[walleyecatcher]

So today I decided to go out and fish for some browns and steelies. No browns to be caught, but I did go 1-1 on steelies. I was casting and retrieving my white tube jig and I saw the bobber get ripped under. So I set the hook and then thought S#!@ !!! I forgot to bring the net so I just started fighting the fish and then started to figure out how i would land it with my hands. The beautiful steelhead did many amazing arial manuvers and acrobatics. I then brought it up to the rocks thinking it was tired, but intstead it just thrashed around and cut my line on the rocks and swam away before I could reach in and grab it. So I just re-rigged using my half frozen hands and got back to it. On the first cast with the new rig, right when my bobber was upright, something took it down, but I couldn't convert on that. I then kept fishing for about an hour when, no more than 5 feet from the shore, I saw something attack my tube and it took the bobber straight under with it, so I set the hook and the fight was on. The steelhead was smaller (17.5" when I measured it at home) but it fought much harder than the king last week, jumping out of the water once and fighting very hard. I tired this guy out and I reached down, grabbed him on the gills, unkooked him and put him on the stringer. A fellow fisherman next to me identified it as a male steelhead devolping his spawning colors. Finally, my first steelhead. About 10 minutes later, I had another takedown but couldn't convert.

[best4now]

walleyecatcher,

Which part of Lake Michigan were you fishing? Sounds like you made the best of a tough situation and landed a favorable fish, a great time had. I was at montrose harbor yesterday morning where I had a large fish break of my line, no way to identify the fish as I was doing my best to work with a 6lb leader! previously I landed a 26" steelhead at the same location with same 6lb leader....

[Maliboo]

Sounds like fun. What time of day?

[walleyecatcher]

I got all of my bites and the fish in broad daylight, but it was overcast.

[pauleye1]

yeah walleyecatcher i was out at south rocks harbor side friday morn 700-1000 using cooked shrimp on a slip bobber/white tube jig wth piece of squid no takers then the wind kicked in but i had a nice shrimp lunch for the ride home

[walleyecatcher]

Yeah whats really wierd is that there are some steelies in its just that they want nothing to do with the shrimp that I or other people put out for them. Usually they go crazy over the shrimp.