Brown-Steelhead VideoHi Speed Only

The conditions were ripe with the cool rainy weather that had moved into the western central part of New York state. With that good fortune perhaps I could keep my promise to the 3 rookies fishing with me that they would each catch a brown trout over 10 lbs. This was my 3rd year fishing in this area, where not many people realize the abundance of truly large trout. If you don’t have 5 grand to plop down for a trip to Tierra Del Fuego this might be a place for you. We set out early after a few minutes of sleep. (cheap hotels). We arrived before dawn to our destination which would help us secure a suitable spot for our quest. Dan and I were on one side of the bridge while the Scott H and Scott D managed the other side. A few casts into it my indicator went under as subtle as if it were a lead sinker thrown into the water. This meant it was probably a steeelhead as the browns generally take soft. Judging by the fight my theory seemed to be correct. Chrome in hand a photo was taken to preserve the memory. I resumed fishing and a couple casts later another chromer that was a little nicer that the first . Dan was a bit anxious at this point. He had not been through the learning curve but a short one it turned out to be as he was into his first fish after a little repositioning . Dan’s fish fought quite a bit different as it was staying deep and bulldogging away from him. He was able to put the clamps down and brought the fish to net fairly easy for it’s size . He had just met his goal of a brown over 10 pounds and we were just getting started. The Scotts saw some water just above us that opened up and decided that is where they would try. Scott H began to catch steelhead in rapid succession in is new found hole . Scott D took a little while but found his groove as well only he was catching large browns. He got the largest fish of the trip a 31″ hen with a girth from hell. Everyone easily met their goal and maybe wondered if the bar was a little low. A 20 pounder , now that would be a big fish.