It finally happened, almost

[coastalcutty]

Keeping a lot of pressure on to slowly tire them out.

You don't land them with that much line out. I meant to play them out and tire them with more line out. That extra line can cushion the shock of sudden moves they make on that short line, reducing the likelihood of throwing the hook. Yeah, at some point you'll have the fish on a short line, but it's best if they're tired out when that happens.

That makes sense. We stood there for probably a minute discussing how to land him and he was just there. I guess I should have waited a while longer and let him do his thing

 

[Ernie]

I've been at it really hard this winter for steelhead. It's my first winter, following fishing last summer on the Deschutes quite a bit. Never had a tug except an occasional trout. I tried gear fishing for a couple years too, never caught a steelhead.

Saturday was low and clear on my favorite coastal river. There was no one around. I have a new raft (thanks Larry, it kicks ass!), I was the only one to launch a boat. I got to a run I couldn't fish on foot in trips past, started working my way down. I thought it was too shallow, or too clear, I could see the cobble all the way to the other side, but it was the right type of water. I was there to fish, might as well give it a try.

10 minutes in, I felt a bump. My heart raced, but alas, no fish. I kept swinging and stepping. I had some confidence, my casts were feeling good, I was in the groove. 5 minutes later, it all got heavy, the drag was peeling so fast! It stopped and I started to reel, finally some bend in the rod! He came to the surface with a big splash, then it went a bit loose. I thought he was gone, but he was coming right at me. The tension came back and I fought him another minute or two. I was yelling out loud (to myself), heart pounding, my gut in knots. I think I could have cried. I got it within a rod length or so, in about a foot of water. I could see him, perfectly chrome. Just laying on the bottom.

That's when I made my fatal mistake. I pinched the fly line against the rod. I thought it was done. I got greedy. He had one more run. Before my brain could register through the excitement, he bolted, my finger couldn't release fast enough. Snap went the tippet and my first Steelie back to his lay on the far side. He took a my new favorite fly with him

This winter I've fished at least 12 days if not 15. So many hours, soooo many casts, and absolutely 0 feedback until now. I've read books, talked to people, asked questions, watched countless videos, consumed everything, trying to teach myself... Finally, I fought a steelhead swinging a fly. It's the only skill I've learned where there's no progressive feedback, you don't know if you're doing it right until it happens.

I wish I hadn't screwed up right at the end. That's a real bummer. But it's a huge win for me nonetheless.

Thanks for reading my story. I needed to share with folks who might understand.
Is it Saturday yet?

How exciting! I did the same thing years ago, at least you now know how much of a good fight a steelhead makes!

 

[Yard Sale]

That makes sense. We stood there for probably a minute discussing how to land him and he was just there. I guess I should have waited a while longer and let him do his thing

Sometimes a rod angle change will wake them up. If you are leading them one way flop your rod over and change their direction. That usually lets them know whats going on.

 

[O' Clarkii Stomias]

Sometimes a rod angle change will wake them up. If you are leading them one way flop your rod over and change their direction. That usually lets them know whats going on.

I've found a Labrador trying to fetch them wakes em up pretty good too.

 

[HauntedByWaters]

coastalcutty, you hooked two steelhead on a fly rod in a week, you will get no sympathy from me. Time to make a video, design some rods, write a book, plan a parade.

 

[Dustin Chromers]

Well, it happened again! This time with a much larger fish, probably 12 lbs or so I'm guessing.

It was strange, he didn't fight almost at all, I basically reeled it right to me, I had him at a rods length of line and waited for my buddy to come over. It was a somewhat steep bank, I was knee deep but directly in front was 5 or 6 feet, and slick rock, not much space to work. The fish came up, and rolled on his side, then just under the surface, maybe twice. My buddy was just downstream. I swept the fish over so he could tail it. As soon as that fish was touched he took off downstream, all the way to my backing without stopping. I got a couple cranks of the reel, then one huge head shake near the top of the rapid downstream and he was gone.

I knew it had more, it barely fought, like I said. Landing these buggers is a challenge! If we had a net it would have been game over. What a rush! I kept my cool this time (barely).

What do you do if you know they have more juice but they're just sitting there? It was strange

There's a zen circle of existential force that surrounds landing a steelhead.

The more you want it and attempt not to lose it by being ginger the less likely it will happen. If one puts max pressure always on a fish and gets them to freak out and make some good runs they will give up afterwards and come in easy. You have to play them like you don't care if you lose them. Pull hard and keep em moving. A green fish at the feet is far from landed. A quickly spent fish at the feet is an easier equation to solve.

 

[Smalma]

In my experience the fastest/surest way to land a steelhead is to break its will to resist rather than "wearing it out". On the initial take and hook set resist the temptation to raise the rod tip to high (stay away from a vertical rod). Keeping the rod at less than a 90 degree angle uses the rod to keep constant pressure (a nice bow in the rod) which aids in keeping the hook in place for those nasty fish that insist on violently shaking their heads before taking off. To break the will of the fish to resist pressure the fish hard until it wants to go and then let it run with light pressure (unless or course you need to stop from an obstruction). When it stops pressure it again from a different angle keeping the fish off balance. As the fight reaches the stage that you have it in the shallows if the fish turns and wants to go let it go. In a slow current or slack water area I like to lead the fish into the shallows on its side such as the fly is on upper side of the fish, much easier to reach and quickly release the fish.

However, the hook used while often overlooked can be a critical piece of gear. All hooks are not created equally I'm partial to light wire hooks with a longish point that is as sharp as possible and prefer a straight eye though with the use of turle knot gives the angler the same nice straight pull whether using a upturn and down turned eye. I believe that barbless hooks give the angler an advantage (have used barbless hooks for all my steelhead for 50 years). I check my hooks and knots regularly, every time I step out of the river or every 30 to 40 minutes if fishing a long run retying or replacing the fly if there is any doubt about the hook sharpness or knot strength. I believe with proper fishing playing skills and a good hook on the average 80% or more of the steelhead hook should be expected to be landed (since that is an average there can be extended periods of lost or landed fish).

Curt

 

[coastalcutty]

There's a zen circle of existential force that surrounds landing a steelhead.

The more you want it and attempt not to lose it by being ginger the less likely it will happen. If one puts max pressure always on a fish and gets them to freak out and make some good runs they will give up afterwards and come in easy. You have to play them like you don't care if you lose them. Pull hard and keep em moving. A green fish at the feet is far from landed. A quickly spent fish at the feet is an easier equation to solve.

Sounds like sage advice. Thank you!

 

[charles sullivan]

Good for you, man. That fish was not ready at all to be landed. If he barely fought he either had a bunch of energy that he had not used or he had been hooked previously. The largest winter fish I ever caught barely fought. I later found a photo of it on the internet with the same net scar end everything. It's more likely that he just was not ready. He had not been forced to use his energy. Male steelhead seem to be more prone to the behavior you describe. The hens have a greater tendency to panic fight.

Yours sounds like it just had not been challenged and had not fought back. I go with aggression generally and always try to be either gaining ground or losing it. If I am gaining ground, I try to gain more. I will use the reel, my feet and the rod to apply more pressure and gain as much ground as I can by applying the most pressure that my 10 lb maxima will allow. With a long rod, that is quite a bit. That rod is a fantastic shock absorber. Generally this leads to 3 runs from the fish. After 3 runs, I will be able to land the fish. I would guess that 80% of all steelhead that I land make 3 runs.

I hooked a steelhead last year with gear. It's my only gear caught steelhead. It did just as your fish did and came in like a log. I had a shorter rod than I was used to. I was able to walk towards it and found myself looking at the fish near shore rather quickly and with no fight. I was close enough theoretically to land it. Then it bolted. It realized that it was hooked and did the 3 run thing. I realized that I had not applied maximum pressure on the fish early on because I was unfamiliar with the gear. The reel had a drag, the rod was shorter etc. I also walked towards the fish rather than applied pressure so that he would come to me. He did not expend any energy until I forced him to. Then he went and did his steelhead 3 run thing. Sometimes you need to force them to do their steelhead 3 runs with pressure. Once they get those runs in they turn into Larry David, turn their palms up and say "Meh, is it worth it?"

I think SalmoG and Smalma are both describing the same phenomenon of breaking their will and tiring them out. After landing a few you learn the feeling when they have given up. It does feel like their will is broken. Vince Lombardi famously said the "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." General Patton also used the phrase. I have always thought that the fatigue just made them give up.

What I do know is that nearly every steelhead that I have caught could have gotten away if they knew to leave the pool. They almost never do that and therefore once you get a little more experience your landing percentage goes up. Apply pressure, get the 3 runs, break them and land them.

Congrat's on hooking fish as you are. Enjoy the portion of the learning curve that you are on. It's the most enjoyable and exciting portion of it. I miss the excitement that he first 6 or 8 steelhead gave me. Soak it in as best you can.