tbayboy

Nice fish, congrats!

Well that sure wasn't the productive start to the work day I'd planned but it was well worth the extra time I'll have to put in to catch up. I'd been looking forward to this report and it lived up to all the hype. Thanks for taking the time to put together such a great report Mike. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that we really appreciate it. I think Billy at Alaska Trout Outfitters has a bunch of new clients reading this now

Now that's how you do a fishing trip. Great stuff.

Great report Justin, really appreciate all the details. Been fiddling with wake baits myself a bit lately and after reading this I'm gonna have to spend more time with them. Thanks for the great report.

Nice mix there, sure looks like a perfect day to me.

First off, I'm a big canon fan. You can Canons S3s for 200 on ebay/kijijii/etc - big fan. Now on to the megapixel thing - more is always better BUT once you pass 6 or so and you're planning 4x6 prints and web stuff you're really going beyond the bang for buck. Instead I'd focus on features like optical zoom (you'll pry my canons 12x zoom from my cold dead hands I don't care how many megapixels you've got). Image stabalization is another thing to look for (especially if it has a big zoom). I'm also looking at the olympus all weather camera for something I can take on the rivers and ice fishing without worrying about ruining the other camera.

Very nice looking spot John. Little piece of heaven when you add a few smallies

Usually I wouldn't go weedless but I've been having lots of problems with getting jammed into rocks lately so I've switched to a sled head and that helped a lot (see about 1/2 way down this page: http://www.ownerhooks.com/pages/products/h...ultraheads.htm)

Not my honey hole, I have signed affidavits that protect your secrets Pat don't worry

I know what you mean Jedi though this particular section is pretty good. I saw 2 beer cans along the shore but nothing else. We saw a pair of Osprey hunting (man they hit the water hard) as well as a small snake swimming across. Hopefully it'll take them a while to ruin this stretch too but I just don't have that much faith in people.

The Report Part 2 Well since the quick hour yesterday worked so well I decided to try it again today. The plan was another lazy day - get there whenever and fish til whenver. Mike said he wasn't fishing Sunday after a long day Sunday but when I mentioned a casual day on the Grand he changed his mind. I figured I could use the camera man (ok so really I owe Mike a spot after all the places he's taken me to this year). We arrived at the prime our of 1:30PM and proceeded to head out but the afternoon bite was pretty weak. I managed to land a couple decent fish on a spinner and a white tube but both were reaction fish where I basically hit them on the head when the lure landed on the water so we didn't figure out any real pattern. Here's the first: <a href=" title="09282008045 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3012/2897426826_e81db37ab8_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="09282008045" /></a> Got a scale on this one and it came in at 1.47KG (stupid scale) which converts to 3 1/4lbs almost on the dot. Nice stuff, gave a great fight. The other was a bit smaller, 2 1/2 probably? <a href=" title="09282008044 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/2896584155_c87e86385f_b.jpg" width="934" height="1024" alt="09282008044" /></a> You can see the structure we were fishing behind me - big hunks of rock in 3-4 feet of water. Mike got one little dink and that was about it for the afternoon so we took off for a bit and grabbed a bite to it and then came back for the dusk bite. Certainly made a difference as first cast got Mike a fish, a real giant <a href=" title="09282008049 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3123/2897427848_0502e514e8_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="09282008049" /></a> He'd switched up to a small but heavy spinner which worked well but you had to reel it in pretty fast to keep it from sticking in the rocks. Caught lots of little guys with it though, here's a lesson on why you don't take a picture with the sun behind someone, first with video (hey its a camera phone, it has some limits): <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="375" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=60247"'>http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=60247" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=b3eb592d64&photo_id=2897516286"></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=60247"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=60247" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=b3eb592d64&photo_id=2897516286" height="375" width="500"></embed></object> Then the photo: <a href=" title="09282008050 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3220/2897428122_659913076a_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="09282008050" /></a> I switched to a 3 1/2 inch brown coffee tube and that really worked out for a bit landing me this guys as well as a couple small ones. <a href=" title="09282008051 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3201/2897434662_e541e5c6f0_b.jpg" width="1024" height="884" alt="09282008051" /></a> The unfortunate thing was that we found that really one spot produced with any consistancy and its a rocky area about 20 feet by 20 feet. We couldn't really find any other spots today that worked but hey, it was a fun if not outstanding way to spend the day. Technical Recap Same as yesterday (see first post) with the addition that brown tubes also worked pretty well and that the day time bite (wasn't there for the day yesterday) was pretty weak.

Nice teaser Mike, can't wait for the whole thing.

Nice pics and hey - size doesn't matter when you're having run right?

I'm with you 100% John. At least for bass fishing I'd take a river over a lake any day of the week. Now I just need to find a river I can wade into and catch Musky

EDIT: Went back today, part 2 is down below The Report Had to work today but I thought there was an off chance I'd been done by 2 so I threw a rod and my waders into the car, just in case Well as any of the IT types on the board can tell you - moving computers from one facility to another never goes as smootly as you hope. Eventually we got most of it done but I didn't get back to my car til 4:30. For a minute I thought about just going home what with the drizzle and the late hour but I had the stuff in the car and it seemed like such a waste so screw it I said and hit the 401 west. After a stop for gas and some chicken nuggets (official grand river road trip food) I made my way to Kitchener and pulled up to see the river apparently flowing really fast. Ahh crap I thought. This is going to be a waste of time but after driving all the way I wasn't going to leave without wetting a line. Luckily as I got closer to my entry point I saw that the water looked fine - not too high and not flowing fast at all <a href=" title="09272008035 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3077/2893750242_243896696e_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="09272008035" /></a> Sighing with relief I hit the water with a mepps on the line and started working towards my spot. Just being out on the wonderful stetch of river by myself was a relief (had to let go a lot of staff this week - never a fun thing to do). The Grand always does that to me. <a href=" title="09272008036 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2893750892_f2531be822_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="09272008036" /></a> The mepps wasn't producing anything so as I got closer to my favourite spot I switched to a small white spinner bait. A few casts produced nothing but then I saw a bunch of minnows bust the surface and a swirl nearby. I tossed the the bait past the disturbance gave a couple cranks and the lure just stopped. Then it went sideways, then backwards then ran right at me. Man river fish are fun. I was actually kinda disappointed when I finally got to see her - they fight much beyond their size but still I'm pretty sure she'd hit 3 on the scales - I had to stretch my arm full out to get her in frame on my camera phone: <a href=" title="09272008038 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3193/2892911495_2255d301ab_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="09272008038" /></a> I got a couple little one pounders by doing the same thing - looking for minnows busting the surface and casting their way - what a nice way to fish They were defintely putting on the feed back judging by the minnow panic and how deep they were grabbing my spinner: <a href=" title="09272008039 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3133/2892912621_8d80e445d4_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="09272008039" /></a> Finally I got to my spot and put on a pop'r. I love using this lure on the river and the conditions seemed good for it - dusk just setting in and a bit of current. I got a little guy pretty quickly but not much else when off to my left in the middle of the river a huge splash occured. If I'd been on the kawartha's I'd have said small musky or carp. Either way I lobbed the popper right into the middle of the disturbance and left it a bit and a bit more and a bit more. Then I gave it one pop and SPLOOOSSH. Holy crap, it actually worked! I waited for the weight and set the hook eager to see what had made that splash but it quickly became clear it wasn't anything huge. Not sure if the splash was the same fish flopping funny or was another fish. All the same I was still happy to get another fish on my old trusty PopR <a href=" title="09272008040 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/2892913691_f412032ec5_b.jpg" width="1024" height="848" alt="09272008040" /></a> Unfortunately that was it for the top water bite. I tried a skitter walk and a little torpedo but nothing was happening. Didn't see any other fish hit the top either so I guess with the colder water they're cutting down the top water action (did I mention my legs were going a little numb in my jeans + waders - brrr cold water). I also noticed the bigger fish weren't leaping which is usually a sign that fall is here (only the little dinks leapt for me today) I switched back to the spinner and caught a couple more little guys but as the action on the fish slowed down the action on the musquitos stepped up big time. I thought about all the deet based products I had at home while they started to swarm around me. I'd been on the river for 45 minutes now but I figured I had to call it before I got eaten alive. On the way back I kept tossing the spinner bait and picked up a couple other dinks for a Grand total (get it... get it .. I'm here all week!) of 4 decent fish and 7 or 8 dinks in an hour. That plus a general sense of 'all is well with the world' made it well worth the 2+ hours of driving for 1 hour of fishing. I think I may have to find my way back tomorrow for another dose of relaxation (as long as tonights rain hasn't ruined it - fingers crossed). The Technical Details Fished from 5:45 til 7:00PM. Water temps were pretty chilly - low 60s I'd guess with average depth and current for this stretch of the Grand and no problems with clarity (could see bottom in 4-5' fine with is about average for this muddy river). Skies were overcast and had been drizzling on and off all day (didn't while I was there though). The winner bait was definetely the small (2 inch) white spinner bait cast upstream and slowly retrieved. The white/blue PopR was the only topwater that produced anything. Tried a 4" pink senko for a bit with no reactions at all. A little crappie spinner also got a a couple dinks but the blue/red aiglera mepps didn't get me anything. Hope your all having a nice weekend, sounds like this week coming up is gonna be CHILLY! Sean EDIT: Went back today, part 2 is down below

Nice stuff Mark. Keep this up and Karl may never put the jig and pig on again

Still beats not being on the water, nice fish there for sure. Nice hat and jacket too

Holy crap, what a beast! Congrats to Bly! Just knew you'd put Cliff in his place soon

May not be a 40 but still an impressive fish Cliff. Congrats to the both of you.

Nice stuff Justin and congrats to Andy!

Nice stuff, you definitely had a couple great days of weather to work with. I was out for lunch today and thinking of how much I'd rather be on the water. Good to see someone took advantage of it. Thanks for the update.

Quite the adventure Limey. Glad to see you guys kept your sense of humour and got into some nice fish. I've been in that logging road 'oh crap just make it far enough' scenario as well, happy to hear you didn't need the mac truck like we did

I can't speak much for the rods but as for the sahara's I'll give a ringing endorsement - great reel for the money (I've got 2 and a stradic and I'd trade the stradic for 2 more saharas if I needed 4 reels. That said its a new version coming out (nearly impossible to find last years now as they all went on sale early in the summer) so I can't say how the new ones are from experience but I wouldn't expect them to screw it up. If you're looking for about the same price in a baitcaster I've really fallen in love with my Cabelas Prodigy (which is a daiwa advantage rebranded). They're listed at $100US now (Cabelas Prodigy Casting Reels) but they are on sale pretty often (think I payed like $60 for mine). Anyhow, good luck in re-equipping I'm sure you're gonna get a whole lot of opinions from the gang here.

Congrats, nice fish for sure.

It took 6 hours for me to get my first and only fish Sunday so I was pretty much sure I was in for a skunking (not sure that puny little bass even counted, think Mike's rock bass was bigger). Scugog always seems to do that too me - it's feast or famine