[Gibbs]

Fishin for dollies today on the cheakamus... and BAM!!! My first Steelhead!!!

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[markus23]

Hey Gibbs nice fish! Were you fly fishing or gear? :beerchug:

 

[Fish Finder]

That's a great sign! :thumbup: Very nice specimen indeed.

Finder

 

[Gibbs]

It's funny because i was fly fishing earlier in the day, I was fishing with my wife and she was tossing spoons.. she got a snag so i got her rod and went out to get the lure.. i decided to take a few casts while i had the rod, and first cast i had a small steelhead on.. he flipped off just before i could land him... but after that i started spoon fishing as well. i was throwing a gibbs gold plated spoon.. real shiny! it was cool because i saw the fish follow the spoon through a pool.. then i threw back there about three more times and i saw the fish come right out of a dark hole and smash the spoon.. the water was real clear! definately my most memorable day fishing in awhile my wife also had a decent dolly earlier in the day!

 

[reelangler]

nice fish!

 

[berean_man7]

Yes that is a sweet spoon fed fish.

 

[rln]

nice that you caught one, but if you look closely at the belly of the fish it would appear to be a kelt. The belly walls are caved in and for a doe that usually means a spawned out fish.

 

[Rib]

yeah looks like a drop back for sure...nice fish though gibbs, very nice! How was the water...?

 

[Gibbs]

the water was quite low and very clear.. no discoloration yet! I am not real familiar with steelhead fishing,, but i figured it was pretty late in the season for a pre-spawn fish. however i also thought a "kelt" would be in much rougher shape, with worn fins and spots? or does that only happen with salmon? either way i released the fish and she took off with a big splash! hopefully she'll be back next year!

 

[Rib]

Yeah Kelts will heal up pretty quick...the runs in there are quite spread out, from my experience they come in sporadically all through the season, but the main push always seems to be around late april...

nates got into a nice buck in early march with me, and it was pretty colored up already, but a good number of fresh chrome fish tend to come in with the freshet too...

 

[Gibbs]

thanks ribwart... thats good to know.. do you think its worth trying for steelies in there up until the freshet? or is it best to leave 'em alone now??

 

[Rib]

It seems slower this year than in years past, also the freshet hasn't arrived as early as it usually does, I would think there will still be a push of fresh fish, but with the freshet having not started yet, fishing opportunities will likely be limited in a hurry once it does start...I might head up there for one more kick at the can, you just never know when you'll run into a nice fresh push of fish that came in late...

 

[Big Green Machine]

it would appear to be a kelt.

But don't worry. If you fish winter runs this late you are bound to catch a kelt. They are very agressive as they are on the mend. I would say be careful if you are fishing steelies this late that's all. Sounds like you have it all figured out though. Nice fish and welcome to the board.

 

[young gun]

kelt are so aggresive there is no real point in fishing bait, just go with a lure.

 

[Gibbs]

thanks again for all the valuable insight,, i am slowly learning the ropes for all of our awesome fisheries on the west coast! this board is a great tool for a west coast "rookie" to learn the ins and outs!