The Urban Fisherman

Thanks for the kind words Lew - not to brag but...... Unfortunately, Bella (the yorkie) was hit by a car in the spring and is no longer with us - we miss her alot! Tamias (beagle) keeps a close eye on Averie though.... Thanks again - cheers, Ryan

It's been a while since I've posted as I've been swamped with work the past couple of months. We moved to Frogmore, ON near Longpoint and we're loving it. It's so much nicer then the crowded city. We miss some of the conveniences that the city has to offer, but it's a MUCH more relaxing atmosphere. Let me get to the reports. I had been eyeing personal pontoon boats for a while and my fiance gave me the OK to pick one up from BPS before we left the city. I made a few mods to it - adding a wooden platform to the back for my tackle/cooler etc. and maybe an electric motor eventually. I also added a rod holder on the front. It only weighs about 50lbs so I can easily trap it to the roof of our car, inflated and ready to go. It's also very stable, and I'm able to stand up on the seat while fishing. There's a reservoir (deer creek) just down the street from our place, so it's easy for me to get out fishing for an hour or so whenever I have time. There's a TON of panfish in the creek, some rainbows (in deep water) but I mostly target Largemouth. The big ones are far and few between but it's non stop action with the 1 to 2 pounders. Now for the FIRSTS! I grew up in sudbury and had never even seen a crappie before........ Until I caught this little guy @ Deer Creek on a white X-Rap...I think he was committing suicide. A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was about time to introduce my 10 month old daughter, Averie to fishing. This was my favourite trip of the summer! We packed up her pink barbie rod, rigged it up with a bobber and went bluegill hunting off the dock @ deer creek. She waited patiently, watching her bobber... HER FIST FISH EVER! hahaha - I tried to show her how to lip a fish! But she decided this way was easier. And my Fiance's first Carp! Her Grandfather hasn't been doing to well lately and ended up in the hospital this past weekend. So, Last night I took some time away from the computer and work to spend some time with my girls, and to try to ease Ginny (my fiance's) mind a little. She's been out with me a few times before but hasn't been lucky enough to catch one but last night was a different story. The carp in this area aren't typically huge, but you're always guaranteed to catch some. The chum is out and we're awaiting the bite.... Ginny and Averie watching the line....my daughter loves fishing....I think it's the only time she's quiet.... And the hookset ( sort of haha) The Fight is on... and after a good fight, the Proud Fisher-Woman (who forgot her gloves and wouldn't hold the carp..heh) The Family shot - notice my daughter petting the Carp... The bugs started so we b-lined it after the first fish. Ginny got her carp, and still brags about how I didn't know how to set the hook on my bite. So, early this morning, before work - I had to get out and hook into a couple of my own! I didn't have any canned corn left so I ended up having to cut fresh corn off of a cob this morning - it was hard so I couldn't get a good hookset... From now on it's boiled or canned. Managed 2 for 5. 1 broke off and the hook popped out of two, corn still attached... First one.... And the second - a bit bigger... Hope you enjoyed this long report! Good Luck out there folks! Cheers, UF

wow! Not a single picture, yet this is the best report I've read in a while! Welcome to OFC! UF

Thought it was just me! I was going nuts - so much to report now! haha I'm still running Norton, and it wasn't working on either of my macs - even the one WITHOUT norton wasn't working.....but everything seems to be a-ok today! cheers, UF

Hey Cliff! I My OFC hasn't been working properly the past couple of weeks - but my fiance downloaed the new Safari for me last night and it's working like a charm....I didn't know you had SOUPED up your Canoe! It's lookin' sweet! congrats on the toy! It's so nice to see people being so generous! Cheers! UF

Is that a crappie he's holding in the first picture?!? I've been fishing for 23 years and I've never even seen one! hahaha that's so sweet - thanks for the report. I can't wait until my daughter is old enough to come out cheers uf

wow - nice report! I grew up in Sudbury, not quite as cold but I still know what you mean about the winter. Worked in Toronto for the past two years and hated every second of it. Now I live on two acres of property 15 minutes outside of Port Rowan, lake Erie and man is it great. I'll never move back to the city. Thanks for the northern report! cheers, UF

only when I caught pike....otherwise they were OK....they sure don't have the so called "bulletproof" finish of the x-rap, but they lasted me fine. When I was in College I forgot my tackle box on the porch of my fraternity house overnight and some deush ripped me off....being a starving student I could only afford the dollarama specials for a whole summer! haha the three inch pinky was my go-to lure that summer! also, one of the big orange one's I have doesn't really swim to well....swims like a fish that had a few to many beers!

sweet report! my go-to setup for sunfish is the pink trout worm! i actually do a mini wakey rig with a tiny #10 hook and they smoke it every time! i'll have to try those tiny-tubes someday! I think those carp are chasing a female or something...I see it all the time in the spring, at the mouth of my carp creek. They'll go right by you like you're not even there....must have "something else" on the mind.... thanks for the report UF

Haha Dude, I took the green one with black spots up to the west arm last summer and smoked pike after pike with it. The pink one worked for pike and smallmouth on the Thames in London. The only problem is you HAVE to air them out after you use them or the hooks will rust out quick! Can't beat them for a buck though! Cheers Snag! UF

that's awesome! very jealous! can't beat time with your kids! UF

TOPWATER! As the sun rises over the horizon I'll be chuckin' topwater lures, then I'll switch to my favourite x-rap for a while, then once it starts to warm up a little I'm going to keep the presentation nice and slow, maybe wakey rigged sinking minnow, or a tube for them lazy buckets! Good Luck! Urban

Hey all, It's been a while for me as I've been swamped with work, getting egnaged and going fishing. Been trying to read as many reports as possible and I'm glad that many of you are getting out. I'll try to make this short and sweet.... First off, I decided to take my boat fund and spend it on a rock. I proposed to my girlfriend on May 28th, 2007 in Niagara Falls. Now I need some help!!! We really want to get married at a cottage with a large property, or maybe an INN on the lake. If anybody has any leads on a Cottage, or INN that might work for a wedding please let us know! She's been searching the internet for weeks and hasn't come up with much. Shot from our hotel Room the day of our egagement. Secondly, I'm proud to announce that I've left my editing job at Technicolor Toronto to work full time for Dave Mercer Outdoors Inc. I've been doing some editing work for Dave over the past couple of months and he's recently asked me to join the Facts of Fishing team as a full time employee. Working with Dave hasn't only been a pleasure but huge learning experience. I've learned more about fishing over the past few weeks than you can imagine. We recently spent a week in northern Manitoba, where Dave wet a line with this years contest winners. We were also able to shoot some walleye fishing, and on our down time from shooting I was able to sneak in a little fishing of my own. Here's my Manitoba Master Angler Walleye. And my largest pike ever - 37 inches And Thirdly, My father was down with his boat for a week so I took him out to Scugog where we hoped to catch our first Muskies. We tossed big bucktails and spinners all morning. We caught a few OOS largemouth while trying for muskie, but what suprised me the most was when my Dad got a hit on a giant muskie spinner and pulled a nice Walleye out of the weeds! Scugog Walleye on a Spinner Bait We missed one Muskie which hit right at the boat and wasn't hooked for more than 10 seconds, but we had a great day together out on the water anyways. Thanks for reading my post and Good Fishin' everybody Cheers, Urban

I can't say I had the pleasure of meeting him, but I wish I had.... he was to young in my books! My condolences go out to his friends and family! UF

awesome shots! thanks for the report! Cheers, UF

I was up in sudbury last weekend and hit the water for a couple of hours - better bring a bug vest! haha good luck with the pics and pikes! UF

Hey all, Been busy the past week and half so I saved two reports for one. I'm on my lunch break at work right now so i'm going to keep it short and simple! First off I headed out to Frogmore, ON - where my future in-laws live to spend a day with the family. I think BBR is probably one of the few people on this board who know's where that is! Lucky for me, Deer Creek is just down the road so I packed up the ultralight and went panfish hunting. Here's a shot of my Daughter in my new tackle box - I think she wanted to come with me! First off I started fishing with live worms that I dug up and wasn't getting a sniff. So I switched to my trusty pink trout worms and WHAMO - one after another after another. I've never seen anything like it. 8-9 inch bluegills, I mean they were monsters. I even had a couple pull drag from my rod. What a blast with 4lb test line..... Here's one of the first Bluegills Now I've personally NEVER tried keeping and eating panfish before - don't know why really. Just grew up fishing walleye and smallmouth up in sudbury and my old man was just to lazy to clean them I suppose. After seeing some reports from people on here keeping sunfish/rock bass I figured what better time to try it out. So I kept 8 selects for the grill! Close-up of a 9 incher - good for one of CCMT's OFAH awards! And Finally - my first plate of sunfish! MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM I have been MISSING OUT - they taste fantastic! So I have to say, if you haven't tried eating sunfish before - you will not be dissapointed - especially if you prefer fish that don't taste "fishy". Alright, So I was taken to the states to fish lake Erie for my first crack at genuine trophy smallmouth bass. I'd like to give you a big long story but the pictures say it all. Lucky for me we happened to have a proffesional photographer in our group who offered to take these beauty pictures for me. Now, Smallies are open in Erie where we were fishing but this is the crazy part - It's a two fish limit - OVER 20 INCHES!?!?!?! Needless to say, I was put onto some huge smallies. My two biggest of the day, both over 20 inches, tipping the scales at just over 5lbs! After all the fishing, I headed up to Sudbury, ON for two days to visit my family and take a look at my future canoe..... Some of you might remember my post about taking my beagle out in a canoe with me. Here it is! Well, I better get back to work! Hope everybody gets out fishing this weekend! Cheers, UF

wow

Cliff, you and Bly are the best! cheers, UF

Hey Photoz, I'm off next week to! Let me know if you're going to be near Mississauga and maybe we can meet up for some carp action! cheers, UF

Hey Victor, I see you were fishing the mouth of the Credit - I fish that area quite often and might be able to show you some good carping spots if you live nearby! Thanks for the report! Cheers, UF

sweeeeet report! thanks dude! Cheers, UF

I went down to the creek last night - lake o trib - and there was clouds of them moving around.....same as last spring...... Cheers, UF

Meh, try your best to take a picture with a neutral, but attractive backround, and if at the end of the day you're still worried about it, go ahead and blurr away! I'm not a fan of it myself, as it takes away from what could be a nice looking shot - but hey, if it makes "said" fisherman feel better about his/her fishin' spot then go for it. We all know it's the few dummies out there that are ruining it for the rest of us. I have a limited time frame for fishing therefore I fish relatively well known spots and time and time again I see the same old thing. "part-timers" who don't have licences, keep everything they catch, and leave all their carbage behind. I fish 100% artificials (except for corn hah) and somehow I always end up leaving with a few worm containers? I hate to say it Snag, and I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think it's going to get much better anytime soon. How many "no fishing zones" have you seen switched back to "ok to fish" spots? I could be WAY wrong on this call though, because I am still newish to the GTA. Weirdest thing to me is the amount of coconuts in the Credit!! I didn't know there were palm trees in Toronto? heh Cheers, UF

DSN - thanks for the post!!!! gettin' me excited for the carp to move into my "secret" creek mouth. Where I haven't landed a carp under 15 lbs WES BENDER - There's many people on the board who are more knowledgeable than me when it comes to carp fishing, BUT I did a video in college a few years back about carp fishing. At one point I show you how I rig for carp - I think it'll be a great start for you! And maybe you'll get a little excited after seeing us land one of the bigger ones! Here's the link: http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-82...urban+fisherman Good Luck, Ryan