Hi Guys, this is my first post. I know it says Coho, but I didn't actually catch a Coho. I went to the Snohomish this morning hoping to catch my first. The humpies were all over the place. Lots of moldy looking ones as well. I was fishing from the bank using a nickle back UV frog Dick Nite in the wee size. Got to the river about 7:15 AM. Caught a good size male humpy on my third cast. He went back in after I made sure he was OK. I got a few more hits over the next hour or so, but didn't manage to set the hook properly. There were a couple of guys down stream also targeting Cohos, but they only managed to catch humpies. After they left, I moved downstream a bit as I kept catching mussels. Weird. Third cast after moving down stream and I hook into a big fish. I was using a medium weight rod with 12lb test, so I didn't want to horse the fish. It took me quite a few minutes to get it to shore, and the whole time it kept diving and swimming toward the middle of the river. It never jumped or otherwise showed itself. When I got it to shore, it turned out to be a very pretty looking fish, but it didn't look like a humpy. It was olive colored with speckles all over the top and fins. It also had a pinkish stripe going down its side. I think it was a steelhead, but having never caught one before, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It was certainly a pretty fish, and it was a wild one as well. It wrapped itself up pretty good in my line and so it took me a while to get it unhooked. Fortunately, it was hooked in the corner of its mouth and not bleeding. If it was a wild steelhead, I wanted to make sure to put it back in good shape. I held the fish in the water for a while until it came to and literally shot out of my hands. Other than a mark across the nose where the line was wrapped, the fish went back no worse for wear.

The river was kind to me. I spent all last year trying to catch a steelhead. At one point, I asked the river for a fish. The river gave me a fish. However, it was only about 4 inches long (I guess should've been more specific in my request). This year, the river gave me what I believe was a steelhead (though I was asking for a Coho). I was grateful nonetheless. Catching my first steelhead was a real blast. I went back to fishing thinking that today was a perfect day when on my second cast, I caught another fish. I took me another several minutes to get this one to shore. It was almost like deja vu - it was the same type of olive fish with a pinkish stripe. I would have sworn that I caught the same fish again, except for this one didn't have a mark on its nose from my line and had some sort of parasite on its side. I've read about sea lice on this message board, but haven't ever seen one before. My assumption, however, was that this was a sea lice. Both fish were almost 2 feet long and I would guess somewhere around 7 lbs. The second fish was wild as well, so I put it back and thanked the river again.

I ended my morning hooking another humpy, but this one broke my line just as I was bringing it to shore. It was an awesome morning - I didn't leave with any fish, but left with some great memories. Now if I can only catch a Coho.

Sorry but no pics - forgot my camera.

TedBull

10/2/2011 1:28:00 PM

No cell phone pics. Sounds like stealhead to me. And two back to back, awesome.

Jeremy Young

10/2/2011 1:45:00 PM

sounds to me like you released your limit of coho. They are olive and spotted and get a rosey hue to them in the river. The males get very red near spawning...

Berchu

10/2/2011 3:48:00 PM

I was hoping they might be cohos, but there were spots on the tail. At first I thought they might be humpies, but they didn't look like the humpies I had caught before. It looked like the fish on the cover of the regs book. Thought I'd better play it safe and let them go just in case.

Berchu

10/2/2011 4:18:00 PM

I was hoping they might be cohos, but there were spots on the tail. At first I thought they might be humpies, but they didn't look like the humpies I had caught before. It looked like the fish on the cover of the regs book. Thought I'd better play it safe and let them go just in case.

kevin14

10/2/2011 5:58:00 PM

If those were steelhead thats awesome!!!!! And that would be unfortunate if they were coho but either way sounds like an awesome day of fishing

fishlaker

10/2/2011 8:07:00 PM

steelhead...and as i see noone has bothered to mention how to tell you how to figure out what is native and hatchery i will...read thishttp://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01176/wdfw01176.pdf. you shouldn't be fishing for anything if u dont know what fish are what.

Berchu

10/2/2011 10:22:00 PM

Thanks for your comment Fishlaker. I'm actually aware of the difference, hatchery fish having a clipped adipose fin. However, I was using the terminology in the regs to describe the status of the fish ("Wild Steelhead" is a defined term page 18 of the regs - note that "native" is not a defined term in the regs). I actually do know what a coho looks like according to the description (which is what I was targeting), and I do know what a humpy looks like (which I was trying to avoid). However, I have not as yet figured out how to determine the species of the fish at the end of my line when it's still in the water and when using a multi-species lure such as the Dick Nite. Let me know if you've got that one figured out - maybe we can patent it :) In any event, when I doubt I make sure that they get safe and sound back into the river so they can come play another day (along with their kids and grandkids).

buzzbait

10/3/2011 10:31:00 AM

this time of year they can look like steelies,but it sounds like it was coho for sure.

tele_maniac

10/3/2011 5:06:00 PM

I'm looking for bank access to fish. What part of the river were you fishing on?

Anonymous

10/3/2011 5:25:00 PM

Good job playing it safe. I also get confused and often rely on other people's opinion, which is not a good idea. I need more species identifying practice (i.e. catch more fish, or volunteer at a hatchery). I didn't see it, so I won't guess. There are some recent posts w/ pics of redish coho, does it resemble those? Anyway, I tip my hat to you, and good luck.

Berchu

10/4/2011 7:48:00 AM

Hi Tele_maniac - I was pretty close to Bob Heirman park, that's a good spot.
Hi Mrmarkhill - thanks! After doing more research, I'm sure these were steelhead. It was the spots on the tail that initially confused me, but also confirm the species. The humpies have large spots all over the tail. This fish also had spots all over the tail. The coho, however, would only have spots on the upper lobe of the tail and would also have silver streaks in the tail. The other thing that was different was the pink was only a faint stripe along the side. The back was a deep olive with spots and the belly was silver. Looking at different pictures of both steelhead and cohos, I'm now pretty sure that these were steelhead. Given that they were wild, I'm glad I let them go. However, after reading more about the coho roll, my last fish might actually have been a coho as opposed to a humpy. It got entirely wrapped in my line which broke before I was able to get the fish to shore. Doh.

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