mikebraun
11-20-2008, 08:12 PM
I like to fish the Trask in the fall because of large numbers of salmon it gets. This was another great day on the river with nobody around except for us. Fishing was about as good as it gets with summer steelhead, my first winter steelhead of the season, big wild cohoe and of coarse kings. Some of these fish had sea lice on them and full of fight, I had chased several fish some distance before landing them. It was getting close to dark and I say just a couple more casts. FISH-ON, it was a chrome mid to upper 20's king. He wasn't going anywhere just kept head shaking as I pulled him to the edge. As soon as his belly touched the rocks he flipped out and took off. He hit the current and shot down river and the chase was on. I,ve prolly ran down these rocks close to a thousand times, why would this time be any different? Well I dont know what happened but I slipped on something and was flat on my back and hit my head and elbow hard. My whole body kinda twitches and I lose muscle control for a split second. My 10wt GL3 and stratos reel shoots out of my hand and I regain my control. I flip over on my hands and knees and chase my rod across rocks and through water until it dissapears in the whitewater. The water was high and it was about dark, so I ran to my truck and grabbed a bobber rod. I cut off the bobber and tied on a 3oz weight and the biggest hook I had.The chances of getting it back were very slim because of the area I was in. I ran back to the river and casted into the dark, I couldn't even see where my cast would land. I did this until I snagged up and broke off. The water still hasn't gone lower than when this happened, and after the flood I would imagine it is smashed up in a root ball not to be found till summer. But if anybody finds it I'd be happy to give a reward.
I hope the fish got off.
I hope the fish got off.