A few years ago I was fishing the Skykomish River during the Catch & Release fishery with a pair of gentlemen. As we floated past the IRS pool, we watched a couple of anglers playing a steelhead near the beach. The man with the fish on was up the bank, while his cohort was down in the water, trying to lead the fish into the shore. About the time the fish slid to the shoreline, the angler in the water comes in behind, grabs the steelhead with both hands and with one big scooping motion, flops this steelhead out of the water and onto the rocks and sand. The rod man comes over bringing his line while the fish is thrashing about. By the time he reels up his line, the steelhead is so covered with sand, it looks like it was floured and ready to cook. One of my anglers winced.

The guy then kneels down in the middle of the fish (so it can’t flop), and rips the hook out with a pair of pliers. Having done so, he stands up, stares at his motionless sand blasted fish, and kicks it back into the water like it was a football!

A few years ago I was fishing the pool below Boulder Creek, on the North Fork of the Stilly. It was an early summer evening and the light had just left the pool. I bumped into a fellow who is well known in the fly fishing community. I hadn’t seen him for a while so we chatted for a minute. We arrived at the pool about the same time. I can fish anytime I want, and being as he was from out of town, I invited him to fish through first, I would fish a smaller piece down below.

This was back in the days when the fish actually out-numbered the anglers and so it wasn’t long before Dan had hooked a fine steelhead. I turned and watched while the fish ran and jumped around the pool. Dan had obviously played many a steelhead. The fight settled into a real tug-of-war, and Dan pretty much let the steelhead have his way. I went back to my fishing. Once in a while I would glance over my shoulder to see how the fight was progressing. I hooked a fish, and after a short but dramatic battle, I released the steelhead. As Dan was still playing his fish, curiosity finally got the better of me and I hiked on up to watch. Dan had the fish holding upstream. He didn’t pressure, the fish didn’t move. Twenty minutes later the steelhead finally collapsed. The only indication of life was the fish’s gills were slowly moving.

The next day we found a dead steelhead in the bottom of the salmon pool, two hundred yards downstream.

Playing Steelhead
On the initial hook set I tend to let my drag of the reel do the work. I simply concentrate on keeping a good bend in the rod, while easing my way back to shore, in case the steelhead should bolt downstream and out of the pool. It doesn’t generally happen (Sauk fish are notorious) but occasionally you do have to literally run them down, to keep any line control. Steelhead tend to fight out of panic, sort of like eight seconds on a Brahma bull, and if you can stay way with your fish in the first two minutes, the odds of landing the fish tip in your favor.

My philosophy is: “If he isn’t pulling you, you pull him.” I change tactics in mid-fight by putting the pressure on the fish. With large fish, such as winter native steelhead, Chinook and Chum salmon, you have to take control. I call this “breaking their spirit.” You have to convince them they will lose. Now there are some situations when you do not want to push them. Like when they are still fresh and still fighting with reserve and control, or when they have moved to the edge of a tailout rapid and its impossible to follow, or when you are trying to negotiate the steelhead around an obstruction. Most of the time you are pushing the steelhead. Nothing accomplishes this like creating side pressure to the fish.

Billy Pate developed a technique in rod control used for fighting large fish like tarpon and sail fish he calls “Down and Dirty.” Down and Dirty is a simple matter of keeping the full arch of the rod (most anglers accomplish a variation of this by holding the butt section straight up, allowing the tip section to bend over in a big “C” shape). By leaning the rod over parallel to the ground - it is imperative to maintain the “C” shape of the rod - you are now putting side pressure on the steelhead. The mistake many anglers make, as soon as they attempt to lay the rod over for side pressure, is that they end up pointing the rod tip at the fish. Instead of the rod working as a shock absorber, all the pressure is at the fly. Snap! He is gone. Maintain the arched rod.

So what does Down and Dirty do and why even bother to use it? Good question. In mid-fight, you are moving from defense to offense and by arcing the rod to the side, you are now no longer trying to lift the fish but turning him on his side, essentially knocking him off balance. You can do this both in an upstream and downstream position. This technique has so revolutionized our fighting of large fish that we now whip King salmon that used to take us two hours in under 40 minutes!

Why do this for steelhead? Well…two good reasons. One - you have worked hard for your steelhead. Down and Dirty will force him to fight hard during the entire struggle. Bottom line, he will fight you for a shorter duration, but more violently. Two - most steelhead you catch will hopefully be released alive. By expending the energy quickly, studies have demonstrated the recovery period is shorter and complete. You see, when a fish fights he builds up lactic acid in his bloodstream. The longer the fight is prolonged, the more acid is produced that may end up killing the steelhead hours after the fight. This is why, when we hook steelhead in late summer while cutthroating, we push our tippets to the maximum to end the fight, one way or the other, as quickly as possible.

By using the Down and Dirty both upstream and down, you not only tire your fish quickly, but actually steer your steelhead into shore for a quick release.

In late fight, when you have worked your steelhead into the shallows, he has one more move up his sleeve that has continually beaten many an angler. As the steelhead touches his belly on the rocks, he realizes he in serious trouble, draws his last ounce of energy and bolts for deeper water. You can bank on this move, for it happens every time! More than one angler has worked a steelhead all the way to the shore, only to have him break or pullout in “Touch Belly.”

At this time, if you have a good hook hold and let him run, you should be able to work him back in very quickly. Some big ol’ bucks can play this back and forth from shore for several minutes, so be patient.

I usually keep a high rod pressure at this point, because I am not concerned about tiring the fish… He’s tired. I am concerned about keeping my leader, which could be badly frayed by now, out of the rocks near shore.

Landing Fish
When I’m fishing on my own I put on my wool glove (so I don’t have to squeeze hard) and kneel in about a foot of water and tail the fish. I know this sounds redundant but it keeps his gills in the water while you remove the hook. I never use a hook over a 1/0 to avoid vital organs, and I always fish barbless.

If you are fishing with a partner there are a couple ways to land and release. One - you draw the fish into the shallows and your friend tails the fish. He better be good. I handle all fish on client trips unless told otherwise. Two - angler brings fish in as if fishing on his own, and when he tails the fish, his friend holds his rod so he can use both hands to remove the hook and release.

Releasing
As a general rule, warm temperatures, long fights and poor handling are death on steelhead. Walk your fish out into moving water. It doesn’t have to be raging and you don’t have to jerk him back and forth to push water over his gills. I like to hold him upright in the soft current until he fights my hand. If he can do this, he probably has the strength to recover. More than anything, be kind. Pretend that it is you in the water.

Pictures
Here’s a hint when taking pictures. Angler taking the picture takes a moment to ready the camera, frame the angler as if he is already holding the fish up for the photo. Hero then lifts the steelhead up into the picture and snap! The fish’s head is out of the water for maybe three seconds.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Dennis Dickson is a fisheries biologist with 17 years of steelhead flyfishing guide experience. Check out his website @ www.flyfishsteelhead.com

Other Features by Dennis Dickson at FlyFish.com:
Mouth to mouth combat River Etiquette