Steelhead-Post Your Pictures Here

Chasin' Dreams

Well-Known Member
Hey guys there doesn't seem to be too much discussion about Steelhead on the forum. I know it's mostly a salt water forum but just thought I'd see if there are some other Steelheaders here. If so and you want to share some pics of your catch I'm sure others would love to see them.

I'll start it off with an oldie but a goodie :)

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Just got back from three days on the Morice. Seemed to be very few fish around at the time after a good early season. Weather was good and water conditions were excellent. We used a mix of rigs to improve coverage: baitcaster, regular fly, Spey. Kept a few coho that were in good shape but we got just two steelhead in the three days.

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Just got back from three days on the Morice. Seemed to be very few fish around at the time after a good early season. Weather was good and water conditions were excellent. We used a mix of rigs to improve coverage: baitcaster, regular fly, Spey. Kept a few coho that were in good shape but we got just two steelhead in the three days.

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Right on thanks for sharing the pic! Brings back some memories as soon as I read Morice. It can be a chore finding the Steelhead in that river. Such even flat wide runs in a lot of spots. They can move through quick and can make it tougher trying to read the water and pick out spots they will hold up.

Did you guys drift it with a boat, jet boat it, or walk it? Any run ins with black or Grizzly bears while you were up?

Here's a Morice Steely I got back in the early 90's. We did a lot better on the Bulkley but did get into some on the Morice as well. Love the area, especially Fall when all the colors are changing up there.

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My 40 x 20 on the Thompson when the were allowed to kill 2 per day but I releases all mine...........
Now even if the opened the T for fish for these endangered beauty's, I will not until the numbers make an upward rebound
Stop the commercial chum fisheries:mad:



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My 40 x 20 on the Thompson when the were allowed to kill 2 per day but I releases all mine...........
Now even if the opened the T for fish for these endangered beauty's, I will not until the numbers make an upward rebound
Stop the commercial chum fisheries:mad:



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Awesome! Beautiful fish man thanks for sharing! Now we're cooking!! 40" ers don't come around very often do they!! That fish must have been an amazing fight on the fly on the Thompson. The fish in my post at the top of this thread is also a big Thompson Steely. Love that river and like you I haven't been fishing it for years now for the reasons you mentioned. Yes used to fish it too when you could kill two wilds/day but we also released all of ours. They are one of the strongest fighting Steelhead stock I've ever had the pleasure to catch.

Here's another Thompson Steely I caught near the confluence with the Fraser in the big back eddy under the bridge. I'm sure you know the spot lol. And yes I wear neoprene gloves, not wool, so they don't remove any protective slime from the fish. As you can tell by this picture it was before cell phones lol. We used to have to pack around cameras like I have hanging off my chest :)

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I have pictures, but the fish are all dead in the pics so I won’t post them. Back from when we bonked everything in the 70’s and early 80’s.
I don’t have the energy to combat the flaming I’d get. Lol
 
I have pictures, but the fish are all dead in the pics so I won’t post them. Back from when we bonked everything in the 70’s and early 80’s.
I don’t have the energy to combat the flaming I’d get. Lol

Hey man screw anyone that would flame you for that. If it was legal it's legal. You didn't break any laws and we were told back then its all good. I think we all have taken more fish than we have needed at some point or another. I know I have but don't any more. We know better now days. I keep what we are going to be able to eat. Last year I actually underestimated and kept too little. I ended up having to buy some Salmon towards the end of the season and it killed me inside lol. One of my daughter's is a Pescatarian/Vegetarian so she eats a **** load of seafood and so do I.

I hope you will share your pics @Kildonan If it helps I'll share some pics of dead Steelhead and Salmon. They got eaten and enjoyed by our family.
:)

Winter Run Steely
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Summer Run Steely and Two Coho
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My 40 x 20 on the Thompson when the were allowed to kill 2 per day but I releases all mine...........
Now even if the opened the T for fish for these endangered beauty's, I will not until the numbers make an upward rebound
Stop the commercial chum fisheries:mad:



View attachment 48011

What a tank! That thing has a 20” girth from gills to adipose!!! Thompson steelhead were beauties, what a shame we let them get to this point.

Cheers!

Ukee
 
My 40 x 20 on the Thompson when the were allowed to kill 2 per day but I releases all mine...........
Now even if the opened the T for fish for these endangered beauty's, I will not until the numbers make an upward rebound
Stop the commercial chum fisheries:mad:



View attachment 48011


Not gonna find another one those anymore... Good for you for releasing them.
 
A pretty doe Steely from a little northern BC river. A Skeena tributary. Circa 1996. This one hammered a Gibbs Coho spoon. In this one pool we hooked 8 Steelhead then went to the run below it and got another 3 more to bite. Oh those were the days!!

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They sure do love the spoons eh? My biggest was a 20 at the Y Run on New Year’s Eve in 2006. On a Ironhead spoon and spinning rod and reel. Wish I had a pic, I was so excited I dropped the camera in the water. It was before Smartphones.
 
They sure do love the spoons eh? My biggest was a 20 at the Y Run on New Year’s Eve in 2006. On a Ironhead spoon and spinning rod and reel. Wish I had a pic, I was so excited I dropped the camera in the water. It was before Smartphones.
Ya they love them and I love the Ironhead spoons too. Nice and densely heavy spoons. Have tossed those a lot over the years. Pretty much anywhere a fly would swing across a run nicely a spoon would also be very effective. I also know how it feels to drop a camera in a river while fishing too lol. Very ****** feeling. Also lost a wedding ring in one river too lol. It fit a bit loose and I reached for a boulder to steady myself as I crossed a river and the ring snagged part of the rock and slid off my finger. Wife thought I made the story up lol but I had a buddy for a witness :D
 
I’m heading up to Region 6 next week—- I’m mortified to admit it but it will be my 43 rd year in a row going to Skeena Country—-makes me feel old as dirt!

But wow, the mid seventies thru the late 80’s were a wonderful time to be up there. I’d arrive in early August then come back south in November, stopping at the Thompson and stay in S.B. until the snow drove me away. But every year it gets more and more difficult to go back to that area—-it used to be a true outdoor experience but these days, I can truly say that we’re at a point where there are more fishermen then fish and the jet boats are so thick no spot on the Skeena ever gets a rest... I’m bringing my youngest daughter this year—-I hope she at least gets a taste of what’s left... I stopped posting Steely pictures because of the flame brigade but here’s a few.

I’ve fished alone all my life so yes, if I wanted a hero shot it had to be a beached fish...flame on, W.B.

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Nice fur hat, Sharphooks! What is it? I had one like that, but grey-brown. I think it was rabbit. It was sold to me as a Russian army hat, but it didn't have any tags to verify that.
 
I’m heading up to Region 6 next week—- I’m mortified to admit it but it will be my 43 rd year in a row going to Skeena Country—-makes me feel old as dirt!

But wow, the mid seventies thru the late 80’s were a wonderful time to be up there. I’d arrive in early August then come back south in November, stopping at the Thompson and stay in S.B. until the snow drove me away. But every year it gets more and more difficult to go back to that area—-it used to be a true outdoor experience but these days, I can truly say that we’re at a point where there are more fishermen then fish and the jet boats are so thick no spot on the Skeena ever gets a rest... I’m bringing my daughter this year—-I hope she at least gets a taste of what’s left... I stopped posting Steely pictures because of the flame brigade but here’s a few.

I’ve fished alone all my life so yes, if I wanted a hero shot it had to be a beached fish...flame on, W.B.

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Beautiful Steelhead! Wow you've been going up for a long time man. That's awesome and I hear ya about how the times/fish/people are changing up there. Just not the same anymore and they should shut down the jet boats on these rivers. I haven't been up there in years and the last year I went up the jet boats were really just starting to show up up there. Used to see guys packing drift boats (like we did) on some of the rivers but mostly it was guys hiking, or hiring drift boat guides from a couple of the local lodges around back then. We drifted and called for a ride from lower on the rivers we drifted to get back up to our truck then drove down to get the boat. Some trips we just hiked, no drift boat. I've fished solo a lot of my life too while chasing Steelies, Salmon and Trout. Just something about being in nature that has always been my way to get myself sorted out.

Love your Spey rod and reel! What brand reel is it?

That picture of your pooch on the bar looks familiar to me. Looks like a spot I've fished on the lower Bulkley below the canyon close to the campground/store on the highway. But also looks like a lot of spots on the Skeena too lol. Like just below a tributary that goes north... :D

I saw this fish roll at the tail out of the run two holes above where I finally landed it. I tried to get it to bite for about 30 min with no luck. I left it alone for another 30 min then went back to it. Lengthened my leader, dropped leader size, and put a larger more intrusive fly on. Swung it across very quickly with a fast strip. The fish smashed it and just screamed down river. My buddy saw what was happening and grabbed the drift boat and we jumped in. We got in and out of the boat twice to get to this fish to where I could fight it in the deeper tailout where it finally calmed down. Funny how fishermen can remember almost every fish they catch eh? Lol.
Another Skeena tributary fish:

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Hey Bird—I used to be a fish biologist and spent lots of time on Russian hake trawlers. One of the captains gave me that fur hat as a gift. I used to wear it skiing on cold days...one day a pretty gal in the lift line said....”hey, what do you feed that animal on your head?”

Without even thinking I said:

“Why, it’s obvious isn’t it? I give it head!”

Yuk yuk
 
Hey Chasin Dreams—-I have a collection of Hardy Brass Faced Perfects—-that reel has a scream like nobody’s business when you get a fish on. Here’s a picture I got of them on the Thompson a few years ago after a big snow

The other picture is the lower Bulkley— that was the last year my Sheltie accompanied me to Skeena Country so that picture has lots of sentimental stuff going on

Third picture is my collection—-took me 40 years to get all the different sizes of Brass Faced Perfects—-when I croak, my daughters will put all the Perfects and Longstones and Silexes on Craigslist for $50 bucks each...ha ha 6E1C405A-3754-4036-8564-5B67CC5F17C1.jpeg 4008299C-B1F3-4870-AEB7-9360CF30E515.jpeg A4186990-1486-4CF7-A63E-68CD7F1499A6.jpeg
 
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Hey Chasin Dreams—-I have a collection of Hardy Brass Faced Perfects—-that reel has a scream like nobody’s business when you get a fish on. Here’s a picture I got of them on the Thompson a few years ago after a big snow

The other picture is the lower Bulkley— that was the last year my Sheltie accompanied me to Skeena Country so that picture has lots of sentimental stuff going on

Third picture is my collection—-took me 40 years to get all the different sizes of Brass Faced Perfects—-when I croak, my daughters will put all the Perfects and Longstones and Silexes on Craigslist for $50 bucks each...ha ha View attachment 48060 View attachment 48061 View attachment 48062
Great pics and great collection of reels! Thanks for sharing man. Sounds like we are similar folk. Oh man I hope your daughter doesn't do that with those reels!!
One of my daughters loves fishing like I do. She was asking to go when she could barely walk and talk. I used to pack her around on a chest harness when I went Steelheading lol. She tells me she can remember those times. I'm like how the heck can she remember she was a baby lol. I named her Saige after one of my favorite rods. If she would have been a boy it would have been Hardy :)
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My Skeena wheels and my fishing partner pooch Loba
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Kispiox Grizzly that hung out watching us fish then wanted to take a Steelhead from me. Had to purposely break the fish off so we could retreat to our truck:
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