T
troutmasta
0
Hit the coast this morning with college kid, was supposed to roll w steelmonkiller and make it a trio but he 'accidently' went to the wrong river and found an open seat on a drift boat (I would've too). The Drive in was super dark and foggy, of course some road raging folks were doing 85 mph in the mountains in the wet foggy dark! Which I dont really mind cause they always find the staters for me (or crash and explode). Any how we made it safe and hit the "new" hole Tanner and I found the other day. Hiked in about dawn, Beautiful Morning!
Water was clearer than I had anticipated, lower than I imagined, but It had a little green and we had a couple holes I figured we'd do alright.
1st- We both did the glow corkie with pink worm in the morning darkness..Nada..
2nd- I went to a purple and pink jig....Nada....then a white and pink....Nada..Chartruese orange...Nada
3rd- Ben hit spinners all colors...Nada
4th- Yarnie W/eggs.....Nada
Finally I hiked through some Nasty Nasty to get to the top of a bend where 2 little cuts from big rocks kinda merge into one big one right where it gets deep and I would be at the top so I could just thumb the reel and walk a plug down through the water, I brought one Plug with me a little red and chartruese kwik fish. Cast a just few feet and let the current carry it passed the first rock then stopped it.
Now just for the record I love the way those things feel when they dive down, super cool. Anyway thats what it did dove down and freaked out, so I had walked it maybe 2 feet when Bam Fish on!
Suprisingly strong strike, especially when I realized it was just a little Cuttie. Poor little fella welded himself. Ben snapped a pick while I grabbed my forceps that were on my jacket I took OFF :doh:, and we released the little fella safely.
I got my gear back in the water and did the same thing through the same spot ..Nada
Kept it going passed the second riffle and into the tail out, you could feel this sucker diving hard, then the action stopped...Not even really like a bite, but my rod was getting heavier and I knew a fish had grabbed ahold of it. Being It was a kwik fish I just stopped and held the rod for about 2-3 seconds then (anyone who has plug fished knows what happens next) it SLAMMED down hard and started burning line and this Hawg flew straight into the air!!.. Ahhh Fish ON!
The first thought that went through my head was Oh blank I have Zero places to land this fish and the brush was so thick I couldnt follow it down the bank..
So I did what and reasonable angler would do in December, I checked my Bail, checked my wader belt and jumped in:shock:....
Now before you send me saftey spam rest assured I could tell the water right beneath me was only about 2-3 feet and not moving to fast. Splashed down and quickly realized my options were to cross right there in the shallows before it got deep or try to bring the fish all they way back up the river and land it in 2 1/2 of water. Meanwhile its jumping and jumping OFF into the distance. I crossed the river and managed to stay dry doing so, and with the help of my new A$$ kicker 10' 6" 20-50 Plug rod was able to bring in this 16.8 pound (on a digital scale) Chrome Hen. It was a thick fish! 33 in long and loaded with eggs!
My first chrome on a plug and my biggest winter yet:clap:
Hit one spot under the bridge on the way out (where we parked) ...Nada
I didn't have the Video camera on when It happened and it was on the other side of the river when I landed it so no footage but I did hook my little waterproof camera to a 3 oz bobber and cast it through the tail out under the bridge and got some cool footage right before we packed it up for the day. Now you what its like to be a sand shrimp:shock:
Happy Holidays
P.S this was supposed to be posted under "Steelhead Fishing"
Water was clearer than I had anticipated, lower than I imagined, but It had a little green and we had a couple holes I figured we'd do alright.
1st- We both did the glow corkie with pink worm in the morning darkness..Nada..
2nd- I went to a purple and pink jig....Nada....then a white and pink....Nada..Chartruese orange...Nada
3rd- Ben hit spinners all colors...Nada
4th- Yarnie W/eggs.....Nada
Finally I hiked through some Nasty Nasty to get to the top of a bend where 2 little cuts from big rocks kinda merge into one big one right where it gets deep and I would be at the top so I could just thumb the reel and walk a plug down through the water, I brought one Plug with me a little red and chartruese kwik fish. Cast a just few feet and let the current carry it passed the first rock then stopped it.
Now just for the record I love the way those things feel when they dive down, super cool. Anyway thats what it did dove down and freaked out, so I had walked it maybe 2 feet when Bam Fish on!
Suprisingly strong strike, especially when I realized it was just a little Cuttie. Poor little fella welded himself. Ben snapped a pick while I grabbed my forceps that were on my jacket I took OFF :doh:, and we released the little fella safely.
I got my gear back in the water and did the same thing through the same spot ..Nada
Kept it going passed the second riffle and into the tail out, you could feel this sucker diving hard, then the action stopped...Not even really like a bite, but my rod was getting heavier and I knew a fish had grabbed ahold of it. Being It was a kwik fish I just stopped and held the rod for about 2-3 seconds then (anyone who has plug fished knows what happens next) it SLAMMED down hard and started burning line and this Hawg flew straight into the air!!.. Ahhh Fish ON!
The first thought that went through my head was Oh blank I have Zero places to land this fish and the brush was so thick I couldnt follow it down the bank..
So I did what and reasonable angler would do in December, I checked my Bail, checked my wader belt and jumped in:shock:....
Now before you send me saftey spam rest assured I could tell the water right beneath me was only about 2-3 feet and not moving to fast. Splashed down and quickly realized my options were to cross right there in the shallows before it got deep or try to bring the fish all they way back up the river and land it in 2 1/2 of water. Meanwhile its jumping and jumping OFF into the distance. I crossed the river and managed to stay dry doing so, and with the help of my new A$$ kicker 10' 6" 20-50 Plug rod was able to bring in this 16.8 pound (on a digital scale) Chrome Hen. It was a thick fish! 33 in long and loaded with eggs!
My first chrome on a plug and my biggest winter yet:clap:
Hit one spot under the bridge on the way out (where we parked) ...Nada
I didn't have the Video camera on when It happened and it was on the other side of the river when I landed it so no footage but I did hook my little waterproof camera to a 3 oz bobber and cast it through the tail out under the bridge and got some cool footage right before we packed it up for the day. Now you what its like to be a sand shrimp:shock:
P.S this was supposed to be posted under "Steelhead Fishing"
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