Excellent... Way to go!! I dont know about the rest of you, but every steehead still feels like the first one! May you fish long and prosper!

Mike; I remember talking to you at the PSA seminar. I knew it would come soon for you. WAY TO GO!

Way to go, Mike!

Honestly, I don't even remember my first steelie. I remember my first king, but not steelie.

I know it happened down at the Ballard Locks in the early 80's, but I must have suffered some form of traumatic shock, as I can't really recall "the first steelhead".

All I know is that I've had the "sickness" ever since. There is no cure....just temporary "fixes".

"Fishing Junky" parker

Right on, I remember my first it was abt 5 pounds as well

Mike,

Way to go!! Lemme tell ya, hundreds of steelhead in your future will not ever dim the adrenalin rush of the first flash of chrome or hearty throb as you continue to catch 'em.

Sorry you ducked out of the PSA meeting early the other night...I was hoping to get to say "hi" after the talkin' was done.

Congratulations!

I think I speak for many of us when I say we're green with envy that you can literally steelhead fish out your back door!!

Fish on...

Todd

Todd:

Was that you sitting in the back of the room with the pitcher of Buddummer?

I was stopping in there on my way back from a biz trip to Spokane/Pullman. Had left Pullman at 2 pm to get there, and was pretty well wiped out with still another 90 miles to drive home. Sorry...next time I'll be sure to hang around!

As to fishing out the backyard...your always welcome. We have access to about 600 yds of super bank area, all accessible only by boat or private property. My fish was the first steelhead caught down there in several years, but I don't think anyone really fishes it much...I never see anyone else down there and can view it from my office window.

Mike

Yeah, Mike, that was me in the back.

Thanks for the invite...count on it being used at some point! Maybe I'll be able to hook you up with a boat ride sometime.

Later,

Todd

Congrats on popping your cherry. I have to admit that mine was about 28 years ago, but I still haven't lost that feeling. My frickin knees get weak just about everytime I put a hook in their mouth. Just think, if you get a few more in a short period of time, we'll start callin gyou a who*e and a tramp

Sheesh, Hawk,

You hardly catch anything, and I still think of you as a wh@re and a tr@mp!!

Comin' out this spring?

Fish on...

Todd

Way to go! My first steelhead was only about 5 pounds also!

Congrats! You are now certifiably incurable. My first was slightly(and I mean slightly) larger, but the feeling was almost as good as the horizontal bop! That was back in 2002, but now I just can't stop, knowing the next is going to be just as addicting. Unfortunately, when I got my first, I did'nt have a digital camera, and the still camera on the boat screwed up, so as a result, I have no picture to mount or cherish.. Soon you'll be freezing your a** off, wondering what in hell I'm doing trying to catch some mythical piscacine monster, that may or may not exist, when I could be home doing honeydo's that will get me more of the horizontal bop points that I previously mentioned!

Congrats Mike, my first steelhead was caught in the summer somewhere around 1958 in the Mad River, trib of the Entiat River, in "downtown" Ardenvoir believe it or not. I didn't know what a fish scale was at the time but it measured all of 23 inches so it was definately smaller than yours. I caught it on a fly rod and a "pennywinkle" fly while fishing for trout, it took me 2 1/2 hours to land (going by the mill whistle) and I thought I had caught the monster of all rainbow trout until I got it home and my Grandpa Red told me it was a steelhead and explained what they were. That was before Rocky Reach Dam, now they are pretty much extinct up there. I was all of 8 at the time and I still remember every detail, as you will the rest of your life. Way to go

Way to go Mike, Now that the stench is off the rose you can expect to spend countless hours, standing in water up to your *%#@* and spending lots more cash...Really though would not have it any other way. nice fish, and once you start catching them, they are never big enough!