Catching a Steelhead in unlikely place?

[Fishalot]

I came up with this question because of what happened today, not to me unfortunately. I took the two boys out to Trout Dale after Church today to look around for old corkies and other lost fishing gear :smile: . The boys love to do that if there is no time to go fishing. Anyway we were watching boats pull in at the L-C Boat Launch and there were a few people fishing close to the launch. I look over and the one guys little rod in bent over and drag is singing. Well I walk over and kind of coach him and to shorten the story up I help him land a nice 6# fin clipped winter, turns out the 3 people fishing were all together and he had never caught a Steelhead. I had three Steelhead rods in the truck and this guy hooks a fish on a 6' bass rod with a little closed face reel. I was happy to help him :grin: , have you ever caught a Steelhead or salmon in a unlikely place.

Fishalot

Team "Sneakin'Out"

[ 02-24-2002, 10:33 PM: Message edited by: Fishalot ]

[STGRule]

About 25?? years ago (gosh that was a long time ago)we were trout fishing on the Wilson. I got tired of cast-and-retrieve. I had casted out a worm (closed-faced trout gear) and just let it drift to the bottom of the run and put the pole down. About 10 minutes later my pole was heading for the river. BIG fish on. Had to tail it out on a sand bar (best 10 minutes of my life excluding birthing babies). No net (we were trout fishing). Landed a 23" fish. As I held it in the water someone raced for the regs (in the truck) to see if steelhead was open. It was! My first steelhead, on a trout rod, with a worm only.
(Time will obscure many facts, except I remember it was a steelhead, we were trout fishing, it was my cheap little trout set-up, and it was my first :grin: )

[Dogfish]

The WDFW dumps excess steelhead in lakes near me during the trout opener. Caught a 7.25 pound steelhead on my ultralight 5.25' Fenwick, 2 pound test, and a glob of powerbait. This was a little lake in the middle of nowhere. I didn't know about the big fish planting until then. They also stock some lakes with excess silvers as well.

Caught a 8lb 6oz. Atlantic salmon in Green Lake in the middle of Seattle. Yeah, the lake that everyone runs around. Had a UW spaghetti tag near the dorsal. I got a few stares that day on my way to the truck.

[OregonBankie]

Last week, caught a steelie in my favorite salmon hole on the Trask - a big ol' narly rapid. That was after fishing all day without a bite. Thought there might be some fish moving up the river and slowed by the rapid -- it worked out just that way. That was a nice surprise. Lost another one, and saw two others!

Long time ago, hooked a summer run on the Clack fishing a small Mepps spinner with my wimpy trout rod. After a long fight, it was laying exhausted at my feet, and having never caught a steelhead before, I didn't know how to pick it up! It flopped back into the river, I fought it some more, then the hook popped out. :depressed: Went to GI Joes and bought a net that night.

[OregonBankie]

Then there's the story of my friend fishing for trout on the Wilson with a $10 trout rod combo with a plastic reel and el cheapo line. After snagging up and breaking off, he dug into his ancient creel and tied on an old green lure with rusty hooks. First cast, a spring chinook grabbed it.

[willametteriveroutlaw]

I caught a summer at O.C. fishing for bass with a crawdad plug. I have also been in the boat when one was caught on a shad dart near camas. The strangest thing I have heard about lately is a couple of guys catching keeper sturgeon in the siletz.. Not bay but 5 or 6 miles up stream.

[Fishalot]

That is cool, I have had it happen with other fish but not with Steelhead or salmon.

Fishalot

[Mad Mikey]

Actually that can be a very good spot, especially if ODFW has just dumped another load of recycled Marmot Dam fish in there like they have been doing all season.

[Fishalot]

You are right mike, the thing that blew we away was it was just after 2 boats a use the ramp to take out. Maybe that pushed the fish up a little :grin: .I was happy to see the guy catch the fish. This should be my new hot spot :tongue: because no one knows where it is :sleep: .

Fishalot

[Matt H.]

While fishing Shad at Sawyers Rapids in the Umpqua about 4 years ago with ultra light gear... something took my jig and jetted downstream. Few seconds later we saw a beautiful bright spring chinook jumping away. Probably about #15. Needless to say.. on #4 test line.. the fight didnt last long.. but we tried :wink: .

[FishinMission]

I still occasionally scratch my head over my buddy catching not one...but TWO steelies in one day, on the Columbia, late last August in 50+ feet of water on an Alvin.

Go figure!!

Mark

[willierower]

About 16 years ago my dad and hit a small south coast stream on opening day of trout season. We were after cuttthroat using crawdad tails. My dad hooks a fish and quickly realizes its bigger than the average ctthroat. After about a 15 minute battle with 6 lb test he tails a beautiful 12 to 15lb spring chinook. Since the stream was closed to salmon at the time he released it. Later that same day I hooked a chromer steelhead on a crawdad tail. He decided he didnt want to be landed and broke me off.

It was odd to hook both a salmon and a steelhead that time of the year in that stream.

[Empire]

I did not catch the fish, but this is unusual. I was visiting relatives in San Diego. Wife and I took a walk on one of the public piers, where there is a bait shop on the pier. At the bait shop there are hundreds of pictures of fishermen holding their catch, mostly croakers, rays, perch, bass. One guy was holding a 15-20# salmon! Imagine bringing that up to the pier.

[nipper]

In 1991 I was fishing in the California Delta. There was a bass tournament going on, and the boat next to us was pitching willow leaf spinner baits in the shoreline brush. The guy in the back of the boat hooks a very feisty fish, and it turned out to be a steelhead. Truth stranger than fiction.

Nipper

[David Johnson]

I caught a flounder on a Kwikfish last year in the Columbia. We've also caught several keeper, shaker and over size sturgeon on Kwikfish.

Once me and my dad were walleye fishing in March below the John Day Dam and my dad caught a chrome bright steelhead on a walleye jig and night crawler in 28 feet of water. We've also caught several sturgeon on walleye jigs.

[ 02-27-2002, 11:46 AM: Message edited by: David Johnson ]