saw from above: a foot, no more.
So up we went. Upper river, I was surprised to see visibility was better than expected. I was also pleasantly surprised about the balmy weather - there were even pockets of blue sky on occassion!
Anywho, after working the river in quite a few spots I finally settled into a section with a handful of places that looked like they'd be holding my elusive first steelhead. And then it happened. My float danced in between two boulders into a chute I was aiming at. As it curled nicely into the boil it happened. Float down hard - YANK - FISH ON!! The fight was on!! Right away I felt the power of this fish, it was definitely of a decent size and it was not happy! After working it carefully for 5 minutes or so in the holding water behind the rocks (along with a few small aerial displays and a lot of powerful headshakes) I carefully steered it into the flow toward the bank. My buddy was screaming at me as he thought I was horsing him too much and I'd surely break him off but I had my thumb on the spool and was able to ensure the line was kept taught without straining the 8lb leader to the point of el-snappo. Couple of minutes later I had one chrome beauty of a wild steelhead sitting idle in the shallows. I climbed in and tailed him and then gently released the hook and set him free. Alas, the damn camera was in the truck and given the fact that I did not want to stress the fish any more than it already had been I revived him and sent him on his way - all 13/14lbs of him!! Definitely a memorable first steelie even if he wasn't caught on film!
So after today's outing I am hooked!! Steelhead fishing is very different from the typical Fall salmon fishing (stupid thing to say in this forum
). In the Fall, the river is full of multiple species and in more abundance...Steelheading definitely takes more patience. One thing I hope to learn from my first Steelhead season is to take the experience into the Summer and Fall runs and be able to work the water a little better. Sometimes Summer and Fall runs are just about waiting for the next bump of fish to come through the same slot you keep casting into...I would fathom a guess that while you are waiting for the bite to be on there are probably other fish around - you just have to look for them...I just have to remember what I learned today...work it baby!
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Topic: Vedder Report - Jan 11 AND MY FIRST STEEL EVER!! :) (Read 4399 times)