Wow what a day. Got to highway side of reiter with only 2 other vehicles in the pullout. Hiked down and starting fishing. About 20 minutes in, let my float and nightmare jig drift down right next to the bank and watched the float take a dive. Set the hook and boom, fish on. Didn't really put up to much of a fight with no jumps or big runs but still took a couple minutes to get him in. Got him to the bank and realized it was a nice wild buck so off he went.

Fished my way down to the cable hole with no other hits so decided to take a little break. Noticed my float was a little damaged so switched it out for a clear one and tied on a pink/white aero jig. Finished lunch and tossed my line out about 15 feet out in a nice slot. All of a sudden it submerged, set the hook and boom fish on. This is where it got interesting. As soon as I set the hook it felt like a whale. I have caught a lot of steelhead and never have I felt a take like this. She took off peeling line like crazy than she jumped and I knew this was a doozy. She jumped 3 times and made a half dozen runs or so and finally got her to cooperate. Got her close enough to get a good look and it turned out to be a massive wild hen. By far the biggest steelhead I have ever seen let alone caught on any Puget sound river. She had a nightmare jig in her mouth that she must have broken off so I tried to get it out, but before I could she had enough and shook her head and out popped my jig and off she went. Feel bad I wasn't able to remove the other jig but she didn't seem to mind by the fight and power she showcased. Still shocked I was able to land her on 8lb maxima ultra green leader but luckily had my drag fairly lose. I estimate she was 18 lbs. She was as big around as a volleyball and 40+ inches easy. Made my whole fishing year.

Sorry no pics, my iPhone was in my backpack and since they were both wild, wanted to stress them as little as possible. Several people were catching fish on both sides of the hatchery. One hell of a day.

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