Giant Steelhead Taken on Washington's Hoh River

On Friday, February 20, Peter Harrison caught a steelhead estimated at 29-30 pounds on an 8kg tippet on Washington State’s Hoh River. The existing IGFA world record for rainbow trout (the IGFA groups steelhead with rainbows) on 8kg tippet is a 28-pound fish caught by Chuck Stephens on the Skeena River over 24 years ago. The story, first reported on the blog The Big Pull, has elicited congratulations and groans — the latter from those who believe steelhead, especially large fish, should always be released. But because it was bleeding from the gills and was “the fish of a lifetime,” said Harrison, he decided to take the fish.