February 29, 2008
After 43 years, a 20-pound steelhead for my dad
No, this isn't my dad. It's his fishing buddy Will Hope with a steelhead my dad caught yesterday on Oregon's North Umpqua river.
Notice the pontoon? They were fishing in my dad and brother's two-man pontoon boat -- basically just a beefy version of the belly boats Backlash has been trying to get us excited about. So, yeah, they work. My brother and Will fish big water in their single-man pontoon boats all the time.
Anyway, the fish was just a hair under 40 inches long. There's a rule of thumb that a 25-inch-long steelhead will weigh about 5 pounds and you can add a pound per inch after that. This is a stout fish so obviously it's over 20 pounds. That's the magic mark for a true trophy steelhead, and this is my dad's first 20-pounder in 43 years of fishing for them.
The fish was wild and had to be released. So after Will netted the fish dad snapped this one picture and that was it.
As for those kick boats, I highly recommend them over the old-fashioned belly boat. They get you off the water and the oars really help you get around. Of course, if you're backpacking or biking in to a place, you have to do the belly boat.
Comments
[March 1, 2008 7:50 PM]
JulieSaaahh-weeeet fish!! I can only imagine what that was like... feeling that tug and not knowing until you bring 'er up to the surface if it's a ringer or a dud... Steelheads can be rather interesting on the hook.. Dead calm until they break near the top or a real wild wire. Congrats, Mr. Taylor!!
[March 3, 2008 1:27 AM]
BacklashThat is one heck of a Steelhead!! Catching it in on a pontoon boat must have felt like catching Jaws, "we need a bigger boat".
That was also a great video submitted by Mike Ayers of the Sonoma Belly Boat Club under the photo for John Crews delivers photo.
Okay are you guys pumped yet,.... This is how we will start Hopefully many more to come The First New River Belly Boat Tournament is in the works after I check the legality of such we must first have a Champion.
The rules will be simple, the heaviest 1 to 5 fish total will win a Trophy commemorating his or her achievement. Now you guys didn't actually think this would be limited to the "fellas only".
The place for the tournament will either be Gatewood Reservoir or Pandapas Pond for obvious reasons no wakes from motorized boats. And more information about the different aspects of the belly boats.
Lastly each belly boat must have a live well. The SCBBC have a excellent design for a live well on their web site if you visit it let them know what you think they will respond in kind. One design for a irrigated live well can even be incorporated from the Pontoon too John Boat for less than $60.00 how cool is that.
I will be posting again very soon and I will try to have where some deals can be had, oh by the way you can use a fish finder on your float tube. "What"! you didn't know that item was available for a float tube come on give me a break! Yet if you think it's not sporting enough then lets test your fishing knowledge and your skills.
It has always been my private conviction that any man who pits his intelligence against a fish and loses has it coming. ~ John Steinbeck
[March 3, 2008 1:38 AM]
TinmanHere are some pic's of my live well, if any questions fill free to contact us on the SCBBC web page.
The valve on the right fills and once it is full I close it and open the valve on the left, which puts water threw the pipe in side and sprays out little holes drilled all along the bottom of it and then as it fills the cooler.
It drains out the back holes in each corner..all is ran off a 12V 500gpm submersible pump. found in all the top PRO BASS, Cable's magazine and of course Wal-Mart.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tinmann/
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Fish On!!!!
[March 5, 2008 5:15 PM]
Mark TaylorJulie, I'm sure my dad will appreciate the compliment. He is on a serious hot streak as he has caught a couple more steelhead this week while wade-fishing. He said the 10-pounder he caught a few days ago fought much better than this beast. I'm pretty envious.
Thanks for the link to your pix, Tinman. That livewell looks great. I might take you up on your offer for more info as I could use something like that in my jonboat.
mt
[March 6, 2008 11:43 AM]
BacklashSpeaking of live wells, the fore mention live well will not work for some Belly Boats so there SCBBC have photos of the one needed for the float tube.
For the diagram of the needed Mesh Live Well go to the SCBBC web site go to their Bass-N-Tubes Web Site, then click on their photos in that section.
Then click on the Kickboat and Float Tube Rigging and this will show you the diagram for making the Mesh Live Well and John boats.
tomorrow the deals for a Float tube.