I almost died

[rippin fish lips]

Well this feisty fish wanted to try and make it my last day and not his! So i started out casting lures wish fish rolling and going after them but hat no takers, i had no other bait or anything, just lures. I was wading throught water about knee deep and found some gear on he bottom from the flossers so i grabbed it. What do ya know? an orange corkie with yarn. The leader was 5 feet long!!! i cut it down to 2 feet tied it on to my 6lb test. the leader had like 25 on it! i made two casts and hooked into this nice fish. if you know leaberg where the upper rock fingers are... he ran me all da way down to just before the lower rapids. you know the deeper poots behind those fingers? yeah i had to go through that with chest waders on. I had to hold the rod out and low while the fish was going down stream and i was holding on to a tree ( the bottom of it was hanging over the water. I used my left arm and left lag to navigate through the branches to get a spot to where i gout touch bottom, i thought i was gunna have to take a quick swim with them on but had thought about that idea b 4! lol. the fish ended up belly up on the bank 15 minutes later.

 

[TTFishon]

Nice fish! Glad you made it out safe and sound.

 

[Moe]

sounds like an epic battle, with a beuatiful fish to show for!

 

[Airs98]

A darkie!

 

[Airs98]

Just kidding... good job landing it!

 

[rippin fish lips]

this fish was on the dark side but cut really red and taste soo good!!

 

[bran_man]

Looks like a pretty bright fish to me! Good job buddy! We had an extremely productive day out on the river as well. One of the best days we have ever had! Nothing tastes better than fresh fish!

 

[rippin fish lips]

Looks like a pretty bright fish to me! Good job buddy! We had an extremely productive day out on the river as well. One of the best days we have ever had! Nothing tastes better than fresh fish!

glad your getting into em like me to! lol or should it be the other way around? ha! ill be out tomorrow morning, maybe ioll see ya out there.

 

[Halfthrive]

Sounds like a butt puckering fight, i know the spot you're talking about. Nice work man.

 

[rippin fish lips]

Sounds like a butt puckering fight, i know the spot you're talking about. Nice work man.

Talk abotu butt puckering fight?! u got that right! it's so hard to explain everything that i was going through while fighting this dang fish!! lol. i'm pretty sure just me fighting the fish pretty much killed it! lol

 

[Thuggin4Life]

Nice fish bro!

 

[Drew9870]

I could tell Airs98 was kidding, but if anyone (including the catcher) wants to call that a dark fish, feel free to send them ''dark ones'' my way , a smoker can make a mildly dark fish chrome again :lol:.

 

[bran_man]

I went out this morning from sunrise til only about 1030am and didn't see you out there.... oh well ha ha.people didn't really start showing up til I was getting ready to leave. I landed 2 for 2 Chrome steelies this morning along with a monster 26 1/2 inch native bull trout in between the 2 steelies. Was an absolutely beautiful fish. Biggest bull trout I've ever caught (only caught 3 including this one) Swam away just as hard as it was to land it! I fought it well over 5 minutes cause it would just not tire out! Ha ha. I thought it was a salmon before I got to see it because it was fighting/ stripping line so hard! Was another good day for me. Went out yesterday amd lost 2 steelies while both my dad and my friend tagged out 2 each. So I got my revenge today! H ha

 

[rippin fish lips]

ahh sh1t! yah i slept in to late and said screw it =/

 

[SALTYFISH]

Good story,nice fish..

 

[cobias]

Be careful man !

Be careful man !

I did the same thing in 02 on the willamette. Had a springer on, was wading that day, lost the rod, fish, net, some tackle, a bag full of fresh cured roe and almost my LIFE ! Its not worth it. I still have nightmares about that day. Im glad i had my wader belt on or i would have been a gonner. One good idea is in mid summer just dont use waders at all , shorts are safer. And yes you can wade in the Mck...your legs will eventually turn numb. lol

Thanks for another great post !

And i wish people would post more for the local mckenzie and willamette area...Springfield area...so my broke a## can live vicariously through you all. Its good to see the local posts of steelhead and salmon trips. Even if you get skunked? Post it !