After using most methods known to man including once "guddling" a steelhead, I came to fly-fishing for steelhead, initially in the Charlottes. Some success in the Yakoun, the Copper, the Deena and other places not needing to be named encouraged me and so it came to pass that when I came back to Campbell River in 1990 I was mostly chasing steel with flies.
New pals met through the Steelhead Society introduced me to the Tsitika transplants in the Campbell and finally came the day when I and two pals headed for the Tsitika itself, in pursuit of those sometimes large summer-runs in their natal stream.
Picking out a likely looking piece of water I laid out some line to which was attached a fly given me by Van Egan.
I made a couple of mends as the fly worked down the slot, let it hang a bit at the end then slowly recovered line as I brought it in for another cast. To my great surprise a large dark shape was in hot pursuit of the fly and in the end chased it almost to my feet before turning off and scooting back downstream.
After starting to breathe again I quickly put the fly back out and drifted it through.
Nothing.
Third cast brought nothing but the fourth found me strongly attached to a silver bullet that fought wildly for a short period then abruptly weakened.
I had a 10 # test tippet on my eight weight and with a few hundred steelies to my credit beforehand I wasn't babying this fish at all so quickly had it near enough to see, to my abject horror, that it was gushing blood.
My buddy Harold was at hand and helped me as I guided the fish into reach whereupon we discovered that somehow the fly must have come out of its jaw or from wherever it had been initially hooked and had then wrapped around its gill rakers, causing a huge bloodletting.
I held that fish upright in freezing water for 20 minutes, long past the time the blood flow had stopped, before it weakly swam from my frozen hands. I saw it tip a couple of times as it entered deeper water with more current but by then all I was able to do was wish it well.
Sometimes the best of intentions don't pan out for sure.
Not the big trib of the Fraser but similar enough of a story methinks.
Take care.