P
PNW Sam
Went out to St Louis yesterday after I saw they just released a bunch of brooders. Thought I might be able to hook one, but at the least just have a good time and catch a few fish. The weather was GREAT, after about noon it cleared up and the sun came out and it stayed clear until dark.
Arrived at my spot at about 9, then rigged up my salmon rod. I was planning on rigging up my 5.5 foot untralight with 4lb leader with a powerbait off the bottom setup. Decided since there is a chance of brooders I should probably just use my bigger rod. Tied on a heavy swivel, 3 barrel weights, and a size 14 treble hook on a 30 inch 8lb leader. After about an hour and 45 minutes of nadda, I decided to reel in and recast. Brought my bait in, it still was good, so I chucked it out directly in front of me. Reeled up to the weight, put some tension on my line, set my drag down and turned my clicker on, and I feel a little tap, so I picked the rod up, turned my drag up, and started reeling very slowly. Kept feeling very subtle tug, tap, brushing, tap, tap, so I figured some little 10 incher had my bait. YANK! set the hook, and it felt like I hooked a boat. The fish went crazy, my heavy action rod bent almost in half, this is a BIG fish! Never felt anything like that, and I've caught some Chinook and lots of sturgeon. So I just kept reeling, then the fish jumped completely out of the water - it had to be well in to the 30-inch range. Fish dives, thrashes wildly, and my reel snapped out of the reel seat on my rod. I was shocked. Checked my reel before I started to make sure it was completely tight, and this is a brand new rod. Tried to put the reel back in and the fish pulled it out before I got it tight. So by this time I just decided to hold the reel and try to run the fish up the bank. Then the line went slack. The fish shot up right next to the bank, in under a foot of water, then took off down the bank. As soon as it hit the end of the slack line, pop, snapped off my leader. Intense.
So after that little fiasco I was pretty pumped. Just so happened to have some heavy zip ties in my pack so I put my reel back on securely. Ended up catching a couple little trout, 11 and 10.5 inches. Besides all the trash it was a great day! Now some pics.
Lol I just noticed that stuff in the drain. Eww.
I know that catching a brooder, or in my case hooking a brooder is nothing to brag about, but dang that was a great fight!
Arrived at my spot at about 9, then rigged up my salmon rod. I was planning on rigging up my 5.5 foot untralight with 4lb leader with a powerbait off the bottom setup. Decided since there is a chance of brooders I should probably just use my bigger rod. Tied on a heavy swivel, 3 barrel weights, and a size 14 treble hook on a 30 inch 8lb leader. After about an hour and 45 minutes of nadda, I decided to reel in and recast. Brought my bait in, it still was good, so I chucked it out directly in front of me. Reeled up to the weight, put some tension on my line, set my drag down and turned my clicker on, and I feel a little tap, so I picked the rod up, turned my drag up, and started reeling very slowly. Kept feeling very subtle tug, tap, brushing, tap, tap, so I figured some little 10 incher had my bait. YANK! set the hook, and it felt like I hooked a boat. The fish went crazy, my heavy action rod bent almost in half, this is a BIG fish! Never felt anything like that, and I've caught some Chinook and lots of sturgeon. So I just kept reeling, then the fish jumped completely out of the water - it had to be well in to the 30-inch range. Fish dives, thrashes wildly, and my reel snapped out of the reel seat on my rod. I was shocked. Checked my reel before I started to make sure it was completely tight, and this is a brand new rod. Tried to put the reel back in and the fish pulled it out before I got it tight. So by this time I just decided to hold the reel and try to run the fish up the bank. Then the line went slack. The fish shot up right next to the bank, in under a foot of water, then took off down the bank. As soon as it hit the end of the slack line, pop, snapped off my leader. Intense.
So after that little fiasco I was pretty pumped. Just so happened to have some heavy zip ties in my pack so I put my reel back on securely. Ended up catching a couple little trout, 11 and 10.5 inches. Besides all the trash it was a great day! Now some pics.
Lol I just noticed that stuff in the drain. Eww.
I know that catching a brooder, or in my case hooking a brooder is nothing to brag about, but dang that was a great fight!
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