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McCall Angler Sets New State Record with Steelhead Catch on Clearwater River by Staff Idaho News CBS2, October 31, 2023

McCALL, Idaho (CBS2) -- According to a recent news release from Idaho Fish and Game, a McCall resident set a new state record for steelheads caught in Clearwater River.

In the early morning of Oct. 6, Kyriacos Panayiotou from McCall waded into the Clearwater River and, using a two-handed spey rod, began searching the water, hoping a steelhead would grab the fly.

"The full floating spey line was at approximately 120 to 130 feet when the fly started the swing," he says. "At around 30 degrees of a swing, this beautiful wild steelhead buck boiled to the surface and grabbed the fly with authority. The vintage Hardy Perfect reel could do nothing in slowing down this fish... it's something that I'll never forget."

The fish measured 41 inches long, a full 1.75 inches longer than the previous catch-and-release state record set in 2021 by Scott Turner.

"Since we have all the trapping data from Lower Granite Dam, we have a good sense of the size distribution of Idaho steelhead," Clearwater Fisheries Manager Joe DuPont says. "In a typical year, the number of steelhead in the 40-inch range is less than 1% of the run."

DuPont looked over the data of steelhead trapped at Lower Granite Dam. Of the 261,706 trapped, only four were 41 inches or larger.

Kyriacos Panayiotou earned the second state record for the Clearwater River this month, swimming alongside the 11.78-pound Coho Salmon caught only a week later.