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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?
 
#37 ·
My tape measure turns 20 pounders into 15-17 pounders a lot. I suspect if others taped fish they would have a similar experience. Doesn't really matter tho it doesn't need to be 40" or even 30" to be an amazing fish. I'm a sucker for big chrome hens myself. They go absolutely ballistic, the explosive power is scary. When I dream of winter steelhead it's hens like this....

36" by 19" of oceanic perfection. What a show! I was happy just to have shared the moment with my buddy.
 

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#52 ·
My tape measure turns 20 pounders into 15-17 pounders a lot. I suspect if others taped fish they would have a similar experience. Doesn't really matter tho it doesn't need to be 40" or even 30" to be an amazing fish. I'm a sucker for big chrome hens myself. They go absolutely ballistic, the explosive power is scary. When I dream of winter steelhead it's hens like this....

36" by 19" of oceanic perfection. What a show! I was happy just to have shared the moment with my buddy.
out of all the posts I've read on here this is the best one of all...taking a quick measurement has busted all my dreams of landing one..though If not I would swear I'd landed three by now...2@37 and 38 have been my best to date and they were hogs and honestly have been the only time i've found my 7133 to be under gunned...not in the fight itself but when trying to swing it between me and the bank...then you go "whoa"....

but honestly, a tape measure while a dream buster is a valuable tool for all fisherman...you'll learn very quickly how wrong your own estimates are...and while might make you scratch your head a few times...IMHO makes you appreciate how incredible these fish are...
 
#39 ·
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
its 34 in and 14 pounds. But, your right a soft ball is 4in which would make that fish about seven pounds lighter than I originally figured.
 
#41 ·
The only 20lb fish I've caught was a carp. It had stretch marks. The biggest steelhead (great lakes, so...whatever you want to call them) I've even seen around here was around 15. I can't even imagine seeing a 20lbr in person. If I ever do I'd prefer it was a PNW salt fish to a GL fish. There's a picture of Dec holding a 20 lb hen in the thread about guides over on Speypages that shows up in my dreams a lot.
 
#42 ·
Kerry,

I'm due for another, so yes I'm planning on it. 20# steelhead are uncommon, but not rare. However they are likely caught at a rate somewhat lower than their occurrence in the population due to having to be played longer, and longer a fish is played, the greater the chance of the hook coming loose.

Luke,

Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just doing the math. You said softball sized rocks. Ain't no way that fish is more than 7 rock diameters long. Get the rock size accurate, and the weight estimate can be close to actual.

Paul,

I think it's closer to linear than a significant power function. Check either Bell's book on swimming speeds or Powers and Orsborn. Max burst speed and cruising speeds are all linked to length, and large steelhead don't swim astronomically faster than average sized steelhead.

Sg
 
#44 ·
Paul,

I think it's closer to linear than a significant power function. Check either Bell's book on swimming speeds or Powers and Orsborn. Max burst speed and cruising speeds are all linked to length, and large steelhead don't swim astronomically faster than average sized steelhead.

Sg
I suppose it's just my reaction and klutziness that goes exponential.
 
#48 ·
Jason,

Yes, keep telling yourself that. After all, you can read it countless magazine articles about 20# steelhead, and guide web pages, and the fly shops, all will tell you about large wild steelhead, just waiting for you . . . as soon as you buy your gear (disc drag reel that will stop a semi truck) from them and book trips with them and subscribe to their publications. Oh wait, consider the source . . .

Sg
 
#60 ·
Jason,

Yes, keep telling yourself that. After all, you can read it countless magazine articles about 20# steelhead, and guide web pages, and the fly shops, all will tell you about large wild steelhead, just waiting for you . . . as soon as you buy your gear (disc drag reel that will stop a semi truck) from them and book trips with them and subscribe to their publications. Oh wait, consider the source . . .

Sg
I just bought the new disc drag reel from Psybor reels--they say it will stop an aircraft carrier, and it's a better fish catcher than a Green Butt Skunk! ;)

You're not trying to tell me that those magazine articles are wrong are you? I get all my best steelheading intel from Salmon & Steelhead Journal--I figured I was set! ;)

J
 
#50 ·
The bigger bucks that I've caught all stayed in the pool and only wanted to bulldog me. Put max pressure on and kick its ass. Landed one on the Sky in less than 3 minutes that was north of 40". After it bulldogged a couple times I just backed it toward shore where my friend pulled the hook. Other than their size and the accomplishment, the bigger fish are a bit of a disappointment.
 
#51 ·
I got 2 in the Puget Sound Rivers so far but I feel like I paid my dues and earnedem. I was 4 years deep swinging flies before I even got my first steelhead with the technique. I only get jealous when a noob catches a 20# on the Skagit on their first day which I hope has never happened.

BTW, those 2 20# fish took a while to land but I never once felt I wasn't in control. They were just tough bull dogs not unlike a king. I have had hens do a quadruple cartwheel that were half the size and practically gave me a heart attack.

Best way to learn how to handle big steelhead is to fish chum. Learn the breaking strength of your tippets especially.
 
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#59 ·
Heavy tippet. Side pressure and the balls to clamp down and turn it's head into the shallows when you think it's time.

I had my biggest fish to date doing multiple cartwheels. It was enough to make me underestimate the size, before I got the fish close. It was a buck that easily broke the 20lb mark. And I usually put a wrap of electrical tape on my rods at the 40'' point--that's the best way to actually land a 20# fish, and, like many have mentioned, not just a big 37''.
 
#63 ·
The best way to land a 20lb steelhead is to fish alone and either leave your camera at home, or have your camera buried under your waders where you can't retrieve it. Having a camera with dead batteries would probably work too.
When I landed the one steelhead I think was 20lbs I slid him into the shallows, and then tried to dig my camera out of my pocket under my waders. While I was doing that, the fish made one flop, knocked the spoon from his jaw, and swam away.
Going by the rule of every inch over 20" equaling a pound, I've landed a couple 17's and a few 14's. This fish was in a different class and had proportions I haven't seen on any other steelhead.
I now keep my camera tethered to the shoulder straps of my waders.
 
#69 ·
It's called Angler's Measurements. Or, Angler's math. Or, more likely, the fish are shape-shifters.

They may start out at 20 pounds but when landed, they shape shift into something much, much smaller.

When fishing Mann Lake, one of our fishing buddies would announce that he was sure the cutthroat he just hooked HAD to be on the the 20-inchers that can be found in the lake. As he brought it closer to hand, the fish mysteriously shape-shifted into a 14-inch cutthroat.

So, we all joined in. Once we hooked a trout we'd shout that it had to be AT LEAST a 20-inch fish. Somehow, the damned fish lost length during the fight and were much smaller when we finally netted the critters.

Shape-shifters, I tell ya, shape-shifters... :D
 
#70 ·
I have no idea what any of you are talking about. Just like most people, every Steelhead I have ever lost was AT LEAST 20#.

To land them I imagine you continue to reel or strip line in until you can beach/reach the fish. But that's just what I do with the little ones.
 
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