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Beautiful fish Matt and a great story! Water must have been cold! Did you catch him fly fishing or on a spinning setup?
Nice fish, if it was a big white perch I would be even more impressed.How big do the steelheads get out of Champlain?
Have been very busy with a super productive Spring fishing season. I haven't had time to do any reports, but made time to write this one up today after landing a monsterFirst and foremost, I'd like to thank Matt(fishy1) for taking the time to fill me in on the NY side of Champlain. He's gone out of his way to show me around over there, and let me in on some of his honey holes, which ended up paying off BIG time. He's a great man and a great angler, and we both share an infinite passion for fishing. Without his help, I'd of never gotten to hold such a monstrous, beautiful steelhead today. While he wasn't there with me when I hooked into it, he showed up towards the end of the fight. I had already ran down 100' of river to chase this guy, fell in twice (first time flat on my face, nearly completely soaked) I quickly took my phone out of my pocket and threw it into the woods to avoid water damage. Still, the fish didn't stop. It ran another 50' before I could cut it off, jump into the water in front of it and net it head-first. But the mayhem didn't stop there - he was way too big for my net. I had to throw my rod in the water, almost lay down in the river and hold his tail with one hand and the net with my other to avoid him escaping. When I was holding him, laying in the river in 2' of water with water filling up my waders, it was actually pretty peaceful. It took a moment to process what had just happened, but I had won that battle. I laid there for a full minute before I could get up, I think I was in shock. Matt whipped out the measuring tape and it was a solid 32" steelie. We guessed it at about 11-12 lbs. I should have kept it for the wall, and I keep telling myself I want a steelie or salmon over 11 lbs for my wall, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. A picture was good enough for me, and I sent him back on his way. It was the perfect way to top off the Spring steelie run for Champlain, and it was also the 13th steelhead I'd landed in the past 3 days between NY and VT. Doesn't get much better than that. (Image removed from quote.)
I keep telling myself I want a steelie or salmon over 11 lbs for my wall, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. A picture was good enough for me, and I sent him back on his way. I would definitely get a good quality reproduction done.Nice fish!