Does it count?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I am excited with the grab and maybe a good run and jump.............

You don't have to land them.

[steve sullivan]

To all who have been successful...If a steelhead rookie battles a juvenile steelie for 5+ minutes and is cupping his hand under its belly(left the net at home) BUT, there is just enough slack in the line for the steelie to use when it gives that last burst of torque and breaks off...does it count? If not, well, that's why they call it fishing...not catching! Thom

Usually, most people consider it a "catch" if the leader/fly line junction makes it to the tip top of your pole. If you wanted to keep it and had your hands on it, I wouldnt count it as caught. If you were going to release it anyways, you definitely caught it. If you want to report it on your steelhead card, and you had your hand on it AND could tell if it was wild or hatchery, if you want it to count on you certainly can. It is all up to you

PS: if you are fishing a valley stream, fox's poopah is a very hot pattern. I have caught about 80 to 90 percent of my fish on it. Just today on the feather I caught a 26 inch hatchery CHROMER on it. Pure silver, when I got it home the red lateral line was not even red. The second most successfull fly on the feather has been a prince nymph in size 16-18. A couple of additions to the fox poopah are
1) instead of tinsel use flashabou
2) instead of duck flank for legs use rubber legs (especially usefull on prince nymphs).
3) between the flashabou/tinsel and vernile/chenille add a small ammount of z wing, just a little bit so the flashabou/tinsel still shows, and have it trail off the end of the vernille/chenille.