30 + lb steelhead

[O_mykiss]

The fish was weighed at 29.5 lbs on a certified scale. It taped out to just over 30 lbs based on the measurements. It was caught on fly gear and WAS a native fish. Also is the pending 8 kg. tippet world record.

You are allowed to kill one wild fish a year on select OP rivers. He was legally allowed to kill it, but I won't start a rant on whether or not he made a good choice for the sake of the species or the ethics of anglers. Fishing is a blood sport, but its too bad it had be that way with a fine specimen such as that. A fish that size has always been a rarity, with the state of todays fisheries, the odds of producing a fish like that are beyond astronomical.

[groundhog]

I agree. We need those genes in the river.

[boneaddict]

Thanks for the info.  Not going to pass judgement based on my own personal ethics of let swim another day.   Truly a once in a lifetime fish as far as I am concerned.  In any state, in any country. 

[rasbo]

Will the Hoe be any good the first week of April?

Ive got good fish then,

[boneaddict]

I'm going to call my wife right now and tell her I am going to go visit the Hoh in April and see what she says. 

[SpokaneSlayer]

I'm going to call my wife right now and tell her I am going to go visit the Hoh in April and see what she says. 

  That should go off like a fart in space suit.

[rasbo]

I'm going to call my wife right now and tell her I am going to go visit the Hoh in April and see what she says. 

the hoh or a hoh big differance in the lumps on your head

[Dipsnort]

Im sure its a Nat but its hard to tell in that pic?

Yes.  Check out the unedited pic.



Along with the story I saw posted elsewhere...

Dear Friends and Fellow Fishermen,

As some of you may already have heard, last week, on Friday, 20 February I
was out fishing on the Hoh River with Shirley. It was a wonderfully clear
day, the temperature a little below freezing and a herd of elk were grazing
in a Riverside pasture. The river was running exceptionally low and clear
and we were swinging flies through some attractive water. I was using my
15-foot Spey rod, Shirley was using her eight-weight, single-handed rod.

There had been little action but I had seen one good-sized fish roll a
little ahead of me and, for a brief few seconds, I had hooked into what
appeared to be a 12-pound or 15-pound fish. At around 2 PM I was swinging my
fly through some good-looking water and something that I can only describe
as a lightning bolt hit my whole body. Suddenly my Ross reel was screaming
at a decibel level usually reserved for Rolling Stone concerts. In a couple
of heartbeats 200 yards of line had disappeared from my reel as the fish
headed for Alaska. I told myself not to panic, but my whole body was
shaking; I knew that if I could survive the first round I would at least
have some chance of getting the fish to the bank. For the next 30 minutes I
battled the fish, standing at times chest deep in the middle of the river on
a submerged bar.

At this point I had not seen the fish, but eventually I managed to make it
back to the river bank and was able to stand on dry ground. At that time the
fish exploded into the air, executing three cartwheels. I couldn't believe
my eyes, the fish was almost 4 feet in length. I had never seen a steelhead
like it. After 45 minutes of battling the fish I managed to beach it gently.
My intention was to let it go, having first measured the fish, but it was
bleeding quite heavily from the gills. As it seemed likely not survive the
ordeal, and because it was the fish of a lifetime, I decided to take the
fish. In 10 years of fishing Washington state rivers this is the first fish
I have ever taken, of any kind, from a river.

At this point, several boats appeared, heading down river. In one of the
boats was my good friend and mentor, Jim Kerr; with him in his boat was a
state biologist, who measured the fish and took some fish scales. A couple
of other boats arrived and had spring scales with them, and we weighed the
fish. One set of scales said 31 pounds and the other said 32 pounds. The
fish was dragged for about a mile through the forest to our parked car and
then taken to Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks. We weighed the fish on their
scales and it registered 31-1/2 pounds.

As many of you already know, there is a formula for estimating the weight of
a fish. In essence you square the girth of the fish and then multiply that
by its length and divide by 800.. My fish was 44 inches in length with a
girth of 23-1/2 inches. That would result in a fish weighing 30.38 pounds.
It was not until the following day, 23 hours after the fish had been caught,
that I managed to get the fish to a State-accredited set of scales, at Key
City Fish Company in Port Townsend. The fish had obviously lost a little
weight due to loss of fluids and bleeding, but it still weighed 29.5 pounds
at that point.

I have subsequently contacted the International Game Fish Association to
check on records for fly-caught steelhead. It turns out that the existing
world record for 8 kg tippet is a 28-pound fish caught by Chuck Stephens on
the Skeena River on 20 October 1985, 24 years ago. I am now in the process
of submitting my fish of last week as the new world record. On further
research it also appears that this would also be the largest steelhead ever
caught on a fly rod for all tippet classes.

Hopefully you all enjoyed the story and the pictures. Many people got to see
the fish before I dropped it off at a local taxidermist. One state biologist
confided in me that he was 62 years old and had personally caught over 5000
steelhead and that this was the biggest steelhead he had ever seen in his
life. Another chap simply shook me by the hand, looked me in the eye and
said, "This isn't the fish of a lifetime, it's the fish of a thousand
lifetimes."

I guess English Pete got lucky.

Best regards

Peter

The conjecture is that while it is not a world record on a fly rod, it may be a line class record.  Since it was apparently a legal fish to keep, I'm also not going to pass judgement.  Personally, I would rather see people moving to change the law than bash someone for following the law but violating their own set of ethics.  Heck of a fish for sure.

[huntnphool]

That is one hell of a catch right there and congrats are certainly in order for the fisherman. I do, however, find it a bit curious as to why in the first pic the adipose fin was removed if it was indeed a legal fish. I can sympathise with a guy that just doesn't want to have to defend and explain that it was legal to keep a nate but dont make it look like you are trying to hide something, it looks even worse.

[Dipsnort]

I do, however, find it a bit curious as to why in the first pic the adipose fin was removed if it was indeed a legal fish. I can sympathise with a guy that just doesn't want to have to defend and explain that it was legal to keep a nate but dont make it look like you are trying to hide something, it looks even worse.

I'm not convinced that the fisherman is the one who edited the first photo we saw in this topic.  And clearly he failed to foresee the uproar that this dead wild steelhead would cause, regardless of the circumstances.  No doubt he is very unpopular with a lot of fisher folks at this point.

[robodad]

Here is the photos I was sent !!

[jackelope]

i would love to see the banter on this fish on washingtonflyfishing.com if you think it's bad here...
the forum is done while they transfer servers.
when it comes back...buckle up.

i think it's the fish of a lifetime, many lifetimes.

personally i would have much fonder memories of it if i knew that the fish was still swimming and spreading his genetics given the current state of our wild fish stocks... repro fish mounts are pretty popular these days.

Personally, I would rather see people moving to change the law than bash someone for following the law but violating their own set of ethics

there's a lot of people working real hard to accomplish these goals right now...

[huntnphool]

personally i would have much fonder memories of it if i knew that the fish was still swimming and spreading his genetics

  You got that right Josh.

 Don't get me wrong guys, I congratulate the guy on a fish he will never better, a true trophy of a lifetime.

[Dipsnort]

i would love to see the banter on this fish on washingtonflyfishing.com if you think it's bad here...
the forum is done while they transfer servers.
when it comes back...buckle up.

Are you kidding me, I'll bet the banter about this fish on that site caused it to crash.  I used to spend time there and I can only imagine!

[washingtonmuley]

If you guys read his post where he said it was hooked deep and bleeding pretty good. I have a buddy that talked with the fish checker and he said the fish would have died.Please don't pass judgement on hear say.I find it hard to believe that all you guys would have released a world record fish.