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Bought a new trout pole at Cabela's yesterday and thought I should go test it out on the Willamette near campus. The pole was an ultra light Quantum with 6lb test. Worked through the majority of my smaller spinners and plugs with no luck, thinking I would end my day skunked. I wanted to try one more lure before moving spots so I switched to a number 4 silver Blue Fox. Threw it out a couple times, working the same water I had been with the smaller lures and still no luck. Next cast chucked it out as far as I could; reeling up the slack I felt a dead weight on the end of my line. As I reeled in it seemed like a branch was stuck to my line, until a tail fin cut out of the water signifying the ensuing battle. The low drag on the trout pole started screaming as the fish ran downstream to get away. After nursing the fish close to shore I had to figure out how to land the fish one handed from a ledge 2 feet above the water. I managed to get it by the gill with my thumb but had to put my figures in his mouth to handle his wriggling. This was not my best idea because his teeth ended up shredding my finger tips and made me bleed more than he was. In the end it was totally worth it because I finally ended my bad luck streak and caught my first Steelhead in 5 years. He weighed 8 pounds and was 30 inches long! It was an awesome day.
