 Wisconsin Fly Fishing: Steelhead, I Am Hooked!
Posted by Troutguy on October 23, 2007
(3933 reads)
This past spring was my first time fly fishing for steelhead. During the previous fall season I really got into catching brown trout on a fly rod. So, I really wanted to get a steelhead with a fly rod the next spring.
It was sometime in the beginning of April. I had been fishing for steel for about a month without any luck. It was on of those days where I would get out of school, quickly get my fly fishing stuff and go directly to the river. The river was in great shape. The flow was just right for the steelhead run I had planned to fish that afternoon. When I got to my first spot every thing felt just right. When I started out I was using an egg sucking leach pattern and I just knew there had to be some hungry steelhead somewhere in the run. After about 15 minutes of fishing the egg sucking leach with no takers, I switched flies. I tied on a bead headed black and blue wooly bugger that I tied myself. I had been fishing this fly for about 5 minutes when my line stopped and I felt a solid thump. I set the hook and the steelhead took off like a lightning bolt. I was taking it easy because I was using a 5X tippet. After its first run, we battled it out for a few more minutes. It's chrome body left the water 5 times, 2 out of the 5 times getting extremely airborne. Then, after a few more short runs, I had finally landed my first steelhead. I know that keeping steelies is looked down upon, but in this case being my first and a gift to share with my family, I did keep it. It will be the only one that I will keep because a fish this great deserves to be released. My first encouter
with a steelhead has got me hooked and I will be looking forward to this fall's and next spring's steelhead runs. Good luck to all this next season, and if you come up to North Eastern WI, maybe I will see you on the water.
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Re: Wisconsin: Steelhead, I Am Hooked!
by jeremy on October 23, 2007 http://www.fliesandfins.com | | troutguy, congrats on your first steelhead! hard to forget and easy to get hooked, for sure. i love steelhead fly fishing for the reasons you mention .. manytimes, it can be a tough game to dial into and every river and fishery is different .. and, manytimes it is long hours of hard work, cold hands and boredom interrupted by sometimes fleeting moments of all out chaos ... screaming runs, leaping fish and many battles lost and some won ... a great species of fish for sure ... one of the best. .. and one of the most rewarding to catch .... i judge a great species by each fish's ability to have the same effect on me that the first one did ... and to this day, every steelhead i hook is just as exciting as the first one i ever hooked ... and each hook up, makes me realize why i love fly fishing so much ... and especially, why i love fly fishing for steelhead ... great fish tale .. cya in wisconsin someday |
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Re: Wisconsin: Steelhead, I Am Hooked!
by flyaddict on October 23, 2007 http://www.flyaddict.com | | Congrats on the new addiction! Welcome to the club. |
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Re: Wisconsin: Steelhead, I Am Hooked!
by waterwhippa on October 23, 2007 | | Congrats on your first lightning bolt. You may not be aware of it yet but you will never be the same. That picture and story got me all amped up. We have finally got our rain here in the lower lakes. Good bye sun Hello Steel! |
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