It's not a steelhead, but...

We did a lot of hiking and explored two new sections of streams (to Michael and I). All we found was one freshly dead steelhead. It was so fresh that the colour was still vibrant on the sides and blood was still coming out of the fish's gills but it was already stiff as a board. We were puzzled why it died since it looked to be in prime condition and the water was cold enough that this fish should not be stressed. I thought about keeping it for some fillets (it was THAT fresh!), but not knowing how and why it died, I decided to let nature takes its course.

We really need a lot of rain to bring up the river level. Water is cold enough (it was freezing cold actually) but extremely low. Our day and night time temperature has really dropped quickly lately. Some areas had first snow already! Should be a good icefishing season this year.

On the second stream of the day, we saw one school of small fish in some very slow water. If you just keep an open mind and have appropriate gear on hand (thanks to Michael for having the only ONE #24 hook between us)...you just never know...

Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera) - #274



Michael and I both bought "new" used reels. These Okuma Sheffeld were really meant for steelheads and salmon...but they work for micro species fishing as well!



Sure, it's not a double digit steelhead; but a new species rescued the day!