MJL

Sending my best wishes Lew

I try to use the best hooks I can find. You never know when a fish will take you for the ride of your life. When I fish steelhead on the west coast, Owners and Gamakatsu are the only ones I take (recommended by the local guides out there). They're the only ones that survive the punishment from those fish. I've seen no-name brand hooks break in half on those fish. Nothing hurts more than flying or driving across the country only to lose a fish on something so preventable.

90% of the salmon I catch off the pier (from shore) are at night. Glow in the dark spoons like cleos are the most popular but most of the fish I've caught this fall so far have been on non-glow crankbaits and spoons. My biggest issue is finding suitable replacement hooks that withstand the abuse of a 30lb chrome chinny

Keep in mind that the only salmon and trout/char native to Ontario are landlocked Atlantics, lakers and brookies. Steelhead and pacific salmon (chinooks, coho, pinks) are only native to the rivers west of the rockies and wouldn't have naturally occurred in lakes/rivers here prior to the 1800s. Could a naturally self-sustaining population of steelhead or salmon exist in Lake Simcoe today? TBH I'm not sure but a whole lot of habitat restoration would likely need to occur to improve water quality, temperature and remove dams so that fish could access the coldwater stretches of the tributaries to spawn. Then there's the MNR's stance on introducing non-native fish to new bodies of water... According to this article, the landlocked salmon were first introduced to the lake in 1935 through stocking. Unfortunately a chemical spill in 1967 in their primary spawning creek pretty much wiped out that population until further re-stocking in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994 and 1995. It is pretty cool that we have a self-sustaining population of Ouananiche here in Ontario. http://www.afs-oc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Fitchko1996.pdf

Fantastic! I fished with STS last month and they were great. Glad you got into some fish I was also blown away at how delicate of a feeder sturgeon really are. Our guide explained to my dad and I when to set the hook - ie. When you see the rod actually bow down - otherwise you just rip the bait away from the fish. I've fished in BC a few times and after each trip, I dream about going back for more. I don't think I could ever get used to the mountains, turquois coloured rivers or the steelhead the size of your leg.LOL Can't wait to head back myself!

Just incredible Drew

Very nice Jon...Looking forward to getting out this week to take some photos like that. Hopefully the fish won't spook when they see a big bright orange camera swimming towards them.LOL

Thanks again guys The sturgeon fishing was my #1 highlight of the trip but my #2 highlight was driving the roads from Kamloops to Whistler. The drive was incredible and one I would love to do again (maybe with a smaller sports car ). It was full of curves through the mountains and along rivers. Hey Brad, feel free to share the vid if you want. We hired STS Guiding for the guide and it was super fun. Already planning another trip to hopefully catch one bigger than me.LOL Amazing indeed. At the moment we're thinking of doing another one except to the east coast. I'd like to try my hand at fishing for stripers, sea run brookies, mackerel and cod. If I had to drive across the prairies, I won't make the mistake of bringing only 1 CD though.LOL We only drove during the day throughout our whole trip. We ended up driving between 6-10hrs per day. We weren't too fond of hitting deer, moose, elk, pronghorn (which truckers told us about in the US).LOL Unfortunately on the drive between Whistler and Vancouver, a rock cracked our windshield. The crack is bigger than a loonie and the glass repair place recommended we replace the whole thing. I've got a ton more pictures to sort through. Only a few time lapses though - In California and a few other states, it's illegal to have windshield mounted devices (like GPS)...Plus the bugs crashing into our windshield were insanely bad.LOL After Vancouver we drove through Washington, Oregon, California (Redwood forests and Yosemite National Park), Las Vegas, Grand Canyon (north rim), utah Colorado (along the Colorado river), Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and then home. In Oregon, it's illegal to pump your own gas

Thanks guys. Glad you enjoyed the vid and pics On this trip I took a total of approximately 487,000 pictures (mostly time lapse) using 2 GoPro Hero 3+ and a few DSLR cameras (Between my dad and I we had 4). We were definitely geared up to document the trip.LOL It's a trip my dad always wanted to do. I bought other provincial licenses to fish along the way so I was up for the drive and the fishing.LOL Back at the beginning of July, I got news that my CT scans, X-rays, bone scans and blood tests were clear (aside from a few fractured ribs - not sure how that happened) and I celebrated my 1-year cancer free anniversary by buying a new camera & lens Feeling great and I hope to be out a lot more. Cheers Mike

Welcome James I hear you on getting a set of wheels to go fishing. I still remember taking the bus & subway to go fishing before I had access to a car.LOL

Very nice Justin The last few years I've been thinking of ways to photograph my catch with as little impact on the fish as possible. When it comes to selfies, one thing I like to use when I'm alone is an intervelometer type of remote like this: http://www.photoglobeonline.com/aion-wireless-timer-remote-and-shutter-release.html You can set the time, number of shots and interval between shots. It's plugged into the pre-trigger cable release socket and it will also focus in between shots automatically. At the end of the day you might have dozens of duplicates of similar shots but at least you know you'll have a pretty good chance of a keeper. It also saves you from having to go back and forth to press the shutter.LOL

My dad and I hopped in the car and went for a drive Best seen in HD We saw and experienced some pretty amazing things in between Soo sunset by MJLeung, on Flickr Dads brookie by MJLeung, on Flickr Walleye west of Wawa by MJLeung, on Flickr Terry Fox by MJLeung, on Flickr Heading west together by MJLeung, on Flickr Kakabeka Falls by MJLeung, on Flickr Husky the Muskie by MJLeung, on Flickr The Prairies by MJLeung, on Flickr Lake Louise - Banff by MJLeung, on Flickr Jasper by MJLeung, on Flickr Jasper by MJLeung, on Flickr Mountain Whitefish by MJLeung, on Flickr Mountain Whitefish by MJLeung, on Flickr Star gazing by MJLeung, on Flickr Cheakamus River by MJLeung, on Flickr Foggy morning drive by MJLeung, on Flickr Trees need love too by MJLeung, on Flickr Arms are so tired by MJLeung, on Flickr Sturgeon by MJLeung, on Flickr White Sturgeon by MJLeung, on Flickr Sometimes dreams do come true Mike

I'd love to make a trip out there for some of those stripers Nicely done!

Great report Cliff. What is this you say about Sheepshead being the "wrong" fish? Sheepies are the fish of the future!

My condolences to you & your family Matt

I wear one 100% of the time when I'm in a boat - Toronto Island Ferry was the only exception. I grew up wearing one as a kid in my uncle's canoe and feel naked on the water without one - kind of like wearing a seat belt in a car. I got the chance to try one of the inflatable life jackets on my trip to BC a few weeks ago. Really like how light and comfortable they are.

AngSpec in Concord has blades, wire shafts, beads, brass bodies and clevises in small quantities.

Just incredible Drew...I imagine after fishing there for lakers, I'd never look at Simcoe the same way again.LOL

Totally awesome Simon...Really enjoyed the vid

Nicely done Brian...I've always thought about sticking one of my AngSpecs on a downrigger rod and hitting up some salmon out in the lake. I hope I have enough line capacity.LOL

It's reports like these that make me dream about brookies at least once a day...Sometimes twice Just incredible

Awesome! I'm hoping to do a day of sturgeon fishing next month. Which guide did you go with? How long did it take you to reel those in?

Thanks for the info guys...Really appreciate it Nipigon river is definitely on my to-fish spots on the way. I've been dreaming of catching a big brookie since I was a kid. Shayne, I'm definitely interested in doing some sturgeon fishing on the Fraser. We plan to be staying in Richmond, BC for at least 1 night with a free day to fish. 1 of my top 50 things to do before I die is to catch a fish bigger than me.LOL Looks like after we hit up Vancouver, it's down to Portland Oregon, then San Francisco for a brief stop and then Yosemite for a couple days. I'll be bringing along a ton of camera gear so hopefully I'll have some cool pics and videos when I return. Many thanks

Good to know that an anchor rope doesn't count as a throwing rope. I'm seriously considering getting a float tube for next season...There's a few harbours I'd love to try getting towed around by staging salmon next fall.LOL

Just amazing report! Thanks for sharing