First winter steel of the season.

[LoganGressett]

Fished for about 3 hours yesterday and missed 1, then fished another 3 or 4 hours today in the rain and landed this guy! It was a hatchery fish but I just let him go. Before you rag on me for putting him on shore, I was standing on a ledge a few feet above the water and was by myself so I kinda had to bring him up in order to get a look at him, a quick picture and get him back in the water. It was a quick short fight, I handled him with care and he swam away lively as can be! Can't wait to catch some more!

 

[Big3d]

Nice fish, no drama from me.

 

[Gulfstream]

great pic! sure looks fresh!Monster tail compared to the rest of the body

 

[hobster]

Nice job! Pink worm strikes again........... Not being critical at all but looks like a summer downrunner to me. Kinda skinny and the belly is loose. If thats the case it's better to let them go, good on ya. Does that river have summers as well?
Of course i could be wrong............way to hook em :thumb:

 

[Markk]

Looks like a downriver fish to me too. But still a nice fish. If it was a downriver fish letting it go was the best. Nice job!

 

[Native Fisher]

Down river fish don't typically have the scales still in the center of the tail. The only exception is the occasional winter fish that runs up and drops his/her load immediately.

 

[LoganGressett]

Yeah I'm not sure. You guys are probaby right, I'm still fairly new to this so I didn't really think about it being a summer heading back. It was in excellent shape whatever it was! Thank you guys!

 

[EOBOY]

Down river fish don't typically have the scales still in the center of the tail. The only exception is the occasional winter fish that runs up and drops his/her load immediately.

Yes thanks for the info I will keep that in my mind. Sorry but I would like to know where it was caught so I know where to look for one like that.

EOBOY

PS still learning too

 

[OnTheDrop]

Looks like a winter to me...

 

[jamisonace]

I really like the picture. The grass background looks cool, like its swimming through the grass and I love the worm hanging from its mouth.

 

[hobster]

Looks like a winter to me...

You would know better than me thats fo sho

 

[Hooked Up]

Monster tail compared to the rest of the body

Thought the same thing.

Congrats on a nice fish!

 

[OnTheDrop]

I mean, if it's on the river where his location is, it's def most likely winter, cause I don't think they have summers?*

 

[LoganGressett]

Thanks guys! I went out again yesterday and talked to a guy who said he had driven 2 hours to come fish from south of Portland somewhere, sounded like you might have been on this site. You were in a green little car, I was in a lifted white chevy pickup, anyways if you are on here nice to meet you!

within the first 30 mins I hooked into a nice one but only for a few seconds before it came unhooked :/ Continued fishing and moved to a new spot and ended up landing this beauty about an hour later! Pictures of fish alone without you holding them really don't do the size any justice but this was a real nice fish, you can see my size 10 boot of my wader next to it. Long, thick, some battle scars and sea lice. I should have kept this one, but I released him as well. Enjoy!

 

[Fishnbuck]

While reading this thread, I noted a few comments about him releasing a downhill runner being a good thing. Being new to this scene, I don't understand why it is a good thing to release "downhill" fish. I don't want to hijack this thread, so if you are willing to weigh in, please find my post "Releasing Downhill Runners".