RaybabyMetalhead

My friend was unhooking a steelhead when it started to wiggle and slid down the gill over his finger up to the mouth where the hook was. He gets hooked while the fish wiggles some more. It was painful while it was happening, however we both laughed afterwards. This was on the Cowlitz River in Washington State in late winter 2023.

Steelhead Fishing on Rivers from the Coast to inland rivers like the Cowlitz River at times results in unintended encounters with smolts and occasionally bigger trout. I always try to be careful as much as possible when this happens. These are couple clips recently from incidental trout encounters. Please leave a comment if you have any questions, suggestions, ideas, etc..... I enjoy sharing and learning. Lot of nice people fishing the river sharing knowledge and experiences always makes it a enjoyable time. I really enjoy meeting you, getting feedback in person or through comments, and appreciate the support watching the videos. I hope the videos gives you some enjoyment and share our passion for fishing with others. Fish On !!!

Nice hatchery steelhead got me a little excited winter 2022 here in Washington State. First run almost got me concerned I was going to get spooled. Finally turned it after about half of my line left. About 5 runs later and 10 minutes, I finally landed it with almost a disaster on a log at the bank with my wife not moving as I tried to beach it.

We spent the last week or so fishing every few days from Puget Sound Area 9 beaches in pursuit of hatchery coho salmon and some extra action if pink salmon were cooperating. We caught the tail end of the pink run as the action was slowing down. However in the short period we fished, we had pretty good action. I needed a break from the rivers for a bit and I was also disappointed in what I saw checking out my usual spots prior to opening day. The river areas where I like to go away from the crowds were occupied by homeless people setup in multiple areas in the wooded areas that I have to walk through. Although I did see some clean up efforts going on, I ran into too many homeless people and camps setup out of visibility from the public. I also encountered police activity in another spot a long distance from the city that appeared to be dealing with some homeless people again. It was not worth it to risk safety especially with my wife. After another week or so when the crowd thins out some, I will probably go try some rivers in areas that are easier to access and void of homeless camps. We used spinning rods with 10lb test mono and either small buzz bomb or a small Zzinger most of the time. On the last trip, my hands were sore from using spinning rods so I brought my Northwest Rods 8 foot Kokanee light rod to see if I can fish with it and spare my hand-wrist some additional soreness. I was very pleased at how the rod felt and it was very fun to catch pinks on the rod. It was so soft and made it lot of fun. It did take a few casts to get used to casting a small buzz bomb on a flimsy rod, but it worked out great.