03-31-2009, 03:39 AM
Friday of last week I had to work in Grangeville. I've never been to Grangeville before, but I did know the Clearwater was in that part of the world and that people had been steelhead fishing. I decided I'd give it a try. I got there on Friday around 3pm. I was lucky enough to get access to the non road side of the river. I have fished a lot in my lifetime but that day I truly felt like I had never picked up a rod before in my life. I didn't have any idea on what to use or how to use it. I did have a few things that I'd picked up but wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. After a few hours of fishing a guy on the opposite bank right in front of me caught a steelhead. Then somebody else picked one up. Over the next hour I saw 7 steelhead caught. I couldn't believe the size of them and I couldn't believe I wasn't getting even a strike. This went on for another hour when finally, smack, I had a fish on and as soon as I got it on, it got off. There was hope though. 10 minutes later, same thing, on for a second then off. The bite then turned off as it was getting dark. This at least gave me hope for Saturday.
That night I was in the local grocery store stocking up when someone walked in that I recognized as a fisherman on the opposite side of the bank. I introduced myself and started asking questions about how in the world do I catch one of these things. His name was Mike and he was an extremely helpful. He even gave me a bunch of things to try the next day. I can't thank Mike enough. I hope to someday return the favor.
Saturday started pretty slow and stayed slow. The same 4 fisherman were fishing the opposite bank of me. I saw one fish caught around 8am and then nothing for hours. It was noon and I hadn't had a bite and hadn't seen anybody hook up since the only fish was caught at 8am. I kept telling myself to be confident and that there were plenty of fish. I also remembered that the average time spent was 10 hours for one fish and that I was pretty close to being due. I decided to move up stream 20 yards and try a more rapid part of the river. On my second cast I tossed next to a large rock and then, slam, fish on! After a few runs and some adrenaline I was holding my first ever steelhead. What a gratifying experience. He was 27" and I'd guess between 7-8 pounds. I fished for another 4 hours and didn't have another bite. Total fish caught out of that hole from first light to 5pm was 2.
I can't wait to get back up there. I read posts on here of people fishing for steelhead and I can finally understand their passion for this fish.
Brady
[signature]
That night I was in the local grocery store stocking up when someone walked in that I recognized as a fisherman on the opposite side of the bank. I introduced myself and started asking questions about how in the world do I catch one of these things. His name was Mike and he was an extremely helpful. He even gave me a bunch of things to try the next day. I can't thank Mike enough. I hope to someday return the favor.
Saturday started pretty slow and stayed slow. The same 4 fisherman were fishing the opposite bank of me. I saw one fish caught around 8am and then nothing for hours. It was noon and I hadn't had a bite and hadn't seen anybody hook up since the only fish was caught at 8am. I kept telling myself to be confident and that there were plenty of fish. I also remembered that the average time spent was 10 hours for one fish and that I was pretty close to being due. I decided to move up stream 20 yards and try a more rapid part of the river. On my second cast I tossed next to a large rock and then, slam, fish on! After a few runs and some adrenaline I was holding my first ever steelhead. What a gratifying experience. He was 27" and I'd guess between 7-8 pounds. I fished for another 4 hours and didn't have another bite. Total fish caught out of that hole from first light to 5pm was 2.
I can't wait to get back up there. I read posts on here of people fishing for steelhead and I can finally understand their passion for this fish.
Brady
[signature]
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