Have you ever had a steelhead.................

[hobster]

Ever had a steelie.............do nothing?! Yesterday i was swinging a spinner, felt a grab and set the hook. There was nothing, i was sure i hung up on a log. I started tugging hard and pulling my line in and it felt like there was a small log on the other end. I could feel it slowly coming toward me and just wanted to get my spinner back when i saw it rise and realized it was a fish. Then.........he woke up! Did a flip or 2 and started zipping downstream doing what they usually do. I eventually got him in and released him cause he was a little dark, but it was the wierdest thing. I have hooked many steelies and this is the first time i didn't realize a fish was on, there was no head shake, movement or anything. I thought i snagged him because it felt so wierd but it was a perfect hookset in the mouth. In the immortal words of Quint in "Jaws"................"he's either really smart, or really dumb."

 

[Dizzy Fisherman]

Yes, especially if the water is cold. I've also experienced this after hooking fish that are extremely close to spawning.

 

[ChezJfrey]

Heh, just had one of those a short while ago on the Wilson. Drifting a spoon and a 1/4 through swing, hung up. Set the hook and nope...rock...or so I thought. Tugged a couple times and wouldn't shake loose. I always wear a glove and was at the point where I was wrapping braid around the gloved hand to pull/break loose and only then started feeling a few shakes...what the? Fish! Turned out to be a bruiser; turned up the heat shortly after and burned some line, wore some worry marks into my brow, LOL

 

[plumb2fish]

Have had that happen when hooked in the tongue and roof of mouth at the same time...

 

[eugene1]

The fish will do odd things.

I did have some summer runs in EUG that were lethargic turds that I didn't know were even fish until they came next to the boat. They usually perked up when they saw the net or the boat though and then it was game on. My theory is that they were kind of resting and were on autopilot when taking the lure/bait.

Not sure what is up with that, but anyway, any fish are good fish!

Congrats, hobster!

 

[eugene1]

Have had that happen when hooked in the tongue and roof of mouth at the same time...

good point, plumb.

"glued shut" as we called that.

 

[Irishrover]

I Fishing the John day south of LePage Park on a cold winter day. We were pulling plugs up near the power lines, I got a bit of a tug on my line and thought I had bumped the bottom or hooked a weed. I reeled in a heavy line and found there was a wild steelhead stuck on my plug. I took the hooks out and the fish just swam off. I though the fish must have know it was wild and was going to be released so he just came in quick with no fuss to get the hooks out and be back about his business. I'm guessing the cold water had something to due with it.

 

[Camo]

Yeah! That happened to me too. I was fishing the canyon on the Lewis & Clark River. I watched my sand shrimp disappear. Must have been a snag until I noticed the line moving up stream. I looked deep and there she was! Big fish! REAL big fish! This went on for a couple of minutes until my impatience set in…….I gave a quick pull like the kind to un-hook from the bottom. All hell broke loose! The fish shot out of the water- Tail splashing, diving and jumping! I remember at the time that I should remember not to do that the next time as it snapped the line at the hook then flipped it's tail and back into the deep it went.

 

[my2labs]

Have you ever had a steelhead.................

I literally walked a small steelie out of the sandy last fall. It rolled once and then just side planed to the bank. I was thinking that it may have been released by someone else earlier that day? ....


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[hobster]

Heh, just had one of those a short while ago on the Wilson. Drifting a spoon and a 1/4 through swing, hung up. Set the hook and nope...rock...or so I thought. Tugged a couple times and wouldn't shake loose. I always wear a glove and was at the point where I was wrapping braid around the gloved hand to pull/break loose and only then started feeling a few shakes...what the? Fish! Turned out to be a bruiser; turned up the heat shortly after and burned some line, wore some worry marks into my brow, LOL

This sounds like my experience, i'm suprised he didn't break off since i was pulling so hard. I've always feared wrapping line around my hand and a fish taking off, especially braid, that stuff is like a razor. This was earlier this week so the water was quite warm, warmer than usuall. I think he was tired or close to spawning like Dizzy Fisherman said, either way it was a wierd hookup. He was a colored up buck so i sent him on his way, hopefully we can meet up again next year.

 

[hobster]

The fish will do odd things.

I did have some summer runs in EUG that were lethargic turds that I didn't know were even fish until they came next to the boat. They usually perked up when they saw the net or the boat though and then it was game on. My theory is that they were kind of resting and were on autopilot when taking the lure/bait.

Not sure what is up with that, but anyway, any fish are good fish!

Congrats, hobster!

Good theory, autopilot sounds about right. Indeed any fish are good fish, especially steelhead!

 

[ChezJfrey]

I've always feared wrapping line around my hand and a fish taking off, especially braid, that stuff is like a razor.

Well for one, don't do it with fish attached...it'll break you OFF in a heartbeat LOL

Second, yes, braid is a razor on the skin, so the glove is crucial. I nearly always fish braid and wrap the line around the gloved hand to break OFF any time I'm hung up; never been cut. You will always see me with a glove. Two of them in winter when it's cold and just one on my left hand, even in summer. Good for tailing fish, which was my primary motivation, but also discovered great utility in safety with stuck braid.

It's funny because in areas I frequent, I'm kinda famous that way. Several people have come up to me in summer, saying, "Oh yeah, you're the guy with the glove...I saw you the other day." I'm like Michael Jackson famous

 

[flocaster]

 

[eugene1]

^lol

 

[Dizzy Fisherman]

I literally walked a small steelie out of the sandy last fall. It rolled once and then just side planed to the bank. I was thinking that it may have been released by someone else earlier that day? ....


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Hooking a fish that has just been hooked will definitely get the no fight response.