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+--- Thread: Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. (/showthread.php?tid=566219)
Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - chrome_junky - 02-22-2010
We got to my spot about 20 miles bellow shoupe at about 6:30 am and it was to dark on the way in to see how much of deadwater was still frozen over. I brought my longtime steelheading partner Vern and my neighbor who is a member of the forum his name is martin his screen name is mr. bigs. martin has been steelheading quite a few times but has never hooked one so i was excited to see if i could change that for him. we piled out of the car like kids going to the fair. it was cold it was only 12 degrees where we were and the sun doesnt make an appearance until 11:30 am. we grabbed our gear flipped the boat over and rowed across the salmon river to the other side where we would be bothered by as many people. we all already had our gear ready to go i have fished this area since i was a little guy so im even pretty good at getting the size of my pencil lead right before i even leave idaho falls. vern set out on the main point of the begining of the tail out we were going to be fishing, martin went to the middle and i stayed with vern and alternated casts vern and i fish very well togather we can litteraly fish right in the same hole niether of us ever miss a cast or mess each other up. vern was using a black and red helgie with a silver corkie, martin was using a black and brown helgie and a florescent pink corkie. and i tried something new i havnt tried before. four inch black worm with a chartruese tail you pinch it off to about three inches and fish it bellow a corkie.. alot of steelhead fisherman have told me to use them but i never got around to it. well i picked a pack when i was at sportsmans warehouse the other day and thats what i tried. about verns eighth cast boom fish on great little battle and i net it for him a naice male right around 5-6 lbs while he is unhooking his fish i step in and same spot next cast boom fish on but its not a steelhead its a sucker. well we go about 20 minutes with no more hits between the three of us and martin and i switch spots and i go lower on the tail out first cast fish on i hold him for a minute he comes up and jumps and my hook come flying right back at me. so i fix my worm and cast again in the same spot boom FISH ON!!!!!! she fights hard holds deep i thought she was alot bigger than she was but she just didnt want to come up off that bottom finally she gives and comes to where vern was waiting with the net. nice little wild hen!!!! those wild fish fight so hard. while im unhooking my fish vern steps in the same spot and casts boom FISH ON!!!!!!! vern said it was like reeling in a wet t-shirt it was a hatchery male and he had no spunk at all he just layed there until i netted him he was fat and looked healthy even though he fought like a turd. i walk over to martin and tell him to go step down into that part of the hole and to cast out about 20 feet he goes down and starts fishing i have to get another worm cause the hen i landed trashed it. while im threading on my plastic worm i here a huge splash from over in martins area and i look over at him to see his pole is doubled over and his mouth is wide open it was the best first moment with a steelhead i have ever seen. vern runs over with the net and after a short but awesome battle martin lands his first steelhead ever i nice 6 lb hatchery male that even gave him about 3 feet of air on the jump. seriously makes me feel so good to get people into fish especially steelhead. things calmed down for about another 20 minutes vern and i move back to the top of the tail out and martin stays on the lower end. vern hooks another one in the top of the tail out fights it and i net it another nice hatchery male then i here martin say hes got one we look over and see martins pole doubled over and getting line peeled off vern takes off down the bank with the net and martins line just goes limp he was
but started fishing again. shortly after that i decide to try a shorter cast than normal right at the end of the drift i get railed i mean this fish hit with the fury of god!!!!! i set the hook and fight another nice hatchery hen to the net. while im taking the hook out i here martin yell FISH ON!!!!! vern goes running with the net again and helps martin land his second steelhead ever. we all give high fives and man hugs and go back to fishing a couple of casts later vern hooks a fish fights it for a second and it comes off he immediatly casts again and boom hooks another one and lands it another hatchery male im in the same spot i hooked my last fish i hook another one fight it land it another hatchery hen. i get her off and very next cast in the exact same spot i get hammered again set the hook the fish runs to the middle of the channel and my line goes limp i reel it in and my leader broke right above my hook. i forgot to check its quality after the last fish. silly rookie mistake. well we all stop fishing and decide it was time for lunch and that we are going to gather up our stuff and head back across the river so we can drive up to the dutch oven hole and see if we can find some of our buddy's there. well while we are picking up we see a steelhead start rolling about 20 feet off the bank vern still hadnt put his rod in its case so he tells us he is gonna try to catch that fish he cast perfectly up stream of it his line drifts to where the fish was roling and bop bop bop he hooks it we all busted up laughing out loud i grab the net and land a pretty little wild hen for him. then he decides to put his rod away and we go back across. we stop at dutch oven find our friends talk for a little bit then we decide we were going to drive back into salmon and fish the lemhi hole and sewer hole we did fish them both for about an hour but never even turned a fish in either hole. it was a great day of steelheading the kind of day that makes me keep doing this over and over again. i cant wait till next sunday. you guys probably want some pictures huh? well here you go. all of the fish were A-run and yes there is a picture of a fish getting away from me and slapping me in the face!!!! lol!!!!!!!! sorry i wrote a book about it.[signature]
Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - chrome_junky - 02-22-2010
oh and dead water hasnt blown out all the way yet main channel is open but there is still a lot of ice that needs to make its way down the river.
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - prvrt - 02-22-2010
Very Nice! Looks like I may have to get up there some time. Great pics and cool story.
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - MMDon - 02-22-2010
Great read CJ! Sounds like another epic season is on the way! Thanks for the great report and pics! Did you get down as far as Ebenezer and was the campground crowded??
MM/Don
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Re: [MMDon] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - MatchT - 02-22-2010
Nice Report!
Good to hear you did well,
I've only been up once bout 3 years ago and three of us fished for 2 days and landed one chub....
Kinda wondering if this is the year to try again...
Match
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - SteelFisher - 02-22-2010
What a great trip. I need to try and get away soon for a steelhead fix.
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - scorsi - 02-22-2010
Nice job. I have never caught a steelhead and would like to catch one this year. Last year I fished a day for them in the fall but that was all I could do. This year I am going to spend about 5 days trying to catch one in the next few weeks. A couple questions: Do you see a lot of guys with fly rods catching fish? and if I went and fished like monday through friday would the crowds be a little better or is it pretty busy every day this time of year? Thanks for your help.
Scott
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - metalheadhunter - 02-22-2010
great story. i went up friday morning fished all day. between 3 of us caught35 kept 15. all nice fish
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Re: [scorsi] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - chrome_junky - 02-22-2010
this time of year it doesnt matter what day it is you will always see people fishing. i know people who catch them on fly rods and that is my next personal goal. finding access is rough from salmon down stream its probably better to fly fish it from a boat. im gonna try challis with a fly rod it seems a little more wader friendly
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - windriver - 02-22-2010
Your right that is a long report. You might consider paragraphs to give us time to breath as we read.[cool]
Good Report.
Windriver
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - johnnyrainbow - 02-22-2010
Nice........
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Re: [windriver] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - chrome_junky - 02-22-2010
lol! sorry windriver but i was just in type mode i didnt even really pay attention i just typed im super tired and just barely got warm and ive been home since 6:00pm. normally i am better at making reports.
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Re: [metalheadhunter] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - sneekee_1 - 02-22-2010
What were you useing?[cool]
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - jigs - 02-22-2010
owl creek i am guessing? how were the crowds? sounds like you guys had a great trip. hopefuly i can get up that way in the next couple weeks. we were suppose to head up friday but it didnt pan out
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Re: [sneekee_1] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - chrome_junky - 02-22-2010
i posted in the story what i used as well as what my 2 buddys used. but i will post again i used a 4 inch black worm with a chartruese tail you cut it down to about three inches and fish it with a silver corkie. my buddy's were using silver corkies with black and red helgies or black and brown helgies.
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - Belasko - 02-22-2010
Excellent report. Has me juiced up to get out there after them! Hopefully we'll be able to meet up and work the waters sometime this spring.[fishin]
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - iliketofish - 02-22-2010
Thanks for the report! It's stories like that that keep us going through the slow days. I just wish I could have a story like that! Maybe this spring....
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Re: [iliketofish] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - SteelFan - 02-23-2010
That Owl Creek hole has been producing for several weeks now.
I am heading up to hit between Challis and Salmon Saturday. I have a new G. Loomis GL3 str1024C on the way as we speak. Ups better be on time or I will be maddd. LOL.
We fished Ellis Valentines weekend and caught some nice Steely's. Should be better now that the fish are finally moving out of the canyon and up closer to the spawning beds. I can't wait
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - lumas - 02-23-2010
CJ,
Sounds like you had a blast and alot to say. Would love to learn the salmon area. I'm origonally from Portland and have way more experience with stellies about 1100 mile closer to the ocean. I live in Boise but would love to make the drive to salmon and give it a go. If you ever need a tag along i would be more than willing. I am eager to show off my steelie skills (or lack of) to somebody.
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Re: [chrome_junky] Steelhead report for 2-21-10/amazingly long sorry. - aintnonookie - 02-25-2010
LOTS of pretty fish! Looks like I'll head downriver tomorrow and try to catch some of those freshies. Lots of fish being caught around Challis, but reports are of dark fish, and one guy said he caught one that had loose eggs. I'd assume these are mostly fish that got here in the fall. I even heard a rumor of fish being caught around Torreys.
Won't be but another week before the freshies start showing up in Challis- weather is getting warmer...
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