Do you remeber your first Steelhead? You'll never forget!
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| Jen with her first steelhead ! |
As a novice with a fly rod, my expectations were to enjoy a beautiful day on the river with wonderful friends and hopefully without putting a hook in my eye. Actually catching a steelhead was not on the list...I figured that would come later, after I developed a few skills. At about 10 am all that changed when I felt some resistance at the end of my line. For a moment I assumed I was stuck on the bottom, until the 'bottom' started moving side stream really fast, and that's when I knew the dance had begun.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew my friends were nearby but I couldn't make sound as the line screamed off my reel. About the time that crazy fish decided to take a rest and I started reeling in like my life depended on it I heard Marty, 50 yards upstream "Mia...I think she has one!" As they both rushed over my steelhead took another hard run then exploded out of the water exposing all the beauty and power of this amazing creature. That's when we all realized it was wild and huge! The kind of fish any diehard caster would envy.
It all could have ended right then and I could not have felt luckier (cuz my casting skill sure had nothing to do with it) but it didn't. I got him in close and when Mia tried to grab the line he took another long run and broke water again before I got him back. He rested for a moment while I kept tension, then rolled over, spit out my fly and was gone.
I was so happy that I nearly passed out. Hoots n high fives echoed off the river banks and a moment in time was forever etched into my memory. There may be other steelhead...but there will never be another first. -Jen AK-Warchild
