Thrill of Victory - Agony of Defeat

[Navigator]

I am sure enough of us are old enough to remember the outtakes from ABC's Wild World of Sports. Anyway, I went through the same set of emotions Saturday on the Wilson River.

Thanks to the hot tips posted on this board, I decided to fish the Wilson for summer steelhead on my way to a scout outing on the coast (Marty - The boys opted for ultimate frisbee on the beech so we did not check out the fishing as a group. What a weekend though.) Anyway, after about an hour or so of fishing I hooked a small summer run - not really a hot fish - but enjoyable (one complete jump). I managed to bring it along the rocks and tailed it. I lifted it up higher on the rock and laid it on a nice flat spot - hatchery buck, 20-22". I was about to humanely kill it when I either let go or it flipped out of my hand - but you guessed it. Flopped between my legs, two bounces and in the river - somewhat stunned. Just as I grabbed the tail the fish sensed freedom and gave a swoosh and was gone! The old unintentional release. Now, I catch a steelhead about once every five years or so.

Sooooo, to help me with this hollow feeling, I thought I would start a new thread. Any other unintentional release stories out there?

By the way, I hooked another steelhead about 20 minutes later and gave that one the old long-distance release........ Still learning.

[This message has been edited by Navigator (edited 12-03-2000).]

Nav, tough to lose a fish like that, especially if you don't get very many opportunities to get out fishing for them. If you are a serious steelhead/salmon fisher, over the years you are going to lose a lot of fish in a lot of different scenarios. I sure have. Most of them are of the common variety though; hook pullouts, broken leader, wrapped around a snag, and mis-net jobs by lame fishing buddies . I mentioned in another thread ('do fish remember') that I lost the 3rd or 4th steelhead I ever hooked, on a gravel inclined slope as the leader broke and I leaped to pounce on the fish. Mis-judged my pounce and landed a little to high and the fished wiggled right out between my legs and slide into the river. I'm sure there are some good ones out there; we'd love to here some of them. - RT

[PeterMac]

It wasn't my fish, but it almost cost me! I was guiding in Alaska, and had a guy out bank fishing, and he was fighting a huge king. When he finally got the fish near the bank the plane flew overhead to pick us up. I reached down to try and get this big dude on the bank and the fish bolted and broke the guys line. He looked at me and said "If I'da got that fish, youda had a hundred bucks..." Darn!!!!!!!! I know we had about ten minutes for the plane to land and taxi to where we were, so I said get your line back in the water!!!! Well, in that time we hooked, and eventually LANDED a fish just as big as the first, and I got my hundred bucks!!

Close one

PeterMac

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If you think old growth forests are beautiful, you should see the lumber they make!!

[THE REEL HEY_YALL]

Don't get me started on losing fish...if it can be lost, then I can lose it somehow I was fishing our first-ever club tournament my junior year in H.S. (for bass) Of course, I didn't have a boat that day because my partner lost the prop to the boat somehow and a replacement is hard to find at 4am. Messing around by the boat launch, casting into an old sunken pier, I hooked a nice 7lb-er+ Got him within 2 feet of me and he tossed the hooks. Of course I was utter shock, then the stomach gets upset, etc. Next cast out, a hook a 4 1/2 lb-er and of course, I didn't have a net handy again. My buddies pulled up in time to see me fighting this fish right next to shore so they sprinted down into the cold water, grabbed the fish, and unhooked it. It did 3 flops and was on a downhill flop-sprint for the lake. He made it down to the water where he paused and I was able to tail grab the sucker. Ended up winning that tournament that day and won big fish honors.