The Cedar around 1972 (before Boldt). There was a fellow in the office that used to come in Monday AM and tell us about his steelheading success over the weekend. He usually caught his limit on at least one day if not both. I had done mosty trout and salmon fishing but not for steelhead. Finally, I asked him about steelheading and being a very helpful sort he proceeded to show me how to rig up an oakie drifter (he gave me one to use as a prototype) and precisely where to go on the river. He drew a diagram showing where I should stand and where to cast. He told me to be fishing no later than 7:15AM (it was barely light) and if I hadn't had a strike within 30 minutes there wasn't a fish there that day. Although I didn't know it, my problem was that I only had my trout spinning rod to use. Well, I arrived at the spot right on time, found where to stand and could see well enough where to cast. I made a cast and felt the bumpy-bump-bump of the lead along the bottom. However, on the 3rd cast I felt a WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP. My poor trout rod doubled over and a fish leaped out of the water and over a sizable boulder. It broke me off of course but I was so suprised that my knees were shaking. Unfortunately I only had the one oakie drifter rig that my friend made up so I had to leave.

That week I went out and bought a Wright-McGill Power Light and a Penn 109. I landed my first steelhead the next weekend from that same spot.

JP