Most anglers I know don’t get as much time on the water as they would like. I’m fortunate enough to have a lady that understands my “problem” and allows me at least one day a week to get out for a day of fishing. The last four weeks I’ve fished for lake-run trout five times with zero to show other than a few steelhead smolt in Michigan. Yesterday, in Wisconsin my curse was broken by a coho that grabbed my orange steamer as I stripped it through the slack water at the end of my swing. It was my first big, red, hook-jawed coho. I’m guessing it was a good seven or eight pounds. It never made any long runs, but was strong until I got him in the shallows. After a few photos and a release I switched to an egg/indi setup, and a few drifts in my indicator shot about three feet down stream. When I set the hook I felt one throb and it was over.
After a while I moved back to the top of the run, and eventually I hooked a really strong brown trout. It may have felt stronger as a result of fishing my six weight rod, but it made the coho seem kind of lazy. Other anglers out there were having some success with mostly browns across the board. A couple of my friends have caught some steelhead in the last two weeks so I know there’s a few around. It just seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve tangled with a good steelhead and I’m getting anxious!
