Most Memorable Steelhead?

[Andrew]

The "big fish" thread I just glanced at got me thinking about a thread I started a few years back soliciting "memorable steelhead" stories. I realize that "big" and "memorable" tend to go hand-in-hand when talking about fish (and some other things), but there's not necessarily a perfect mass-to-memorability correspondence. In fact I've caught some triple-striped sharks I'd sooner forget. 

In addition to enjoying reading stories about fish others have encountered, I'm fascinated by the way fishing tales are woven. Meeting certain online personalities over the years has convinced me that passion for steelhead imbues an ability for storytelling... and in some cases, even lying.

I was able to spend a few hours last weekend on a piece of water that Bill Herzog has written about many times over the years. It seems like the tone of each piece is more mystic than the last, to the point that I'm not sure this place actually exists, even though I've been there.

I think what I've concluded is that most of us have some perception of "the ultimate" steelhead experience, but it's a completely individual thing, and probably related to our "most memorable" fish. What makes particular fish more memorable to us than others is harder to get at.

So what's your most memorable steelhead?

[Fast- eddy]

Excellent...................
My most memorable steelhead was a 12 to 13 pound native hen that decided to come out and play on the Puyallup river many moons ago. It had been very cold for several weeks(mid twenties).......My old fishing buddy and I had all but given up on catching anything, but since we had a window of non freezing temperature and absolutely beautiful river conditions, we decided to stick it out and fish for a couple of more casts. The previous week we had found a stretch of river that held some huge suckers(3 to 4 lbs) so we decided to rig up with some small cheaters and full nighcrawlers and catch a few of these bottom feeder's and stretch our lines. Back then we had some Incredible early season hatchery fish with some even better Nate's thrown in by the mid to latter parts of January.By mid February we would have some decent numbers of native fish thrown in to the mix to really shake things up.But with the cold temperatures that year, things had really been slow.We caught several of these "scrap fish' then all of a sudden my line went out of control.I had a player on the end of my line that was peeling line off faster then anything we had experienced in weeks.....I was using an old 5-6 weight fly rod with 6 lb. line with an old Mitchell 300 reel(that my grandfather had given me) and this fish was coming unglued,tail dancing,head over heels and heading strait for the tail out of this stretch of river. For any of you that Know this river ,this was the stretch of river above the old Anton's restaurant,just above the bridge........This was always a great piece of water way back then,especially when the temperatures had been cold for extended periods of time. To make a long story short,I finally managed to bring this fine specimen to hand after an unbelievable battle.My leg was shaking with nervous energy for quite some time as this was the most incredible steelhead that I had hooked to date.
This memory will always be special to me for several reasons........Home river,The stretch of river,Tackle used,Shared with a special fishing partner.
Not the biggest fish ever but definitely the best!

Thanks for starting this thread Andrew..Brings back some incredible memories.

FE.............

[cuttstosteelies]

I'll be back on this one ....

[Jeff]

Ummmm, dude, you posted at 2 am?  You are much younger than I!!!

Choosing one most memorable steelhead has proved very difficult.  As I access my memory banks snippets of past trips and fish pop in and out.  I definitely remember my first, Jonnyhook's first, the first spoon fed nate, etc.  I think perhaps the most memorable may be the one in my sig.  The story goes like this...

Jon and I are with BMac on a float we had purchased from him to raise money for his daughter to go to Europe.  We are all alone as we saw no other boats that day, nor any other bank fishermen until the takeout.  It was a good day and we already had several nates to hand.  We had stepped out of the boat to work a stretch of water and I had gone on ahead and BMac was walking the boat down with Jonnyhook right in his grill talking away - those of you who have had the experience of fishing with Jon will understand this!

I dropped my pink worm under a float behind a rock and very shortly thereafter - bobber gone!  As I set the hook the fish was already peeling line faster than imaginable.  Of course Brian sees this from upstream and is hooting and hollering - I don't think I have fished with anyone who got more excited over each and every fish as BMac!  The fish shot to the other side; I worked it back.  It shot over again; I worked it back.  By this time Jon and Brian have secured the boat and of course I pass the rod to Jon.  Everyone knows it requires Jon to land my fish!  So I get some photos as this fish proceeds to take two more really hot runs.  Brian tailed it and taught Jon some landing and handling techniques.

The fish ended up being the thickest hen I've caught to date.  She wasn't huge, probably 12ish pounds, but she made an impression!  So this fish had all the ingredients for a lasting memory; great fight, mint bright, wonderful hookup, Jonnyhook got to land it, and I was with a good friend.

Enjoy!

Jeff

[Jack]

I don't post here much but I'll play along.  My most memorable steelhead was my 1st and only so far spoon caught steelhead.

The thing about this fish was I had decided I was going to break out of the mold of just drift fishing, pulling plugs, and the occasional bobber/jig deal and try something new.  I did a ton of reading on various boards and magaxines about spoon fishing and I was all horned up because I had some textbook shallow, choppy, long seam, boulder strewn water in mind that had produced fish for me before.  It was about a week of anticipation before I could go fishing and I kept telling my fishing partner (AKA Dad) that I was going to hook a Native on a spoon in that stretch.  Well, the launch is litteraly right at the top of this stretch so I would get there early and launch in the dark and be the 1st on through and Nuke that run with a little gold spoon (this was before I knew about RVRFSHR stuff).

Sure enough, 5 casts into the day and I nailed the fish that I had been thinking about and calling out for a week.  Just a 9-10 lb'er but man that felt good.

[younggun]

My most memorable fish? My big fish!

I had been fishing all day in late feb. with my dad, we had pounded through classic steelhead runs all day, water was up but clear and it had been cold. We were coming to our last run of the day and i opted to take the back seat to the old man. Just above the final run was a large pocket right at our feet, infront of a bundle of rebar and concrete. (remains of an old bridge) My dad over estimated its depth and broke off his 6" pink worm first cast. So i got to get first water! hehehe. Well i had 6lb leader, a #4 hook and a size 12 flame orange spin'n glow/white wings. I shortened up to about 2ft deep from my float to my weight. First cast through the pocket didn't feel right, i was drifting to fast, so lengthened my depth another couple inches, my next cast i held back to get my spin'n glow going, just as i was getting to the bottom of the slot my float silently slid under, there was no arm wrenching pull, no taps, no lightning fast run, all it did was go under nice and easy. I set the hook and the behemoth didn't move, she just sat there, so i set again, and then i felt her head shakes, back and forth. I pressured here up the slot and she wanting nothing of it, she instantly broke for the current parrallel to the pocket and heading down stream in a hurry, with my trailing behind in a full sprint. She was blazing down river in the top 8 inches of water partially exposed in water that was 5ft deep. I caught up to her at the bottom of the run and began a tug of war, back and forth, trading line all the time. She slowly came in still green as grass. Just as i spotted her i saw it, dad's cerise pink worm hanging from her mouth. She had picked up the worm after he broke off, and then decided to eat the tiny spin'n glow. Just as my father grabbed the tail and landed her in the shallows the leader parted at the hook. I quickly walked over, picked her up and posed for the hero shot, as soon as i placed her back in the water, with one snap of her tail she smoothly glided off like a snake into the depths.

[Jack]

Cool story Youngun.  Dang nice fish too.

[Fast- eddy]

Andrew,(or anybody else)

Step on up to the plate........your up to bat.

[Andrew]

What, the guy that started the thread is supposed to contribute too? 

Alright, but I expect cutts to be "back" on this one real soon like he promised. Would also like to hear from some of the other regulars. I never have heard Todd's story about that buck in his avatar on Piscatorial. Maybe even JDF will stop by.

For a long time my most memorable fish was a 13 lb. summer hen that inhaled a homemade jig in a nondescript riffle on the Green near Flaming Geyser. I was still in high school and had just started driving myself to the river. I really had no clue about steelhead fishing at the time (much less summer steelhead fishing) despite years of effort, but the aerial display and adrenaline provided by that fish convinced me to spend untold hours in the coming weeks and months (all of them on the Green) learning how to read water, make a clean presentation and suppress the reflex to follow "reports" from other anglers.

I'm pretty certain that given enough time I could go back through and remember just about every steelhead I've hooked since then, but the "most memorable" position was forcefully overtaken last summer by a fish that may have been part hallucination. I hadn't gotten much sleep, and I'd hiked a long way, and it wasn't the right time of year, and I'd recently been fishing pointless hooks, and I didn't get a picture, and I hit a deer with my van on the way home. But as I recall it, it was the biggest summer-run I've ever seen. Maybe I'll write a book about it someday. Or a crappy article for STS. Or a page for Ickstream Steel. 

I remember a few great stories Brian posted a couple years back regarding some of his "most memorable" summer-runs. That was a great thread, with lots of fine tales told, but we've gained a lot of new members since then, and I'm guessing at least a few of the old members have topped their old #1s sometime since then.

I figure it's another 2 weeks before I'll get to go fishing, so please tale away.

Andrew

[cuttstosteelies]

Okay, I'm "back"....
Ya know, I've spent a bit of time thinking about this.....  I could talk about the 25# buck from an OP secret crick, the 21# hen taken on a SW stream, or the countless mid-teener summers that tore me a new one on the upper *$&@'s  ...  However, I'll stick with the "most memorable" as the topic suggests.

It was Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend and I had just caught the steelhead virus.  My first steelhead trip occured a mere month prior to this adventure on the Humptulips in which I hooked and landed a beauty of a winter coho.  I saw my partner land a beauty of a hatchery fish on that trip but as most first trips go, I was fishless.  However, this lit a major fire under my rear end and I was determined to conquer this newfound addiction.  For years, my family has been blessed enough to have had a cabin located on mile marker 153 off 101.....  3 miles from the queets, 10 miles from the Hoh, and a mere 27 from Forks.  This most memorable fish came on the closer one bout' 5 miles away....  I can remember walking down from the lower bridge on the Salmon River talking to some locals who claimed the river was dead.  Truth be told, it was.  The major hatch push had come and gone.  The only thing left was spawners.  I had no idea what a "spawner" was but a steelhead was a steelhead in my opinion....  After my conversation with these gentlemen, I now realize why they were chuckling at me.  It must have been my trout (red/white) bobber attached to 15 pound high-vis stren on a casting rod with a surf casting spinning reel.  Yeah, I always think twice before judging those "yellow rod touting dudes" on the local crick because I've been there....
Anyhow, I walked down the river a bit knowing what type of water to look for.  I had always been a great cutthroat fisherman, hence the name from Cutts to Steelies, but I had never caught anything over 22"......  I spotted a stump about halfway down to the queets that had some riffles about 20 feet above and maybe a 6 foot deep hole beneath....  First cast ------ WHAM!  Bobber down and fish on.  I could retell the battle but there wasn't much of one.  The "spawned out" hen slid easily to my feet and I can remember frantically searching for the nearest rock to Christen it appropriately....  That 5 pound kelt was my first, and most memorable sea run omykiss for sure.  Showed up to the "cabin" with my catch and it was spawned out hen for dinner!  I can truly remember the fish tasting a bit "dry" but for me, it was a major milestone.  There it is.  I've been addicted ever since....

[xlurker]

I am also one who doesn't post, but I had to reply to this one.

How about two of my "most memorable steelhead"?  And, both were caught with Chumdog way back when.

The first was mine.  I was flyfishing the Kalama a lot after St. Helens blew.  To say the least, there were lots of fish above Summers Creek in the "fly-only" water for about five years after the eruption.  I was working with Chumdog at the bank, and had told him about how great the fishing was, and he asked me to take him.  So we made the drive, got on our gear, and decided to fish the bottom hole of the "Holy" water, which was a series of succeeding rapids and pools where the road paralleled the river.  As we were walking up to the hole, I was telling him how to fish the lines we were using (sink-tips of leadcore and deep-water express), and made a casual rollcast into the hole to get my line positioned for the next cast.  As I'm talking to him on the bank, my line is swinging through the tailout and whammm!  Fish-on.  Cookie-cutter 10lb brat.  After that first cast, he really believed that the fishing was hot.  No further explaining to do....he wanted to fish.

The second was Chumdog's.  I had a driftboat back then, and we were fishing the OP a lot.  We decided to hit the Hump in February (I think), and were fishing from Hwy 101 down.  During the day, Chumdog hit a few kelts on their way back to saltwater; nothing for me.  Believe me, this was usually the case.  He caught all the fish.  Anyway, we are literally one hole above the takeout and had one more hole to fish.  Narrow slot; logjams on either side.  Down go the plugs, and I start rowing hard to slow the boat down.  About halfway through the hole, down goes his rod tip.  He grabs it, and sets the hook.  As I look downstream to where the fish should be, all of a sudden I see this large back and tailfin break water.  This is a big fish.  I practically lost it in my neoprenes.  My first thought is to get us out of the logjam area so the fish doesn't get hung up, so I row downstream and pull the boat over to shallow water near a gravel bar.  The rest is history....except.  Chumdog is playing out the fish and I am the "netter".  He gets the fish close, and I stretch to get it.  Oops!  The hook on the plug temporarily gets fouled in the net.  Luckily, it comes loose, and the fish makes another run.  I would have never lived that one down if that fish had been lost.  The fish was a 20+ native buck.  We took a few pictures, but not enough.  We should have spent a whole roll taking pictures of that one.  So, if he ever tells you he has caught a 20+ nate, believe him.  I was there, and he should have the pictures to prove it.

RIP Bmac.

[Fast- eddy]

I like it! Great read's Gentlemen,now how about the rest of you out there?Got to be some more good stories to share.......... Nice Call Andrew,great thread!

Great 1st post Xlurker,Welcome....

[Strike Rite Tackle Co.]

Its hard to beat your first fish I would think. Small river + 12 lb. chrome rocket + Cheap jig hook + clamped drag = 5 head shakes and a straitened hook. Thats all it took to get me hooked.

[Todd]

I never have heard Todd's story about that buck in his avatar on Piscatorial.

This one?



Just a nice fish that found a 1/2oz. 50/50 and himself sharing a small enough piece of water that they got together for a bit...made three full body out of water jumps, landing flat on its side...

A few pics and off he went.

Fish on...

Todd

P.S.  Not sure what my "most memorable" is...I'd have to think on that one.

[Andrew]

Yeah, that one.

Nice write-up xlurker. 

-IS/UF/AD