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On Saturday I spent all day on the Sky fishing with a buddy and managed to break off my first stealhead at the knot on my fluorocarbon leader. I swore off flouro in August after having knot issues, but decided to give it another shot with the ultra-low and clear conditions. With Saturday’s fish it was the day’s first bobber down (at 1pm), and after hook-set the fish gave me 2-3 good head waggles before jumping out of the water to say goodbye and snap my leader. I was steaming. As soon as I got home I threw all my spools of flouro in the trash and lit it on fire.
Having the day off I headed back to the same spot this morning to exact revenge...ultragreen leaders in tow. I started centerpinning in December and have just about got my casting and line-mending dialed in. Where I was fishing was perfect for the setup, and allowed me to stand at the mouth of a creek and cast behind a big boulder where my float would dilly-dally for a minute before getting caught up in either the river current or the creek runoff current, carrying it 40-50 yards on those epic drifts that make centerpinning worth the learning curve. The float would drift perfectly along that edge between the slower and faster main current.
On drift number one I got bobber down at about 30 yards. I set the hook solidly, backed up while the fish was yanking down my rod and then snap…fish broke off. It wasn’t a knot this time but the barrel ant swivel connecting my shotline to the leader that broke. I about threw my rod/reel and myself into the river. I replaced the swivel, tied up jig number two for cast number two, and let the drift begin again. Sure enough bobber down and fish on at nearly 35 yards this time. Fish makes a wide run towards the heavier current in the middle of the river before deciding against it and coming almost directly at me, making what seems to be a break for the deep pool beside the mouth of the creek. I can’t reel fast enough, am basically running backwards across the creek to keep tension but the slack is too much and bye-bye steelhead.
Nothing about this is easy. And it’s 24 degrees outside. I take a couple deep breaths, cast away, and get bobber down again at almost the same spot. Hook is set and I waste no time getting my line in and myself to a spot on the bank where I can let the fish swing either way up or down river but can’t sprint 20 yards right at me again. I get it to the bank and believe what I’m looking at is a dark native hen. She was ugly and beat up but she was my first. I tailed her and get the jig out of its lip, snap a quick picture, give her some gentle time to recoup in the water and away she goes. I know it’s uncouth to be taking the wild fish out of the water, but I made sure she was all set to go before releasing her and our whole time together was less than a minute and probably close to thirty seconds. It was over quickly for both of us. I’m more worried about the two fish that are now swimming around with my broken-off jigs hanging out of their mouths. Regardless I am overwhelmingly relieved to have the skunk off and to have caught a steelhead before the season’s end.
There is one thing that has me scratching my head though, and I chalk it up to being a newcomer with dealing with fish in rivers rather than in the ocean or a lake. I’m a bit confused by how dark the steelhead was. It seems like the fish had been in the river a long time. Any chance it could be a summer run? Any chance it’s actually a booted out hatchery fish?? I didn’t weigh/measure her but I’m guessing she was about 4-5 pounds at the most and the adipose fin seemed intact, although I’ve seen fish with the tip just barely trimmed on them. Any input on that would be appreciated.
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