[David]

Well with 5 days to go before I hit the big 3 0, I decided to give the Vedder one last try for the season....
thank god I did, as I managed to pop my Steelhead cherry. About 16lb of wild buck! Sweet!

I caught it on the Upper, on a spoon. I thought the flashing spoon might be enough to P*** the fish off enought to snap at it, and it worked. WooHoo!

 

[Rib]

Nice fish D, first time is the best feeling in the world...but every one after that is pretty close! (Happy birthday)

 

[stone]

Congratulations, and a Happy Birthday!

 

[leaping tyee]

Congrat and happy birthday to you,did you see he(the fish) is spraying stuff on you??

 

[hunterj]

NICE FISH AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I GOT MY FIRST STEELY A FEW DAYS AGO AND AM TURNING 63 THIS MONTH. GOING FISHING SUNDAY AS LAST DAY FOR THE DREDGERS.

JIM

 

[pin_head]

well it looks like he left you a nice little birthday present :shock:

 

[schlock]

wow nice B-day present. My 30th is comming up next tues , i pray i get one of those, almost had one yest at the cap, when one took my line under a rock & kept jammin himself in until finaly i just cut the line & cry'd all the way home, lol.

 

[Guest]

:shock: thats a big steelie my my it looks like you might need a new pair of pants hahahahaha

 

[abbyfireguy]

I think he likes you David.. :lol:

 

[stone]

...did you see he(the fish) is spraying stuff on you??

LOL! I totally missed that part because I just took a quick glance at the pic. He went Brokeback on you, man. Nonetheless, nice fish. :lol:

 

[David]

Thanks very much guys. I'll take whatever the fish had to "throw" at me! I caught a steelhead!!!

 

[fishortho]

It is interesting how the male steelhead take on such rich colours during the spawning season. I often wonder how long these fish are actually in the river prior to spawning and whether this might be the last year in the river for such a fish....Will he spawn and return next year as a monster25lb. fish??........Ortho

 

[schlock]

amazing colors on these fish, that would be crazy if he comes back bigger.

 

[David]

Certainly a nice thought Ortho, but I fear the worse for that poor chap. He had some pretty rough looking fungal growth over his tail (a bit like the way the Chum turn when boots)! However you never know, he did swim away nice and strong (after I nursed him for a while!).

 

[Nice_One]

Congrats David! Nice fish! Right on! Is that a Gibb's brand spoon? The Ched looks to be in pretty nice shape behind ya there. I'm getting a 9 weight fly rod and a drift setup for next season...hopefully! You give a man hope...great pic dude! Cheers, Nathan in NW

 

[rivan]

Nice fish David
As Quagmire would say "GIGADEE.....GIGADEE....GIGADEE-GOO.......Allllllllriiiiight!"

 

[flyfishinwoman]

However you never know, he did swim away nice and strong (after I nursed him for a while!).

You did such a good job of "nursing" him that he milted ya!!! Beauty fish, good catch.

 

[la river]

popped Cherry!!!!

Looks like you popped his cherry also!! lol :wink:

 

[phearless]

That shot could be off the front page of an american
"fishing"magazine.
Fish that far gone should be left alone.
If that was a chum in the same condition nobody would be saying nice fish.

 

[David]

Yeah thanks for that Phearless, maybe if I had X-ray vision and seen the state of the fish before I cast out into the river, I may have thought otherwise about going for it!

Apart from that, thanks for the vote of approval on my FIRST ever Steelhead!