Sure, I'll play.
2012 was a good year, considering I had zero steelhead banked in 2011. This year, finally banked my first steelhead, and final scorecard was 39 hooked, 23 landed, 16 tagged, so much improved!
I think one of the more notable this year, was my first summer.
Hit the Clackamas in mid-May, fished a hole I'd been seeing some fish, but nothing going. So, I headed upriver to another section.
Found some fish and missed 2 takes...went for the set, saw the chrome flashing, but ended up with nothing at the end of the line with one head shake both times. Uh oh, this doesn't feel good at all.
While rigging a different spoon and planning to give this spot a rest after my misses, a guy walks up, fish in hand. We chat for a bit and he said another guy, with son were up ahead and that in addition to the fish he had, he also banked a bright chrome hatchery, had the tail when the fish jetted back out, wrapped around a rock and snapped off. Ouch. He also mentioned that the father/son had a hatchery in hand as well.
We parted, and I moved up around the bend, cast out a couple times, reaching a bit further out in the hole each time. As my spoon drifts through and starts its swing, I see a bright mass of silver moving down river...the spoon is swinging in closer and the fish is chasing it! C'mon baby....keep going. The spoon reaches the terminal of its arc and right at that second, fish chomps down. Pull! Money shot...fish on.
I wrestle it for a bit, get it near shore and grab the tail. While I haven't had much trouble in the past...I'm certainly having it of late...fish darts off. Did I get that other guy's same fish? Same as his story, well, except for the fact that I eventually beached it
My first summer and it's a beauty! 31 inches, 9.5 pounds.
The second photo is courtesy of skunk. Shortly after landing this fish, I run into him and his son; they were the ones the other guy spoke of. We didn't know each other, but through some conversation, found we were both members here. The steelhead they had was his son's first steelie!
Had other obligations today, so fished for a short while after, then packed up around 10:30 a.m. Great day on the Clackamas!