"Willi & Sue" wrote in message news:41ae4eca$0$206
You guys are pretty rough on Tom!

I think it's an outstanding fish especially first time and from such
small water.
Very cool, Tom.

Willi



Thanks,
I take the criticism as constructive criticism and can handle it well,
(Physicist are worst, no big ego's, but they can be brutal too)...I still
feel this is a great newsgroup for info.

To answer some of the questions:

The 6w rod and reel/line is all I had and 4x leader and tippet was what I
rigged at the time, I did have 3x leader but was hooking 2 pounders until
the surprise 8.5 pounder hit.

I recently purchased an 8w set-up and will bring that with me to the Trinity
next Oct, but it was a blast with the 6w.

I cleaned and iced the fish and took it home, first time I tasted
steelhead, it was delicious.and our family enjoyed it very much.

I really had a great time on the Trinity, the weather was perfect, the food
was excellent (La Grange), learned about the local people there, a very
fish-rich environment. And best of all the fish were biting.
I take it fly-fishing isn't always like this, so I'm savoring the moment.
-tom