I went fishing today for the very first time for Steelhead below Wells dam with a friend. We were on the river at 11:00 am with outside temps running about 32 degrees, high clouds and light wind. The river was running high when we first arrived and dropped slowly over the next couple of hours. We fished walking the bank and my buddy just couldn't keep the fish off of his line. The area below Wells Dam is a selective gear rule fishery so we used single barb-less hooks with corkies, roe and a little bit of yarn tied into the egg loop of the hook. We bounced these rigs along the bottom. My buddy brought two Beautiful Native Steelhead to the shore and released them without harm. I am still learning and after I listened to my buddy and lightened up my weight a little to get a faster drift I was able to bring a fish to within about 20 feet of shore before it slipped the hook. I don’t know if the fish was a sucker or the next world record Steelhead but it sure made me feel good to at least hook into something. After the water dropped a couple of feet the bite was off. This was the first time that I’ve ever fished for Steelhead and I can understand why fishing for Steelhead can become an addiction. These fish are beautiful although today they didn’t seem to put up much of a fight. My friend said it probably had something to do with the water temperature running in the mid 30’s. I sure hope they don’t close the season down anytime soon.