Big Lakes

Ted Kirkpatrick and I hit a trib to the Big Lakes today. Ted was using a Center pin with spawn sacs and I was throwing spinner. The first cast with my trusty Mepps See Best I had a hook up with a sweet steelhead hen right near shore. That was about a 5 second deal. I guess the steelie to be about 30 inches. I was really bummed and Ted directed me where I should cast next. About 5 turns of my Shimano Stradic 4000 later my 11 foot rod was bent in half . The battle seemed to take forever and the trout wouldn’t come off the bottom. It was running up the left bank and bouncing in to huge jagged rock trying to get away. I finally got the female lake run brown under control and Ted netted it for me.

It was Ted’s turn then and he had a really nice steelie on in about five minutes. The fluorocarbon leader on his center pin pulled off at the knot. The end was curly qed
and it was an obvious knot failure.
We walked upstream and Ted had another steelie on in no time flat. This one did not pull off and gave Ted quite a battle. Center pin again with .

We were taking turns with hook ups itseemed. Ted gave me some pointers on where to cast. I walked out on serious step drop with a good current tail below it. I had lost my only Mepps See Best and now I put on a size 9 Panther Martin Heavy Metal Gold Blade and red body. I casted just below the step and ran the face of it. Have way through the retrieve My drag just started screaming and I had a fish on that was not under control and speeding down stream Mach 10. I reached down to tighten my drag and just as I looked up my rod was shaking uncontrollably . My eyes went to the end of my line and just downstream almost adjacent with Ted there was a HUGE female steelie airborne at least 2 feet out of the water. Ted had an up close and personal view of the skying steelie and said she the minimum of 36 inches probably closer to 38 and the minimum of 16 pounds. When she came back down to the water I felt 2 more head shakes and she was gone.

I had my big brown and all I needed to catch now was a steelie and they seemed quite willing to hit my spinners but not quite willing to stay on. Ted suggested one more place. Ted was right on with his pick of places. It wasn’t 38 inches but it made my now tightened down drag sing a little before Ted netted it.
Not bad for 3 hours of fishing. A return trip is for sure in order.

Another photo of me and my brown. This thing was insane. It ran in to so many sharp boulders it was unable to be revived and I took it home with me. You can see it battled well by the skin missing from its side and tail.