This past weekend was dark and stormy. The rain was coming down in a mist that just wanted to soak you. Luckily, I was wearing my rain gear so the rain had little effect on me. I was fishing under a bridge that almost butted up against a waterfall when fisherman after fisherman kept showing up. Undeterred I sent my nymph into the rushing current, swollen from two days of rain. When my strike indicator reached about the center of the bridge it just went berserk! My reel started to sing as the behemoth of a steelhead peeled off line steadily and jumped through the air doing flips and spins that would have made a seasoned acrobat dizzy and jealous. Soon a crowd started to form along the rivers edge as I fought my fish for twenty-minutes!! An older gentleman came to my rescue as the tired fish approached the shore line. With a quick dip of his net he had my steelhead of a lifetime securely on shore! Then a crowd really formed as I held my 35″ 17.2 pound fish.(One of the bystanders had a cloth measuring tape and a hand held weighing device) A father and son tried to cross the stream to see the fish but the son slipped and ended up in the drink! Everything turned out alright though and I smiled in satisfaction at the disappearing fins of my great white whale. People just stood there gawking and saying ” I can’t believe he just let it go!” Then I noticed the pain in my pinky and blood was running down my hand! Nothing like a little line burn for a lasting memory!
what would steelheading be without driving rain, dark and stormy and a little blood running down your hand a nice line burn to remember your best steelhead by. to me, those are all the things i love about steelheading … somehow it feels a little less when the sun is out and i am steelheading … i have come to expect and anticipate greyness, drizzle, snow and wind…. you may have “let him go” in the physical sense.. but that steelhead will forever remain at the top of your fly fishing memories…. nice work – welcome to fliesandfins.com.
Nice work Jinxed. You just summed it up in 100 words. It’s what it’s all about. Great job and great trip!
I LOVE THIS *&)(%(
SWEET!!!!
Thanks for the welcome and the comments. I definitely will never forget that fish!!! Also, it seems to me the worse the weather the better the fishing. And guess what? It is supposed to rain again this weekend. Gee…I wonder where I’ll be?
Thanks for the comments!! that was definitely one of the most memorable moments of my fledgling fly fishing career!!
Well, then we will be looking for great things from you I’m sure.
Nicely done! Welcome to the site. There are a lot of people here who love to chase steelhead with the fly rod, I’m sure you’ll fit right in. Congrats on the hog.
Thanks for the welcome. I think that I finally found a home for fly fishing!!
What a wonderful story!!You did a good think by letting him go!!You will never forget him!!!frank
Thanks!!