Steelhead size overstated, so what’s new?

STEELHEADING — A few sharp-eyed readers noticed that fish in the photo of the “27.5-pound” steelhead   (see two blog posts below this one) I hooked Tuesday in the Okanogan River either didn’t look that big or the guy holding the fish, Jerrod Gibbons, must have been about 8 feet tall and 400 pounds.

Sorry, I meant 27.5 INCH-LONG steelhead, not 27.5 inches.  The correction has been made in the text.

It’s a normal sort of mistake for a fisherman.

I know the length for a fact because a WDFW biologist measured it when we pulled off the river.

Meanwhile, the photo above is of a wild fish — another third bigger than the one photographed a couple of blog posts below this.  Gibbons released this beautiful hen without bringing it out of the water.