February 23, 2016

I haven't seen Mark since our last Steelhead trip on the Wilson River 10 years ago. We don't get to fish together since he moved to California; however, he still texts for fishing reports like he is still in the game.

February 2016 - Fishing with Mark on the Nestucca

We were watching the weather and river levels closely leading up to our trip. It was going to be one of those trips where our arms were going to be sore from all the fish we catch. Our last trip we hooked 12. We were shooting for 15 this time. We woke up to blue skies and a green river. Everything was lining up.

Our fish didn't join the party until a couple hours into our trip. Mark was on the board first!

It was an hour or so later that I released a small wild fish (sorry, no pics). The next fish came along not long after. This time, it was not a small fish, but the biggest Steelhead I've ever caught! We estimated the weight at 16 or 17 lbs.

The fight lasted for what seemed like 15 minutes. We had to pull anchor and chase it downstream a good 300 yards. Mark tried his best to knock the fish off with the net, but I wasn't going to let this one go.

Big native steelhead

It ended up being a beautiful native Steelhead that we donated to the broodstock program.

Broodstock program donation

We ended up landing 5 and missing a few others. Not a record number of fish, but all were beautiful specimens.

Thanks again, Mark! Let's not wait 10 years for our next trip!

- Phil