Summer steelhead 2014

[OFFDAAHOOK]

heres some of my home tied aero jigs type jigs

hey bonker nextime we meet id be glad to test dem jig out for u hook it up man!... btw whats wid da background where dat at

[BlakeP]

Finally made it out for some summer runs. Hadn't been able to make it out for them the past few seasons, so it was nice to finally go again. Went 1 for 2, landing my personal best, at 32 inches. And I'm guessing around 10-12lbs or so. Picture makes it look smaller, since its a crappy cellphone picture. But I couldn't even get my hand all the way around its tail, when I went to bank it. Landed it on 6lb#, and took 40 minutes to do so, since I wasn't in the best place to land it to say the least. One of the best fights I've ever had with a fish for sure. Oh anddd it had sealice on it. Didn't expect that, was fishing pretty far upriver.
Update: Fish weighed 11.5lbs gutted, so fish weighed around 12.5-13lbs I'm guessing.

[BlakeP]

Thanks! Haha really didn't expect to get one that big. Figured maybe I'd get a average 6 or 7lb fish but not one like that. Most of the other fish that I saw in the hole I was fishing, were all pretty small too, so guess I got lucky with this one. And if you do know where it is, I learned that landing fish on the side of the river I was on, isn't so easy. Took quite some effort. Kinda was wishing I had brought a net the entire time I was fighting the fish.

[Brat Bonker]

Another one on Home made jigs, not as memorable...or big...as Blake's but it is a nice chrome cookie cutter brat caught on a slow day

[BlakeP]

Beautiful fish. Chrome! Those homemade jigs look pretty good too I gotta start tying up some myself. Got all the stuff to do it, just haven't gotten around to it yet haha

[RiverChromeGS]

Home for a whole three days before heading back to the Island... Figured id cast a line this morning for a few hours

[mizm05]

Thanks bro...yeah both were on orange size 10 corks. They slammed them! Had another one hooked this past Saturday, but it came unbuttoned. Gave a couple good jumps and I could see that it was a biggun! Oh well, gotta get back out there and try some more!

Both on beads? good job mizm, sounds like you are getting the hang of it haha

[primetime]

Thanks bro...yeah both were on orange size 10 corks. They slammed them! Had another one hooked this past Saturday, but it came unbuttoned. Gave a couple good jumps and I could see that it was a biggun! Oh well, gotta get back out there and try some more!

Both on beads? good job mizm, sounds like you are getting the hang of it haha

Give some sand shrimp, eggs or dark jigs (black, red,blue and purple) a try next time. I promise you'll get more fish than the liners.

Raw prawn works well too. Eggs kill it for me though.

[Brat Bonker]

Thats all I been doing Jerry but those flossers just kill the bite

[Brat Bonker]

Hell they were shoulder to shoulder last week and I was below them like 10-20 yards and still out fished half of them haha

[mizm05]

Jerry maybe you can show me how it's done...I use a longer leader than I normally would when targeting steel, but that's because I run braided line and try to get my offering away from anything that may spook them. They are biting though, tick tick tick...WHAM!

Spirit River just sent me some sweet UV jigs to try out...maybe the master can school the grass hopper. :-)

[mizm05]

You're really gonna have to sell me a bit harder on giving up my braid....

This is my braid. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

My braid is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.

My braid, without me, is useless. Without my braid, I am useless. I must cast my braid true. I must cast straighter than my enemy who is trying to out-fish me. I must land one before he lands one. I will...

My braid and I know that what counts in war is not the beads we cast, the noise of our reel, nor the smoke we make (no comment). We know that it is the strikes that count. We will get strikes...

My braid is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories. I will keep my braid clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...

Before God, I swear this creed. My braid and I are the defenders of my river. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my fish cooler.

So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy (get out of my honey hole!), but fish!

[RiverChromeGS]

Had a few days between trips to Vancouver Island, went down to the creek and got to play with a half dozen wild summer runs. An honor to be able to hold these fish with how few we have now days. Fun day!

[primetime]

Haha of course you did! Nice work.