2001-02 Steelhead - The West Coast saw one of the best returns for hatchery steelhead in several years. Many of our regular fishermen (and women!) were treated to some banner days on the water. Brookings is known for it's 'Banana Belt' weather and many of these days reached into the 60's and 70's - yes, even in January - but there are also days when the temperature doesn't rise above 45 so it's always a gamble. While some of our pictures show some hatchery fish that were kept, there were also many fish (hatchery and wild) released to go do their job of sustaining the run.

Kent Harris (top left) kept this beauty of a hatchery fish early in the day. It was Kent's first steelhead fishing trip, his first steelhead to catch and land and now he's "hooked."