Steelhead

Johnny West

Johnny West

Well-known member
I got one today, the only one, and missed one hit I should have had.
This is the last steelhead on the summer as they are closing the river
to place a weir to funnel off breeding fish for the hatchery. We were the
last boat.

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It’s filleted and in freezer. We’ll have a piece tomorrow when we both feel better.

We we’re up at 0200, left the house at 0300 and had almost no traffic on I-5 all
the way to Kalama. The way home was a different matter but still made good time
with no traffic stoppages. Nancy hung around Kalama while I fished, had breakfast
ay McMinniman’s, did a tour of the harbor masters building and museum, watched
load a huge trawler, and did a drive around Kalama.

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We ride in the front of a drift boat. The rod is set up with a bobber stop, special bobber, and riggers with a leader, and hook. The bait is a cured coon shrimp. there atr a serial of runs and holes we fish. The boat is anchored a ways above the hole, you throw out beside the boat and let the bait drift through the hole usually about 50 yards or so. When the bobber goes down you quickly close the bail on the reel and set the hook.

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With luck you got him… Monday we went 1 for 6 hits. I muffed an easy one that took it beside the boat. I got to excited and flustered, couldn’t find the bail, and missed.

This is the second one I got last Wed. at a hole called the Ball Field because of all the rock at the bend in the river. This spot gets fished a lot due to it being a nice hole and there is walk in access for non boaters.

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If you google Mark Ervig, fishing guide, there is a lot of good reading on him on the net.

This is coon shrimp. Salmon and steelhead love them.

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There is a lot of bird life along the river, depending on the time of year. Early on, during the nesting season we saw wood ducks, mergansers. Canada geese, goshawks, and my fav, marsh wrens. Now there are blue herons, ospreys, and all manner of song birds.
 
All our fishing for the table is done underwater with a gun.:) We purchased a Steelhead and made"gravlax" with it. I don't like cooked trout or salmon, except smoked. Yours looks great though!
 
We also have euryhaline fish here in south Florida. None of which Are edible IMO. I do fish in freshwater, catch and release. The levels of mercury in our freshwater fish are too high for me to consider eating them. Most folks don't realize that bull sharks are also adaptable to freshwater and are responsible for many bites, including far up the Mississippi.
 
While I was grilling the piece of fresh steelhead I’d found a piece from a 2022 steelhead in freezer. It was still frozen, decided to experiment, covered it with Maladon salt and brown sugar, and included it in the hot smoke. Nancy tasted it and thought it too sweet. I put it in the ice box and forgot about it. Today I toasted a TJ’s everything bagel, added TJ’s dairy free alternative cream cheese, and smoked trout. It’s very good.

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