1st Wilson Summer Steelie

RichH · 07-05-2002, 03:05 PM

Awesome!!!! :grin:

fishbait · 07-05-2002, 04:03 PM

Good job...............
Hey, I have had success with spooky summers with this rig.......... 6 lb leader with a say size 12 white miller fly, trim the wings and add a small or half a whole meal worm on the hook. Looks like something out of the rocks on its way to the surface as it hatches. Just enough split shot to get it close to the bottom. Have seen fish that swam away from a shrimp tail swim 5 feel to engoulf this rig............

07-05-2002, 06:33 PM

Fishbait, that sounds interesting under a bobber too.

Spot · 07-05-2002, 11:08 PM

Thanks for the tip fisbait! I'll give that a shot next time. Sounds like it would be a good bet for the cutts too.

Spot · 07-05-2002, 11:51 PM

My fishing credibility was in question. I'd been trying to teach my father-in-law how to fish for steelhead since last winter and I hadn't even hooked one while he was along. I was even starting to get the occasional jab from him about my supposed ability. [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]
I'd never really considered fishing for summer Steelhead before. But the combination of proximity, available time, reported availability of fish and a father-in-law who wanted/needed more coaching put me on the Wilson yesterday. We did the blind squirel search for good water for the first hour and then settled on a nice hole and riffle fairly high on the river.
I spotted a couple of steelies and what must have been a springer (judging by size) and we went to work on the hole with flies, spinners and corky's. No luck, the fish were spooked in the low and clear and ran away from everything we threw at them. (Lesson one for F.I.L.) I switched over to eggs and moved to the riffle. On my second cast I hooked up with one of the best fighting fish I've had the pleasure of playing. It was a struggle to keep it out from under the boulders and sharp undercuts but some creative rock hopping and angular pressure eventually put the nice little 7 lb. pearly buck on the gravel for a quick tail grab. (Lesson 2 for FIL).
After bleeding, bonking and cleaning I put my rod up and focused all my attention on the father-in-law. If you've ever tried to describe how to make a "natural drift" to someone, then you can imagine both his and my frustrations. [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img] A futile 20min passed and I suggested a demonstration. He stepped back and handed me his rod. I casted to the spot I'd been pointing at, used the rod tip to keep a tight line without influencing the drift and guided the little egg cluster straight to the undercut shute I'd been trying to coach him into. You can guess what happened.... BAMM! Instant credibility! :grin: