Aaron Shirley

I'm sure Gary's North Fork Composite rods are going to be phenominal rods. How could they not be. I've always liked Gary Loomis' rods.

Great topic Garry. It is too bad there isn't an 'industry standard' for graphite fishing rods or fishing line. Hopefully this helps to educate some OFC'ers with graphite rods. There is a brand new technology now from 3M for graphite fishing rods "nano technology". It is ground-breaking technology that allows for even lighter high modulus graphite rods while maintaining its core strength without being too brittle. Some rods are about 3 ounces or less fully equipped. Pretty amazing technology. I played with a couple rods with this new 3M Nano technology, and they are really sensitive and strong even being so light. I've felt many high end graphite rods with various technology from many different brands over the years. I've never felt a rod so light and sensitive in my lifetime. Will they help to catch more fish than other high modulus rods? Probably not lol. They will be more pleasurable to fish with though. From my understanding, there are only 3 rod companies allowed to utilize this new technology; GLoomis, Hardy and Rapala. Other rod companies that claim to have nano technology are not using the 3M technology and the molecules are significantly larger resulting in rods that do not have the same properties or performance at all. Just thought I would share the latest advancements in graphite technology in this thread to add to the great info here. Not meant to hijack, just add to an already great thread with terrific info.

That's pretty funny, but it would have been even funnier if you snapped a pic when the water was only a couple inches from the top of my waders lol

Sometimes I post live fishing reports on Twitter & Facebook, but don't expect GPS coordinates lol @SurelyFishingTV

Thanks for the kind words guys. It was a fun day. LOL Terry. I've been putting that video together in my spare time after my kids go to bed for 2 months. Now there is no ice to get out for whities! To make matters worse, I got a new Frabill Trekker Shuttle for Xmas and I have to wait to try it out. Good thing I also fish the Niagara in the winter

Ya Mike, it has been a good year. I wish I could have got out more than I did. My heavy work schedule blows. I didn't know you took that pic. I'd like to see the one with my pack on my head lol. OnThe Fly, it is a high-end prototype rod that I can't show yet. It may change a bit, as it's in it's early development. I can say this; it's the nicest blank that I've fished since my IMX.

LOL, sorry, forgot to add the link! It's there now

I got out a few times for steeies in December, and it was pretty good fishing for the most part. I will not be making too many more trib trips until spring. Niagara bound and the hard water for a while for me.. when the ice firms up that is lol. Enjoy the pics. Sorry for the blackout in some pics, it's a prototype rod that I can't show anyone yet.

Here is a Simcoe whitie vid I did with TonyB for you to watch while waiting for the ice to firm up Or you could just take out a boat haha. Enjoy. Simcoe Whities

Congrats Jeff, well done! It's a well run event, and good to see everyone.

That is pretty cool. Definitely a rare report!

A lot of nice fish in this ketchup report

lol, the fat brownies were all released. They were ripe and dropping eggs in my boat. They are waiting for you on the Niagara! Here are a few shots at weigh in. My fish didn't make the top three, but it put up a spectacular fight

The lower Niagara River was a very busy place on Saturday with the annual Straight Line Anglers steelhead tournament being held at Queenston. It was great to see everyone, and the tourney went well. The river was still heavily stained a greyish greenish colour, but we had about a couple feet of vis. Although not prime water conditions, it was still decent fishing. I had Phil and Chris out in my boat, and we tied into some nice browns and steelies. It was a heavy roe bite for us. We tried artificials, but they didn't produce like roe did. Quarter-sized brownie bags in pink, yellow and white were good. In the morning, I gave some Trigger X eggs to Frank and Rich to try. At weigh-in, Rich told me he got a 25lb sturgeon on a Trigger X egg! All in all it was a nice day on the river with a couple of good guys. It was nice to see guys I hadn't seen in a while at weigh in. Sorry we couldn't stay and chat, but we were heading back out to fish and I couldn't tie up the small steel wall area with my boat. I don't know who took th three top spots as we had to get my boat off the wall and head out, but it wasn't us lol. Hopefully someone has the results. Fun tourney boys. When the river has at least 3 feet of visibility, it will be on fire! Here are the pics Good fishing! Aaron

Not disagreeing with you. Originally it was the creative genius of someone to save on cork with the cork shortages, and still is. That's why most wine comes with man made materials rather than cork now. Since people have opened up to the split grip rod handle design and liked it, it became trendy and the new look of rod handles. The design is used with EVA foam as well. Obviously the reason for EVA foam is also due to the cork shortages. Believe it or not, I was going to put a mo on the fish too for kicks, but thought it would have been overkill, and may have taken away from Mike's Borat mo

Those are some great walleye. Very nice.

As far as I'm concerned, there is no advantage to any split grip design rod for any technique in terms of rod performance. The rods still perform the same as if the handle was fully covered in cork IMO. They still catch the same amount of fish. There may be a small difference in overall weight that you would most likely not notice. I believe that all split grip design rods out now are just the 'modern look' of a new fishing rod. Most new rods out these days have a split grip design. It's simply the trend with an up-to-date rod. Does the new RType float rod's split grip design look modern? Yes. Does it help the performance of the rod? No. Apart from the split grip look to the handle, I really like a few things about the design of the new handle. The handle is comfortable to use, has nice accents and is more 'gripy' than traditional cork. The angled butt of the handle is more comfortable when I lean the butt of the handle up against my body when the rod is at a 45 degree angle. The butt sits flat against my body in this position, where a traditional handle butt does not. The angled butt isn't a huge deal, but it is a nice touch to the overall handle design. Overall, I am a lot more impressed with the handle design than I thought I would be. As I stated earlier, I didn't think I would like it at all. As it turns out, I really do like it. I actually don't use the area without cork like I thought I would. I'm still surprised by that.

In my Borat voice (not half as good as yours Mike lol) That's a niiiice.

Hehe

I'm hoping to find one of these under my Christmas tree: Frabill Trekker Shuttle Other than that, I'll need to pick up a few jigging raps and some spoons... and maybe a dog sled

Nice looking chrome

Dang Ben, that's a nice brookie. Can't believe you are already drilling holes! I still have lots of open water fishing left before I drill holes.

I got out with Mike for a day last week. We had a good time and got into some nice fish. We started off drifting roe and got a bunch, then switched gears and cast hardware. Nothing like a good hit on hardware. Mike is really dialed into his hardware technique and lit them up well near the end of the day. I lost an absolute tank while I was posing for the camera when I should have been on top of the fish when it scraped it's face in the shallows to rid my lure Ooops! Still gave me a great fight though We didn't take many pics, but thought I'd share this one. Ever wonder what you look like with a mo Mike? I was a little bored last night I was able to get out for a couple of hours in the late afternoon before work today locally. I got into some nice fish drifting roe. Water was mint and there was some fresh fish in. I'm not sure who works anymore, as there were guys at every spot on a Monday. I pulled three hooks out of one fresh fish. Despite the fish getting pounded all day, they were still biting I'm sure the prime water conditions and fresh run fish helped to keep the bite steady all day. I really like being able to get out for a quick fish so close to home and do well, as it doesn't happen often with timing perfect conditions. I think the tribs will be shot for a couple of days now with the rain we're getting. OK, I know some of you will see the rod in these photos and think "what the heck, I thought Aaron said he wasn't going to get the new RType float rod because he didn't like the handle?". Yes, I did state that here recently that I didn't like the handle on the new RType float rod because I don't like to fish my pin so far up on the handle. My post here actually was the reason Rapala wanted to send me one of the prototype rods they had for me to try out. They informed me that the rod was extremely light and that I could place my centrepin further down the handle by the top of the split grip. They told me that it would surprise me, balance out well and have a lot of handle above the pin. Although skeptical, I told them I would try it out and tell them what I think. Well they were right. I am quite shocked actually. I didn't think I would like it at all. I placed my pin just above the split grip and it balanced the rod nicely and feels good in my hand. After using it a few times now, I actually really like the design. The rod blank and guides are really light and the handle is comfortable. It feels natural to use it, and it's lighter than my North Coast float rod. It definitely feels and looks much nicer than the $150. price tag it has. They have obviously put a lot of thought into this float rod. The light blank and guides are nice for me, as I have a bad shoulder injury from work and the long rods can be painful to use all day. So far, the RType float rod hasn't been painful to use with my bad shoulder. I hope they don't want me to give it back The tribs will be rockin' in a few days Good fishing! Aaron

What a tank!!! That is just sick. That's an incredible fish for anyone let alone a first muskie!

Great vid Mike. Your son looks so excited! Awesome. He does handle the rod well. I think ya got the best fishing buddy a guy could ask for I can't wait to get my son out, especially after watching this