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October has been an enormous month for sea-run fish data on Idaho’s Clearwater River. On Saturday, the Idaho Division of Fish and Sport licensed a brand new state-record steelhead that fly fisherman Kyriacos Panayiotou caught from the Clearwater in early October. That file grew to become official solely three days after IDFG licensed a new state-record coho salmon, which was pulled from the identical river Oct. 13.
Panayiotou caught his record-sized steelhead early within the morning of Oct. 6, in line with an IDFG press launch. The angler from McCall was wade fishing a stretch of the Clearwater and swinging flies with a two-handed spey rod. A standard fly-fishing method carried over from the Atlantic salmon rivers of Europe, it’s one of many more difficult but rewarding methods to catch a steelhead (a rainbow trout that returns to the river after spending years within the Pacific.)
“The total floating spey line was roughly 120 to 130 toes when the fly began the swing,” Panayiotou advised IDFG. “At round 30 levels of a swing, this stunning wild steelhead buck boiled to the floor and grabbed the fly with authority. The classic Hardy Good reel might do nothing in slowing down this fish … it’s one thing that I’ll always remember.”
The fly fisherman knew he’d caught one thing particular as quickly as he landed the large buck (the time period for a male steelhead.) Whereas holding it moist within the shallows, Panayiotou measured the 41-inch fish with a versatile measuring tape and took an image of it subsequent to his spey rod. He reportedly launched the wild fish to proceed its journey to its spawning grounds.
Though it seems like Panayiotou would have let the fish go anyhow, he didn’t have a lot of a alternative. Idaho’s steelhead runs are endangered, with solely 2 p.c of their historic populations remaining, in line with the Idaho Conservation League. Due to these low numbers, IDFG requires that all wild steelhead be launched. (Wild fish could be recognized from their hatchery counterparts by their intact adipose fin.)
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Panayiotou’s 41-inch steelhead has been licensed as an Idaho catch-and-release file, and it beats the previous file set in 2021 by 1.75 inches. The actual fact it broke the magical 40-inch mark is trigger sufficient for celebration, in line with IDFG’s Clearwater Fishery Supervisor Joe DuPont.
“In a typical yr,” DuPont defined, “the variety of steelhead within the 40-inch vary is lower than 1 p.c of the run.”
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