tonyb

Some quality fish there for sure! I'm looking forward to fishing the bay first week in November this year...still searching for the 14 or 15 Would love to get one that size vertical jigging Tony

That's great, one of the most clever inventions I have seen. I hope you patent and start selling it...oh wait...maybe that's not such a good idea....those poor remote lake fish Tony

I do a fair bit of trolling solo, but it's a different game with my setup as I have a steering wheel and hydraulic steering. Best pieces of advice are already given (weight in bow, and trolling down wind) When it's real windy, like 20KM + I don't even bother trying to fight the wind by trollling directly into or across it. I run well up wind, turn the boat and troll with the wind/waves, in the same line/direction as the wind. A net with large uncoated mesh also helps to land fish on your own as you can move it through the water a lot easier than a coated or small mesh net with one hand. Tony

Looks like a good time surrounded by some OK scenery hehe Have you made any further modifications to the boat holster? getting better at deploying and stowing?

Thank you Rick. The video shows no lamprey scar, like the fish I caught, and I landed my grand prize winning fish on August 27th in the evening. Steve-o caught his on August 25th...although he is a good liar. Now click the URL below for the full details of his catch, noting the date and time of the report... http://www.niagarafishing.net/forums/index...showtopic=17303 Steve-o, I suggest you buy a derby ticket next year, that was a great catch you had. Further, I would appreciate a public apology for your false accusation of me cheating, if you could. Thanks, Tony

Please show then, I have nothing to hide, but it sounds like you do...

Let's see it already

Interesting question and answers....my thought was increased water displacement and they are retrieved slower because of the increased resistance. Great information marc

I was at a seminar once held by Lance Valentine and Craig Macphee. Lance had a great system that I somehow managed to remember for finding fish when time is of the essence (e.g. tournament fishing) Here it is, starting with most important 1. Location - You can't catch fish if there are no fish around 2. Depth - Fish the right depth of water 3. Speed - Are you trolling/retrieving too slow/fast? 4. Size - Is your presentation matching the available forage base size 5. Action - Slow, subtle, or strike provoking fast & erratic 6. Colour - Notice how lure colour is last!? You will only be able to refine your presentation to catch more fish using colour once all of the above attributes have been satisfied... There are actually 7 points but I can't recall them all...this should get you started! And I believe this applies to ANY fish. It works too btw! I used this very system on the weekend to catch a small fish to win some money...the LOCATION wasn't correct for the first 3 hrs of the tournament. I changed that and fished the DEPTH I was marking fish at and had success...none of the other factors mattered in the list besides SPEED which I just kept my speed at the correct range for the lure I was using. Tony

I am just about to replace my Bouy-o-Bout 1-piece flotation suit. This time, I am buying a 2-piece suit. I found a lot of times I got too hot ice fishing, and instead of unzipping and bunching up the top half , it would be nice to just be in bib-pants. This time, I am buying a WATERPROOF floater suit...the Bouy-o-Bouy just acted like a sponge and I would get wet. The only brand I have found that is like a gore-tex rain-suit with CCG approved flotation is the Mustang Survival Integrity HX line. I have an e-mail out to their customer service as the website shows the bib-pants as being 'HX' but the jacket is just 'Integrity' which isn't waterproof. They have a 1-piece Integrity HX suit...but I would prefer going the 2-piece route this time. My $.02 Tony

It's been a great 1st year with my Pro-V, earning some money in 4 differnent tournaments and landing 2 fish over 33lbs. Here is a picture of the other 33.70 pound fish, caught Aug 1st...which we didn't enter into the GOSD because not everyone on the boat had a derby ticket! Advanced Taxidermy has both fish in their freezers at the moment as they are both being mounted. Gman (in the picture at the top) with his new PB King and me with my weekly winner, both good reasons to put a fish on the wall. We won $1000 for Gmans fish because Zane (kid in the picture) entered his 34.64lb fish the same day into the GOSD and held on to win it! Since he would have won big fish prize, we donated the trophy to him, as it was in memory of his grandpa. Tony

Steve-o, I don't know you at all but I hope you aren't accusing me of cheating. If you are, I will gladly take a lie detector test, and if I fail I will pay you $30,000, If I pass, you pay me $30,000 deal? I didn't post the whole story on here...but did on a couple other more trolling specific boards. You are pretty much correct in your summary though, and what makes it all even sweeter as that I did it on my own! Here is the copy/paste from spoonpullers.com...at your request... I wasn't planning on going fishing that night, I had even texted my wife saying the night looks like a write-off. The forecasted winds were saying 20-22KM E and we all know what that does to the West end of the lake. As a result of that, I stayed a bit later at work, with no need to be in that mode where every minute counts, trying to get out for a weeknight solo fish. Well, when I returned to Burlington, the winds weren't blowing like they were in Cambridge, so I decided to take a drive by the lake. When I got down there and saw it wasn't bad at all, the race was on! and I decided to go out after all. I call it the race, because of what is involved. I have to go to the Burlington GO station, find a parking spot for the car, then hop in the truck and head home to hook up the boat, change, etc. So after seeing the lake, the race is on to get home to the boat and wouldn't you know it, but the roads in Burlington were absolutely jammed everywhere, and I was hitting every red light, and even got stuck in that left turning lane coming up Brant St., a turning lane that I didn't want to turn with but I wasn't going to cut people off to get my way, so a 5 minute detour and I am back on the planned route. Get home, change, hook up the boat, skip dinner and I'm back on the road, and start making the trek over to Bronte...and after what seemed like forever, I make it to the launch. I back the boat in, and there is someone at the ramp obviously with some type of trouble in a small green Legend. "Can you give me a boost?" he asks... "Sure! no problem" I say, call me a sucker I guess but I'm always looking for opportunities to top up the 'Karma bank account'. I am a big believer of the 'pay it forward'/'what goes around comes around' cheeseball crap, So I pull my cranking battery out from under my rod locker and hand it to his buddy. They hook it up and it doesn't work! but then, after some fiddling, he manages to start up his main, and they were elated! Ready to get on their way they asked if I had been out recently and as I was the night before, I told him to fish in less than 60fow - "Really are you serious!?" they asked shockingly, 'Absolutely!' I told them... At this point, I was about to explode with impatience inside, as it's already closing in on 7pm! And it is getting darker and darker earlier now so there is not much time left in the evening to fish. However, in the back of my mind, the previous nights experience told me that the bites turned on as the sun was setting...so I remained as calm as I could be and finished the tasks at hand. After tying up the boat, there are no spots to park anywhere, so I have to drive to the alternative parking lot at the top of the hill (Keep in mind I am by myself!) And I hate leaving the boat unattended like that for that long, but alas, it is what it is at Bronte. Finally, I am out of the harbour and pounding through 5 footers to get upwind/wave to begin my troll. My program was adapted to the conditions as it is too difficult to manage everything solo and run fancy outfits like lead or even dipsy divers as the dropoff near the mouth comes up/down rapidly and I wanted to work my baits near bottom. I was running spoons (again from what the previous nights success showed me), and I wanted them rotating and darting near those dark ledges and crevaces where monsters congregate to make dinner plans. The rods are now set, sonar tweaked, fish hawk telling me to slow down, and I settle into my troll, much, much shallower than the surprisingly large pack of boats working the usual break. Remember my report from the night before? all those big, juicy hooks in the shallow, now cooler waters were definately Kings...and I was marking them again! It was probably only about 10 or 15 minutes into the troll when the heavy cloud cover eclipsed the setting sun, and like the low light bite the night before, I got that fishy feeling again, you guys know the one. I slowly turned scanning both rods, anticipating something to happen, it had to!... My frantic pace from earlier had all but left my mind at this point, I was in the zone, and I can't think of anything else that I enjoy doing that can eliminate stress and slow down the pace like fishing can for me, it's no wonder I am an addict to the pursuit of these critters, I love it! The BIG moment arrived when I saw the fish hit, and hit hard on the passenger side rigger rod. I lept into action! like a dog springs to it's feet when you walk in the front door after a long day at work, and grabbed the rod to feel what the fish was all about. Turns out, it had a one-way express ticket to a far away destination, and I took that window of opportunity to clear my other rod. I stuffed the fish-on rod back into the rigger holder, darted across the boat and reeled in the other rigger rod, hit the auto-up switches on both riggers and returned to the fish-on rod. I had to do a double-take at the Tekota's line counter, it was at 600 and climbing! but slowing, until it rolled around to just over 700 feet! and came to a stop. Alright! I think and I began applying pressure and pumping it back to the boat. I must say, I am really liking 'the walk' technique (walking backwards in the boat, then forward to pickup slack line) I slowed the boat down in the surging 5 foot waves, and continued methodically retrieving the beast. I eventually got it near the boat, and it stayed deep, took me back and forth a few times threatening a break off on a propeller or engine keel, and darted at one time near the surface and did that open-mouthed-heart-stopping-headshake tactic...holy crap the heart skiped a beat or two! I knew I had a big fish...but it was hard to see clearly with the chop, dark skies, and no polarized glasses, and from what I saw didn't appear that long! I had a couple chances with the net but when the fish got close to the boat, it made a couple last ditch effort runs, until I was able to bring the fish close enough to skillfully slide the net under it with my one hand, while heaving back on the rod with the other. The position is almost like you are hanging off the back of a garbage truck reaching way out to hand someone a rolled-up newspaper I quickly stuffed the relieved rod into a holder so I could use both hands on the net to heave the fish aboard. When I hoisted it over the gunnel, I knew what I had laying at my feet, a Derby Fish! but there was no time to relish in the moment, the fish was bleeding and after unhooking it went right into the livewell. I glanced at the time, and it was 7:37, holy crap I need to get moving! Rods and everything were basically just thrown into the bottom of the boat for the run in. Everytime I drive the Lund, I am impressed with how it handles the water, and this is one of those cases where having a boat that can withstand some serious pounding helped me. I pushed the throttle down and began my race back to the ramp, trying to beat the closing weigh-scale at Bronte Outdoors in less than 25 minutes! The boat bashed through waves with ease like a fat kid playing Red Rover, and in no time I was back at the boat ramp. No time for bumpers, tie the boat up, and RUN! Remember that alternative parking lot!!? damn me! I felt like I was trying out for some crazy Japanese reality tv show like Unbeatable Banzuke. I ran the whole way across the field, up the stairs, through the forest and to the truck, hopped in and zoomed down to the ramp. If anyone has been to Bronte launch you know there are about 35 speed bumps from the road to the ramp (ok not that many but it seems that way when you are in a hurry!) It was torture! But I stayed focused to get the trailer lined up perfectly and get the boat on the trailer locked down and properly in one swift attempt, no issues let's roll! More torture over the speed bumps, and I eventually screech into the Bronte Outdoors parking lot right up front, ignoring the parking spaces entirely, and racing inside at minutes before close! The fish hit the scales and my eyes lit up as the digital readout settled firmly at 33.76, the hair stood up on the back of my neck, and I shouted Wooohoo! hell yeah...HELL YEAH! Pics removed from this spot as they were included in the initial post Everything can change with a single bite, and that is what makes the GOSD so exciting and available to anyone who fishes it, you just never know!!! Specifics about the behemoth Caught at 48' down over 50' out in front of Bronte. Temps were 56 degrees at depth, 68 at the surface. Speed 2.3mph at the probe. The lucky lure was an old favorite Big Ern, can't recall the name of it, but it's a little worse for wear now Mission Accomplished... http://www.sportshows.ca/SalmonDerby/updates.php Thanks for reading! Tony

The lagoon water is actually very clear before the boats start churning it up mid-morning. I was sight fishing the smaller cuda's with the shrimp as you could see them hiding in predictable 'ambush' spots. I'm jealous bud, your going to love it. I ran 50lb power pro with 45-55lb seaguar flouro leader, but I'm not sure if the cuda's are line shy or not...they do strike with a purpose For the smaller fish and weightless gulp shrimp I dropped down to 20-30lb flouro, gives the shrimp a more natural slow sink... Looking forward to hearing how you did when you get back! Have a mojito or two for me Tony

Congrats on the catch! It has been really tough fishing from the boat, let alone the piers. That's a great reward for the long hours usually put in from the piers, enjoy it bud! Tony

Wow...that is a good weight for 5 fish let alone 4! Nice work...but you're going to be adding a lot of pressure to beat that limit in the coming years heheh...that's an amazing day on couchiching!

Search works great Here is my trip report from a while ago...don't even waste your time fishing on the ocean side unless you grab a charter... You sound like you are researching the same way I did, using google earth... Check out my report for some tips and locations nearby...man I love Cuba! http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.p...amp;hl=varadero Tony

Nice seeing you guys too! It was really tough fishing out there this weekend... I thought I was going to get skunked before I even started...literally!..first thing in the morning, waiting for the blast off, out of nowhere a skunk appeared and tried to climb into my boat!!! I fished Bronte, 16 Mile, and Port Credit river mouths for staging mature Kings until about 11am at which point I headed to deep water to try to hook a 2 year old fish. The strategy ended up paying off, but talk about tough! I also managed a chunky Steelhead out there, which I was hoping was a Chinook, but it wasn't...still a great fish though. Here's a couple shots... Big Steelie! And the oversized shaker Sometimes you gotta give up the plan that isn't working and try something completely different to get results... Tony

Stellar early season tribbin' lads! well done. You put your legwork in and it paid off! How was the elbow-room on those drifts? lol Tony

Great to see the Kawartha carp fishery is on the mend...it provides a substantial boost to the economy from foreign travellers and local anglers alike! Good stuff!

Sorry to hear the news Sam...you're a class act and best of luck with your travels and enjoy the increase in fishing time now! Tony

Wow! nice work Ron...rome serious miles travelled, but I think the reward of the amazing scenery, wildlife, and more imporantly FISH! made the trek worthwhile. That part of the world is definately on my radar, and I hope to have nipigon pike and specks crossed of my list in the next few years. Thanks for sharing some great pictures, and story. Tony

Wow good memory Ziki! I'll be keeping my 1900 ProV over the 18 foot Rebel, so I am hoping to find a buyer..interested? As for the cleanup...I took the 'No Trespassing' (Anglers Only Edition) to heart at the park so now those buggers can clean their own park for all I am concerned. Maybe one day the city of oakville will turn 'angler friendly' and they will gain the support from anglers in regards to park cleanups, tree planting, etc... But luckily, there is someone else who is still not jaded, and is carrying the torch forward...Send a pm to 'Burtess' on the board, as I believe he organized it last year. ask him to show you his secret steelhead haunts too

The mark is a Lamprey Eel scar...there were hardly any scales in the one spot! damn parasites Thanks guys!

Hooked, it is a Grand prize indeed... Awarded to the heaviest salmon caught during each week remaining of the Derby. Each grand prize package includes: Lund 1825 Rebel XT Sport Mercury 115 h.p. Optimax outboard motor - Mercury Marine Canada Shoreland’r trailer Two PENN downrigger rods with trolling reels - Pure Fishing Two electric tournament series Walker Downriggers Total approximate value $30,000 per package.

After many trips trying to nab a tyee worthy of qualifying for the leader board...I got my fish! and it held on to win 1st prize in Week 7!! http://www.sportshows.ca/SalmonDerby/updates.php 33.76lbs Caught off Bronte, in 50 fow! Tony