Reply #9

[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....