what is your favorite fish memory

[queets guy]

Me and my dad were on the Hoh around when I was 9yrs old.  It was a cold morning and I was freezing , the kind of cold when your guides freeze up every cast and we had to throw out anchor rope in the river to thaw it out. I had kept asking my dad what a bite looked like on a plug rod all day long and all he had to say is "you will know when we hook a fish." We had fished long and hard that day (I had never caught a steelhead let alone even seen one) and we were getting down toward the takeout when my dad decided to pull plugs through a decent looking piece of water, kind of like a hail mary shot considering we were almost done.  Anyways we made it down to the tail end of the drift when all of a sudden the rod tip doubles down to the water and my eyes nearly bulge out of my head by the violent strike of the fish, Im in utter shock ( it wasnt like the normal bass or trout bite that I was used to having at that age) while my dad is trying to get the rod out of the holder.  I finally gripped the rod and all I could feel was my thumb burning on the 30lb worn out braid non stop, making arial shows out of the water this was one of the biggest steelhead my dad has ever laid his eyes on( and he has been steelhead fishing since the late 70s).  After a 1/4mile chase on this fish, 13min into battle and the fish was still fighting as hard as right when he was hooked.  Finally the fish had made one big jump and all I see is the plug come flying out of the fish's mouth.  We reel in the plug and all three hooks of the Gami treble were bent STRAIGHT out.  My dad had a look on his face like he had seen a ghost and all I could say was "is this how all steelhead fight".  And thats the story.


               Jake

[steelspanker]

Well, I figured I'll make my first steelheadnotebook post about my favorite fish memory. (Cool site BTW. I even recogonize a few names here.)

My fave fish memory actually happened just this Fall. My 12 yr old son wanted to catch a coho. He's caught a couple steelies before and some chums and pinks, but he really wanted to catch a coho.

So after work one day we hit the local river and saw only a handful of guys fishing a long stretch. They had no luck so far but we gave it a go. There were only a couple silvers rolling that day so my son started chucking a spoon toward a submerged log. A few minutes later, while I was fiddling with my gear, he says something like "uh, dad...I got one". Sure enough, his rod was bouncing like crazy as line peeled off his spool. That coho jumped and ran like nuts. Lots of fun to watch. Gotta love that smile. Kids catching big fish is the best IMO.





The fine bunch of guys along the bank gave some hoots and cheers and all commented on my son's big non-stop smile. We caught a couple more brighter ones after that too, but this was his first ever coho. What a great time we had.

[Brian]

Lots of great posts here guys, thanks! I'm not sure what my favorite fish memory is, but I would have to say that almost any of my days on the water with my late great friend Glen Shimoishamaru would rate high on my list. This guy just had a knack for hooking big fish, whether it be salmon, steelhead, bass or whatever. 

Nice first post steelspanker! Welcome to the notebook!