My first several landed steelhead came out of the Sammamish River. Those of you who were lucky enough to fish it in the 70's and early 80's know that ditch was some prime steelheading, especially when every other river in the region was blown. Whew!

First time steelheading was in 1977 at Reiter Ponds. Being only seven years old, I had to beg my dad to take me. He relented, and then set me up with plunking gear so he could get down to fishing without me bugging him, or so he thought. He rigged me with a spin-n-glo on a three-way swivel with a pyramid sinker, cast it out, tightened it up, handed me the rod, and walked upstream. I was right below the big rock at the creek mouth during very low December conditions. By the time he was fifty feet away, I was into my first steelhead, on my first cast ever. With a Penn 209 and 15# test, I drug the poor eight pounder over the gravel bar that used to be there, then across the near channel, then right up onto shore. It took all of fifteen seconds. With me yelling, by the time my dad got back down to me, the leader had broken and the fish was back in the water. He tried vainly to grab it, but, alas, it was not to be. Off it went.

The next day we drifted the Sammamish. It may be hard to believe, but it was a great river to pull plugs in. If you ever fished there in the 70's and early 80's and saw a white rowboat pulling plugs, that was us. No one else did it that I ever saw. Right at 60 acres soccer park, I got a hit. Twenty minutes later, including a jump up onto the bank and two times thinking I had lost it due to blistering runs at the boat, I had my first steelhead in the net.

Here's the best part: That fish weighed just shy of 20 pounds, and was a hatchery fish. For all the hundreds of steelhead I have caught, it's still the biggest hatchery fish for me.

I was pretty much screwed from that point forward.

The results:

1. Fished every day I could get a ride, until I was sixteen, then fished nearly every day after school since I didn't need a ride anymore.

2. Went to college and got my degree in Marine Biology, which was amazing since I fished five days a week. (Ask Robbo, somehow he graduated, too, though we both spent a lot more time fishing than studying).

3. Went to law school, graduated magna cum laude with an emphasis in environmental law.

4. Worked for the Attorney General's Office, representing the WDFW.

5. My involvement in the Wild Steelhead Coalition.

It was a long road, starting with that first fish, to finally be involved with a group that I really believe in, and believe can actually make a difference.

Glory be to the steelhead!!

Fish on...

Todd.