This was an early winter steelhead that was found mixed into the coho & chinook action. Another native came that day while swinging a comit on a type IV shooting head and 10wt rod.
Right around the corner from some pretty sweet fall steelheading came the most epic fishing in Oregon I have ever seen. My friend Jason & myself had many a 30+ fish day while dead drifting comit's, egg patterns, and even green worms under 10ft 9wts. We were either on the fish, or else we were on the move trying and discovering new areas where the fish were stacked.
We made it down for some succesfull south coast fishing where hatchery chinook seemed to dwarf the native runs. I had tried these fisheries in years past with minimal success. This year was different, I think in part to the fact that we had paid our dues in learning where and when to fish. We had already caught (or at least hooked ) salmon in the hundreds from due dilligence on our home rivers so this kindled the confidence needed to get'm elsewhere.
This beautiful native was caught and promptly released after being wrestled out of a sea lion's jaws. I had the advantage with an 11' Ron Arra Surf Pro and some big hardware.
Both Jason and I hooked some on flies which I felt could be way more effective in close. As far as covering water, gear gave you the upper hand with the high tides we were dealing with.
Erik caught this beauty on a Daredevil spoon.
Jason Cichy hooked this chromer on an A-leach and shooting heads. We could only get one shot of this fish before the camera died... It was one of the last fish of the day and proof that persistence pays off.
This fish took an egg pattern briefly before coming off due to lack of a good hook set. I gave it a break and tied on a cotton candy which he proceeded to chomp on the next drift!
