# First steelie (pic)



## joeirv (Jun 11, 2010)

My first steelhead on the fly. Beautiful stripe on him.


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## salmo'dog (Aug 24, 2007)

Congrats!...Nice fish


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## friZZleFry419 (Aug 21, 2007)

NICE!!!!!


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## joeirv (Jun 11, 2010)

Thanks guys. That's a 5 wt St. Croix I'm using as well. Thing fought like a tank. took about 15- 20 minutes to get him in, never seen so much backing in my life.


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## Whit1 (Apr 27, 2001)

Thanks for sharing the photo.


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## johnd (Mar 31, 2008)

Nice one, You were'nt fishing in the kiddie pond were you? lol


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## joeirv (Jun 11, 2010)

Haha, I don't think they grow em that big in the kiddy pond.


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## Yooper33 (May 26, 2009)

looks more like a rainbow than a steelhead. steelhead would be chrome right now. u would be surprised how big those rainbows get in that pond. ive heard of ice fisherman getting 30 inch fish from there.


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## joeirv (Jun 11, 2010)

Hmmm, well not to give my spot away but I got him off the point. Right out of one of the deep pools near the closest rock piles. I thought a steelhead was basically just a rainbow that left the tributaries.


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

Looks like one of the Wisconsin fish, we get a good run of their planted fish in the fall and winter in the EUP. THe Wisconsin fish I believe are called kamaloops and they are very colorful steelhead. Nice fish anyway congrats, bet you were glad to get him in.Careful with the background in the fish pics it will give you away every time. It took me about 10 seconds to figure it out.


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

Kamloops (Loopers) are in Lk. Superior near Duluth, MN. They came from Kamloop, BC and are planted fish.

Wisconsin fish usually don't venture up to the Soo.


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## steely74 (Feb 9, 2010)

I'm pretty sure the arlee strain stocked by Wisconsin is also considered an oversized lake rainbow as well as the kamloops. 


I think the fish in question is a steelhead...


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## joeirv (Jun 11, 2010)

Well.... either way it was a fun fish to catch. Just under 8 pounds, ran me out 4 or 5 times, and was not very happy to be on the line lol.


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

steely74 said:


> I'm pretty sure the arlee strain stocked by Wisconsin is also considered an oversized lake rainbow as well as the kamloops.
> 
> 
> I think the fish in question is a steelhead...


You are correct...both are lake run potamodromous rainbow trout.


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## pavy31 (Jul 8, 2008)

Nice fish there, caught many fish there by rotary park when i was growing up! Great for walleye at night there as well!!


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## DaveW731 (Jan 12, 2001)

Great fish, especially on a 5 weight! Bet you were glad for every inch of backing. How far out did he run you? Mind telling what you caught him on?


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## joeirv (Jun 11, 2010)

Well, let's see each time he ran my entire 30 yards of line and about another 20 to 30 of backing I'd say. What killed me was he'd do it once and I'd reel it up and have him on the shallow rocks, go to grab him and out again. This happened a few times. I got pretty lucky he just ran my line straight out and stayed relativley high in the water column. 

I actually caught him on an Adam's fly. It was a bit water logged and was sitting about an inch below the surface. He really didn't hit too hard, just seen his nose and felt a tug, I tugged back and it was on lol.


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

Get ready Joe, there's more coming!!! Fall fish are the best too...


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## ausable_steelhead (Sep 30, 2002)

> Fall fish are the best too...


No lie man.....


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## joeirv (Jun 11, 2010)

I'm pumped. I've been out walking creeks and rivers everyday when I get out of class scouting where to start. A few unmentionable creeks I've actually seen some monster browns.


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## Fishslayer5789 (Mar 1, 2007)

Yooper33 said:


> looks more like a rainbow than a steelhead. steelhead would be chrome right now. u would be surprised how big those rainbows get in that pond. ive heard of ice fisherman getting 30 inch fish from there.


I'm just assuming you are joking and let's just leave it at that. And I'd love to add that that is one heck of a steelhead. There's nothing like the fight of a fall fish. A LOT of fall fish are not dime bright. I have some pics in my album of steelhead that were not dime bright but were caught in the fall. This is strictly for reference and not to take away from the thread itself. For EDUCATIONAL purposes, these are FALL fish: 

















Immature fish will usually be dime bright, but MATURE fish or fish close to maturity generally start to develop coloration well before they actually spawn. These fish came up the river looking for some food.(probably the piles of salmon eggs that were bouncing down the river)


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## Whit1 (Apr 27, 2001)

Thanks for the report and photo. The thread is moving away from it's intention.


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