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So I decided to spoil myself for Christmas and buy myself a pair of neoprene waders and wading boots. I also bought myself a 9'6'' ML BPS Float N Fly Rod and a Daiwa Aird spinning reel as my new ultra light combo. To test them out I decided to go river fishing in hopes of hooking into the elusive steelhead.

I headed over to the wallace river with a buddy of mine to test our luck and see what we could come up with. I began drifting an 1/8 oz maribou jig under a slip float in the deeper holes and pockets. After about 15 minutes, my bobber slowly goes down and I set the hook! Fish On! Unfortunately, it was a fire truck coho that was foul hooked on it's dorsal fin. However, with the new combo that I had spooled up with 8 lb fluorocarbon, the fish fought super hard, took out a lot of drag, and it was a ton of fun. Fun up until I thought that the fish was almost tired out and decided to try to hold my spool and pull it up on shore. It was coming in and appeared to have given up but decided to surprise me with one last ultra hard pull and it snapped me off.

My buddy was drifting a corky and ended up catching several fire truck cohos. We started fishing around 9 am and fished until just before 4 before. From about 10 am to 3 pm, I didn't hook a single fish. I alternated between drifting jigs under a slip float, drifting a corky on the bottom, even throwing spoons. Since I couldn't really tell exactly how deep they were holding, I decided to take off my float and drift the jig by itself.

It was then that I feel a bump and a lot of weight and I set the hook! Finally after several hours, FISH ON! Immediately the fish starts running down stream and is screaming out my drag! I start fighting the feel and reeling and I'm gaining no line. So I tighten my drag a few clicks and it's still just taking out line. So I tighten it a few more clicks and realize it's too tight. So then I loosen the drag and I'm testing it by pulling out line with my free hand. Finally, I fine tune my drag so that it's at the goldy locks setting. Tight enough to put a good amount of pressure on the fish but loose enough so that when it bursts out and runs that it can take line. This fish was relentless and my right arm is just burning and burning and burning from fighting this fish. I had to hold the rod with my left arm a few times to give my right arm a break. We get a glimpse of the fish and it's much brighter than the fire truck cohos that were being caught. So my buddy and I began wondering if it was a steelhead or if it was a chum. But we hadn't seen or heard of any chum come out of this particular spot. So I keep fighting the fish and each time I gain some line and get it closer to shore, it makes a run an goes all the way to the other side of the bank. This fish probably made over 20 runs before tiring out. We see the fish and it's a good sized chum! I finally manage to get it close enough to shore for my buddy to grab it's tail for me.

We snap a few pics of it and weight it up. It came in at 8 lbs 2 oz. This was the first chum salmon that I have ever caught in my life so I was ecstatic! Not only that, but it was the biggest fish that I have caught in 10 years. And on top of that, it was the more intense, adrenaline rushing fight that I have ever had. With each run and violent head shake, I was just praying that my 8 lb fluorocarbon would hold up to the fish. The 9'6'' ml which is pretty much an ultra light rod was doubled over and the bend in the rod was incredible to see. It definitely did help me by providing some leverage for the fish. Afterwards, we revived the fish and watched it swim away strong.

After we got done fishing, we got to higher ground and looked into the water. We saw tons of fire truck cohos, saw a few big steelhead mixed in. We also saw a ton of tiny trout. Funny thing was that we didn't see any chum anywhere which made us think it was even more weird that I had caught one.

Well, I know I'm super late but I'm glad that I got to catch my first ever chum and experience the pure power that they have before they were done running. Tight Lines everyone!

woody_george

12/23/2011 9:32:00 PM

cool story - sounds like a fun trip. thanks for sharing.

The Quadfather

12/23/2011 10:30:00 PM

I like the way you, " Spoil yourself for Christmast" That's the kind of self indulgent spoiling that one can get used to.

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

12/23/2011 11:06:00 PM

@ woody_george - thanks :) it would have been nice to catch a steelhead as the wallace is closed for salmon right now. but you can't control what bites right? :P

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

12/23/2011 11:07:00 PM

@ quadfather - i pretty much don't get presents for christmas or my birthday 2 days after and i've never spoiled myself in the past so i figured i would this year :)

LiveAsYouWill

12/23/2011 11:17:00 PM

Good write-up! aren't you the urban-Green Lake fisherman too? Either way, nice work on your first Dog! They make supreme smokers once turning due to all the oils. If you get a hen in open-areas, their roe is amazing. Japan covets it so much they fly it straight to AnchWhore-age to Japan via PWSAC up to 60 planes per-day! Dogs sure fight well too. Congrats on your dog...I am wrong thinking you are the Green Laker? Nice gift to yourself...who else would have got you what you wanted!

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

12/23/2011 11:19:00 PM

@ jethro - thanks a lot! yes, that's me, i still have an itch to go chase those browns but the savage fight that this chum put up was a welcomed change of pace :)

dresscode5

12/24/2011 1:26:00 AM

props, mi amigo!

natetreat

12/24/2011 10:58:00 AM

WElcome to the salmon club! Fighting those big fish can spoil you for the little ones, and it becomes an addiction. It's gonna grow on you like a hungry beast, just remember to feed it often enough so you don't go on a bender! Hahaha. Congrats on your first chum, those guys are a lot of fun.

N E 1 FISSION

12/24/2011 1:12:00 PM

I am at work today, as well as working New Year eve, your stories are killing me,.. props on the self indulged Christmas present, nice gift, better story!! From what I hear, steelhead are cost the most to fish, and land, but the adventures is always great. props to you!!

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

12/24/2011 2:18:00 PM

@ dresscode5 - thanks bro! @ natetreat - thanks man! yeah it was a lot of fun but i don't think anything will ever rise above bass fishing for me :) @ ne1fission - thanks! haha hope you get out there and catch soon!

returnofthefish

12/24/2011 7:05:00 PM

Congrats on your first chum. Good job catching it on light tackle. Must of been a memorable fight. Thanks for the good read.

MotoBoat

12/24/2011 10:35:00 PM

E.L.F, how did you like the "FroggToggs" rain slicker? Supposed to be breathable. But not sure if I like mine or not. Weird material, and for that reason may not be durable. Curious about your thoughts.

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

12/24/2011 10:36:00 PM

@ returnofthefish - thanks! it was definitely a very memorable fight!

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

12/25/2011 1:27:00 AM

@ motoboat - i bought the frogg toggs bullfrog suit. so far i like it a lot, it's light weight and ultra rain repellent. i don't see an issue with it being any less durable than anything else as long as it doesn't catch any sharp edges to tear it open. but that's just me :)

kevinbe

12/25/2011 12:00:00 PM

I love reading your guys' reports on the West side of things. Great report, I'm glad you had the chance. Merry Christmas. Look forward to hearing many more reports in the future.

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

12/26/2011 12:45:00 AM

@kevinbe - thanks man :)

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