tonyb

Nipissing First Nations stopped netting a year ago...old news, now who to blame? http://www.nugget.ca/2015/08/18/new-chief-pulls-plug-on-walleye-nets

Check this out while you are up there, could catch a fish that would pay for your trip! http://www.manitoulin.ca/2015/12/23/manitoulin-expositor-hosting-salmon-classic-in-2016/

Nice to get a mix of Steelies with those Kings. Incredible fishing out east...I call it Salmon Nirvana, and I tell locals that fish out that way how good they have it. Many of the regulars that fish these eastern ports call the fishing dismal this year...clearly they haven't spent much time in Mississauga or Oakville LOL Great pictures considering how much you must have been getting tossed around. Worth getting up early and making the drive too!

I typically fish the GOSD pretty hard each year. This year was a lot like last year, so I learned from that and spent all my time fishing out East. I had a great year, if comparing to what others were reporting, but only because I was travelling East of Toronto on the weekends. Many times during the week for evenings I wouldn't even bother heading out despite having a ramp pass in Oakville and the lake being only 15 minutes away, it's all about location.... You won't see this at Bronte!...fishing is easy with quantities of Kings like this (Sorry I can't seem to embed Google photos on this forum) https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/2bPtnVCPtnE7vKvHfISSuKjCXvQZBqRu9o8JbaqrJFrj=w1698-h955-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1d7EoKsK8tCEgNgrhp40SA7hdhih3dOjhZBjYycQg7OQ=w1778-h930-no A lot of people also get stuck doing the same thing year after year, ignoring what the conditions and fish are telling you. You have to adapt to the conditions, and for sure, don't keep doing what isn't working. That definitely means starting by fishing where the fish are, then by dialing into them based on repeating what succeeds, no different than any other type of fishing. I hope we have a milder winter (but not too mild that ice fishing is unsafe on Simcoe ) to give these fish a break, back to back frigid winters seems to me as the culprit more than anything else. The good news is that the Halton Region Salmon and Trout Association has a new Pen Rearing project at Bronte, and there are talks of improving the method of stocking for the fish that are put in at the Shipping Canal in Hamilton. (e.g. not dumping them during the day to feed the birds) It would be nice to not have to drive so far to fish the derby competitively. I am kinda glad those 2:30am starts are over for another year... Tony

You picked a great resort huzzsba, I think you're going to enjoy your stay. The lightning has kept me off the lake tonight and I saw your post and knew I could help If you are going to rent a boat and you pick a safe day to travel a bit, there is some spots close to Manitou Resort. I am not sure about the Walleye on the lake but Lake Manitou is stocked with Lake Trout and there is a good population of them doing just fine dining on Manitou Smelt. As for how to find em...like most Laker sweet spots, there a several ledges that drop off into deeper water around the lake and they all pretty much support a Laker or two. Sometimes the fish will be up on the shallower side of the ledge, deeper or right on the drop more often than not. I'm not sure how you are equipped with electronics, but if you won't have a sonar but you have a smartphone with GPS, I would recommend downloading the Navionics app to view where you are situated on the water, it can help pinpoint structure and has several useful features. You can certainly find these fish without electronics, but it shortens your searching time...A short run down the lake from the resort and you can see there is a nearby ledge shown on the web app pic below I think you might like what you find if you have a sonar, if not, this is what it would likely look like down there... You can target these fish with the outfit you have, but the key is to be jigging vertically (use a trolling motor, anchor, or drift sock to help slow you down or keep you in place) You may want to up size your leader to 10lb and run a heavy vertical jigging lure like a jig head (1-1.5oz) with a white tube jig or swimbait. You can also try the Sebile Vibrado, or perhaps the #7 Rapala Rippin Rap or even a Jigging Rap. All baits will be heavy and allow you to keep your line as vertical as possible. Drop to bottom, and jig away...experiment with different things and even try slowly reeling in for 10 feet then pause and repeat...sometimes they will follow to the surface! Wait for the thump and set the hook! If you have trolling gear to get down to that depth, any silvery flutter style spoons in the 4" size will be dynamite. This is a typical Manitou Laker (bad pic!) Hope this helps! Tony

Incredible writing, photos, and fish as always...don't recall getting an invite though!?

Poppin GT's in remote waters http://www.worldsportfishing.com/3363-2/ Pretty sure you'd need this after a few days of that hehehe

Purpose build for your Lund Tracks http://www.ciscofishingsystemsltd.com/shop/lund-mounts-5239

You will likely be able to find these marine snails along any rocky areas along the shore. Smash them carefully with a rock, and place on a small hook. You can catch numerous reef type fish with this bait, and if you are looking for bigger fish, you should be able to catch some small silvery fish to use as bait. For predatory fish, I have found that you can't retrieve your bait too fast in order to trigger strikes, the faster the better especially for Barracudas.

Manitoulin is beautiful! I have stayed here and would recommend them any day. It's a bit of a shallow boat launch for my 19 ProV but was doable. Couldn't keep the Lake trout off the lines if you have down riggers or a calm enough day to anchor and vertical jig. http://www.manitoulinresort.com/ Also, something neat for the kids would be a visit to the local fish culture station. If you call a couple of weeks ahead, you can probably arrange for a free group tour of one of the 9 Fish Hatcheries in the province located nearby at Bluejay Creek. Blue Jay Creek FCS 242 Hwy 542, RR#1, Tehkummah, ON. P0P 2C0; Ph: (705) 859-3006 A visit to Farquhars Dairy is also a must for the islands best ice cream

Sinker with an Ontario Unicorn with fins!

It's going to be tough to top last year! I am thinking a cold and extended spring which should be great for shore anglers to take advantage of the big fish cruising the shallows!

They will all work well. Walkers can't handle weights heavier than 12-13lbs Scotty is good, but I personally don't like using the clutch mechanism for lowering the weight, nor do I like the way the plastic bead is used for auto-stop purposes. Canon are my favorite because they use conductivity to stop to weight at water level, and have built-in positive ion technology (like the scotty black box) to attract large fish to your boat It's all about the positive ions! Tony

Thanks a lot guys! I plan on having Advanced Taxidermy do another replica, I may even incorporate both derby fish into 1 mount As for details of the catch, I was off Bluffers Park and for the first hour I had lines down I wouldn't even call it fishing, it was more like navigating traffic on the 401! Amazing how many boats don't consider the space needed behind other boats, especially if you hook into a big fish that can take 700 feet of line out! Anyway, I had enough and slid out beyond the pack of boats into deeper water, and before long I marked a big hook about 50 feet shallower than my downrigger running at 140 feet down with 11" HotSpot Flasher and cut-bait. I quickly brought it up above that hook on sonar, and as the line settled sure enough the rod fired. Although it's my biggest officially weighed salmon, it sure wasn't the hardest fighter. the fight wasn't very hard in terms of punishing runs or anything, It initially took about 200 feet of line or so then stayed deep and wouldn't budge with those big lazy headshakes. So for most of the fight, I didn't think it was anything monstrous...little did I know That's not to say it wasn't a challenge by any means...It got wrapped up in my wire dipsy setup when I was clearing it, and I had to put the rod with the fish on in the riggers rod holder, hand retrieve the dipsy/flasher/fly close enough to un-clip the flasher, then close the swivel, and luckily it all un-spun neatly off the rigger rod's mono. I stepped toward the bow of the boat with the line and rod in my hand to pickup the slack that formed, and then gingerly reeled the damaged mono onto the reel, and thankfully the beast didn't make any more runs after that. Also, because I was having a hard time gaining line on the fish, I was engaging the engine in and out of gear, and that may have been a bad decision in hindsight, because when I got it close to the boat on the first one armed net attempt, it swerved at the last second and charged right under the boat! I had to pitch the net out into the bottom of the boat, then quickly lean over the side and shove the whole rod into the water to prevent it knicking the line on the prop or rivets on the hull! Luckily it circled out from under the boat, and the second net attempt I made count! I hoisted it into the boat, popped the net hoop off the handle and got a quick weight in the net. It went to 38-39-39.5 on my digital, and knowing the hoop weighs about 2lbs or so, instantly the hair on the back of my neck raised at the realization of a potential leader, and I did a bunch of fist pumps and woohooos! I'm sure the other boats nearby were amused...or maybe not lol Placed the fish into the live well, and started clearing gear for the run in to the scale. The rest of the week was torture waiting to see if the fish would hold, but she did! Here are a couple of pictures...The fish measured 43" x 27" When I met Walter Oster the following Saturday to verify the catch, answer skill testing question, etc little did I know that David Fyfe was weighing in a 40.15lb BEAST out in Port Hope! So my overall lead was quickly bumped, but I am just glad he waited until Saturday, the start of week 2, to catch his beast! He has a serious shot of winning the overall derby with that tank...unless I get another one bigger Tony

Here you go camillj - http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Fishing-Line/Lead-Core-Trolling-Line%7C/pc/104793480/c/104719680/sc/104590980/Tuf-Line-MicroLead-Lead-Core/1432828.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffishing-fishing-line-lead-core-trolling-line%2F_%2FN-1100387%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104590980%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104793480%253Bcat104719680&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104793480%3Bcat104719680%3Bcat104590980 Bring on the Kings!

Interestingly enough, I have used the titanium material for Fly leaders for Chinooks...except only Steelhead will hit flies on the wire...I can't explain it lol It has a nice a bit of elasticity to it as well, which is a nice feature if using no-stretch mainline. My $.02 Tony

Great! Who let the riff-raff in?

I will be there as usual, trying to coax as many other friends and family to join me as possible We're hoping to locate the 'elusive' Lake Simcoe Whitefish, or one of the many ferocious Lake Trout prowling around out there. Just a reminder to folks to bring CASH for the silent auction. I know in the past we would have purchased many more of the fine items available but didn't have cash on hand, just makes it easier. Tony

I'm still in with my better half, see you all there! Tony

Wow...Been a while! I'm in with the Mrs. for whatever date (Preferrably not Tuesdays)

Incredible trip! with photos that do it justice I'd say. Must have been a great week of laughs and fishing with Pat, and any guy named Tony is going to be alright in my books too Salvelin-esox-stacular bunch of fish there!

Actually...that is a better deal Billybob, and it's new! Disregard the link I posted...this is better. Lowrance HDS-8 Combo • Receive $200.00 in Cabela’s Bucks to be used on your next order when you purchase a HDS-8 Base Map with Temperature model combo. Valid through July 31, 2012. Sale Price: $1,349.00

See below..

Boat buckle are the way to go...could be just a bad set of the buckles?

Rudd....definately kill them and report to the NYSDEC. I'm sure they are aware, but if you were catching lots of them that's not really a good sign I've also seen confirmations of Rudd catches from the lower Niagara River.