# My first "monster"...



## MrDingleBerry (4 mo ago)

Convinced my brother to come out in the wind and cold today. Got out at around 11am and he ended up catching his first steelhead ever. A 19inch pot belly pig on an 1/8oz brass Lil Cleo.










After that he stopped whining about his hands being cold. So we kept fishing. Walked downstream a bit and I started drifting 1/16 Pink/White Voodoo jig with some wax worms.
Was getting hit every few drifts but couldn't hook up with anything, til finally float went down and I pulled up and thought I caught a rock until I saw a giant leap and my drag started screeching like the reel was gonna break.

Roughly 7-8mns of me "trying" to control this thing around rocks, my brother somehow fit my biggest Steelhead ever into our net tail first(i need to buy a bigger one). This thing trumped any I have caught, I have no clue if it's actually a "monster" but it came out to be a tad over 31 inches and I don't think even pictures do it justice. My brother got some on his crappy phone because I wanted to get it back in the water after the long fight. Thing splashed the crap out of me and it swam away strong.


----------



## joekacz (Sep 11, 2013)

Well now you did it…you joined the 10# club…from my experience it’s probably closer to 11# just from your measurements…CONGRATS!!


----------



## RodsInTheMud (3 mo ago)

Wow what a hawg……nice MrDB! Bravo for you guys getting out, good stuff!


----------



## Trouthunter (Jan 22, 2018)

31” is definitely respectable. Congrats!


----------



## MrDingleBerry (4 mo ago)

joekacz said:


> Well now you did it…you joined the 10# club…from my experience it’s probably closer to 11# just from your measurements…CONGRATS!!


Ya I'm glad I brought the measuring tape this time, well I'm glad my brother brought his  Does 31inches usually translate to 10-11ish lbs? I wish I took a top down picture because this thing was wide too. That 2nd picture you can see the size of it compared to my net LOL.



RodsInTheMud said:


> Wow what a hawg……nice MrDB! Bravo for you guys getting out, good stuff!


Thanks. Ya I had planned to get out around 7am but looking outside when light hit snow covered and windy, I sorta had in the back of my head "Ya I'm not going out today"... I asked my brother a few hourslater expecting him to say no so I sorta had an "excuse", but he called me back 5mns later and said sure after saying no instantly. Worked out very well.


----------



## Trouthunter (Jan 22, 2018)

I should get out on the Rocky to wet a line tomorrow, but we‘ll see how I feel after removing our old couch, and picking up another sofa sectional and wrestling it into the house.


----------



## Sonder (May 9, 2020)

MrDingleBerry said:


> Convinced my brother to come out in the wind and cold today. Got out at around 11am and he ended up catching his first steelhead ever. A 19inch pot belly pig on an 1/8oz brass Lil Cleo.
> 
> View attachment 501067
> 
> ...


Hmm great fish friends lol but I gotta ask would he be DingleBerry Senior or Junior? ..lol…


----------



## MrDingleBerry (4 mo ago)

Trouthunter said:


> I should get out on the Rocky to wet a line tomorrow, but we‘ll see how I feel after removing our old couch, and picking up another sofa sectional and wrestling it into the house.


I usually avoid weekends, but this one looked like the last "semi-warm" one. Seeing single digit highs next weekend  I would expect the river to freeze up after that, right?


----------



## joekacz (Sep 11, 2013)

MrDingleBerry said:


> Ya I'm glad I brought the measuring tape this time, well I'm glad my brother brought his  Does 31inches usually translate to 10-11ish lbs? I wish I took a top down picture because this thing was wide too. That 2nd picture you can see the size of it compared to my net LOL.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks. Ya I had planned to get out around 7am but looking outside when light hit snow covered and windy, I sorta had in the back of my head "Ya I'm not going out today"... I asked my brother a few hourslater expecting him to say no so I sorta had an "excuse", but he called me back 5mns later and said sure after saying no instantly. Worked out very well.


It’s not exact but on a healthy fish such as yours the last digit is pretty close to the weight…it could be +/- a few ounces…that’s how the now infamous lead sinker walleye tournament went down,size didn’t match the weight…you can get a skinny 31” and not even be close to the 10-11#…take a look at the Fall Brawl entries they post weight and length…pick up a digital fish scale…well worth it


----------



## MrDingleBerry (4 mo ago)

joekacz said:


> It’s not exact but on a healthy fish such as yours the last digit is pretty close to the weight…it could be +/- a few ounces…that’s how the now infamous lead sinker walleye tournament went down,size didn’t match the weight…you can get a skinny 31” and not even be close to the 10-11#…take a look at the Fall Brawl entries they post weight and length…pick up a digital fish scale…well worth it


Ya a scale is up there on my list of stuff, I would love to know exact weights of some of the fish I catch... But I really, really, really need to get a bigger net and one with some better webbing. I've lost at least half a dozen fish with my net, trying to coax them in from the front the net catches the hook and dehooks them before I can get them in. Really fortunate I had my brother with me, I don't know how I could have netted that one solo and I didn't have anywhere to beach it either.


----------



## TRIPLE-J (Sep 18, 2006)

Yea you really do need a bigger net if you are gonna fish for steelhead


----------



## TRIPLE-J (Sep 18, 2006)

Great fish btw congrats..
And its a big male to boot...
Very nice


----------



## BNiemo (Mar 28, 2019)

Great Job, Good Sir! 30 inch fish don't come easy!


----------



## jammert1 (Oct 29, 2021)

Can't believe that fish went into to net! LOL


----------



## Hawg Wobbler 52 (Nov 19, 2021)

Beauty. Good job.


----------

