Biggest steelhead pics

[bigjake]

This is one of the few i have caught while accually targeting them it came from a small local river and threw down one hell of a fight. it weighed out at just under 14lb when I got him home. please let me know if the image is visable, I am having a hard time doing this on my cell.

[chum77]

i cant see the pic 

[bigjake]

Ok im on a real computer now an ill try agin

[corkiedrifter]

Only a couple piggies in the "Digital Age"

[chum77]

Ok im on a real computer now an ill try agin

 well there is a carbon river hog nice, you dont see too many of them coming from that river way to go !

[Koka]

Hopefully you can see the pic. This fish was made possible by all the help I got from this site.

[Todd]

Here are a couple nice ones...



That one might be the last "big one" I ever get out of the Sauk, unless things change there very drastically...last year's forecast of 8100 fish to the Skagit system was just a bit off...run reconstruction currently puts last year's run at about 2500, less than half of escapement...frankly I'll be surprised if it opens again in the spring, and I don't just mean the spring of 2010



February 40x20 out of the Hoh...it's pretty rare to find a buck that big and that clean...fought like the dickens!



That one's one of my first "big ones"...almost 20 years ago on the Sauk.



Not the biggest one I've ever seen out of one of my local zipper spots, but the biggest one I've caught there...38.5 by "girthy" ...



I wish I had better pics of that one...that's the closest I've ever come to being spooled by a steelhead, we chased it three holes with the drifter to get it to hand...I think the best part about catching that one is that I caught this next one two casts later in the hole we landed the first one in...



Probably the most exciting half hour of my steelheading career...those last two fish were the first, and third cast of the day, since I was rowing...the only time I've ever caught two that big in one day...though that second didn't qutie make it to 20...39x19...the first one made it by a goodly margin

The next one also didn't stretch the tape enough to make it to 20, but I caught it in a batch of white water that two guide boasts had just floated through without fishing...their clients got to watch us land it in between their boats while they were eating lunch



I like catching big natives as much as the next guy, but an awful lot of my favorite hookups were with fish that weren't anywhere near as big as a few of the pictured fish...and by far my most favorite hookups, the ones that get me up in the morning to go out and give it a shot again, don't have any pics to go along with 'em...cuz they're fish that I  didn't have the pleasure of ever getting to hand...and some of them I never even got to see with my own two eyes...

Fish on...

Todd

[younggun]

i've never seen a BIG steelhead that was perfectly chrome like the smaller ones. Is this because they're on their 2nd spawning trip, or because the big ones that are bullet chrome just dont get landed.

I was talking to a hatchery worker at the Chilliwack River hatchery, and he said every year they get 1 or 2 fish that would have pushed 22-25 when fresh, and they're absolute pin cushins, they bite, but they dont get landed. scary thoughts!

I fondly remember pops hooking up with a beast of a fish in what i remember as the old ranger run. I dunno if u've ever seen a guy do a 40' in under 6 secs over river stones, but its possible! He ended up loosing the fish, but it was the grand dady of them all that i've been grateful to see.

[BradA]

Awesome thread guys. Helps after witnessing a snagfest on the Elwha (some respected fisherman and guides included); was lucky to find a few biters. Been fortunate in my 21 years to have caught some big native steel (many on film not digital)  Here's a couple though from last season:

Biggest hen I've landed at 39" sea-lice and mint. Picture doesn't do her justice nor that I'm 6'5".

Cleanest big buck I've landed at 41". Fought more like a salmon than anything else.

Another angle of the same fish:

Landed the biggest steelhead that was in the 26-27lb weight class on a random late-evening April trip. First cast, no waders, spinning rod, and a whole lot of luck to land this beast. Thick all the way through.


Like Todd said though it's all about the ones that put the hurt on ya. Tbird in the boat above didn't believe me when I yelled that the fish was coming his way. Never slowed her down.

Bring on winter steelhead!

[shakertaker]

god its been forever since i've been on here. all i can say is bring on winter runs baby! these two fish are my biggest so far. 17lbs nate and 15lbs nate