Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Nitroholic on February 26, 2009, 01:34:51 PM
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Found this on flybc ;D
(http://www.aww-kittah-aww.com/up/files/1142/01_G.jpg)
(http://www.aww-kittah-aww.com/up/files/1142/02_G.jpg)
(http://www.aww-kittah-aww.com/up/files/1142/03_G.jpg)
(http://www.aww-kittah-aww.com/up/files/1142/04_G.jpg)
Dear Friends and Fellow Fishermen,
As some of you may already have heard, last week, on Friday, 20 February I
was out fishing on the Hoh River with Shirley. It was a wonderfully clear
day, the temperature a little below freezing and a herd of elk were grazing
in a Riverside pasture. The river was running exceptionally low and clear
and we were swinging flies through some attractive water. I was using my
15-foot Spey rod, Shirley was using her eight-weight, single-handed rod.
There had been little action but I had seen one good-sized fish roll a
little ahead of me and, for a brief few seconds, I had hooked into what
appeared to be a 12-pound or 15-pound fish. At around 2 PM I was swinging my
fly through some good-looking water and something that I can only describe
as a lightning bolt hit my whole body. Suddenly my Ross reel was screaming
at a decibel level usually reserved for Rolling Stone concerts. In a couple
of heartbeats 200 yards of line had disappeared from my reel as the fish
headed for Alaska. I told myself not to panic, but my whole body was
shaking; I knew that if I could survive the first round I would at least
have some chance of getting the fish to the bank. For the next 30 minutes I
battled the fish, standing at times chest deep in the middle of the river on
a submerged bar.
At this point I had not seen the fish, but eventually I managed to make it
back to the river bank and was able to stand on dry ground. At that time the
fish exploded into the air, executing three cartwheels. I couldn't believe
my eyes, the fish was almost 4 feet in length. I had never seen a steelhead
like it. After 45 minutes of battling the fish I managed to beach it gently.
My intention was to let it go, having first measured the fish, but it was
bleeding quite heavily from the gills. As it seemed likely not survive the
ordeal, and because it was the fish of a lifetime, I decided to take the
fish. In 10 years of fishing Washington state rivers this is the first fish
I have ever taken, of any kind, from a river.
At this point, several boats appeared, heading down river. In one of the
boats was my good friend and mentor, Jim Kerr; with him in his boat was a
state biologist, who measured the fish and took some fish scales. A couple
of other boats arrived and had spring scales with them, and we weighed the
fish. One set of scales said 31 pounds and the other said 32 pounds. The
fish was dragged for about a mile through the forest to our parked car and
then taken to Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks. We weighed the fish on their
scales and it registered 31-1/2 pounds.
As many of you already know, there is a formula for estimating the weight of
a fish. In essence you square the girth of the fish and then multiply that
by its length and divide by 800.. My fish was 44 inches in length with a
girth of 23-1/2 inches. That would result in a fish weighing 30.38 pounds.
It was not until the following day, 23 hours after the fish had been caught,
that I managed to get the fish to a State-accredited set of scales, at Key
City Fish Company in Port Townsend. The fish had obviously lost a little
weight due to loss of fluids and bleeding, but it still weighed 29.5 pounds
at that point.
I have subsequently contacted the International Game Fish Association to
check on records for fly-caught steelhead. It turns out that the existing
world record for 8 kg tippet is a 28-pound fish caught by Chuck Stephens on
the Skeena River on 20 October 1985, 24 years ago. I am now in the process
of submitting my fish of last week as the new world record. On further
research it also appears that this would also be the largest steelhead ever
caught on a fly rod for all tippet classes.
Hopefully you all enjoyed the story and the pictures. Many people got to see
the fish before I dropped it off at a local taxidermist. One state biologist
confided in me that he was 62 years old and had personally caught over 5000
steelhead and that this was the biggest steelhead he had ever seen in his
life. Another chap simply shook me by the hand, looked me in the eye and
said, "This isn't the fish of a lifetime, it's the fish of a thousand
lifetimes."
I guess English Pete got lucky.
Best regards
Peter
[/qoute]
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What a tank. Too bad it's genetics are gone :( Multiple spawners like that one probably taste similar to yogurt. Big fish though
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Fish of a lifetime. Are they allowed to retain wild steelhead in the Hoh ?
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What a fish. Surely fish of many life times here in lower mainland. ;D
This is a fly-caught record. But I think the record steelie caught by other ways is even bigger than this one.
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Holy Carp!!! :o And I have yet to catch even one!! :'(
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ya there are 2 mounted in terrace or smithers cant remember, 48 and 52 are their weights, one was in a net, the other by an angler
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ya there are 2 mounted in terrace or smithers cant remember, 48 and 52 are their weights, one was in a net, the other by an angler
hey young gun-check you email.
cheers
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HOG for sure
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The angler claimed that the fish was gill hooked and a bleeder, that is why he legally retained it. There are several flows on the Olympic Penninsula where you can bonk 1 wild steel per year. I think this is a terrible rule and most guys I have fished with in Washington feel the same way.
As was said elsewhere, if I fatally hooked a steel of that importance you would not see a smile on my face. :'(
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The angler claimed that the fish was gill hooked and a bleeder, that is why he legally retained it.
I didn't interpret that the fish was hooked at the gill from the description provided, but it was simply bleeding from the gill, which we see quite often especially if a fish is deeply hooked. Catch and release mortality depends more greatly on the amount of blood loss than the length of the fight time. If a bleeding fish is released, then the mortality rate rises, depending on how much blood is lost and if or when the bleeding stops after it is released.
That being said, a bleeding fish doesn't have zero chance of surviving, it simply has less chance of surviving. It has zero chance of surviving when it is dispatched by a bonker. ;D
I didn't think anyone would still take IGFA record that seriously in today's state of our fisheries.
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It has zero chance of surviving when it is dispatched by a bonker. ;D
Ummmm didn't Marco prove otherwise half a month ago??
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I didn't interpret that the fish was hooked at the gill from the description provided, but it was simply bleeding from the gill, which we see quite often especially if a fish is deeply hooked.
Yes I meant it was probably hooked down in the rakers/ back of tongue no other real reason to account for enough blood loss to convince a guy the fish was doomed.
Some fish bleed out of the side of their mouths a little when hooked by a large hook right in the corner of the jaw, the only time I have seen lots of blood pumping out the gills is a deep tongue or raker hook job.
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or a finger ripping the gills.
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i'm with jim on this one, it doesn't look like a bleeder at all, except in that third photo. Good point jim!
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Sorry for being a skeptic here, but I have a hard time believing that a fish losing that much blood through the gills would put up a 45 minute battle before tiring out eventually. I've had fish bleed and the fight is noticeably shorter if it is a significant amount of blood loss...they simply can't get enough oxygen to keep it up, especially larger fish. There are always exceptions of course and this may be one of them but to me it sounds a little off.
He does also say "and because it was the fish of a lifetime"....so maybe a little blood was all it took to convince him to go for the rock shower. And hey, its legal and thats all that matters right? ::)
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45 minute fight? it was probably too tired to swim away let alone the photo shoot he probably had with it before it died. i dont see how it could be a gill bleeder, it looks like the fly is lip hooked on the left side...
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you wonder what kind of tip the guide would get for letting the fella keep that fish?
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KP is right, the fly is right in the side of the mouth, i'm convinced deffinetly bonked! not a chance of a bleader!
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speculation, that's all it is, is the guy legally caught and retained the fish, which he states that he does not often do. jeez man I would be thinking pretty seriously about bonking that fish if it was me, "is that some blood?....yeah i think I see some blood....it looks like....bonk!!!!!"
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I'm not sure how long a steelhead would live. This fish has spawned many times I'll bet so its genes are out there. If this guy isn't lying about never bonking a fish from these rivers in ten years. Then good for him on this incredible fish. It was within the law to take it. I think some people are a little jealous. You guys were not there so don't act like you know what happened. Assume stands for you make an my friend of u and me.
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ding ding ding round 2? ::) :D
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One turkey is more than enough for one night. Not so sure about the Buck Family though... How many do you go through per night? ;)
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just one really big one......and we make sure its well done too!! lol ;D
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You guys didn't disapoint me,I made 5 bucks on a bet that this would turn into ............ well exactly what it did.
The guy said he never kills fish, but decided to on a judgement call. I believe that if it wasn't bleeding he probably would have let it go, but regardless, it was LEGAL.
The fish was legal, it's a fish of a lifetime and congratulations.
I really do think some of you should stop fishing and join Peta
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It's clearly a resident. ;)
Actually, not too far off. There's a good pool above the dam in Bridgeport, WA that holds 25 + lb. rainbow, (triploids). When the bite's on, you can have 20 + fish days/person of fish averaging 8 lbs.
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So typical on here..... bashing some guy for catching and retaining a fish!!
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All I can say is.... if I caught that fish in the Vedder and it was a hatchery Steel it would be immediately bonked without any thought !!! a Steelhead that big is the catch of a lifetime and would spend it's remaining days looking down at me from its mount on my wall !!!
congrats to the gentleman that caught this beauty !!
TH
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Only thing that got bashed was the fish guys :) Nothing wrong with skepticism. If you buy everything you hear or read hook line and sinker, good luck in life :)
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So typical on here..... bashing some guy for catching and retaining a fish!!
Unfortunately this seem to be trend these days. Not only on this forum but others as well. :(
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You guys didn't disapoint me,I made 5 bucks on a bet that this would turn into ............ well exactly what it did.
The guy said he never kills fish, but decided to on a judgement call. I believe that if it wasn't bleeding he probably would have let it go, but regardless, it was LEGAL.
The fish was legal, it's a fish of a lifetime and congratulations.
I really do think some of you should stop fishing and join Peta
Pretty much what I said on another forum, Vic.
It never ceases to amaze me that there are so many bleeding hearts in this bloody sport of ours. ::)
For those of you truly concerned with the welfare of wild steelhead in Washington state, start writing letters to their legislators to change the regs.
You can start here and take it from there: http://wdfw.wa.gov/
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You don't need to kill a fish to get a mount on the wall.
If you take measurements and decent pictures from several angles any respectable taxidermiest can build a high quality replica that is identical to the true "stuffed" version.
I am qualified to make this statement because I killed a 15lb 4oz rainbow trout (stillwater) and had it stuffed.
Every time I looked at it I regretted having it done (it's now in my brother's basement) and certainly never killed another trophy.
In my opinion this would be the dumbest reason to kill a fish.
A fresh hatchery looks good on the BBQ though.
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WTH?
It's fish that was killed not a child! ::) ::) ::)
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From the freshwater fishing regulations:
It is illegal to: Waste the fish you catch. If your fish is not suitable for eating or if possession is illegal because of quotas, size limits or closed seasons, return the fish quickly and gently to the water.
Simple enough.
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From the freshwater fishing regulations:
It is illegal to: Waste the fish you catch. If your fish is not suitable for eating or if possession is illegal because of quotas, size limits or closed seasons, return the fish quickly and gently to the water.
Simple enough.
Not really. Does that mean that if I am not to eat the fish, I can't wall-mount it?
Wall-mounting a trophy fish is not wasting it, IMO.
However, the above wording (from the BC regs) could mean that unless you are going to eat the fish you keep, you shouldn't be harvesting it. Hmmmm....
Anyway, the fish that originated this thread was legitimately caught in Washington State (Hoh river), and Wa. regs do not mention anything about suitability for eating. You don't have to eat your fish if you don't want to, but you can still keep it. Now that's simple enough.
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From the freshwater fishing regulations:
It is illegal to: Waste the fish you catch. If your fish is not suitable for eating or if possession is illegal because of quotas, size limits or closed seasons, return the fish quickly and gently to the water.
Simple enough.
All the taxidermists that i deal with, will save all the meat if requested.
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The reg's basically say that the fish may not be kept if it is not "suitable for eating". The reg's do not say the fish must be eaten. (-;
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You don't need to kill a fish to get a mount on the wall.
If you take measurements and decent pictures from several angles any respectable taxidermiest can build a high quality replica that is identical to the true "stuffed" version.
I am qualified to make this statement because I killed a 15lb 4oz rainbow trout (stillwater) and had it stuffed.
Every time I looked at it I regretted having it done (it's now in my brother's basement) and certainly never killed another trophy.
In my opinion this would be the dumbest reason to kill a fish.
A fresh hatchery looks good on the BBQ though.
Don't kid yousself, replica is never the same.... Yes they can try their best to mold it out clostest to the real fish but its not REAL.... The best in my opinoin that i seen for replica mount is made by Advance taxidermist, ON. But so what its just a piece of art work that looks like what you caught. When it came to a true skin mount, everything is there, you got a missing scale, little beat up tail, all the charters of that fish will be there. And to the end its your fish not some kiind of fiberglass mold painting.
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It never ceases to amaze me that there are so many bleeding hearts in this bloody sport of ours. ::)
For those of you truly concerned with the welfare of wild steelhead in Washington state, start writing letters to their legislators to change the regs.
You can start here and take it from there: http://wdfw.wa.gov/
[/quote]
Well put Milo, there are some pretty conflicted fishermen out there. Somehow it is okay to do what we do to fish (hooking, fighting, reviving, releasing), but bonk one when it is your legal right and now you could possibly be....what?? I just don't get it.
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Who said it was wrong for the guy to bonk it???? Helps if you read the posts instead of having a knee jerk reaction. And just because somebody practices catch and release themselves doesn't mean that 1) they think any different of anyone that DOESNT, and 2) automatically qualify them as a bleeding heart!! Myself I have zero problem taking a fish or two for food now and again. To me I'm more surprised to see that washington allows retention of wild steelhead.
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this is from the statewide freshwater reg's for washington state:
TROUT: The combined daily limit for an angler that fishes in both rivers and lakes on the same day is 5 TROUT. In the combined
daily limit, only 2 TROUT may be from rivers, except as provided for EASTERN BROOK TROUT.
BROWN TROUT CUTTHROAT TROUT
RAINBOW TROUT LAKE TROUT
GOLDEN TROUT KOKANEE
TIGER TROUT LANDLOCKED
GRAYLING ATLANTIC,
CHINOOK,
AND COHO SALMON
In rivers, streams, and beaver ponds: Min. size 8". Daily limit 2. When fishing with bait, all TROUT
(except STEELHEAD) equal to or greater than the minimum size are counted as part of the daily limit
whether kept or released.
In lakes, ponds, and reservoirs: No min. size. Daily limit 5. When fishing with bait, all TROUT
(except STEELHEAD) equal to or greater than the minimum size are counted as part of the daily limit
whether kept or released.
EASTERN BROOK TROUT
(EBT)
In rivers, streams, and beaver ponds: No min. size. Daily limit 5. Anglers may keep up to 5
EASTERN BROOK TROUT (EBT), but no more than 5 TROUT total, and no more than 2 can be other
TROUT species. In lakes, ponds, and reseviors: Count as part of the 5 TROUT daily limit.
STEELHEAD Min. size 20". Daily limit 2. No more than 2 STEELHEAD may be retained as part of TROUT combined
daily limit. STEELHEAD may be caught and released until the daily limit is retained.
WILD STEELHEAD RETENTION RULES: ONE wild STEELHEAD per license year may be retained
from ONE of the following rivers: Bogachiel River, Calawah River, Clearwater River, Dickey River,
Green/Duwamish River, Hoh River, Hoko River, Pysht River, Quillayute River, Quinault River, or Sol
I only posted this section because it the only part that is driectly for this situation. if you want to look it up yourself here is the link
http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/2008/08_regs_2.pdf
now perhaps all you guys that are crying about him keeping the ONE wild steelhead he is allowed can drop your hissy fits and let it go. I myself would not keep that fish because of its sheer size and age (would taste gross i bet) however if it was bleeding and i thought it would die then i would have no problem killing it for consumption.
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The thing to remember about a fiberglass replica mount and a skin mount ,is that a replica mount is forever,a skin mount does not last forever as it eventually breaks down over the yrs.
Its only true to a point.. Yes, older style method for the skin mount do have a tendency to discolor, and start leaking oil over an extended period of time.. But the moden days skin mount method never have such problems.
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Yeah, whatever, you're all wrong no matter what position you took. That fish is a boot. :P
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American hatcheries release way more steel then Canadian. we consider gene pool, they want numbers. there is nothing to say that the steel in question was just a hatchery fish they do not clip. is that a possibility? at the end of they day if its a legally retained fish, then to each his own. I would have retained it if it was me.
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Please speak up if you witnessed this fish hooked.
Please speak up if you witnessed this fish played.
Please speak up if you witnessed this fish landed.
Please speak up if you witnessed this fish bleed.
Please speak up if you witnessed this fish bonked.
Please DON'T speak up if you want to whine about something you've only heard of second hand.
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Rod I agree with you all the way. I have been a member here for a little over a year and when I first joined this site I was pumped, I thought to myself what a great site. I learned a few things and got to see some really cool pictures of other guys posts of fish. Being a guy who works 40 to 50 hours a week monday to friday the only time I can fish is the weekends, and as everyone knows the rivers can change all the time so I would rely on this site for some help about what was going on the river for me to make a chocie about fishing for the weekend. But more and more now I am finding to much complaining and beaking off and getting on peoples back about the smallest things. I geuss what I am trying to say is lets all get along and help each other out and talk about fishing.
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Im confused your alowed to keep a wild steelhead if its bleeding? Or only in washington?
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great job !! to him....so...now, it`s the time, we need to talk about something for vedder river steelheader....
Where is our fish on the river ???
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People arguing about a fish legally retained in another country this is hilarious.....
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This is a topic that has been widely talked about on many forums and blogs this week.
The Big Pull blog entry: http://thebigpull.wordpress.com/
Comments: http://thebigpull.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/a-steelhead/#comments
Moldy Chum blog entry: http://www.moldychum.com/home-old/2009/2/26/i-guess-english-pete-got-lucky-world-record-steelhead.html
Discussion: http://www.moldychum.com/forum/post/677538?lastPage=true
Fish and Stream blog: http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/flytalk/2009/02/big-pull-record-steelhead
Flybc thread: http://forum.flybc.ca/index.php?showtopic=14686
Earlier discussion about how things are going on the forum has been moved to:
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=20035.0
My apology for the hijack.
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All I can say is.... if I caught that fish in the Vedder and it was a hatchery Steel it would be immediately bonked without any thought !!! a Steelhead that big is the catch of a lifetime and would spend it's remaining days looking down at me from its mount on my wall !!!
congrats to the gentleman that caught this beauty !!
TH
Thus the name TrophyHunter ;D
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Excellant sites thanx Rod.The video about steelheaders with the hole in thier boat was hilarious.The comments about retaining one fish[albeit a world record] by the fisherman himself tell it all.If there were only a lot more like him the fishing community in general might be held in higher regard.How many career fisherman can say they agonize much later over having taken one and only one fish after many years of catch and release?If I am ever fortunate enough to meet this gentleman I will consider it an honour to shake his hand!