trip report..... 8/19 river hybrids

brother in law came to the house around 630 we got in the truck and got to the river around 715. second cast i pulled out this monster... "positive comments only please"



caught about 5 or six more smaller ones and right before dark hit one more pig



after this one i was caught up holding the net in my hand as my brother in law fought something for about 45 minutes.... never got to see it and all of a sudden the line just went limp.... threw out a few more casts and it seemed all the fish had turned off in that area so we packed up and headed home.... all in all a pretty good couple hours on the river lastnight

in any of the three rivers im my opinion those fish are above average now if you were talkin some other waters i dont really know cause ive only caught them and targeted them in the rivers

Great looking hybrids thanks for posting the pics,I have been less sucessful fishing the ohio and allegheny rivers the past two years. I remember catching hybrids in the ohio about 3-4 years ago but the bite seemed to dry up around summertime I've asked the fish commission where these fish go after spring and the answer was" WHERE THE FOOD IS" so these are good looking fish. I am going to change my tactics and try some newer spots after seeing your pics. Again thanks for posting and please keep including those pics.

Spoon you are exactly right.... pound for pound a striper would definetly put you into your backing or spool you using any steelhead setup...... I use a nine foot medium action rod with 8 lb test and theystill feel like they are a locomotive but I feel more comfortable than I would with 4 lb test on a lighter action rod which I would use for steel.... my neext trip to the river will consist of my 7 wt without a doubt

man and i was hoping people would of forgot about that. wait they did well everyone accept for the people who actually did it. figures your brain couldnt of come up with that idea you had to copy raz's idea.

ORIGINAL: spoonchucker

The lighter lines, and rod weights to you use for Steelhead VS the heavier for wipers fools you. A wiper of equal weight would drag a Steelhead all over the lake.

We shall find out tomorrow...bagging one on the fly tomorrow..I fish 4lb fluro for steel most of the time...I'm spooled with 12lb nano on my river rod now...will be going much lighter on the fly tomorrow

Pretty nice fish Kreamy ,But I wouldn't consider those monsters tho. Using 8 pound line with a 9ft medium rod will make just about any river fish feel like a monster!!!!! and that the currant of the river can make a hard retrieve also. Not busting up stones JUST A OPINOIN!!!!! Keep up the good work catching and releasing the stripes They are a great sport fish Dave

nice fish...im sure ill be seeing you down there someday.

Don't start being a dike already go troll somewhere else

Those look like trophies for the rivers, congrats. Anything in the 24" range was a trophy for me in the rivers when I used to chase them there. Most averaged in the 18"-20" range for me, which were fun.

I did a bit of an experiment this Spring with the unnammed lake, using my noodle rod & 4lb test. It took a good 10 minutes to land fish in the 24" range, with multiple runs. I'd say they have about the same power as a comperable size steelhead (if in open water), but have more stamina, taking a few extra runs before giving up. I have yet to see one go airborn on a fight, like the steel will do though. I changed out to 8lb test reel after, which worked just about as good.

A bit of a disclaimer though, I have never caught a steelhead where they have a ledge of 20' deep water to retreat to. The shores of Erie that I have caught them in, only drop off to 10 feet for as far as they are able to run. The majority of steelhead that I have caught only have about a fraction of that in a pool, although catching a ride down some rapids will definitely add to the fight.