Steelhead!

In a word, finally.

After five seasons fishing this hole, I’ve pulled my share of cutthroat trout (I’m having one today for lunch, in fact). I’ve pulled so many “bullhead” sculpin to earn the title “Bullhead Champion of Clearwater” (a dubious distinction at best), but no steelhead (which is what I am, in theory, “fishing for”).

This season (my sixth) was turning out to look a lot like the last few; this is my fourth day on the river, I’d caught a steady supply of trout. The past couple of days, it’s been raining a little, and last night and today, it’s raining a lot. The river is running very high, and the footing is a bit slippery.

I’d been doing the normal dashing back and forth, and was on an orbit where I was checking the fish. I can tell when “something’s happened”, by the position of the fishing line (anything that disturbs the line makes the whole thing point downstream and close to the bank). As I was climbing down this time, though, I heard the sound I’d been waiting 6 years for: the bell tinkling.

Holding down my excitement, I grabbed the net on the way down to the hole, popped the still-ringing bell into my pocket, and started reeling in.

There was. Definitely. Something attatched to the line.

The fight was brief, but never really in question. It was a solid hit on the Spin-n-Glo (a yellow/orange one with white fins, if you’re curious), and although the fish still had some fight, and did a couple of flips and rolls, and even ran the line out a little once, it was pretty well over before it started.

Which is not to say that it wasn’t a whole lot of fun. Because it was. 🙂

This is a 27″, 6 1/2lb male Steelhead Trout, caught on my favorite rig, the Ugly Stik, Abu Garcia spinning reel, and plunking rig consisting of the aforementioned Spin-n-Glo (with treble hook), weight, and a single hook with steelhead eggs on it. You’re looking for a hit on the Spin-n-Glo, and that’s what happened here. In fact, the entire rig below the spin’glo was gone when I got there.

Here’s a photo of the gorgeous fish:

The fish is now two really nice looking fillets in the fridge. mmm, dinner!