28# steelhead on the puyallup plunkin sand shrimp and spin-n-glow.the beast is on my wall caught it back in 1991

spot on with that one DH.

I've caught a handful of 20+ lbers, all from WA waters but none in the last couple years. Haven't tickled the 25 lb mark yet though. My brother is a big fish magnet though. He's fished probably put in a total of 10 serious steelhead fishing days in his life and landed 3 fish over 20, including the one depicted below. Biggest one I've gotten my meathooks on so far,

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F_B, that is one angry looking OP buck !!

If your bro is about your size that beast is HUGE......

Look @ the tail wrist on that thing, gotta be 25+


c/22

JFC what a beauty!

It's interesting to see the rivers where folks have battled up big fish...

Sammamish River (no, not kidding...that first one in 1977).
Skykomish River
Wallace River
Hoh River
Sol Duc River
Skagit River
Sauk River
Nooksack River

...and a couple more streams that I can't really get myself to type out on the InterWebz...



I'm sure you're right...and a couple of those on my list have accounted for the vast majority of the big ones I've caught...fish where big fish are, use lures that big fish will bite...and then go fishing a lot.

After that, it's mostly just being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time...

Fish on...

Todd

First one came when I was 15 nice chrome buck, only on film though. Luckily I've been able to crack that twenty pound mark a few more times with plenty more in the teens.



Heck I was even there to net Jake's first 20.

amazing second shot there Brad. Da'am,

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I started steelheading back in 03. Took a guided trip on the Hoh with Jim Richeson. My VERY first steelhead was a whopping 20# +. I've caught several others since them.

+1

41.25 x23.5 in Feb. 00 on a Puyallup trib. Crushed a spinner. Water was really cold and I wasn't wearing waders and had to chase him down river about 150yds. I got pretty wet that day. Thank God for adrenaline.
2nd was on the Kalama in 03 inearly April. Couldn't get around the rock face that was in front of me but the guy just below it netted and released it. 20+nate summer. The guy said it was the biggest steelie he had ever seen.
3rd was on a small Tillamook area stream on a pink power worm 40"+ no girth used the rod to mearure length and taped it out at home.
4th was 39.5x 21 maybe not quite 20 but damn close last winter on North Umpqua near Glide. Crushed a power worm.
Been fishing steelies since 76 and have never caught a hen over 18.

hens over 20 are RARE!
I've seen 4 in my life,
1 my camera messed up on, and here are the other 3

If memory serves I think it was 1992. We still had the C&R on the Sky. Had to be early March. It turned out to be a double-header day. I was out in my drift boat with my son and old fishing buddy, Perchmouth, who caught the 1st one just below Gem's rock. An honest 20lb. buck. My fish came out of the T-bird hole. There were several big fish in there that day. We estimated that fish at around 22lb.
Sorry no pics to post but I do have video tape of the event to prove it. Both of those fish just crushed plugs. My second big fish came out the Quinalt a couple of years later. Boondoggin' with a guide. Kahuna hole. Eggs. I never felt such power out of a Steelie. Fish immediately went up to the next hole., fought it for a while, went back down to Kahuna, fought it some more. Brought it to the boat 3 times. The guide estimated it to be 25lb. or better. Tried to net it and then it went into a log jam and sulked for 15-20 mins. We did our best to coax it out gently but finally my line got sawed off. That big buck survived to spawn but at least the memory will live forever.

Cant count how many were right at or darn near but as far as bonafide 20+ goes I've taken them from the Hoh, Sol Duc, Bogie, Vedder, Kispiox, Bulkley and the Sky and as Todd pointed out a few others that I won't mention and probably most people have never heard of anyway. One fish on the Sky however that was pushing the thirty button was absolutely ocean bright with clear fins, black top and white belly with no hint of color on it. Out of all the biggiees I've put my hands around (including three over thirty) that Sky fish was hands down the most awesome fish I've ever fought and seen period.

Justin- That one that didn't make it on the camera still haunts me!

OP those are absolutely beautiful. I am jealous......

No discussion of MEGA hens would be complete without including The Legend....

I fished about 8 years before my first 20# came. A dark snider creek buck on the Soleduck. I hooked up 2 on back to back casts on the Bogey one day, lost one landed one.Some of the most memorable ones are the ones i fought and lost, burnt thumb, line peeling, running down the river bank, going around a big rock in the middle of the river and watching all my line peel off my reel to the bottom of the spool and pow!!! What a flipping rush.
My 20# rivers are.
Soleduck
Bogey
Calawa
Green, 1 winter 1 summer
South Fork Toutle
Satsop

Hmmm........kinda looks like the moose hole. Might have to rename it the Taimen hole.

Great pictures and stories, thanks for sharing.
Hopefully I'll be able to hit my first 20 soon. Whether it happens or not, I'll be having a good time on the rivers with friends and family trying to make it happen.

I agree Danny, that Sky fish is an awesome specimen.

I've lucked into two fish in the last two years of fishing the Skagit system after fishing for steelhead for a few years when I was younger and now for the last 12 straight years.

I 100% agree that you have to fish "big fish rivers" to increase your chances of an encounter.

That first fish there is such a f'n stud, SKyley. Look at the shoulders on that thang.

So far I have taken 5 trips out west and have caught a handful of fish in the upper teens, until last year. Went a little further north and got this one! Being from the Great Lakes I don't get many opportunities that most you guys have. I have also been very unlucky, most of my friends have caught steel at or over 20lbs in the GL region. I put more hours in fishing than a lot do around here, and still haven't broke 20lbs in the great lakes....