WinterrunRon
01-30-2007, 02:43 PM
Landed this large, handsomely colored lad yesterday. I included the fly in the picture for you so you don’t have to wonder. Again, not the chrome fish I'm looking for, but he provided the best fight of the year so far. I've hooked other fish this year larger (this one was 10-11 pounds) and the larger fish pulled harder, but this dude had my reel screaming 30-45 feet or so into my backing immediately upon hookup when he decided that sanctuary would be found mid-river and way, way, way downstream. I know 30-45 feet or so doesn't sound like much, but I hooked him about 10 feet out in front of me, so he first ripped off the remaining 120 feet of fly line… in the blink of an eye! That's 160+ feet of line for an American River hatchery fish having been in fresh water for several weeks.
After he made his initial run, I reeled him back upstream and quickly got him under control. But go step it off… 10 ft then another 150… that’s unreal! The one thing I've learned about steelhead, you can't predict their personality by looking at ‘em.
There's a bigger story here I want to share and it involves another first for me.
I knew someday, if I fished long enough, I'd hook a steelhead on my first cast, it's the hole-in-one of fishing. In fact, I've dreamed of it. But I thought it would be hundreds of thousands of casts from now chest deep in some distant coastal or Alaskan river under the canopy of grey hair.
It seems that many times, my fish come as the result of something I've learned by observing, reading, watching or listening to others. In fact, I'm convinced you cannot become an accomplished angler on your own. There's simply way too much to learn and not enough time available in a lifetime.
In this case, I took away from the teachings of Dec Hogan and John Hazel (two very experienced Northcoast steelheaders) to always start with a short cast and fish your first cast as good as your longest cast, because they've hooked plenty of fish in close on an initial cast. Not one to question the experience of others having more than I, I've made it a part of my routine, always quietly entering the river (or not at all if it's not necessary), then, in this instance, using my 13ft rod to deliver the initial 10 ft cast, believing that I could, and would, someday, hook a steelhead on my very first cast.
No longer just a dream, here he is…
Ron
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k63/WinterrunRon/IMG_0549.jpg
After he made his initial run, I reeled him back upstream and quickly got him under control. But go step it off… 10 ft then another 150… that’s unreal! The one thing I've learned about steelhead, you can't predict their personality by looking at ‘em.
There's a bigger story here I want to share and it involves another first for me.
I knew someday, if I fished long enough, I'd hook a steelhead on my first cast, it's the hole-in-one of fishing. In fact, I've dreamed of it. But I thought it would be hundreds of thousands of casts from now chest deep in some distant coastal or Alaskan river under the canopy of grey hair.
It seems that many times, my fish come as the result of something I've learned by observing, reading, watching or listening to others. In fact, I'm convinced you cannot become an accomplished angler on your own. There's simply way too much to learn and not enough time available in a lifetime.
In this case, I took away from the teachings of Dec Hogan and John Hazel (two very experienced Northcoast steelheaders) to always start with a short cast and fish your first cast as good as your longest cast, because they've hooked plenty of fish in close on an initial cast. Not one to question the experience of others having more than I, I've made it a part of my routine, always quietly entering the river (or not at all if it's not necessary), then, in this instance, using my 13ft rod to deliver the initial 10 ft cast, believing that I could, and would, someday, hook a steelhead on my very first cast.
No longer just a dream, here he is…
Ron
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k63/WinterrunRon/IMG_0549.jpg