Valentine's Steelhead.
I roust and pack the rig with poles, vest,eggs. Put up the kettle and woke the wife. By O-Dark thirty we're on the way to the Wilson.
I find a likely pull-off and figured I try to drift eggs, The wife's still ZZZZZZZ'ing in the front seat. After about 15 minutes, I switch to flinging spinners with the noodle rod. Plied the deeper section of the hole with a silver # 3, and then it was time to try the tail-out.
Put on a #2 brass home-made with siwash and waded out.
On the third cast Moby Dick hit and hooked himself. With a 4-8 lb. noodle rod, 8 lb maxima fireglow ( the last 4 feet colored brown ) I set the hook just to be sure.
So I'm fighting the largest fish I've ever caught in a stream, trying to blow a whistle over my shoulder to wake the wife. She gets out and I yell to bring the net. She comes to the river edge, but I'm 20 yards away. Lucky for me " Joe" sees this from the highway and throws on his hip waders on, gets the net and wades out to net the fish about 20 feet from me. ( which was as close as I could get it by then )
He's a native Buck 33 inches and 13 lbs. by the De-liar a co-worker had given me.
A couple of photo's and then it's time to revive him, yes he did live to battle another day.
For his gallant effort, I handed Joe a copy of the spinner used.
spinner53
Late Newbie Story
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