1st Steelhead on the surface

[Randyflyfisher]

Hit a favourite section of the Grand River with some buddies today.Put on a brown bomber and was singing a nice run when this guy smashed my bomber.Took a few quick pics and released him n his way.Thanks Mike for being there to help land and take pics of my first steelhead on a waking surface fly.
Apprecate it buddy.
Cheers,Randy
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[BLACK FRANCIS]

that's awesome Randy, congratulations!

[Flyfish4trout]

It was so surreal best part is I worked the run before Randy did with tubes!!!
I watched the entire take and fight from shore, what an experience!!!

So far 3 for 3 tailing for you buddy, lol. Still not getting tired of it either!!

[geoffvl]

Nice fish. Awesome!

[LCH]

Way to go sticking with the dry Randy! We still have a bit more time on the Grand this fall before the tips are mandatory!

Larry

[TheWhiteman]

Wow! Great fish! Even cooler you got it on a surface fly. I live 2 min from the Grand, so it always is a favourite spot for me

[808steelheader]

Congratulations on your first surface steelhead! I can't get enough of the surface grab. May there be many more to come for you. Look out, you may become a surface steelhead junkie like me - I pretty much fish a waker full-time until winter hits!

Todd

[brucew]

I hope it is the first of many!

[FGS III]

Way to go Randy!! It's a pretty wild experience when it happens huh!?

[speyday]

Thats great! Congrats. What a special thing to happen in our great lakes fishery.

[peter-s-c]

Way to go Randy!

Funny, but I was just having this discussion Monday, probably around the time you were hooking up, about the odds of a Grand River fish being taken on a dry.

Was it waked or dead drifted?

[Haddy]

Nice fish but am I the only person who thinks that the fish is a long ways from the water for pictures and a quick release? Not sure how being held on a coat will affect it as well. Not trying start a debate just my two cents...

[Kermode]

Though I am sure there are others here on speypages that have known Randy longer than myself, I can assure you Haddy, Randy is a true Ambassador to the sport up here in the Great Lakes Region and though I was not there I know the fish would have been handled with the utmost care and returned to the river without incident

Chris

[Randyflyfisher]

The fish was never far from the river and was only out of the water very briefly.In the pic where I am sort of sitting down my foot is in the water though that ins't visible in the picture.As I was returning the fish it struggled in my hands cradling it as I did seemed best to support it's weight without causing it serious harm.The fish was released completely unharmed and gave me a nice face wash as it departed.For the record I probably treat the Grand River steelhead with more respect then I do some people.They are wild fish that deserve and have more then earned it from me at least.My apologies if the pics offended anyone s that was not the intention.

Regards,Randy

[speyhurricane]

Very nice fish Randy!!
Hopefully i'll be seeing you and Mike on the Grand soon. Too bad we always fish opposite sides.
Ray

[steelspey]

Nice fish, Randy! Particularly nice on a dry.

[Flyfish4trout]

Nice fish but am I the only person who thinks that the fish is a long ways from the water for pictures and a quick release? Not sure how being held on a coat will affect it as well. Not trying start a debate just my two cents...

Yeah I think you are the only person, the fish was out of the water for maybe 20 secs if that, I was taking pics as they happened and that is how i captured that one cause it was in the moment, as Randys passion for steelies is the way he treats his own children, which is all the love in the world!!!

[speyday]

When I ponder the populus of people on our waters:

* gut-hooking fish with bait,
* Shredding mouths with trebles, gear and hardware,
* loading up thier trunk and turning around to get more,
* creating temporary snagging gauntlets out of rocks,
* netting them as by catch, or
* zipping them only for eggs?

vs. a spey guy who handled, yes, even cradled, and released one that was on the dry fly?-- This doesn't register a concern in the slightest as a statistically significant threat.

Nor is he teaching bad practices to an impressionable audience. Sometimes,though, my concern gets warped, and concern for the fish is 'mis-directed' towards the very people that keep this craft a special thing.

'Cause Today, I bet that there were 18 snaggers on the water who didn't get called out on the internet by thier peers; that nobody phoned MNR/DNR on--yet did much more damage; somewhere out of sight. Much bigger fish to fry, I conclude.

Let's stick together, fellas! :^)

[Speysnaggedme]

Not to hi-jack just wanted to add a shot of one the Steelie Gnome gifted me from a "Grande" river out west that was also my first surface fish. Dec Hogans words from his book kept haunting me,"If the opportunity is there why not jump on it?". So i did and here are the results. Nice fish Randy, good to see your fish was looking up also!

[Randyflyfisher]

Nice fish and picture.Congrat's on your 1st as well.I would have liked a pic of the fly in the mouth but it fell free after the fish was landed but on the upside the release was quicker and easier.

[mrslide]

Well, you've gone and done it now Randy; tasted the forbidden fruit:lildevl:

Nothing quite like that rise to the waker, is there?

See you on the Bulkley.

Tight lines, Chris

P.S. Those GR fish sure are purty.... must get my butt on down there someday.

[craiger]

Awesome job there buddy. I'm itching to try out skating a fly now. I tied my first two right after I saw your post. Lol. I'll have to figure out how to do it with a skagit setup for now.

[FrankyV]

Randy what setup were you useing ?

C U on the river soon (Maybe this Sunday)

cheers
Frank

[speydoc]

Randy - now you are hooked - there is no turning back, there is just something totaly magical about getting these big fish on a surface eat!!!
speydoc

[LCH]

Hey Randy

You didn't ask me to come out and play on Monday so I'm hijacking your thread.

This pretty lady came to hand 2 pools upstream of yours but many years ago back in the day when my tools of choice were a single hand rod and beat up Nikkormat.

Isn't it amazing what can happen after a wild Great Lakes steelhead spends the first 2 years of it's life chasing fluttering caddis and stoneflies instead of hatchery pellets? Surface steel is still a longshot on the Grand or any other GL river, but worth every fishless hour and day. Something to ponder while watching that waker cut a "V".

Larry

12666

12667

[Randyflyfisher]

Larry..whether single or double hander still nice pics.You are at least partially responsible for this as our chats about taking a steelie on top have been more hen a little inspiration for me to want to do it.

Frank..I was using my Goran Anderson 12' 6wt. with a 32' floating scandi head and a 13' tapered leader.

Thanks,Randy

[Flyfish4trout]

Nice job Larry!!!

Well I wil skating flies so hopefully my first steelie on the spey will be with one!!!

[jpeter]

Hey Randy, I was on the GR yesterday and the day before. (oct 12 13) I got a few using a greased Muddler. Never tried it before ... Remarkable. You might have seen my little silver Hyundai rental with WA plates along the river.

Tried the Muddler last night and this morning on the Clearwater without any results. Thought maybe I still had some of the Karma.

Cheers - JP

[Randyflyfisher]

I was out Monday but not since.Heading back this weekend to see if I can push my luck with my Fishing Karma.

[FrankyV]

Randy
do you think the river conditions will be good
for this week end?

Let me know
I will be on my side on Sunday

[Randyflyfisher]

Frank thanks for the call see you tomorrow on the river.

Question:How do you know when a guy doesn't swing for steelhead very much?? Answer:When he thinks he got his first steelhead on a bomber pattern and it was really a Waller Waker pattern. In case you didn't guess yup
dats me.I will however be doing it moer in the very near future like tomorrow morming before we meet with Neil for an informal spey day at Bean.

Cheers,Randy

[speyday]

Hey Randy, I was on the GR yesterday and the day before. (oct 12 13) I got a few using a greased Muddler. Never tried it before ... Remarkable. You might have seen my little silver Hyundai rental with WA plates along the river.

Tried the Muddler last night and this morning on the Clearwater without any results. Thought maybe I still had some of the Karma.

Cheers - JP


Great that you got some fish to go; unfortunatetly the 'grand' these guys are chatting abuot is the Grand River in Ontario, CAN a trib that dumps into western lake ontario. So those western ramblings went unnoticed by the GL crowd; though the steelhead gods apparantely took notice of you !!

[Wild Bill]

Great that you got some fish to go; unfortunatetly the 'grand' these guys are chatting abuot is the Grand River in Ontario, CAN a trib that dumps into western lake ontario. So those western ramblings went unnoticed by the GL crowd; though the steelhead gods apparantely took notice of you !!

Actually,not to be a stick in the mud,"but",the Grand river these guys are talking about flows into the north easterly end of lake "ERIE";)

Cheers,Wild Bill.:smokin:

[speyday]

whoops! (Guess I was absent that day in geography class lol.)

[Terry]

Don't worry Speyday they bite on top here too.

[jpeter]

Thought it a funny coincidence that a bunch of easterners we tearing it up near me. I will skate a fly on a whim whereever I am in the future. jp

[FrankyV]

Thank you Randy and Neil Houlding for a wonderful afternoon at bean park.
I'm looking forward to the next Pro Tube system class.

cheers
Frank