Spring Steelies
This spring has been a difficult one for the steelhead fishers here in Wisconsin. Too much water. Cold and ugly weather is no problem, but rivers that are ripping at 5000 cfs when they normally flow around 200 cfs are just too much of a challenge. Well, one of our favorite rivers took a brief dip from over 5000 earlier in the season to around 370 cfs. My old fishing buddies, John Beth and Doc Zavadsky, cleared their calendars and got to river early in the day. John got into a red hot female of 32 inches early in the day, and then later hit the fish of a lifetime—a 37 x 19 inch male—on an egg fished with shot and indicator. The calculated weight works out to 17.8 pounds—quite the fish!
But, the water is headed back up, and the season is getting late. That may be the only steelies we see this spring.
John with his lifetime best 37 x 19 inch male steelie. Good on you John!