PAGE A24, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 14, 2021
The Great
OUTDOORS
BY G.I. WILSON
For the Keizertimes
We know there will be ice in the
guides today. There are icy spots on
the road, so we wait until 9 a.m. to head
for the Nestucca River. It will be a safer
drive, later in the day, after the sun has
blunted the night time low of 19º. It is
late January. The hatchery run is virtu-
ally over and too early for the native run.
Gerry and I have been cooped up too
long, unable to fish because of high water.
The steelhead of my dreams
When we arrive at the river, our sus-
picions are confirmed. We are all alone.
Standing puddles of water are covered
with ice two inches thick. Limbs hang-
ing into the river’s current are coated
with two to three inches of ice. We are
well prepared with wool caps, gloves,
and heavy coats.
After about an hour of driftfishing
Gerry heads for the truck to thaw out
by the heater and have some of my
hot tea. To my surprise two men and a
young boy pass by, stop for a visit, head
through a stand of willows, and start
brainfood
G.I. WILSON
casting some 35-40 yards downriver.
I am nestled into a little gap in the
willows just wide enough for one fish-
erman. I’m engrossed in the drift, feel-
ing the tic, tic, of pencil lead bouncing
along the rocky bottom. My thoughts
are interrupted by that tap, tap, tap of a
steelhead take. I set the hook and feel
the immediate surge of a powerful fish
ripping across the river. With a flap of a
huge tail it heads downriver. I can hear
my heart pounding. This is a huge fish.
My reel seems to be smoking as wool
fibers fly off my glove. My thumb heats
up as I apply as much pressure to the
spool as I dare. Twelve pound test is not
going to stop this fish. I step out into
the river as far as possible and submerse
the tip of the rod for the “old rod in the
water” technique. Some 30-40 yards
downriver I hear a huge splash and the
run stops.
One of the guys downriver yells
“What a monster! Must be 25-30
pounds.” My adrenaline level doubles,
again! Here is probably the largest steel-
head I have ever hooked, 30-40 yards
downriver, beyond a patch of trees, and
I am probably going to lose it without
even a look. Keeping the rod tip under
water, I slowly pull up stream and feel
the fish give.
A guy yells, “He’s headed your way -
what a beauty!”
Inch by inch, foot by foot, I slowly
gain line. Something feels different!
“He has gone behind a limb.” One of
the guys races up and grabs my net.
“I think I can push the line free,” he
yells.
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answers pg A26
“He’s loose, headed your way!”
I slowly ease him upriver. After what
seems like an eternity I can finally see
him. A huge, chrome-bright fish, totally
exhausted. The guys follow the fish up
the bank. One of them wades out and
slips the net under the monster. What
a beauty! The largest steelhead I have
ever seen in my 30+ years of steelhead-
ing. A magnificent native specimen!
Adipose fin seems almost as large as
the dorsal fin of lesser hatchery fish.
Huge head and shoulders more like a
chinook than a steelhead. Our admi-
ration turns to safety for the big fish.
I remove the hook from his jaw and
the guy asks “May I release him?” He
expertly cradles the fish, steps into that
icy water and eases him back and forth.
After a few minutes, we can see life and
strength return as the powerful body
twists, pulls free from his hands and
swims away. In our haste we have for-
gotten measurements or pictures.
I stand there and shake from excite-
ment. I had caught steelhead of 18 and
20 pounds before. This one was much
larger.
As it turns out the guys that helped
are from Oregon City. One of them has
fished the Clackamas and Willamette
for years, caught or helped land a num-
ber of fish in the 20-pound range. “This
one is much larger.”
Fortunately for me they are here, not
only to make it possible for me to land
the beauty but to verify to Gerry that I
had truly landed “the steelhead of my
dreams.”
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