Monday, February 20, 2006

Beginner's Luck!

<2/19> I joined Steelhead fishing trip to W_River near La Grande OR. It was my first try for Steelhead. Yokoyam3, Maestro and Hide already came there on 2/18. I left my home at 6:30AM, and arrived Motel about 9 o'clock. It took about 3.5hours(There was time difference also).
When I arrived there, there were wild turkeys in front of Motel. They seemed to be familiar with people, didn't look like wild.

We moved to the river about 10 o'clock, but it was so cold and there were much pieces of ice on the water. Although I tried to cast, the nymph fly didn't go under water but on the ice. So, we had to wait until ice were melted.

After a while I tried again, but it was same result. So I decided to go down the river.

I found good hole, and did the first cast. Then my indicator looked like stopped and faded, so I hooked it. After that I felt strong tug, and the big one jumped a little. It must be Steelhead!! I was so excited!

Though hooking seemed to be succeeded, I'd never felt easy. It's tug was so strong and took a very long time to pull it close to me. Usually I used a landing net, but it was of no use for Steelhead. Finally Yokoyam3 helped me to push the fish on the ice, and I really got it! It was my fist Steelhead, and looked so beautiful. I was deeply moved and became absent-minded for a while. One of my dreams became true! There was nothing to say!!


27.5inchs(70cm)!!

<2/20>In the morning, there is also ice on the water, and It was difficult to do fly fishing. So we moved more down the river. At that hole Maestro and caught good ones, but I caught only one white fish. So Hide and I decided to return upper the river again as a last chance.

I caught good one at that hole. It was not so big(18inchs/45cm) but so beautiful and did good fight. It might not be Steelhead, but it was not important for me. I was happy to see it, which looked really beautiful for me.

I think I never forget this trip. I would like to try this river again in a short time.

8 comments:

yokoyam3 said...

どうもお疲れさまでした。初スティールヘッド、おめでとうございます!寒かったけど面白かったでしょ?H氏は残念でしたが次回に期待しましょう。三日目の魚はレジデントレインボーだと思います。でもなかなかのサイズ。この川は夏もトラウトフィッシングが楽しめるらしいので、こんなやつがドライでつれるのならまた夏に行ってももいいですね!

Anonymous said...

しばらくPCの調子がいまいちで見れませんでした。凄いね!初鉄頭御祝候!!!こんなん見せられたら早く行かないとね!
てゆうか、Lanceのあとに赴任願い出そうかな。
今日は芦ノ湖が毎年恒例のプレ解禁だったようです。一緒に行ってた頃が懐かしいね。

african said...

To yokoyam3
本当にいろいろとお世話になりました。すぐにでも再度Tryしたいところですが、来週また忙しそうなので、しばらくお預けです。トホホ…。確かに、夏のドライでのレジデンス狙いも面白そうですね。

To Curryman
どうもです。ホントうれしいっす!
やっぱりIDAHO(OREGON)ならではというと、この時期のSteelが一番かもしれません。他のSeasonなら、NZの方が凄そうだしね。Steelとしては、決して大きくないサイズだけど、引きと魚の美しさには本当に感動できると思うよ。実は今週金曜日も日帰りで行こうと思ったのだけど、急遽…トホホ。

芦ノ湖懐かしいね~。でもプレ解禁はほんとしょぼかったな…(笑)。
そうそう、記念すべき鉄頭一匹目はありがたくキープして、いただきました。メスだったので、イクラぎっしりで、これまた美味!Currymanのカラフトマスおみやげのいくら丼を沼津で一緒に食したのを思い出しました。あれも美味しかったな。カラフトマスのは少し小さめだったと思うけど、Steelのはほぼイクラサイズだったよ。

Woodman said...

おひさしぶり!
イクラうまそう!
最近私のブログは全く更新していなくって。。。週末にでも、更新しなくっちゃ!

Anonymous said...

It is nice to see your appreciation of the great outdoors. This is a part of life and which is very good and something none of us should take for granted. It is very precious.

african said...

Thank you for your leaving a comment, Mr.C! I hope I can go fishing with you this year. Please tell me your Lake fishing know-how. Of course, let's do our best on that product also.

Anonymous said...

お久しぶりです。
うわぁぁぁー、すっごーい!!
大きいですね~。
こんな大きな魚釣れるなんて☆
大興奮しちゃいますね!

毎回こんなの釣れるんだったら、やってみたい。
そんな甘くないですね・・・はい。。。

african said...

Chiさんカキコどうもです。そうなんですよ。毎回は来ない(というより極たまににしかこない)っていうのが病みつきになるミソかもしれません。本当に感激の一匹でした。Steelheadは釣ってよし、食べてよしの二度美味しいのがまたうれしいのですが、はるばる海から上ってきた彼らのガッツを考えると、できるだけリリースしようと思う今日この頃です。(それなら最初から釣るなっていわれるとそれまでですけど…)