Last winter I made it out to fish for steelhead four times and caught one fish and lost another. I thought this was a pretty good record, especially since I caught one my first time out. I tried my hand at summer steelhead only to lose several fish hooked. Then, this winter I have struggled and only had fish on for about 5 seconds. I don’t view fishing for steelhead the same way as trout fishing. I can have a great day trout fishing and not even come close to catching a fish, but for steelhead it’s a different story. The crowds wear on me and there are no hatches to match.
I feel different about small coastal streams where the crowds are nonexistent and the fish (the few there are) are wild. Any time you combine small creeks with few people and big fish there’s a good chance I am going to love it. So, I headed to this coastal stream in search of steelhead and better yet solitude. Luckily, I found both. After managing to spook a few fish in the clear water I hooked into a nice male. At first he was happy running upstream and so was I since this was easy to control and I figured this would tire him out. This wasn’t his plan though and he bolted downstream. I “sprinted” down after him treading water and trying not to fall. He was headed straight for a downed tree. I figured this was the end but ducked under the tree where there was a big enough gap between tree and water. The run had stopped and I feared that I was hung up on the tree. Then he bolted straight downstream. With the reel screaming and me trying to chase after him I prayed that this would be the one to end the drought. After such a long run I could see he was tired and I pulled him in and tailed him. My first native steelhead! I wanted a picture. Of course this meant the camera didn’t want to work. By the time I had the camera ready so was my fish. I let him go without a picture in hopes that in a couple winters I might be able catch one of offspring. I felt satisfied and this gives me an excuse to go again.
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