MJL

It’s more of a public service to those that are on the hunt for bigfoot...Take note, not all things that are bi-pedal, large, hairy and naked are sasquatches...

Back in August of 2006, I was paddling along the shoreline of one small lake in Algonquin Park and could’ve sworn I saw bigfoot. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a portly and quite hairy dude celebrating his 45th birthday in his birthday suit...I knew something wasn’t right when he asked me how my day went...I probably should’ve taken notice of the can of Heineken that he was drinking before paddling closer to investigate...

I primarily use Riverwood floats...It's mostly what I can get for free by picking them off of trees and snags. Back in the day I used to run mostly Drennan Avons and Loafers but sold them all off for cheap because I just had a hard time seeing them. Lebarons has a bunch of the Thill Turbomaster floats in stock in a few different sizes.

Indeed. You know it’s bad when you can see the other angler’s lure on your sonar If this year is the same as last, I may invest in a bunch of wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men to surround myself with and make the appearance that I’ve already been greased out

Last winter I stumbled upon a deadly jigging technique for lakers and I'm ready to unleash it ASAP! It involves jumping as high as you can while you make a big upward sweep of the rod (the longer the better). I don't think I actually caught a fish with that technique, but it quickly scared off all the people that tried to park themselves right next to me

I run 10 & 12lb Raven on my reels (Pretty much depends what the local tackle shops have in stock). I don’t run hi-vis at all (that’s just my preference). For Raven I run lines in either the blue/grey colour or green colour (also depends what the tackle shop has in stock at the time). I’ve seen guys running hi-vis lines without a clear shot line and catching fish. Personally the only time I can think of it being useful is when fishing amongst a crowd of people – ie. Casting over each other’s lines. In my case, the rivers I fish the vast majority of the time are crowd free and worrying about other people seeing my line is not a problem. Back in the day before Raven, I used to run Maxima UG in 8lb. I found that it handled pretty similar to 12lb Raven. Maxima in the higher lb test (12 & up) is pretty thick (IMO it's under rated as far as breaking strain goes) and if you're using smaller shots, you may need to use a thinner diameter shot line below.

Goals for 2013: DON'T CUT YOURSELF WITH THE AUGER ON EVERY TRIP! Definitely can't wait to get back on the ice again with you. You're the only one who brings a stove and cooks

Very nice ties I don't spend a whole lot of time now on the vice but I'm definitely itching to now.

Loving the pics! Just beautiful brookies

My friend replaced his Islander bearings a few years ago. He got AngSpec to order the bearings from Islander and Tom put them in. I think the total (parts + labour) was around $15-$20 for the Abec 3 ones. I've been running my Abec 3 bearings since 1998 and honestly can't find a reason to upgrade to the more expensive barden bearings that Islander also uses. I have not lubed the bearings in over 12yrs with anything nor have I ever taken them out of the spool to clean. Essentially the only cleaning I have ever done to them was washing/spinning the reel in the river to get dirt and sand out of the backplate (if you can call that cleaning...)

Thanks again guys Definitely will consider a baitcaster next time - Mostly just for the retrieval speed. By the end of the trip, I had callouses on my thumb and index finger just from reeling my float reel . Closer to the end of the trip, I mostly used hardware on a 9’6” MH spinning rod and thinking back now, I should’ve jumped on the 10’6” GL3 before my friend did. Was it wrong when I LOL’d when that happened.LOL

Those are tanks for sure Mike. Well done . Hopefully I can get some time off next week and hit the rivers again

Nicely done Chris. Great catches for sure. I really like the 1st pic of the buck.

Brian, over the years I’ve used roe that was uncured and a bunch that were cured all sorts of ways (either from a tackle shop, hatchery, trout pond, myself or bought from an online retailer). Recently my views on cured VS uncured have changed a little, and even my views on which types of cures to use have changed. All I will say is you shouldn’t be afraid to use eggs that have been cured (if you decide to go this route). I’ve had success with loose eggs purchased from tackle shops and trout farms in the past (from what I can tell they were cured in a salt brine solution). On my recent trip out west, we had success with some skein that we purchased online from the US that were heavily cured (in something like ProCure or Pautzke) and apparently were outside of a fridge for quite some time (while they were held at customs). The eggs were by-products of a salmon processing plant and cured before they were shipped. We tried it out on stretches of river that didn’t have a bait ban and it worked - I was impressed with the results to say the least. If you have any qualms about harvesting fish, hit up a fish cleaning station at a harbour popular with salmon fishermen. From August through till October, you can get ample stock to last you through the season for free. A little late now if you haven’t done it already, but it’s just something to think about for next season.

Totally sweet Lorne. Big Congrats!

Very cool Chris. 700 fish is amazing. Definitely an awesome trip by the looks of it

Thanks again guys We did see a few fly anglers chucking 6+ inch streamers for the bulls. If I had it within my budget, I'd definitely consider rigging up an 11ft 8 or 9wt switch rod to spey cast the giant streamers out and then strip them back. It looked like serious work watching the fly guys overhead casting those huge flies over and over again. Brian, if it makes you feel any better, I have another trip in the planning stage for next August with my uncle and cousin from Edmonton. Big northern cohos in the ocean and smaller summer run steelhead notorious for rising to skated dry flies in the river are on the agenda

Sweet toy Geoff. I'm sure you'll have a blast breaking it in

I remember when I bought my current Islander in the 8th grade, I sat in front of the TV almost ever day after school spinning the heck out of it for a month. I guess the grease thinned out after that.LOL

Thanks guys...Glad you liked the pics I thought about it and realized I'd miss my carp fishing

Browns are highly opportunistic and diverse feeders. I’ve caught them on size 1 spinners through to Rapala J13’s and 1.5oz buzzbombs off the pier. Anything that resembles a baitfish will get a browns attention. I’ve probably hooked more browns in harbours and off piers with lipless cranks than anything else (sometimes with glow in the dark tape stuck to the sides when fishing at night). Up river, aside from roe, Gulp minnows (or other soft plastic minnow baits) on a 1/16oz jig head (sometimes lighter) can work pretty well when drifted below a float. Same with soft plastic crappie tube jigs... Funny, I never did all that well suspending live minnows below a float for browns in the past. Hand on the Holy book – I have never in my life harvested a brown trout for roe or used brown roe that wasn't from a trash can in the fish cleaning station. Honestly, I’ve never found the need to.

The Other fish Cutties The cutties were accidental catches while we fished for bull trout. They pretty much hit any salmon egg/roe imitation (and real roe), to large streamer flies and jigs that were 4+ inches long. They are quite attractive fish with 2 beautiful red slash marks on their throats and they do put a nice bend in the rod. Unfortunately I didn’t catch any on the fly rod this trip. They live in some very pretty looking water Mountain Whitefish They were all fairly small for the most part – Definitely way smaller than what you’d catch out of Simcoe. I guess they were comparable in size to a big cisco. They hit most egg patterns we used. Ironically, I caught my first one fishing a bucktail jig for bull trout. They smell like cucumbers.LOL My first ever whitefish. I didn’t think I’d have to fly across the country to catch one though.LOL Gerrard Rainbows After Anthony and Victor left for home, Jet and I spent some time driving to a few lakes that held Gerrard strain rainbow trout. Gerrard rainbows are the footballs of the rainbow trout world. Historically they’ve grown to over 35+lbs in some lakes by eating a diet of Kokanee salmon and whatever fish they can swallow. In our case, we didn’t catch any from the lakes but sometimes it’s the journey and not the final destination that you remember the most. A mountain road to one lake…It’s a long way down! Jet & his dog Riku Below the Surface I brought along my underwater photography gear with the hopes of taking some sub surface shots of cutties & bull trout. The rivers we fished were generally not that clear and full of sediment. I took a few thousand shots over the course of the trip. Here are just a few I picked out after quickly skimming my hard drive: One that I caught with a cleo Half & half Resident rainbow Small bully Cutties Kokanee salmon (Jet caught the only one. A fair number of zombies around though) Touristy Moments: We stopped in at the side of the road to collect spring water streaming from the side of the mountain. Risks of Giardia aside, it was the best tasting water I ever had. On the 2nd last day of my trip, Jet and I visited John Milner’s shop in Cranbrook. For those who don’t know John, he’s one of the few centrepin reel makers in Canada. Over the past 40+yrs, he has machined both centrepins and a few spey reels by hand. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted his Kingfisher model because of the similarity to my first ever centrepin, a 3.5” Hardy Silex. I didn’t purchase a reel that day, but John went over the various options available to customers including some very unique one-off reels with custom porting and anodizing. He even showed us some spool templates of a few custom reels he produced for several of his customers. I really enjoyed visiting the shop and chatting with John about reels. John really is a very humble, down to earth man who is willing to spend time with just about anyone. He was helping out some college students with their robot project when we first got to his shop. What reels look like at the beginning Rack of parts Reels waiting for final assembly Group shot with Jet, John and I with a couple of his reels Group photo on Victor’s and Anthony’s last day in BC Reflection Before the trip, I was told that BC stands for “Bring Cash”. Tackle shops can get fairly pricey for gear and licenses can also be pricey. If you plan to fish classified waters, be prepared to pay $20 or $40 per day on top of your other licenses. It’s worth hiring a guide or a drift boat on the bigger rivers even for just a day. A few of the rivers we fished required brutal hikes down rocky banks easily accessible by drift boats. Many of the spots we hiked into only offered 1 or 2 pools or runs to fish before having to climb back to the car and drive to the next spot – Many places are just inaccessible by foot or conventional wading. If you’re using a centrepin and fishing with a heavy rig, learn the “BC Cast”. You can launch a 20-30gr float rig into the distance with zero line twist as a result. After some practice, it’s pretty easy to do with a big slip float and a ton of lead. Use the down & dirty technique to land big, out of control steelhead that took you waaaaaaaaay down river and are still steaming off. What is the down & dirty you ask? Essentially it involves plunging the rod tip into the water and cranking the fish back up river – No rod pumping required. Fish will miraculously swim right back to your rod tip (Jet can attest to its effectiveness). The other anglers who reefed on their rods in the high noon position never really seemed to make any progress and took forever to land their fish (if at all). Low, side pressure was key to landing big fish in a shorter period of time. The down and dirty in action BC also stands for “Bring Cleats”. It’s also advisable to carry a wading staff when crossing even the smallest of streams. Victor knows firsthand how cold the rivers are when he went for a dip past the top of his waders.LOL Read the regs. Many rivers we fished had bait bans, where even scented soft plastic baits were not allowed. Beads, jigs, unscented soft plastics (like pink worms & egg imitations) and flies were used to great effect. Single pointed barbless hooks were standard everywhere we went aside from some of the stocked rainbow lakes. Summary I really have to thank Jet for taking us around and letting us stay at his place and feeding us. If he hadn’t messaged me with an invite, I probably wouldn’t have made the trip out to his neck of the woods. It was great seeing him again. Prior to moving out west, we used to live within a 7 minute drive of each other and fished the rivers for steelhead together. I also have to thank Jet’s sister Victoria and her BF, Filipe for being the most awesome hosts while we were there. Victoria makes a super tasty cucumber, carrot & avocado salad that’s to die for. Jet’s friend Chris also hooked us up with some of his secret cured roe before we left Toronto (for the rivers where bait was allowed) – The “poison” worked like a charm All and all, this is by far the most epic fishing trip I’ve ever been on. I waited over 20yrs to catch my first ocean run steelhead, I got to try elk cooked 3 different ways and I flew on a plane for the first time since I was 4. I think for the next while, I’ll be reliving the hook-sets, the runs, tail-walks and cartwheels of all the steelhead and bull trout in my mind. Cheers Mike

Back in September, I got a message from Jet asking me if I wanted to do some fishing in his neck of the woods for bull trout and steelhead. It was an easy answer on my part. I spent most of my life reading about west coast steelheading on the Skeena & tribs, the Dean, The Thompson, the Vedder, the Nass, the Olympic Peninsula and more. The last 7yrs, I saved up for a trip with the hopes of catching my first ever sea-run steelhead – I was supposed to go to BC in 2005 with my uncle and cousin but both had to cancel last minute. In the end, I got spoiled. My brother in-law covered my air fare to and from BC. My sister paid for my new wading jacket as a B-day present. My mom gave me a whole wad of spending money and my dad...Well, he lent me his car to pick up my custom rod from Spiel’s place before the trip On this trip, both Victor and Frozen-Fire (Anthony) would be joining however I planned to stay behind a little longer for some additional fun Bull Trout Last month, my dad dropped us off at the airport at 5:30am, we flew into Calgary and then took a smaller plane into the mountains of BC. I was hoping to get some aerial shots of the mountains from the plane, but the windows were covered in greenish/yellow de-icing fluid (it was snowing hard in Calgary with -15 air temps). Once landed, we grabbed our luggage and gear and made it to Jet’s place. We suited up, rigged our rods and hit the river ASAP. I hooked the first fish of the trip and got to test the 13’ 3pc Rainshadow XST float rod that Spiel & I built together. My first bull trout Bull trout don’t run as fast as salmon nor do they jump like steelhead. They are masters at bull dogging though and have the stamina to carry on with lengthy fights. When you set the hook into one, it feels like you hooked bottom - Until it starts to move. A rod with backbone is definitely needed to pull fish of all sizes out of the current – Even the small ones are tough to turn in slower water. The 3pc 13’ Rainshadow XST handled the bull trout like a champ. I did have it bent down to the cork on a couple larger fish with an 8.8lb floro leader though… Anthony also got his first bull trout too The next few days blurred into one long rain-soaked memory involving: a lot of rain, a lot of driving, a lot of hiking, some slipping and falling on wet rocks and a lot of deer & elk crossings along the highways (we saw lots). I was physically and mentally drained after the first few days. Boulder hopping on wet, slick rocks to get from spot to spot really takes a toll on the body. I can’t imagine how Jet felt throughout the trip...He actually did almost all of the driving while we napped. After trying for a couple days, Vic finally lands his first bull trout. We fished some crazy turquois coloured rivers that allowed for insanely long hero drifts. Note: You probably should start retrieving your rig back when you can see the knot joining your mainline to your backing Anthony gets his PB Victor testing out his new Paine Falls Demarco reel Vic also brought out his 13’ Loomis GL3 (4-8lb) to play around with to see how it performed on bull trout. It’s a good thing he picked up a heavier 10’6” Loomis GL3 for the steelhead before we left Ontario Jet with one of his own Fatty! In the rain Pretty tail Anthony caught 1 bull trout that coughed up 2, 12 inch cutties For the most part, bull trout are not all that attractive. Honestly, I think they’re ugly as far as trout/char go. The only saving grace they have are the pink/red spots on their sides. We fished into the dark most days Gear porn – The fishing was pretty slow on one river but we figured we’d take the opportunity to mess around with our cameras Steelhead While the bull trout were super fun, my main goal of the trip was to catch my first ever ocean-run steelhead. We put insane miles on Jet’s truck and fished a few rivers notorious for large steelhead. 20-30lb fish are not uncommon with the average size above 10lbs for the winter run fish. Honestly, I didn’t expect the fishing to be as tough as it was. With that said, hard work and time on the water really did pay off...In retrospect, hiring a guide with local knowledge and a drift or jet boat would’ve helped us a lot. For the most part, rivers out west are higher gradient flows than what you’d normally find in Ontario. Even small rivers are rocky and have quite a bit of pace to them. We used no less than 20gr floats on the trip with a ton of split shots and pencil lead on the line to get our baits & lures down. We also tried bottom bouncing but snagging up was pretty much the only end result of each drift. I sincerely give the foam floats made by DNE Tackle my two thumbs up (I ordered mine from Army & Navy in BC). If you fish the Niagara or you’re heading to the west coast, you definitely should have some in your tackle box. That’s all we used on the trip – Cheap at $2 each and very durable. View during the commute Big water Victor, Jet & I fishing a beautiful run one morning – Crowds definitely were not a problem that day. Anthony took the pic Jet with a big bend in the rod Victor drifting an incredibly beautiful stretch of river After watching Jet, Victor and Antony hook into a few steelhead the first few days without hooking into one myself, I was feeling slightly cursed with my Mojo at an all-time low. I tried various lures and baits, changed my rigs, prayed to the steelhead gods each night before bed, etc. Once I made a slight adjustment to my rig to suit my style of fishing, I finally got into them. My first ever wild west-coast steelhead The release One fish that went ballistic and tested my 13’6” 7wt spey conversion to the MAX! By far one of the most memorable fish of my trip. To get to one river, we drove on a winding mountain road above the clouds After having a fish break his size 1 hook in half the day before, Jet lands this one. Also on the previous day, he slipped and took a serious tumble down a rocky bank and landed into a HUGE patch of INSANELY thorny bushes…He deserved this fish for sure Some rivers on the coast are also stocked by hatcheries (particularly the ones further south). Anthony with a clipper. It’s tough to describe how hard the fish out west fight in comparison to what we would experience back home in Great Lakes region. I guess they have to be tough to escape killer whales, seals and sharks in the ocean and travel thousands of miles upriver. All I can say is, if I had the chance to go back in time, I’d definitely consider bringing an 8/9wt spey conversion for the medium and bigger sized rivers or a heavier purpose built float rod like an 11’3” Sage 3113MB. It blew my mind how powerful these fish were. My hands were shaking after the first one (and all the ones after)

I haven’t kept any fish from the US, but the friends I sometimes go with do. So long as the number and species of fish is easily identifiable, you shouldn’t have any problems (They almost never checked us on the way back home). It’s definitely advisable to leave the skin on the fillets and to wrap each fillet separately. There was one spring my friends and I went over the border at least once a week to fish for steelhead. We only ever got stopped once for a 5min search going INTO the US.LOL I was praying they wouldn’t confiscate my “creature baits”

My condolences Paul.