Washougal Steel!! (w/pic)

[Fisherfield]

So, here's the story:

Saturday night my wifes family was STILL in town and after a dinner out, they decided to go to another location to get some desert. Our daughter was at the sitters and we were supposed to pick her up at 10:30...so I offered to go pick her up while my wife went to desert with the family....to bad I had to miss that! :grin:

When my wife got home, she was so excited about being able to have ANOTHER desert with her family She told me it would be a good idea for me to get out and fish on Sunday morning....WHAT....encouraging me to go fishing....(her parents need to be in town more often!!)

So I got up later than I wanted...My goal was to drive to the NF or EF Lewis..but since getting out of bed at 7 the early arrival at those locations were out....I headed to the Washougal. There was only one other fisherman there at 7:45am...that seemed a little weird to me, knowing that there is a great Steelie run this time of year.... I started fishing the normal spots but then saw a guy chucking some lead within a foot of where I was standing..from the other side of the river...so I moved up river to avoid lead poisining [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

On my third cast....BAMM...that steely grabbed the corkies and started running down river the second I set the hook. The fight was on....and an epic battle insued.....5 airborne jumps and about 8 minutes of tiring out a 7 1/2lb buck...it's a HATCHERY FISH....YEAH!! I had the feeling that there was one more there waiting to come home with me....but nada. Fished for 2 hours and took home a super bright steelie.



Thanks to FWF1 for showing me how to drift for steelies. Well worth the money if you want someone to show you how to CATCH fish...not just fish for fish. He and I had a great day last week going 3/5 all natives on the Nestucca....thanks Chris...you da man.

Happy New Year....Here's to 04' (Rootbeer)

[ 12-30-2003, 01:43 PM: Message edited by: Fisherfield ]

[FishFearMe]

Great job on the fish! It sounds like the fishing isn't that great uet though. Is it starting to pick up at all? Where were you fishing down lower or up higher. Just wonering if there are that many fish up higher. :smile:

[jr sherwood]

FF, nice story, i bet there are a lot of guys out there who wish their wives would talk like that. :smile: jr.

[Moley Molson]

Well done fisherfield!
The washougal is one river I have yet to try, but have been wanting to....just not sure where to start. Time for some recon!

[SHOUGALNITE]

I lost a nice fish yesterday about 5P.m.

[Fisherfield]

SHOUGALNITE~

That sucks dude!! You'll get em next time I'm sure of it!! I was there yesterday with my daughter and didn't get anything...but it sure was fun being out there...and that's what it's all about!!

SSteve~ Thanks for your help with the picture. I still don't know how to resize...change from one type of pic to another....example. PDD to JPG...one of these days!!

[SKP]

That fish reminds me of mrdorkfish for some reason! [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

:grin: :grin:

SKP

Good going Jeff. :smile: You are right about Chris Nordling too.

[Fisherfield]

To answer the question about fish showing up yet....they are here!! As I was leaving I saw 2 hens about the same size as mine on the bank. As to where?? I normally like to fish behind the bowling alley, if you know where that is.....

There used to be a spot near the railroad bridge where you could walk over the tracks and down to the river...they now have a fence up and a cable with a no tresspassing sign..LAME

The water is pretty high and the flow is good...color is that Steely Green.

I forgot to mention what I was fishing......

2 opalescent pink corkies....medium and large. 2 hook setup with a 15 inch leader and about a 1/2 ounce slinky. tap, tap, tap.....BAM!

[Steelie Steve]

Nice job there Jeff!!! Congrats on the fish. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] Sounds like a fun time. :grin:

Nice to see you and the family on Saturday.

What does your schedule look like the rest of the week?

Steve (Rootbeer)

[Fisherfield]

SS...You have an e-mail......

[rookie]

Fisherfield, who is the person you mentioned that taught you to drift fish some guide and if so who?

[Fisherfield]

FWF1 is a guide. He's a member of this site. Go to userlist and type in FWF1 and that should help you out. He has bank fishing trips as well as drift trips on his kick booty drifter. He's really good at showing you how to read the water, which is the way to catch fish!!

Good luck and call Chris up...he's a good guy, great story teller and one heck of a good fisherman.

[ 12-30-2003, 12:32 PM: Message edited by: Fisherfield ]

[Chris Nordling]

Nice job Fisherfield!

Looks like you're getting the hang of drift fishing a bit more. (rb)

Looking forward to our next trip, wherever that may be.

Chris Nordling