My first 20 Pound Steelhead!

My first 20# Steelhead on the Clearwater River in Idaho.

I had the opportunity to go steelhead fishing on the Clearwater River in Idaho recently, and it turned out to be an incredible trip.

I was scheduled to travel to the Lewiston, Idaho area and gave Toby Wyatt of Reel Time Fishing a call to see if he could fit me in for a steelhead trip. I could come a day early if he had an opening. Toby told me that the fishing was great and that I should definitely make the effort to come for a day of fishing. It was catch and release only, but there were lots of fish around, and there was a good opportunity to land a 20-pound fish.

That was all I needed to hear. I booked a spot on the boat with guide Jeff Aldrich. I texted Jeff and asked him what I could bring for lures, and he let me know that the bite was on Storm Mag Warts. I had lots of Mag Warts, so I rigged them all up with the new Open Eye Swivel and 7174 Techset Siwash from VMC and was ready to go. Click HERE to see how I rigged my Storm Mag Warts with an open eye swivel and siwash hook.

Storm Mag Warts, Rigged with VMC Open Eye Swivels and 7174 Techset Siwash Hooks, Pautzke Fire Gel and Coon Shrimp Cured with Pautzke Fire Cure

I met Jeff at the boat ramp in Lewiston at 7:00 am and loaded my gear into the boat. It was cold but clear. As it turned out, I was the only angler in the boat... no one else booked a trip today... My luck was starting out good!

We motored upriver and got the boat into position. Jeff hooked a coon shrimp cured in Pautzke Fire Cure on the front hook, and I loaded up some Pautzke Fire Gel in steelhead scent on my Storm Mag Wart. We began back trolling the plugs, and it only took about 5 minutes for the rod to fold over. We landed our first fish by 7:30 am - a beautiful Clearwater Steelhead.

Jeff with the first fish of the day!

We fished that area for about 30 minutes and landed one more fish, which was great, but Jeff said he wanted to move to see if he could find a more productive spot. We motored upriver a few miles to a new location; it was a decision that turned out to be the right move.

We got settled into the new location and set up the drift. Just a few minutes in, the outside rod folded over. I picked up the rod, and a beautiful big steelhead came flying four feet out of the water. It was a hot fish that took me around the boat several times before we got it into the net.

Beautiful Clearwater Steelhead!

For the next few hours, we continued fishing in the same drift, and with each attempt, we hooked a fish—all using Storm Mag Warts with Pautzke Fire Gel. Every catch was a big, beautiful B run steelhead. It was an unbelievably amazing morning of fishing.

The big fish just kept on happening!

After catching at least 10 fish, Jeff steered the boat to the bank and began preparing hamburgers on the grill for a shore lunch. Whether it was due to our successful morning, the warmth of the food on a chilly day, or Jeff's exceptional cooking skills, it turned out to be one of the best burgers I've ever tasted.

Jeff cooking burgers for lunch - quite possibly the best burger I have ever had!

After lunch, we returned to the boat and set up on the same drift. On the first pass, we hooked a large 37" fish. It was a stunning catch—not the elusive 20-pounder I was hoping for, but a beautiful fish nonetheless. The fishing remained steady for the next hour or so, with the brighter colored Mag Warts catching most of the fish in the afternoon. I was still hopeful for a 20-pound fish, but if the day ended without it, I couldn't complain because I've never experienced a steelhead fishing trip quite like this one.

37" steelhead on the fist pass after lunch!

We began our next drift, back trolling our Mag Warts, and surprisingly made it through the hole without a bite for the first time. Jeff continued back trolling down the river, mentioning that sometimes a few fish linger at the tail end of the drift. As we approached the end, the back rod suddenly got hit. I grabbed the rod and immediately realized it was a larger fish. It surfaced a couple of times far from the boat, but we couldn't get a clear view of it. The fish then made a run straight up the river towards the boat, and I struggled to keep up. As it neared the boat and we got our first glimpse, we both recognized it as a good catch. From that moment, silence fell over the boat; I don't think I even breathed. This was the fish I had been waiting for, and there was still a lot that could go wrong. Jeff expertly kept the boat in position while the big steelhead did everything possible to escape. It rolled, made runs, circled the boat, but the hooks held, and we finally managed to get it into the net.

Jeff removed the hooks and lifted it out of the net - it was a beautiful hatchery steelhead that looked every bit of 40 inches. I quickly put a tape measure on it and it was 39"....one inch short of what is standard for a 20 pound steelhead. Jeff said, "get a girth on that thing, it is fat", so I took the measurement and it was 20 inches around. We released it back into the river and it shot back to the deep water.

An incredible fish and an incredible day with Reel Time Fishing on the Clearwater River in Idaho. My 1st 20 Pound Steelhead!

I pulled out my phone and went to all the steelhead calculators I could find. Every single one of them came back at over 20 pounds!! It ranged from 20.077 pounds to 22.6 pounds depending on the site. Finally, my first 20 Pound Steelhead!

We continued fishing for another hour or so and around 3:30 we called it a day. It was an absolutely spectacular day of steelhead fishing on the beautiful Clearwater River. We landed 14 steelhead on the day - amazing!

If you ever get a chance to fish the Clearwater, I would highly recommend booking a trip with Reel Time Fishing, they are extremely professional and do an incredible job!

Thanks for reading,

Bill

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