The fish of the Year 2012

This was "the fish" of 2012 for our family. We did catch a few more, but this one was special. After a long week of work, Saturday morning found me sleeping in a little longer than is normal for a Saturday morning during the summer run on the Willamette River. My oldest daughter turned me down on a fishing trip, so it was just me and Jacie. She talked me into getting her a steelhead tag this year, even though she was a little worried about fighting one, and handling the big Ugly Stick fishing rod. Our last few trips out had been successful in the Rim Hole so we put the boat in hoping to find it free of other fishermen. The row up the river was nearly effortless in the low summer flows. We anchored up 20 yards above the deep pool that turns into a sudden ripple. After baiting up and getting comfortable, me with oars in my hands and Jacie with her corn chips and soda, we pulled up the anchor and slowly back trolled our way into the deep hole. After going down stream about 15 yards, Jacie's rod plunged towards the water repeatedly! Fish on! I dropped the anchor and secured it, then helped Jacie pull the dancing rod from the rod holder. I quickly reeled in the other rod while coaching her to hold the rod tip up high and reel in any line she could. I moved to the back of the boat to grab the net and put it together. I looked up to see Jacie standing with her back to the fish, rod over one shoulder, reeling backwards! I had her turn around and gave her some more encouragement. She worked the fish close to the boat and I was able to get it into the net after a couple of attempts. We didn't really realize how nice a fish it was until it was in the bottom of the boat. What an exciting day for her. Her first steelhead! Weighing in at over 10 pounds, it was the fish of the year!