Trinity Steelhead pic

Peter Charles wrote

4X isn't the problem, a 6 wt. singole hander is. I land much larger
steelies on 4X but I'm not using a little, wimpy six weight when I
do
it. Those steelies in the photos I posted were landed on the
equivalent of 4X.

Unless one is fighting wind or using weighted flies, I think a good
6wt with backbone is plenty of rod to handle steelhead in the 5-12 lb
range. My regular summer steelhead rod is a 9ft Sage VPS 6wt. Using
8-10 lb tippet, I can quickly bull even hot fish in with it. I recall
being undergunned only once, and I broke the fish off with no qualms.

On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 16:39:26 -0800, "JR" wrote:

Peter Charles wrote

4X isn't the problem, a 6 wt. singole hander is. I land much larger
steelies on 4X but I'm not using a little, wimpy six weight when I
do
it. Those steelies in the photos I posted were landed on the
equivalent of 4X.

Unless one is fighting wind or using weighted flies, I think a good
6wt with backbone is plenty of rod to handle steelhead in the 5-12 lb
range. My regular summer steelhead rod is a 9ft Sage VPS 6wt. Using
8-10 lb tippet, I can quickly bull even hot fish in with it. I recall
being undergunned only once, and I broke the fish off with no qualms.


I've been fishing for steelies with a 6 wts too, but after getting my
butt handed to me, I put it back in the closet. I don't think a 6 wt.
is compatible with C&R. I do think it is compatible if you intend to
kill and eat the fish.

Peter

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Peter Charles wrote

I've been fishing for steelies with a 6 wts too, but after getting
my
butt handed to me, I put it back in the closet. I don't think a 6
wt.
is compatible with C&R. I do think it is compatible if you intend
to
kill and eat the fish.

We'll have to disagree here. The vast majority of steelheading I do
is with a floating line for summer run fish that average 4-8 pounds
and rarely exceed 10-12 pounds. I think a 6wt, fished with 1X or 0X
by an angler willing to fight from the cork and break fish off if
necessary, is WAY more compatible with C&R fishing for average
WA/OR/CA summer runs than is an 8wt or 9wt fished with 4X. I wouldn't do
this if I weren't sure of it. Most of the rivers I fish in OR have both
hatchery fish, which are harvestable and wild fish, which must always be
released).

The only river I fish regularly that I wouldn't use a 6wt on for summer
fish is the North Umpqua, where the summer runs can be much bigger. If
I ever fish the Skeena, or some other BC systems, I'll fish 8 and 9
weights. Wind, weighted flies, sinking lines, and larger average fish
(e.g., here, winter runs), all call for a heavier rod.

JR

On Thu, 2 Dec 2004 17:23:58 -0800, "JR" wrote:

Peter Charles wrote

I've been fishing for steelies with a 6 wts too, but after getting
my
butt handed to me, I put it back in the closet. I don't think a 6
wt.
is compatible with C&R. I do think it is compatible if you intend
to
kill and eat the fish.

We'll have to disagree here. The vast majority of steelheading I do
is with a floating line for summer run fish that average 4-8 pounds
and rarely exceed 10-12 pounds. I think a 6wt, fished with 1X or 0X
by an angler willing to fight from the cork and break fish off if
necessary, is WAY more compatible with C&R fishing for average
WA/OR/CA summer runs than is an 8wt or 9wt fished with 4X. I wouldn't do
this if I weren't sure of it. Most of the rivers I fish in OR have both
hatchery fish, which are harvestable and wild fish, which must always be
released).

The only river I fish regularly that I wouldn't use a 6wt on for summer
fish is the North Umpqua, where the summer runs can be much bigger. If
I ever fish the Skeena, or some other BC systems, I'll fish 8 and 9
weights. Wind, weighted flies, sinking lines, and larger average fish
(e.g., here, winter runs), all call for a heavier rod.

JR


We don't get a summer run in the GLs except for a couple of MI rivers
that have a few Skamanias. I've heard of summer run fish out your way
and that they are taken on light tackle. Considering it's now
December, they weren't on my mind when I made that post.

If you believe the PNW snobs, our "ersatz" steelhead don't have the
balls of an ocean run fish. That said, I don't fish for GL steelhead
with a six weight anymore after the last butt spanking I took from a
hatchery fish. Maitland, Saugeen, and Grand steelhead are all
streamborn and much tougher than a hatchery fish. Just talking to two
American guys today who came up this way to fish for one or two wild
fish rather than catch bucket loads of hatchery footballs back home.
So there's something to be said for the difference.

The bigger of the two fish in the photos I posted, was taken on 6 lb.
Maxima, the other on 10 lb. When the water clears, we have to drop
down in size or we don't catch fish. That fish was landed in maximum
three minutes and most of that time was me wading over to shore. I'm
fishing with a 13'6" 9 wt. two-hander so that may have something to do
with quickly subduing a fish.

Peter

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Peter Charles wrote:

If you believe the PNW snobs, our "ersatz" steelhead don't have the
balls of an ocean run fish.

He can't help being condescending. :-)

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 16:39:26 -0800, "JR" wrote:

Peter Charles wrote

4X isn't the problem, a 6 wt. singole hander is. I land much larger
steelies on 4X but I'm not using a little, wimpy six weight when I
do
it. Those steelies in the photos I posted were landed on the
equivalent of 4X.

Unless one is fighting wind or using weighted flies, I think a good
6wt with backbone is plenty of rod to handle steelhead in the 5-12 lb
range. My regular summer steelhead rod is a 9ft Sage VPS 6wt. Using
8-10 lb tippet, I can quickly bull even hot fish in with it. I recall
being undergunned only once, and I broke the fish off with no qualms.


I've been fishing for steelies with a 6 wts too, but after getting my
butt handed to me, I put it back in the closet. I don't think a 6 wt.
is compatible with C&R. I do think it is compatible if you intend to
kill and eat the fish.

Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html