Steelhead-Post Your Pictures Here

[Ringo]

Man, I’m already loving this thread. Thanks @Chasin' Dreams for starting this thread and also other guys for sharing your pics. Fall river fishing is upon us but I’m already itching to get out and fish for steelies.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Man, I’m already loving this thread. Thanks @Chasin' Dreams for starting this thread and also other guys for sharing your pics. Fall river fishing is upon us but I’m already itching to get out and fish for steelies.

Right on glad you're enjoying it. So am I! Guys are sharing great pics and stories. Fall and Winter fishing are beautiful seasons to be out in the woods and on the water.

 

[Sharphooks]

Hey Chasin Dreams....I love that pic of you and your daughter!

One of my daughter’s took her first steps on the Kispiox in ‘93. I also carried her around on my back —-really glad I never had any bear incidents!

It’s amazing what happens when you feed them some protein and they grow up...here’s a few I took of her on our first trip together up to the Promised Land. This year I’m taking her sister...both are amazing to camp with and do some serious canyon cutting—-never a complaint, real troopers. Last year it was -9 C for a solid week—-everything froze. My daughter’s lips turned blue.

One day we were deep down in a canyon and I found a spot that I just knew had unmolested fish, but she was so cold she couldn’t hold the rod. So I built her a rip-roaring fire on the beach and bit by bit, her face blossomed into this big smile. I asked her if she was willing to have a go of it out in the river and she was already reaching for the rod. It was a dicey wade out on a slippery sandstone shelf but I got her into position and pointed out the postage-stamp sized square of black dancing water that was whispering...”here we are....here we are...” and I said...cast there! Three fish in 3 casts, and she never took a step in between casts—-made the whole trip!

At one point just after one of the fish did a double cartwheel she turned to me with this HUGE smile and said, ...”wow, Papa—-this is fun!!!”

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Beautiful pics Sharphooks and a wonderful story! Thank you for starting my morning off with a big smile. Precious times spent with your daughters. They'll remember them forever.

 

[Sharphooks]

You got me all pumped up now, Chasin’....

You started this thread now the anticipation is killing me—-10 more sleeps....if it rains while I’m up there and punches out the rivers I’ll beat my head bloody against a tree...Ha Ha..

 

[Bear]

You do not release fish after they have been pulled up on the shore, fish thrash about when they touch the shore. If you claim they did not bash about, then you played that fish to long. Wake up, if you are really concerned about the fish, release them properly.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

You got me all pumped up now, Chasin’....

You started this thread now the anticipation is killing me—-10 more sleeps....if it rains while I’m up there and punches out the rivers I’ll beat my head bloody against a tree...Ha Ha..


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Great pics Sharphooks!
Oh ya man I hear ya there lol. I always got so excited before my Skeena trips. Hard to sleep. I rear ended a car on my way home from work one year the day before I was leaving for a Skeena trip. It was before the time of smart phones and I was in rush hour traffic. I got out my back roads map book and started looking at my trip plans on some of the logging roads on the map. I got out a pen and started marking some spots on a couple rivers I wanted to check out. Stupid to do when driving I know but I was so excited and that was my last day of work before a 2 week break. Traffic was stop and go bumper to bumper rush hour. As I looked up from making a mark on the map page all the cars in front of me were at a dead stop. Hammered my break but it was too late. Day before leaving and now stuck sitting in rush hour with an accident/paper work to fill out. Man that sucked bad!! Thankfully not too bad of damage though.
One of the best parts about every trip was exploring new spots, creeks, rivers, trails etc.

Ya the rivers can blow out fast up there. The Morice seemed to be later at blowing out over some of the others and there's another one we used to fish when some of the others blew out first. I'll PM you the name of it. You may very well know it already but just in case you don't you may want to check that one out. It was full of Steelies when I used to go up there.


On a brass Blue Fox Spinner. Skeena country.


This one chased a waking dry and gave it a bump twice but wouldn't take it. Gave it a break for a bit then swung a wet hand tied blue/black maribou leach in front of her and she took it right away. Not a big fish but I always remember the ones that I know are there but take some work to entice them to bite.



Telkwa...This was one of those 50 or more "one last casts" lol. I knew they were there and didn't want to give up as the sun was going down. The persistence paid off

 

[Sharphooks]

Nice pix, Chasin’, but don’t go poking the Bear with those Grip n’ Grin ‘oliday snaps....he seems to always find these threads sooner or later and shots like those drive him to distraction...

I keep a set of moldy fish on hand for when he shows up...maybe if he gets a whiff of these he’ll go away and leave the thread alone....

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Nice pix, Chasin’, but don’t go poking the Bear with those Grip n’ Grin ‘oliday snaps....he seems to always find these threads sooner or later and shots like those drive him to distraction...

I keep a set of moldy fish on hand for when he shows up...maybe if he gets a whiff of these he’ll go away and leave the thread alone....


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Lol! Oh man there will always be those people..

Hey man that looks like the river I sent you the PM about. Looks like down near the mouth just up from the confluence. One of my favorite rivers. And if that's the run I'm thinking about, the fish stack there!!

Some canyon fishing/broodstocking pics and some family pics. Unfortunately some rivers aren't all wild anymore... Helping out with hatchery broodstocking can keep us catching Steelhead on some of those rivers. Is it the best case scenario? Absolutely not. But it can help runs/species etc not go extict and can create new runs to take angler pressure off other more sensitive runs/rivers..





Transporting a wild Steely for broodstock





My daughter itching to get out there on it lol


My wife on a Steelhead chasing trip.

 

[Sharphooks]

One more pic....just because it has that Fall Flavor going on....

 

[Bear]

Those of you that think that a hero shot of a fish that is beached is proper, should be ashamed of yourself. Not properly handling fish is the same as poaching. I was involved in a C&R study by DFO a few years back. They used treble hooks, single hooks and all barbless. The result was that the highest mortality was the mishandling when releasing. It is about time that some of you spoke up and gave your opinion. Allowing one individual to act this way gives permission for others to do the same.

The fish in the picture above this is completely worn out.Likely will not survive.

 

[Whitebuck]

Steelhead up on the rocks just to get a pic with their spey rod is more important than the wellbeing of the fish. Pathetic.
Sharphooks has some truly great pics from up north, however most of his steelhead pics show either his lack of respect/care or knowledge of the releasing fish properly.
He is also giving a black eye to other American anglers who come to BC.
You would think over the years anglers would evolve to try and protect the fish they love so much.
These fish deserve alot more respect than that.
One of the most important rules BC needs to implement is no wild steelhead out of the water.
CD, great pics of falls pool, the canyon drift. Shame the summer hatchery program has ended. Guess it has been a few years since you have been part of the brood program...

 

[steeler]

Good points about handling but these pics appear to be pretty old before the fishing culture had changed and fish numbers had plummeted to current numbers, the fact that the fish were being released is still better then the ones of them being stuffed in bags to have their genetics taken out of the wild stocks. I would rather see a fish released in whatever shape then being stolen for a hatchery, steelhead are very hardy and as long as they aren't bleeding have a very good chance at survival and are better off producing wild stocks then turned into band aid hatchery fish which will never replace or replenish the natural stocks. What should be taken away from these pictures is that we have lost these once great fisheries not blaming some old timers for behaving ahead of their time and releasing fish that were on the rocks. Even when these guys were fishing up there the numbers were way lower then they should be look at early pictures of steelhead pilled up on shore from the skeena system or the world record fish that were caught up there within a couple years of each other and know that these guys only saw a shadow of what it once was. These guys obviously love steelhead fishing and probably are aware not to handle fish in that way anymore. couple years ago a guy got an average sized steelhead fishing above me and called to me to come up and take a picture for him with his phone I yelled back are you ****** serious and he still said yes and waited a couple minutes for me to make my way up to him, I doubt any of these fellas would have done that.

 

[islandboy]

Good points about handling but these pics appear to be pretty old before the fishing culture had changed and fish numbers had plummeted to current numbers, the fact that the fish were being released is still better then the ones of them being stuffed in bags to have their genetics taken out of the wild stocks. I would rather see a fish released in whatever shape then being stolen for a hatchery, steelhead are very hardy and as long as they aren't bleeding have a very good chance at survival and are better off producing wild stocks then turned into band aid hatchery fish which will never replace or replenish the natural stocks. What should be taken away from these pictures is that we have lost these once great fisheries not blaming some old timers for behaving ahead of their time and releasing fish that were on the rocks. Even when these guys were fishing up there the numbers were way lower then they should be look at early pictures of steelhead pilled up on shore from the skeena system or the world record fish that were caught up there within a couple years of each other and know that these guys only saw a shadow of what it once was. These guys obviously love steelhead fishing and probably are aware not to handle fish in that way anymore. couple years ago a guy got an average sized steelhead fishing above me and called to me to come up and take a picture for him with his phone I yelled back are you ****** serious and he still said yes and waited a couple minutes for me to make my way up to him, I doubt any of these fellas would have done that.

Well said.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Good points about handling but these pics appear to be pretty old before the fishing culture had changed and fish numbers had plummeted to current numbers, the fact that the fish were being released is still better then the ones of them being stuffed in bags to have their genetics taken out of the wild stocks. I would rather see a fish released in whatever shape then being stolen for a hatchery, steelhead are very hardy and as long as they aren't bleeding have a very good chance at survival and are better off producing wild stocks then turned into band aid hatchery fish which will never replace or replenish the natural stocks. What should be taken away from these pictures is that we have lost these once great fisheries not blaming some old timers for behaving ahead of their time and releasing fish that were on the rocks. Even when these guys were fishing up there the numbers were way lower then they should be look at early pictures of steelhead pilled up on shore from the skeena system or the world record fish that were caught up there within a couple years of each other and know that these guys only saw a shadow of what it once was. These guys obviously love steelhead fishing and probably are aware not to handle fish in that way anymore. couple years ago a guy got an average sized steelhead fishing above me and called to me to come up and take a picture for him with his phone I yelled back are you ****** serious and he still said yes and waited a couple minutes for me to make my way up to him, I doubt any of these fellas would have done that.

Well said. Yes very much agree. From the time I was a kid till now, I've never stop learning. I've always been very conscious about fish's health etc but even just growing up you usually learn from others, watching whats happening around you and hopefully we pick up good mentors in our travels of the fishing world. Even just the fact of not using wool gloves (like so many do out there) can make a huge difference in the fish's end survival after being released. The wool removes a lot of the fish's protective slime. Mold will grow on that spot, spread, and can kill the fish. The two most common spots this happens are the head and tail areas. When it spreads on the head/mouth area the fish will 100% stop feeding. We learned this at the hatchery watching tank kept Steelhead. The mold was monitored and the feeding of the fish was monitored. Mortality occurred on some of them.

Sharing info, pics, stories/experiences about being out in mother nature catching fish is the main reason I enjoy this forum so much. But when other people attack others on this forum rudely, insensitivity and personally it can often have an opposite effect on the one the author is hoping to achieve. So lets be considerate, and chose our words in ways where the point is made but insults don't have to occur. I think that will help make a pleasurable thread where we can all share and learn at the same time in positive ways.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Steelhead up on the rocks just to get a pic with their spey rod is more important than the wellbeing of the fish. Pathetic.
Sharphooks has some truly great pics from up north, however most of his steelhead pics show either his lack of respect/care or knowledge of the releasing fish properly.
He is also giving a black eye to other American anglers who come to BC.
You would think over the years anglers would evolve to try and protect the fish they love so much.
These fish deserve alot more respect than that.
One of the most important rules BC needs to implement is no wild steelhead out of the water.
CD, great pics of falls pool, the canyon drift. Shame the summer hatchery program has ended. Guess it has been a few years since you have been part of the brood program...

How about the same comment without the word "pathetic"?
How about the same comment without bringing in and referencing other American anglers? Do you think that comment makes him feel good being a visitor to BC, coming here to enjoy our country and province? This has nothing to do with other Americans. And if I were one I wouldn't feel to good about this comment.
It's the tone you use with people on the forum and attacking way you communicate that kept me from replying to your PM you sent me about broodstocking. The way we treat others behind a keyboard goes a long way with people. I had zero respect for bullies in school. And have zero for them on the internet. Words affect people in person and on the net. Let's try to consider that when talking with others everywhere. You may very well not mean to come across that way Whitebuck, I don't know, but maybe explaining how I see it may make you reflect on it.
I'm sure Sharphooks has evolved as a fisherman. He seems like a very caring, friendly guy who loves the same passions as most of here do. Maybe a better way to go about this is to talk to him, ask him questions, with a positive tone. Not an attacking, accusatory, negative tone.
Some guys on this forum need to be checked at times for certain things but Sharphooks isn't one of those guys. He doesn't do that to others. He is a very appreciated member of this forum. His travel/trip thread posts are some if not the best threads on this forum. I hope all of us here can say we also add positive additions to this forum, not just ones that jump on others for things we feel aren't right.

Yes the Chehalis Summer Run is no longer running, but that's just that run. I was the first brood fisherman to take over after we used the Coquihala wild Summer fish to start that run. Chehalis never had it's own wild Summer run, just Winters. Every hear I got the hatchery 10 pairs of Summers. Mostly from the canyon as they rip up when there's enough water. For Winters there were more broodstockers and still are. Winters had been stocked for decades. We do not get paid for any of it. All volunteer. Back when hatchery's first started operating they paid brood fishermen in some areas. To get fish I'd either pontoon or hike in, cutting trails, putting rope lines in to areas in the canyon. Some of the ropes in the falls, 6 mile, 4 mile etc are mine. Some of the old timers ropes from the 70's I cut out cause they were rotted. No there has been zero years I have been out of brood programs. Still do. I have never not had a permit since I started helping 20 years ago, both for brood capture and in the past transport permits, along with in closed area brood permits, on multiple rivers; Alouette, Vedder, Stave etc.. I brood every year. Brings me happiness giving back by knowing it will give fishermen fish to catch and hopefully takes some pressure off of wild fish in other areas. And gets me out on the water more with mother nature. I wish they were all still wild fish rivers but unfortunately that's not where we are at now days.


Back to some fishy pictures
Some local Steelies

 

[Sharphooks]

Thanks for the wise and supportive words, Steeler and Chasin’— ya, most of my steelhead pictures were from the late 70’s and early 80’s. That pre-dated the C&R regs on the Skeena tribs. People at the time would have thought C&R was nuts—-why fish if you can’t keep ‘em? And the term “fish handling” in those days meant: do you rip the gills out to make them bleed faster?

Every September I stayed with a logger and his wife —-their house was just across from the Cottonwood Hole on the Kispiox. They would constantly BEG me to bring a steelhead home for dinner but I always politely said “no”—-I was an across-the-board C&R guy long before it became a regulation or was the fashionable thing to do. IN my mind, “fish handling” meant....turn them all loose.

So ya, maybe a fish nudged up on a beach is not the greatest fish handling technique but when you’re alone, that’s what you do when there aren’t a lot of other options, especially when you have a 40” buck and its belly bottoms out on the gravel while he’s still 5 feet from shore and you have to wait for him to go on his side and slide him in closer to get the hook out..and when he swims away and splashes you in the face on his way back to the pool, you know he’s way better off having touched a few rocks then if his brains had been bashed in like they would have been in those days if caught by some of the Terrace, Smithers and Edmonton guys, especially if they got a big “trophy” buck. Those guys would have ridiculed me seeing me turn loose a big fish. Up on the rocks? Grab one and give it a stone shampoo!

So, one day my girlfriend paid me a visit up to the Promised Land. I took her down to a known big buck hole on the Kispiox —-I was going to teach her how to cast a fly. On my first cast I shot a bit too much line and the fly landed on the opposite bank. With a sly grin she said...oh, I see....is that how you do it?

I said no, that’s not how you do it. I raised the rod tip and the fly slid off a rock and just when I thought I was home-free for another cast, it snagged up on something.

I swore to myself, then came up hard several times with the rod tip—-nothing. I finally wrapped the line around my hand and started backing up the beach, thinking I was snagged on a log. Just then a huge tail broke the water up against the opposite bank and I felt some really violent throbbing through the line. Long story short, I finally got the beast into the shallows and got a measurement with my rod—-the fish was pushing 45”. Karl Mauser was up around the bend fishing his spot that morning; we’d passed him on the way to our spot. I remember thinking, wow, Karl’s record fish was 43” .....no doubt this fish is bigger! My girlfriend could read my mind and asked me what I was going to do with this fish. Surely you’re not going to keep him, said she.

I got the hook out and it just swam away nice and slow and peaceful back to it’s cave as if nothing happened. Of course this was the one day that with the girlfriend showing up, I was all hyped up and forgot to bring my camera—-it was back in the truck.

So I tell this story because legally I could have kept that fish and there was no doubt in my mind that it might have been one of those fish you get once in a life-time. Yes, it was on the shingle at the edge of the river while I got the hook out and when I lay my rod along side for a measurement. NO, I didn’t cold-**** it with a stone like a lot of guys would have done if standing in my wading boots. No doubt it would have been whacked and dragged back to someone’s truck mainly because it was so freaking huge. And yes, I’d bet money that fish ended up doing the double-backed beast with multiple does just before the snows fell, and 10,000 fertilized eggs got buried in the Kispiox gravel with or without me and the way I chose to handle or not handle that fish while it was in my possession.

 

[Hyde-N-Seek]

Keep posting those pics Sharphooks and Dream!! Brings back some great memories up north and the mighty T.

Just ignore some of these guys. U can give them all ur perfects and they will find a way to complain about something.

I always enjoy ur spring trips and stories.

 

[Sharphooks]

Hey, Hyde-N-Seek, thanks for that.....and speaking of the mighty “T”—-wow, I just read there are expected to be 145 fish (!!!) returning to that system this year....that bit of news will be an arrow in a lot of people’s hearts.

I met some really good people up there back in the day, and it’s more then a strong suspicion now that this river might have finally been pushed off the edge of a steelhead cliff... I told my daughters that’s where I want my ashes dumped: no place in this world brings back better memories .....my daughters are named Martel and Toketic—-I’ll be camped there next week on my way North to Region 6 and it’ll bring a poignant tear to my eye seeing those old haunts and remembering the good old days....

Disclaimer: some animals were subjected to extreme cold temperatures in the making of this travelogue. All were treated humanely and with the utmost respect and were released unharmed back to their natural habitat

 

[Birdbrain]

Sharphooks, I like your "bear bait" shot, and I really like that second to last shot of the rod, reel, and chrome tail.
Question: What do you call that style of double hander, with the reel seat up high like that, and what is the advantage over the usual placement of the reel much farther down?