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What's the best way to land a >20lb Steelhead?

8K views 89 replies 39 participants last post by  Evan Virnoche 
#1 ·
You don't have a net because you hiked in.
You don't have a massive amount of room.

Do you run below it and fight it upstream?
Do you try and tail it yourself?
Do you get tired, pin the line, and watch it disappear?
 
#2 ·
Hook fish
Grab nearby bear
Throw bear in river
Bring fish to bear
Bear grabs fish
Punch bear, take fish

Please note that this is only acceptable if the fish is a hatchery brat that you will keep as the bear will remove the fish entirely from the water.
 
#5 ·
Wha... Wha... Huh... [wipes drool]

Honey, honey, wake up! You were having a nightmare. You were shouting and yelling... Sounded like 'no, no, not the dog! He didnt do anything. Take me... Take me... I'm the one that ripped your lip'

Oh darling, I was just about to land another of those 20-pounders...
 
#7 ·
I know what Matthew Crawley would do; he would hand the rod to his gillie whilst expressing his boredom for the whole process, and then he would withdraw to the castle for a wash-up and drinks.
Seriously, a twenty pounder has only happened to me once and that was twenty six years ago on the Deschutes in Oregon.
Plenty of room helped in that case. I got lucky. Fish got way into the backing on a Hardy St. John. My nail knot held. When the fish went way downriver, the guide told me to bury the rod tip and let the current take my line downstream. In a short time, the fish started working his way back upstream and soon was opposite me. We did this a few times with me gaining line on the reel each time. Finally, the fish was pooped. The guide tailed the fish.
Of course, a twenty pounder in smaller water would be even more of a challenge. Often not able to chase up or down river. Hold on. Perhaps jump in after him.?? I like plaegreid's bear technique.
Wait till it happens and play it by ear.
jack
 
#9 ·
Like with any steelhead. Put max pressure on it, only longer. You don't need a massive amount of room. A 20# steelhead is only a foot longer than a regular steelhead. No need to over-think this. When the fish is done, it's done. Roll it onto its side and lead its nose as close to the beach or shore as possible. Strip some slack line off your reel, holding it with your rod hand, release the line as you tail the fish, lay rod in safest available place, which is most anywhere since you're obviously alone doing this, and no moreon is going to step on it. Grab camera and take photographic evidence. Grab tape and measure length and girth to deal with all the doubters. Remove fly from fish, revive if necessary, and release. Then yell out some appropriate mantra to the deity of your choice.

Sg
 
#11 ·
Swam through three pools. Passed my rod under a downed tree. Hand on leader. Got the length marked on my rod and her girth using my hands . Reached back for camera and the fish spit the hook right in my face.
February on the Hoh.

So to answer your question. Anyway you can.
 
#14 ·
I agree with Salmo g - like any other steelhead. Take the fight to the fish keeping it off balance. When it wants to run allow it to do so with just enough pressure to keep from over running the reel. As so as it stops immediately take the fight to it again taking the line as the fish allows. If in a tough spot once the fish stops a run gently put a decent bend in the rod and slow walk upstream; the fish will follow though it may stop and even shake its head (pause and once it settles down resume leading the fish upstream). Once you have gain the needed space again take the fight to the fish. If you want to shorten the line just walk back down to the fish and pick up the line without putting undo pressure on the fish.

By working to take the will to resist from the fish rather than playing it to exhaustion even relatively large fish can be "landed" surprisingly quickly. I just slide my fish into the shallows leaving the fish on its side in several inches of water with the head pointed towards shore. It is then a simple matter of reaching down to remove the hook and sending the fish on its way. By breaking the will of the fish there never is a need to revive a steelhead (even the mythical 20 #er). If in a high bank situation or a debris laden shoreline I will stand in deeper water and slide the fish pass me and tail the fish (short leaders and handkerchief landed across the palm of the tailing had helps).

The only hard parts in landing a 20 # steelhead are the obvious; finding and hooking one (duh!) and not letting panic take over when you see the size of the fish.

BTW my hook to landed ratio of 20# plus steelhead is better with the fly rod than gear.

Curt
 
#16 ·
Okay guys, put those evaluating hats on and let's play a game.





Things to consider:
The Go Pro is on top of my head.
The rocks are softball size to slightly larger.

That's all I got. I won't elaborate much more, but let's take a look and guess the size of this fish. It was a buck btw.
 
#25 ·
Luke,

Andy probably thinks he has an 11" schlong too, but I put the size of a softball at closer to 4" than 5". And the length of your fish at 6 2/3 softballs, or about 27" and 7 pounds. Close? What do I win?

And Kerry is wrong. Again. More than two of us in this thread already have landed steelhead over 20#. Assuming Wayne's old boot counts.

Sg
 
#26 ·
And Kerry is wrong. Again. More than two of us in this thread already have landed steelhead over 20#. Assuming Wayne's old boot counts.

Sg
I said is going to hook into one. Are you and WW planning on catching one again anytime soon? For the record I have seen two legitimate twenty plus pounders landed. One I caught off the old Lyman bar and the other a friend got off the Sauk bar. Both were caught more than a few years ago. I had one other that may have pushed eighteen. Twenty pounders are rare.
 
#28 ·
Luke,

Andy probably thinks he has an 11" schlong too, but I put the size of a softball at closer to 4" than 5". And the length of your fish at 6 2/3 softballs, or about 27" and 7 pounds. Close? What do I win?

And Kerry is wrong. Again. More than two of us in this thread already have landed steelhead over 20#. Assuming Wayne's old boot counts.

Sg
I don't know Salmo, we never landed it, but I can guarantee it was bigger than 7 pounds. Based on my experience and previous knowledge and having been up close to it, I'd say it was more than 15 lbs....but alas...we'll never know.
 
#29 ·
You don't have a net because you hiked in.
You don't have a massive amount of room.

Do you run below it and fight it upstream?
Do you try and tail it yourself?
Do you get tired, pin the line, and watch it disappear?
Here's a good idea . . .

Fish On! A Guide to Playing and Landing Big Fish on a Fly written by Floyd Franke; Forward by Joan Salvato Wulff


Fly Fishing Book Review by Bob Triggs - Little Stone Flyfisher : Guide

Fish On! A Guide to Playing and Landing Big Fish on a Fly
Written by Floyd Franke; Forward by Joan Salvato Wulff
Publisher: National Book Network Inc.
120 pages, Clothbound
ISBN 1-58667-070-0
$24.95

Sometimes the simplest things are the least obvious. When Floyd Franke pointed out to me that this was the first book ever published on the subject of hooking, playing and landing trophy fish on the flyrod, I was a little surprised. I shouldn't have been. The two most common areas that flyfishers seem to have problems with are casting and playing and landing fish. Though reams have been published on casting, precious little ink has been devoted to the rest of the job. Most guides agree that many fly anglers struggle with the big ones, often losing them at their feet. I have a hunch that this recent addition to the Derrydale Press collection will become an angling literature classic. And along the way a great many fly fishers are going to take a giant step-up in the quality of their fishing experience.
I first met Floyd Franke over a decade ago at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum, where he was demonstrating his meticulopus fly tying skills for the visitors at the annual Opening Day events. Floyd is a world recognized expert fly tier, has won numerous awards, and has many original fly patterns to his credit. Floyd's articles are widely published. He has been the Director of the Casting Board of Governors of the Federation of Flyfishers. And after many years on the staff of the Wulff School of Flyfishing, teaching along with Lee and Joan Salvato Wulff, is now head of the teaching program there. He also runs the Ephemera Guide Service in Roscoe New York, where he lives with his wife Bert, just steps away from the banks of the legendary Beaverkill River.
I had the good fortune of taking fly casting instruction from Floyd, both at the Wulff Instructor's School and during my work for FFF Casting Instructor Certification. Floyd is a wonderfully gifted teacher; he makes the complicated seem simple, while encouraging you to work harder than you ever have before. In short, he makes difficult things possible. When I first saw him giving a talk, at a winter flyfishing show near Boston some years ago,on the techniques revealed in this book, the entire room was spellbound. Floyd's passion for the subject is overwhelming. I have used many of his revolutionary angling methods in my guiding and teaching work ever since. If you take the time to learn these angling techniques your success rate at landing fish will go up. Way up.
Floyd's organizational skills and clear, concise style of presentation ring throughout this long overdue work. Beginning with an overview of his own angling career path; sharing his many struggles and achievements along the way,( broken rods and leaders, lost fish and the ones that got away, and trophies landed too), Floyd chronicles his progress and learning, from his humble worm-dunking days as a boy, to his times shared fishing and teaching with fly angling legends and pioneers Lee and Joan Salvato Wulff. While Floyd credits much of the foundational work of his methods to the Wulffs, it is obvious that the author has steeped himself in this subject to an extroadinary depth. Most of the scenery in this book will relate strongly to freshwater fly fishing, yet much is to be gained through careful study for all kinds of fishers, including saltwater boat anglers. Simple line drawings and a few photographs illuminate the topic. An interesting, if not downright unusual, chapter on the playing and landing characteristics of numerous gamefish species got my attention. The last chapter: "Conservation/Catch and Release" is a fitting close for this book, and a reminder of the responsibilities inherent in modern conservation angling. Something sorely missing from many angling books.
The book begins with the classic "Three Rules for Playing Big Fish":
" To keep the rod tip up, to keep the pressure on, and to not allow slack is about as uncomplicated as it gets. But the three rules are only a starting point. Learning the rules is followed by learning when to break them."
Over the next six chapters Floyd Franke breaks every rule in the book to help you learn something about landing trophy fish, with less effort and less harm to the fish, and much more quickly than many anglers would assume possible. First off; Floyd defines a "big fish" as relative to the tackle being used. So for any given weight rod and line, and any sport fishing species, there are sure to be some lessons learned. For the most part the work is directed toward catch and release angling, with a great deal of attention to understanding rods, reels, lines, leader and tippett construction, materials, knots etc. But everything is presented with the understanding that you are now taking a huge leap past everything else you may have known about the wild ride of handling a big fish in fast water. You will be learning how and when to break the old rules.
Some of it will be a surprise. Floyd gives some very detailed accounts of how beneficial it often is to give a thrashing fish all the slack that you possibly can; rod pointed toward the fish and virtually no drag at all. He is not just talking about simply "bowing the rod" to a leaping fish either- He's talking about free-wheeling SLACK! When was the last time you tried that on a southbound, chrome-bright, winter steelhead? It works! Ever try calmly walking a big ,ocean fresh King Salmon up a beach to the next pool?
First Floyd shows you how to test your own tackle to be sure that you have what it takes. Then he discusses the way rods really work when we have a big fish pulling on the end of our line. Then he teaches us how to play and land the big ones. It takes some study and practise. And you will have to do that yourself. But this book could help you land some of the biggest fish of your life. It has worked for me.



www.amazon.com/dp/1586670700
Sky Font Event Electric blue Landscape
 
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