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[nickredway]

Fill my boots with what? How did we get onto hero shots? What accomplishments? I don't target trout on the Vedder I target Steelies with the appropriate gear, it just happens that I don't agree with your opinion that it is somehow unethical to target trout and char on the Vedder with the appropriate gear for them and it is also my opinion that you are better off snapping something you can't land in a decent time rather than playing it to for too long, if it was a smaller fish in slower water you could land in it acceptable time if you know what you are doing but I wouldn't give that advice to a new fisher as I have seen plenty of people letting an smaller steelies run all over the place for 15 minutes until it was belly up using steelhead gear this year. I am not suggesting for a moment that people deliberately target bigger species with trout gear and then just snap them off and likewise every time I see some hero chasing a big chum or spring down river with a 5 or 6 weight I feel like booting them in. It's not 5wts that are the problem it's some of the idiots who use them, my advice is use your common sense.

[James]

i caught two trout , about 8-12" while targeting steel with a pink worm .... so go figure .

fwiw , to the orig. poster , go trout fishing with your 5wt . it is legal , you are very very unlikely to catch a steelhead .

I target trout on the vedder/ chillwack at all times of the year ( when regs allow ) Never have I had a by-catch of some sort .

[Sandman]

So you want him to leave hooks with trailing line in a wild steelhead?

A fly snaps off at the end of the leader, so there is no trailing line.  Just a fly that will probably fall out or rust out quickly.

[colin6101]

I use a five weight on the vedder every second September to catch pinks and have never had to fight one for longer then 3-4 minutes. I only fish this in the canal section though and use six pound tippet so I could easily break off larger fish if necessary. 

[DanJohn]

Really, as much as I dont like the idea of a steelhead floating around with a fly in its mouth, nor is it a good idea to play a fish for 20 minutes because youre using a 4X leader, I have to say this whole thread is full of crap.

1 I dont know what you use to target trout, but I like a 4X leader, maybe a 3 if I have biggish flies to entice cutties with. The largest hook I use is a 6 because the particular fly I like and find productive only comes in a 6. I prefer an 8 or 10, even a 12. Ive taken 2 pound fish on all these sizes. I imagine a 6-18 pound steelhead on one of these hooks will not be hooked deep. At least, not as deep as some smaller trout.

2 Hooks pop out quite easily. As long as the barb is pinched, I honestly cannot see how a size 6-10 hook will hold in the mouth of a steelhead in fast water after a couple headshakes/runs. I understand when playing a fish you will have the tension of the line wanting to pull the hook, but a small hook left in a large fish cant be there for very long. I could be wrong, but that leads to point 3.

3 Even if a hook is left in a fish, and there is the potential for harm to the fish, it IS the lesser of two evils. There is potential of harm, vs the very real harm and stress caused by playing the fish for too long on weak gear. I agree that it isnt a GOOD thing, but its a hell of a lot better scenario than killing the fish due to stress. But hey, if anyone is so worried about the semantics of this vs that and harm to the fish, why fish? Why not just leave them alone. Crap happens, we do what we can to cause the least harm, but that doesnt mean harm isnt always avoided.

[BCfisherman97]

Heard of some steelies being taken in some sloughs while cutty fishing, on 4 wt's

[Rp3Flyfisher]

I really didn't want to get into this pissing contest but..........


Look, plain and simple, you can fist a 3wt on the Vedder if you want, its your call, there are no regs that state that you must use a 7 wt while fishing on the Vedder. Now, that being said, for the health of the fishery, I suggest that if you are going to be fishing a 3-6wt rod, that you use a lighter tippet so that the larger fish can be broken off. Again, when fly fishing for Steelhead, you are normally using larger patterns with larger hooks than you would be using when going after cutties.

I fish the Vedder quite often using a 4 or 5wt rod, but I also don't use size 6,4,2,0 hooks and 10-15lb tippet. I use smaller size 14, 12, 10 flies and 4-5lb tippet. If i get B.S Lucky and hook into a Steelhead while chasing cutties, i will point the rod at it, and give it a pull snapping it off. If you are using the correct tippit and correct size hook, you will snap it off close to the fly and the fly is of such a small size that it will not interfere with the movement of the Fish. Also, many times when breaking a smaller fly off in a smaller fish, the fly will fall out rather quickly.

I don't like the fact that there may be a Steelhead swimming around with my fly in it's yap, but it is better than the alternative, playing it half to death. I fish for EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING, so i just make sure that i use the correct equipment for the species that I am targeting. With the opinions of a few here, they are saying that you should not be fishing for cutties, Bows, etc....with anything less than a 7wt because there are Steelhead  in the system, so that means when the Pinks run (I use a 6 wt) I need to use a 9wt because there are Springs in the system at the same time?

Besides all that, when  chase cutties on the Vedder, I sure the hell ain't going to the same places I chase Steelhead!!!!

Learn to know what size rod to use with the appropriate tippet and fly size to target the species you are after and all this can be avoided. USE COMMON SENCE!

 I want to protect the Steelhead as well, but having a small cuttie fly in it's yap is no worse than having all the hook pricks from missed hookups and "Wild" Steelhead releases!!

Just my 2 cents

Rick

[Sandman]

I'll say it again, because I CAN piss further. A fly snapped off is not likely going to cause any problems for the fish.  The tippet will snap at the fly as that knot is weaker than the knots joining the tippet to the leader or the leader to the flyline, so there is no "trailing line."  This is different than a bait set up where the bait loop (egg loop) knot is probably stronger than the knot tying the leader to the swivel, causing you to loose the whole leader when you snap it off.  Furthermore, the fly left in the fish's mouth, is not likely going to cause any problems as it will usually fall out quickly, especially since it is barbless, but even if it doesn't, there is little problem it can cause.  That 14 pound steelhead that I landed on a large squidro fly, had a large pink jig in its mouth, again with no line trailing, and from the looks of the fly, it was not in there long.  This fish, with a fly in its mouth, had no problem chowing down on another a short time later.

[milo]

So how many dead wild steelhead due to ignorance is acceptable?
Really, this isn't any different than dragging a wild fish up on the sand before releasing it.

 Don't be silly, typhoon. Breaking off an incidental large catch when you are undergunned is indeed the right choice for an ethical angler to make. I am not sure about the actual numbers, but my fishing buddies and I break off quite a few chinook and chum when fly fishing for coho. I sure as hell hope you do the same (unless you target coho with at least a 9-weight).