Aaron Shirley

Thanks everyone. Hopefully the salmon fishing continues to be good. Young_One, I rely on Gamakatsu 2X strong size 1 treble for my meat rigs with 30lb Sufix fluorocarbon. I don't use the 4X because I don't want to add too much weight so I get a nice roll. For flies (I prefer to tie my own with quality gear and make my leads the length I want), I use Gamakatsu 5/0 Octopus hook for the top hook, and 4X strong treble for bottom hook. Tied with 50lb Sufix fluorocarbon. I haven't had any issues since switching to this. I had issues with the factory packaged flies. Good fishing!

I had a great time fishing with family and friends the past week, and the derby has just begun. I got out solo a couple of times as well. All short trips about a few hours long first thing in the morning. It has not been gangbusters for the most part, but the early morning has been good. I had my brother out fishing just before the GOSD. That was great, as he hasn't fished with me in years. He is lucky and always seems to get the biggest fish. I told him to buy a derby ticket! He got the biggest fish of the last week in my boat. I don't know how big as I didn't weigh it, but more than 27bs. I weighed a couple at 27lbs before the derby to check the size. Lots of fish in the 20-25lb range to be had right now, and I hear lots of people getting tyees. I plan to fish most Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings early and be off the water by 9am to spend time with my family. The past week I fished Bronte, PC and TO. Found them in depths from 60- to 250-feet, down 60- to 140. I had to keep changing stuff up, as Dipsys were cold, then good, copper worked at times etc. The only consistent bite I've had is off riggers. Coyote flashes and flies were working best for me until Sunday of the GOSD, then it was a frog racer Coyote flasher and meat off 400 copper specifically. Seemed to be the most consistent rod that day. I had a buddy Andy out fishing before the derby and my brother. When the derby started, I had my friends Fred and Mario out. Good times, although nothing to weigh in yet. It was frantic action at first light and tough to get all rods out lol. That didn't last long though, then we had to work for them until we quit at 9am. Enjoy some of the photos. Good fishing! Aaron

I had the pleasure of having Greg Klatt and his son Mitch out on Lake Ontario yesterday. It was a beautiful day out to enjoy some trolling. Mitch had never caught a salmon before, so my goal was to get him into a nice king or two. We started in 50 fow and marked very little until we got into 75 fow, but not much to hold us there. We ended up in 150 fow quickly, as the picture on the sonar looked best. We got a lake trout right away down deep on a Coyote flasher and fly off the rigger 140 feet down. I believe Greg has that photo. We then got another hit shortly after. This time it was a king down deep on the same set-up and same depth and Greg got to tangle with it. It got slow after that as we got out a bit late for Lake Ontario kings, but we kept at it and got rewarded. We got several cohos up higher, but I don't think we got any or many photos of them. If we did, Greg has those as well. We marked a lot of hooks 40 to 80 feet down over the deeper water, but for some reason they had lock jaw. The bait balls were deep hugging bottom but very few hooks down deep. Even though the picture looked good, we moved shallower as we were not hitting kings. When we got into about 83 fow we marked some great bait balls, and not all hugging bottom. Shortly after trolling by this bait ball, the 300 copper reel starting singing as the in-line board got rocked back. This time an SD fly did the trick and Mitch boated his first ever king! Mitch was happy with this bad boy We got into some more cohos without photos, then we had to take a photo of Greg and this fish. It also hit the same set-up off 300 copper. I was so busy on the boat, I didn't notice it was such a nice bow until I saw the photo lol. The same copper set-up fired again with a crazy king cart-wheeling far behind the boat taking Mitch to task. It proved to get the better of him though as he did a long-line release lol. Unfortunately, we only got another coho after that to wrap it up off a 400 copper in over 100 fow. We called it a day late afternoon. We didn't tag a lot of kings, but we had some fun on the water with some cohos and a nice bow to keep our interest. I was a pleasure to have the guys out for something they don't normally get to do. Great company on the boat, and I'm sure Mitch was happy to boat the biggest king. It was a nice first king We found white and black green to be our best colours. All flashers and flies. Spoons and meat didn't fire once. The fish seem to be really scattered in the west end of the lake. Hopefully that changes soon and we light them up! Hopefully Greg has a few photos to add. Good fishing! Aaron

Old Ironmaker, I will be on the show on a regular basis part time. This works well, as I work full time and have two young kids that keep me very busy! I hope to take them fishing tomorrow on Father's Day if the weather cooperates

Nice photos Doug. It was great to spend a week with you guys and have such an awesome trip!

Wow, your photos and artwork is amazing!!! Well done. BTW awesome looking in-lines too!

Very nice shot, and great to see your photo made Outdoor Canada!

The Terminator Titanium leader material is exceptional. I started using it years ago and haven't looked back.It has many attributes that make it ideal for pike fishing. For one, it resists kinking unlike traditional stainless steel leaders. Second, it has quite the stretch to it similar to mono. It is bite-proof and ties easily. Another huge plus for me, is the fact that I can tie direct to braid (or mono/fluoro if you choose) with an albright knot.This is very useful when using light lures like a Husky Jerk. The leader material is so light and thin, that is is like not even using a leader, especially 20lb that I use so much. With no additional weight from a swivel, it doesn't add that bit of extra weight to place the nose down on a light lure like Husky Jerk. I put a light snap on the business end with a clinch knot to change up lures easily. I use a pair of pliers to pull on the tag end to get a good tight knot. For larger lures like spoons, in-line buckails etc, I use 30lb titanium and add a small black swivel rather than tie an albright direct to the braid. This helps with line twist. It has been a very effective tactic for me. I like making my leaders approximately 18" to 24" as it adds a bit more stretch for violent head shakes when using braid, and the extra length allows to re-tie the snap on after a while. The titanium will wear over extended use and must be re-tied a few inches up so that no breakage occurs. I made the mistake of trying to get away with the same leader all week and it cost me the biggest fish of the trip on Thursday and a lost lure. I normally get a week of fishing before having to re-tie the snap, but the Attawapiskat had too many big violent pike! lol

Great write-up Mike! Excellent photos as well. Thank you for putting this all together, it was an awesome trip of a lifetime to say the least. It was an absolute pleasure to fish with you as well. It isn't often you get to fish so hard for a week with a like-minded person and enjoy each other's company so much. You told the story very well with such a great variety of the photos. I think the OFC server would crash if you posted all of them lol

Very nice. Looks like a good time.

I used to catch white bass all the time as a kid fishing tribs, ponds etc to Lake Ontario fishing from shore. I've even caught white perch from shore, although more rare for me.

In Ontario, we have white bass (aka silver bass), white perch and wipers. White perch look very similar to a yellow perch although they are all silver with no horizontal stripes like a white bass. As far as I know we don't have any striped bass in Ontario. Wipers are located in Lake Ontario and the Detroit River and are very rare. I have only caught one wiper in my life (as far as I know). Wipers are a cross between a striped bass and white bass. A wiper looks almost identical to a white bass and can be almost impossible to tell the difference. My guess is that most people that catch a wiper think it is a white bass.

Thank you for the kind words everyone. That means a lot to me. I believe I will start to appear on some episodes beginning in November, but I will drop a note here when they start. Good fishing! Aaron

I have started filming TV episodes with Italo on Canadian Sportfishing! This is a great opportunity, and I am really looking forward to doing the things that I love; fishing and TV. I hope you enjoy it. I will start to appear on Canadian Sportfishing next season. Aaron Joins Italo on Canadian Sportfishing Press Release Good fishing! Aaron

Here are some pics from Tony's phone. He was fishing a little ways away in his comfy hut lol Tony got one into the teens

I got out to Lake Simcoe recently with some TonyB and friends for a good group of six of us. One of the nice things about ice fishing is the social aspect of being able to get out in larger groups, and sometimes meet new people. You can't do this in most fishing boats. We headed out slowly just as it was getting light out, making sure to check ice conditions as we went. We got to an area that looked good in 100 feet of water and set up without a soul around. Before we knew it we were completely surrounded by hundreds of anglers and our sonars had a lot of interference. The fish must have been in the area recently with the amount of anglers there. We tried all kinds of things with only a couple bites and lazy looks on sonar to show for our efforts after a couple hours of daylight. We had to move... but where? Everywhere we looked around us had quiet anglers not getting much. Without any clues as to depth or location, we had to make a big decision. We thought about two things; moving shallow or deep away from everyone. Nobody wanted to make the call in our group at first, but we eventually decided as a group to make the trek out to deeper water well away from any anglers. We moved out to 123 feet of water and looked on sonar. We immediately saw several fish on sonar at once and we spread out and set up. It didn't take long and Johnny got into a nice laker. Once we were all set up and jigging, the action was fast and furious. It was non-stop action one after another! My tip-up line with an emerald shiner and jigs were both taking shots, although jigging was by far the best approach. It is so much fun watching fish teased into biting on sonar. It never gets old! A jig and pause worked well at times, as did reeling up a foot or two and pausing, then reeling up again and pausing. They hit on the pause and you can totally read their behavior on sonar to realize which approach would work best on individual fish. We lost a few absolute beasts that pulled almost all our lines out at times making for an even more exciting time. These are the days that we live for. Pure adrenaline action-packed fun where everyone in your group is hammering fish!!! Sadly, I had to leave midday, even though the action was still hot. That was a very tough thing to walk away from, but I am a man of my word and family comes first. It was ok, I got more fish in a couple hours than many full days spent on the ice at times. I was content, and we all had an absolute blast. The heavy snow and mild weather this week will spoil the ice. We only had approximately 3.5- to 4-inches of black ice on the weekend, so it will not be safe for a while. Make sure you take all precautions when you think it is safe enough to venture out. Wearing a flotation suit and carrying ice pics is a good idea. So is a buddy system and a floating rope. Enjoy the photos These are from my phone. My wife broiled the whitefish I brought home for something different, and it was great! Much healthier than frying it in oil as well Good fishing! Aaron

Funny Mike lol. I used to use a similar single egg or yarn bag combo many years ago on the Niagara with good results. Don't know what made me try it here but I am glad I did! On another note I know beads are popular, but I don't use them. Single rubber eggs are so much better for me. I don't need to re-tie to change a colour in cold weather Just take the single off and change the colour or put on a 2 or 3 egg cluster. So easy to change the presentation, and they work just as well as beads. Let's get out soon.

The $200 really isn't a big deal at all. It is over-priced, but so is everything at Disney lol. I'll do it again in a heartbeat. MSP, that is pretty awesome about your son. Love it!

I tried various coloured roe bags in different sizes and nadda. Pink single, nada. Finally tried the chart single and roe and it was game on. I've used the retro setup before, but it has been years! Misfish, the Shift pin is pretty nice. It is much lighter than I expected for a pin that size. It spins well and catches fish. I would recommend it. You may be pleasantly surprised and use it more than you think.

Bigugli, I was told that the only place to fish from shore was the canal in the campground. There is a lot of great looking water all over!

lots of gold bling here. The shots with your girl are awesome. She looks really excited! Well done.

Although Bronte Creek is pretty much in my backyard, I rarely venture there due to mostly disgust. It is normally packed with guys, many inconsiderate, some just out to rape and pillage roe, others leave trash. It is NOT an enjoyable day for me. I can't stand the sight of it most times. When it really gets colder out and the salmon are gone, it is much better with a much better group of anglers. But until then, I travel a bit and enjoy my time on the water Sometimes I wish they would close Bronte Creek completely to fishing from September 1st to November 15th. It wouldn't hurt my feelings. Anyway, the rivers that I have fished recently have lots of steelhead and few anglers. No trash on the ground and considerate anglers. That makes for an enjoyable day out. I have a new centrepin reel and float rod that I have been enjoying immensely. The Rapala Shift 5" pin and RType 15' float rod has been great for the larger rivers. The fishing has been good but not until I figured out a specific pattern. For some reason, they wanted a single chartreuse TriggerX egg threaded on the line just above the hook with a peach roe bag on the hook on the rivers I fished recently. This is unusual, but hey, steelies can be finicky at times, and it can pay to experiment. I didn't get a bite on roe until I put on the single egg combo, then it was every other drift!!! Blew me away, and I was reminded of something yet again. Do not get complacent and experiment when the typical stuff isn't working. The fishing for steelies should be good until the rivers freeze now and the salmon and shore trash should be pretty much done. Here are a few photos, enjoy. Enjoy some trib chrome before the ice season is here! Aaron

I took my family to Orlando recently for a family vacation. It was a great time and the kids had a blast! We will be booking another trip or two in the future I packed a pack rod and a small assortment of lures to fish the lakes at Disney, but unfortunately, Mickey does not allow fishing on his lakes unless you pay through the nose. Fishing is prohibited by boat or from shore unless booking a 2 or 4 hour trip with a guide. And it is expensive. Since I was on vacation and wanted my son Brayden to have the "full" Disney experience, I bit the bullet and forked over the dough. I'm glad I did, as my son absolutely loved it and went nuts! He didn't sit still the entire time, and I still wonder if that was his favourite part of Disney lol. We met our guide Brian who was a great guy. Safety was paramount, as I booked a Nitro bass boat but got a pontoon boat due to the effects of the hurricane with high winds and my little guy was with me. At first I was a bit disappointed, but truth be told, it was for the best. It was a stable platform for my son with a guard rail. I didn't fish on this trip, I just wanted my son to have a good time and catch fish. The largemouth were small but plentiful, despite a major cold-front that day and high winds. My son caught the biggest bass of the trip all by himself while reeling in which was awesome! His eyes opened up as big as plates when the bass smacked his minnow! My son loved everything about the trip from the boat ride, to catching minnows in the livewell, to hooking and reeling in the largies. I loved that he loved it so much The guide was impressed with my son's abilities not only to catch fish, but to catch minnows in his livewell with his bare hands so quickly lol. My son took a liking to our guide and peppered him with questions the entire time. He also suckered the guide into giving him 9 soft plastic lures hahaha. I tipped Brian accordingly, as he was a great sport. My son is a total lure junkie. He asks me to give him new lures almost every day or take him to buy him some. I'm definitely creating a monster lol. He has his own tackle box and it's almost full at the age of three! Our two hours of magical bass fishing at the Magic Kingdom was well worth it to see the little guy smile ear to ear catching bass with an infectious enthusiasm only a three-year-old can display. We shared memories in that short time that will last our lifetime. The guide used power poles to hold us while we cast out shiners on a line without any weight to sparse grassy edges on structure. The structure was subtle changes in the grass edges that led to slightly deeper water about 9-feet deep. The tackle was cheesy wave spin reels on crappy 7 foot poles is all I can describe them as lol. It didn't matter to my son, as he handled the rods and reels well, cast them well and reeled them in just fine. Brian used circle hooks to lip-hook the minnow and toss it out 20 feet, and it was that simple. Effective and entertaining for a three-year-old. It was just what the doctor ordered after countless hours waiting in line-ups for rides and the usual grind associated at Disney. It was $200. for two hours and worth every penny, especially considering that was the cheapest part of the trip. Here are some photos of my son with his magical bass. Enjoy If you are planning a trip to Orlando to Disney, plan to get out and fish some Magic Kingdom bass! The do trips at the Kingdom and Epcot. Good fishing! Aaron

Very nice Blaque I've done well jiggling the float occasionally in the drift with those as well and fly fishing with them. I heard the trib I met you on last year is messed up right now. Is that true?

Looks like another amazing trip and write-up Mike! Simply awesome