So you exclusively fish for native steelhead. Are U better than the meatheads?

[One More Cast]

crowded fishing spots have a love hate relationship.  With a demanding job, house/home oblications, family obligations, vacations time being used more and more for friends and family events as i get older and in general less and less free time.  My priorities have changed to being more about my family and less about me.  Sometimes all i have is a few hours and i don't have time to make the long drives are long hikes to get away form the pack.  its these times that i find myself fishing with others.  Sometimes these are "near" hatchery areas on the kalama, cowlitz, hump, or skookumchuck to name a few.  I haven't done the literal shoulder to shoulder thing (were talking 1-2ft between each person) since the early 90's on the Point.  After fishing these areas I love that i got out and got some time on the water but always leave feeling somewhat let down.  With that being said i too would take a hatchery fish because a part of my enjoyment is having friends and family over for a BBQ.

[brewer]

cutts,  yea i recall that too.  trying to yank yer chain.   i spent many years on "the point" too.  took many steelhead.  always left worn out and thinking was today any fun?

[bugnuts]

...However, I still, for the life of me, don't understand what makes someone who walks 10 miles throughout the course of the day in pursuit of wild fish "better" than the weekend warrior that wants a fish for the barbecue.

Who said that dude who hikes 10 miles in pursuit of wild fish is "better"? And going back to the name of your topic, does anyone who lives in this part of the state (i.e. not the OP) really fish for native steelhead exclusively?

If someone says they're better, or posts pics to make himself feel that he is better, or posts opinions that flame someone else for a choice they've made publicly on the internet, then that person is a DIPSH*T.  Hopefully we're not describing a member from this board, and I suspect that we are not.

My view, Justin, is that hatchery steelhead and wild steelhead might as well be entirely different species.  Comparing fishing for brats v. fishing for nates is, to me, like comparing apples and oranges. I do both, but only because that is what's available within a reasonable distance of where I live.  In a perfect world, I'd rather only fish for wild steelhead...but I missed that boat by about thirty years.

In a nutshell, the reasons I prefer fishing for nates are:  1) since it's harder to get to the best spots then it is exponentially more likely I'll have the place to myself...which is nice; 2) from a life of flyfishing for trout, I simply prefer catch-n-release fishing regardless of the species; 3) we do it in the spring when the days are getting brighter and longer, and we can do it in shirtsleeves much of the time; and 4) my favorite places in the world to fish for steelhead only have nates. 

[Todd]

I don't think one is "better" than the other...I don't enjoy standing on a rock all day with 50 of my favorite friends tossing into the same groove in front of the hatchery...I prefer to cover lots of water, especially in the boat, and find fish in all sorts of nooks and crannies, as wild fish are wont to be.  I also like that they tend to be much bigger than their hatchery cousins, and bite and fight better, too.  Winter runs kinda taste like sawdust to me, anyway, so catching one for the BBQ isn't high on my list.

That being said, I don't care how or where anyone else fishes, or why they fish, or they like to eat hatchery fish...more power to 'em...just don't expect me to take you up on an invite to go sidedrift at Blue Creek, or stand on a rock at Reiter all day.

Fish on...

Todd

[brewer]

yes!  so what ever floats your boat or supplys your rock.  fish hard till you die.  cuzz what ever you feel.  long after you or brewer are gone,  steelhead will still be around.  lets hope!

[4Wheelr]

As y'all know, as a disabled fisherman I don't have much choice of locations and it's no secret I fish from the Blue Creek Hatchery WC platform.  I've never even seen a nate except in pictures but I'm glad I've never caught one.  The wife and I try to be C&E only (catch and eat) as we don't think C&R is good for the fish & hate to think we've wasted one.  (That said we C&R the suckers, as posted previously - bank tossing is for meanies!).  Likewise we'd hate to waste a nate when a hatchery fish cooks and eats just about as well.  And, one of the reasons we like to fish is to meet up with people and say howdy, so the "crowds" at the boat ramp are just fine with us.  But, nothing against our nate-loving or C&R friends - our philosophy works fine for us but to each his own.

All of which is academic, since we haven't caught anything but a single cutt in the last six weeks! 

[queets guy]

A steelhead is a steelhead to me really and Ill fish where there are fish too. Big, small, hatch or wild it dosnt matter to me, I just like playing the game (covering water, different presentations and finding fish.).  I just dont like to deal with a ton of people around me or 50 other boats of the same float, therefore I pass on a few major terminol zones.  I enjoy every minute Im out on the water steelhead fishing and thats all that matters to me.  Seems to me that the term "high horse" is way too common in steelhead fishing.  The guy who is decked out in a Simms G3 and Sage rods covered in Patagonia labels straight out of a catalog thinks he or she is more superior to the person standing at the local crick fishin a $60 rod.  Fly fisherman think they are more superior to gear guys, spey fishermen think they are better than fly guys who nymph with a single hander.  What am I getting at?  Go out and do whatever the hell you want and dont worry about anyone else.  Rant done.   

[Todd]

The only fisherman I want to be superior to is...myself.  I hope to continue to learn and experience more and more, and be a better fisherman next week than I am this week.

Fish on...

Todd

[dardevle]

Well said oh holy master! May we all follow such a devine path.  Give me strength!;D

[Chum Man]

The only fisherman I want to be superior to is...myself.  I hope to continue to learn and experience more and more, and be a better fisherman next week than I am this week.

Fish on...

Todd

i think that sums things up pretty nicely.  i make a goal out of learning something new every time i'm out on the water, regardless if i catch something or not.

i like catching hatchery and wild fish, but don't really dig the terminal scenarios too much any more.  they were easier for me to swallow when i was first starting out, but they were all i really knew, and there were plenty of fish for everyone(like the area around blue creek in december where there would be easly 100 people fishing, and a fish on at any given moment).  i took a drive up the skookumchuck valley on the way to my parents house after a training seminar in chehalis yesterday, and saw probably 30 guys fishing in mud puddles and not a single fish on the bank.  no thanks.

the biggest turn off for me about fishing terminal areas is that there's usually very little room to move around, and i really hate standing in one spot too long.  i know my odds are lower while fishing "wild only" rivers, but the upside is that i can usually cover as much water as i'd like.

[rvrfshr]

[bugnuts]

Well said, Joe. 

[cuttstosteelies]

Case in point.... Double

[doublespey]

We all enjoy wild places and all like to catch fish.  Some like to eat 'em tool.  A few have $$$ to travel to distant places.

Whatever combination and whichever has priority will determine whether you fish mostly for hatchery or wild fish.  Definitely not rocket science.

Joe sure talks a lot! 

DS