Largest Wilson Steelhead (w/pics)

[Captain and Marie]

It is a Broodstock fish!



Dennis Lowe of Bend caught this beauti today on the Wilson River. Can you guess where?
He was using a pink and white jig!, on a 6 foot UG stick, w/8# test.

It was 40 1/2 inch in length
20 inch girth
21 pounds heavy



photo taken by Marie Will at Tillamook Bait Shop


Thanks, Marie! Your original photos were much to large for many people to view. They were over 1000K!!! WOW! So, I compressed them for you, and put it up at a little over 80K for both photos. Much easier for us dial up folks!

Jen

[ 01-23-2004, 05:28 PM: Message edited by: Captain and Marie ]

[Wet_Willy]

That is one nice buck. I guess I can throw away my Loomis and dig out my uglystick...Way to go!
Bill

[LazerFisher]

Nice feeesh...

[Fishing Maniac]

What a monster!!! Do you know if that was a brood stock fish?

[Private-Aye-Fish]

Out [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] Stand [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] ing [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[ 01-21-2004, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: kokanee-killer ]

[Fishfeet]

YEEEHAAWWW!!! Congrats! FF.

[SHOUGALNITE]

[Grizz]

Just a beauty!!!!

[STRIKE ZONE]

Nice fish,He probley caught it in the donaldson area?????.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

[skrimmy]

WOW!!! I'm guessing it was below Sollie. What a MAGNIFICENT fish!!! Great pic too Marie.

[ 01-21-2004, 06:36 PM: Message edited by: skrimmy ]

[Ty]

Very very very nice feeeesshhhh!!!

[Captain and Marie]

no right guesses so far..

any more guesses where this fish was landed?

Marie [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img]

[Premo]

Very nice fish!! [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[Fish mojo]

Tidewater??

[Degner]

Nice!

[NorthRiverS]

THe Theory holds true: "Every inch over 20 inches = 1 lb.

[Fshklr]

Awesome Steelie, Thanks for the post Marie and Tillamook Bait :grin:

[David Johnson]

That's a fish to die for

[blacktail519]

LOrd have mercy.... :shocked: That is one nice hatchery steel!!

[Captain and Marie]

Heres a hint:

mile post 5.5

Marie

[MonkeyBoy]

Awesome! There have been some monsters caught lately! Keep them pics coming. I can't catch any of them but I like seeing them!

[high_arc]

What a great looking fish!! Congratulations.

[Lockjaw]

:smile: Dude, Nice fishi [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

LJ

[rookie]

Marie, 5.5 mile post your killing me with this. Just spill the beans, I am land locked in the valley and just want to dream about fishing the same slot.

[Fish Slayer]

That is one heck of steelhead!!! :shocked: :shocked: Congratulations on that beauty!!!

[cutt plug]

That's a toad!

Great job.

Thanks for sharing.

[David Johnson]

5.5 is the Guide Shop.

What a hog! I am seriously envious :smile: Is that a broodstock fish?

[Captain and Marie]

Dave is right!

Behind the Guide Shop is where this fish was taken, from the bank!

smile!
Marie

[Akuracy503]

Why cant all hatchery fish be that healthy of a hog! ...anyone have an answer if that may be a broodstock?

[Dakotan]

HOLY SHNIKES!!!! Man that is a nice steelhead. Thanks for sharing the pictures. If that doesn't give you the itch then nothing will. I didn't think hatchery steelhead got that big. WOW!

[Fishing Maniac]

Marie,

Sounds like there are many ifishers that would like to know if this is a brood stock fish. Do you recall which fins were missing on that fish? I assume they are clipping the brood stock fish differently than the normal Alsea hatchery stock. That might shed some light. Thanks.

[Riverliver]

WTG
RL

[Captain and Marie]

The top Adipose fin and left ventril was missing.

It was a Broodstock fish.

Marie

[ 01-23-2004, 05:30 PM: Message edited by: Captain and Marie ]

[Akuracy503]

correct me if im wrong but isnt the broodstock also a hatchery generated fish...

if so then the diagrams did nothing to answer this question of , was it a broodstock fish?
thanks for trying.

[SPAZZ]

Nice fish

[Captain and Marie]

see below

MW

[ 01-22-2004, 09:03 AM: Message edited by: Captain and Marie ]

[Captain and Marie]

I was told a long time ago by Guide Jack Smith that the broodstock fish will have(generally) more than one fin clipped.

The adipose and left ventril were missing!

It was a Broodstock fish! It was a Broodstock fish!


Hope this helps some.

Marie
my 2 cents worth

[ 01-23-2004, 05:31 PM: Message edited by: Captain and Marie ]

[Ty]

Marie, what they are asking is: is the left ventral (pelvic) fin clipped? From the picture u can not tell. We know it is a hatchery fish, just don't know if it is a Wilson Brood Stock or a Alsea stock?

[Ty]

Marie, what they are asking is: is the left ventral (pelvic) fin clipped? From the picture u can not tell. We know it is a hatchery fish, just don't know if it is a Wilson Brood Stock or a Alsea stock?

[Captain and Marie]

is the left ventral (pelvic) fin clipped

YES.

Yes its a Broodstock fish..

Marie
now go fish!

[ 01-23-2004, 05:32 PM: Message edited by: Captain and Marie ]

[Oregonh2o]

Nice fish.

It was also nice to get the measurements as well. I checked these against my Steelhead weight estimator applet at http://www.oregonh2o.com and it came out at 20.90 lbs.

Thanks!

Blade

[jokester]

HOLY COW!!!! :shocked: That's a HUUUUUUUUUUGE PIG!!

-jokester

[Fishing Maniac]

They are both hatchery raised however the brood stock are hatched directly from the native strain of steelhead coming from the Wilson River rather than the Alsea or other rivers. Based on what I've read and seen the last couple of years it appears the brood stock programs produce much larger fish and the survival rate is considerably higher. Hopefully it is a brood stock fish and an indication of what's to come in the next couple of months.

[BUBBA911]

My buddie was standing next to this fisherman when it was landed .. it was at the tail out of the guide shop. "Will fish for money" said that some fish were meant to die.. the guy keept reeling against his drag and did not stop until it was on the beach. Luck has a great deal to do with fishing. Every one wishes they could be sooo lucky. truely a fish of a life time.

[Steeliehunter]

Looks like the big boys are making a showing! BEAUTIFUL FISH. Hats of for a trophy like that. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[Dragfreedrift]

depending on whether a maxillary was clipped or a ventral fin, I think it would be a broodstocker....

there have been some different configurations in the past few years. I believe that if ONLY the adipose is missing, its an Alsea river stock.
HC

[ 01-22-2004, 01:45 PM: Message edited by: half canuck ]

[Fishing Maniac]

Ok, we've determined that it's missing only the adipose. Can someone that's intimately involved with the broodstock program tell us if this is the fin they are clipping? If so, we would also need to know if the state is clipping a different fin on the Alsea hatchery fish?

[Fishin Magician]

The fin clips on the Wilson River broodstock program started out being the adipose and the left ventrical. for the past 2/3 years they have been clipping the adipose/maxillary fin. Fish over 10 pounds are probably 3/4 year olds and will have the LV/Ad clip. Smaller 2 year olds will likley have the Ad/Max clip. In the future they will only be clipping the Adipose fin to eliminate as much stress and impact on the broodstock fish while the Alsea strain will be clipped Ad/Max.

John

[Captain and Marie]

It was a Broodstock fish!

Marie [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img]

[ 01-23-2004, 05:33 PM: Message edited by: Captain and Marie ]

[Kentucky Hog Hunter]

Holy shamoly....man, if I could be so lucky or good...

Many congrats... That pig would be going on my wall for sure...

[Paddlefish]

Speaking as a guy who, unfortunately, :depressed: doesn't get out steelheading often (as in "not yet this season,") the urge to bonk that baby would be great! ("Hey, wasn't that the year that Dad caught a steelhead?")

Furthermore, I'm one of those who is dubious about mixing hatchery produced fish with their "genetically superior" native forbears (OK, call me a Steelhead **** :shocked: .)

Nonetheless, even if it meant that I'd be eating cold beans out of a can that night, there's a part of me that would have seriously considered liberating that 20-pound brute to distribute some of his 20-pound DNA in an upriver spawning creek.

Think of all the "willing to bite" 20-pound offspring!

Moral: Carry a camera, carry a camera, carry a camera. Then share the photos with us at the same time that heavy hitter is upriver doing his thing.

[ 01-22-2004, 02:53 PM: Message edited by: Paddlefish ]

[willierower]

I say its an Alsea fish. Ive seen a few Alsea strain fish this year that were hawgs.

From what I have observed this year, there is a lot of bigger fish.

However you look at it. Its a big steelhead!

[Sanddune]

My son and I were there yesterday when this gorgeous steelhead was caught. The gentleman did a great job of working the fish with his light tackle- his drag really got a workout-not sure who was more tired in the end- fish or fisherman!I had a small scale and the fish showed almost 22 pounds right out of the water. We looked at the fish and the only fin we saw clipped was the adipose. I did manage to catch a six pound hen earlier in the morning -the big steelhead made mine look like a baitfish!That fish was awesome!

[Jennie@ifish]

Was the maxillary clipped?

Remember what Scott said a while back? I'll go look it up.

[Captain and Marie]

Was the maxillary clipped?

No it wasn't.

It had its left ventril missing, it was a Broodstock!


Marie

[ 01-23-2004, 05:34 PM: Message edited by: Captain and Marie ]

[ZaQ]

Me too KP.

Awesome fish, I hope to land such a beast this season.

[Amerman]

I would bet it was a broodstock fish. We have seen a number of 20 plus pounds broodstock fish return. The broodstock fish of that size should have had its left vent clipped also. The problem we had (and why we changed it) is that the vent fin is very hard to clip well. So many got missed and even more grew back. Often times there is a slight size difference in the size of the vent fin or no difference at all.

[Salmonator]

Scott, we released a 14ish lb hatchery fish today. Perfect max clip, adipose fully intact Given the size, odds are with that fish (20+lbs) being a broodstocker.

[ 01-22-2004, 11:56 PM: Message edited by: Salmonator ]

[SKP]

I wonder if Marie's shrimp scent really works?!

SKP :grin: