MJL

But Brian, Wednesdays always fish better...Always

As far as your custom rod goes, it's already been field tested by me to ensure it meets Mikey's seal of approval...It was Christened today on a tumor covered sucker from the Don river

Great pics

Cliff, I’m sure diving in and noodling for the cats would be way more fun in the Grand...The water looks so prime for that right now

Great job guys

The last time I was on Simcoe I was nailing lakers one after the other...Just before the ice started to break away from shore...

And to add to the confusion even more, you should also check out the Olympus XZ-1 if it's in your budget. Video quality doesn't seem so great (compared to the Canon S95 which I used) but the photos I took with the one I borrowed were superb - Sharpness was excellent and colour seemed accurate. Lens apperture goes down to F/1.8 and it does an OK job in lower light conditions (eg. indoors) - Still not comparable to DSLR quality in low light but you shouldn't expect it to be considering the sensor is a fraction of the size.

I'm also in the market for a compact point and shoot for underwater work when I'm ice fishing...DSLR + underwater housing doesn't fit into the hole.LOL

Does water gremlin have weights in smaller sizes though? Or are you guys using larger shot? I don't mind using larger shot for larger river systems, but for smaller creeks, I like the small BB's...

My box is stocked with B & BB sized water gremlin shots. According to the chart below, they are equivalent to AB & #1 shots. If I ever need to go smaller, I use Sure Shot in #4 but I can't remember the last time I've had to.

http://www.questoutdoors.net/gear/articles/shot-size-conversion/

Mike(MJL) was telling me this today.Im going to be changing my weight brand.

Was it because you saw me land double digit numbers of 20+lb steelhead today using split shots brought to you by the Water Gremlin Company – For all your split shot needs?

Last year I biked to a few of my trout fishing spots...65-85km round trips, it was actually pretty sweet aside from roads with the hills.

A water bottle and a baggy full of assorted nuts & raisins is all you need for fuel

I walked alot this morning. They are not even close here.Another week forsure.

That's OK...I still plan to head out tomorrow in search of "fiddleheads"...

Here's my take on things...

If you own a 6-7ft medium action rod and a reel with a smooth drag (which just about everyone owns nowadays), use that and spend the money (which you didn’t spend for a new setup) on a few cans of corn, bread, quality line, strong sharp hooks and fuel (for your car).

I spent my whole life fishing for carp in waters between Montreal to Windsor and north to Parry Sound (with a decent number of stateside trips to New York & Michigan).

In the past I’ve used 6-7ft fiberglass & graphite spinning & baitcasting rods, 9-13’6” steelhead noodle/float rods. 8’6” – 10ft medium/ medium heavy salmon/steelhead rods, 11-14ft European float/feeder/quiver tip/specialist type rods, 12ft specimen carp rods, 9ft 8wt fly rods, 23ft elasticized poles. I've caught fish on all.

Some of my observations:

Rarely will you ever need to cast 100yards – If you have to and don’t have the gear, there are literally thousands of other spots to try where you don’t need to cast very far to hungry fish. Aside from the St. Lawrence and a couple lakes in the Kawarthas, I can’t think of anywhere else where I’ve needed to cast that far to fish.

You rarely have to deal with raging currents found in the Niagara, St. Lawrence or the Trent system when it’s in flood – Those are the exceptions. Majority of places that carp inhabit are slow moving rivers and still-water ponds and lakes. With that said, most of my carp fishing is done in large, high current areas because I choose to fish there for fun.

There are thousands of spots to fish in Southern Ontario for carp where you don’t need 4-6oz of weight to hold bottom.

There are hundreds of bodies of water in Southern Ontario where carp don’t grow bigger than 3-5lbs and don’t peel off 125yards of line on their initial run.

One of the best places to catch carp is right under your rod tip a couple feet from shore – Especially in spring. Free-lining a worm, bread, a doughball or corn on the hook (with no weight on the line) is often more effective than standard bolt rigging.

People were catching carp for decades on all sorts of tackle before the British/European ex-pats were trading the specialty carp tackle at the Mississauga Stacks back in the 90’s or when Shimano started to bring their European carp gear back In the early 2000’s. If specialty carp gear might be you’re thing, great – A 12ft 2.5-3lb test curve rod will handle just about 98% of the conditions you will ever face across the world. If not, don’t sweat it...Carp fishing isn’t rocket science.

Whats this 3.5" ABI reel

They were made in Burlington I believe in the late 90's/early 2000's? The first ones were a blueish colour in 3.5". After they were made in the 4.5" sizes in a pewter grey colour.

See first reel in link

http://www.questoutdoors.net/gear/articles/centerpin-reels/

If money is not an issue, nothing says “I love you” more than a 4” Angling Specialties

Might be a little big now, but she’ll grow into it

There's the 3.5" ABI but haven't seen one around for many years. There's also the 4" Milner Kingfisher.

Thanks Aaron! Nice to hear from you.

 

Ok Phil, now I have to go shopping again?

You'll need some soft plastic minnows (Gulp, Fin-S, etc), soft plastic eggs (exude, Trigger-X, Jensen egg, etc), box of coloured beads, various streamer flies that imitate smelt and emerald shiners, a variety of Kwikfish, spinners and spoons, pink worms in sizes 3" to 6", marabou & bunny jigs, tons of leader material and split shots (just in case you lose lots), hooks in sizes 2 through 14, a new centrepin reel and a new float rod (make that 2 combos)

Phil said I get a 25% commission on each sale made from you

Hey Brian

I was in your neck of the woods on Sunday evening doing some "walking" myself...Didn't see any fiddle heads yet either.

GSP’s are beautiful dogs...High energy is an understatement! One of the property owners along the Notty has a male that just loves to play fetch...When you stop, it’ll dive right in and chase your float up and down the pool until you pick up another stick and toss it into the bush

The only bait runner I have is on the girlfriends carp rod...

 

When you get a 30+ pound carp in the current... You want every bit of the 300 yards of 50lb power pro...

I have ZERO issues with line capacity on my Shimano LongCast

I’m just looking for a lighter reel with line capacity and the same dependability...When you gotta hike 30 minutes down and through a rocky gorge (including jumping boulders & climbing over fallen trees) to get to your swim (with all your gear), every bit of weight you can save from your pack is critical...I can’t use the baitrunner function anyway because of the heavy current...

Very nice Chris

I may be calling sometime this summer for a reel seat with some custom specs...

I’ll be stocking up on some new carp gear in a couple weeks. Baitrunners are useless where I plan to fish this season...Looking to pick up a new Daiwa Big-pit reel, a few snag ears for the alarms and I should be set to fish the gnarliest waters the Niagara has to offer

On a separate note, do people eat suckers?

Back in the day I remember watching an In-Fisherman segment on cooking suckers...The chef ground the meat and turned it into a burger. Never tried eating suckers myself. My neighbour (now passed) used to pickle and can them back in the 1940's.

Explain to us why the Notty's steelhead run has been getting stronger and stronger over the past few years. No stocking, 100% wild self sustaining population of fish, no roe ban, no bait bans, no gear restrictions..

 

But there are no fish in the Notty

bla bla bla guys..start a new thread to talk about this..This thread was and I repeat WAS about the Ganny Fishway..Looking for an update takes 5 min of sorting thru the balbber in here now.

Definitely not the mass exodus of fish yesterday at the dam that we saw a few days prior...Just enough to take a few shots

Congrats Rob

Congrats Rob. I too stopped after 2 children. My kids are now 10, 9, and 5. Hmmm. THe irony is that I actually teach sex ed at school which of course includes contraception. lol!

Very cool event. Had a blast yesterday. Some pics my dad and I took

Young_One with his new "HD Loogan cam"

The Push

Happy B-day Beans

I remember back in the day, the counter would be turned on at the beginning of April. Is it on year round now?

A friend of mine left me a message on FB saying the counter is at 3021 fish as of today. Normally I would expect that number around the 2nd or 3rd week of April!

teach us oh yoda of the whirlpool...we are your humble subjects

Training will commence when the carp start biting...It involves you carrying all the gear I would normally carry down (and back up) myself while I shout inspirational slogans at you to make you move faster

By doing so, I’ll train your mind to make your body achieve things you thought were impossible!

5 to 7mins lolz that insane lolz I probably do it in 10 mins going down no problem, but going up??? dont ask me lolz I think 30 to 45mins that was 2yrs ago did alot of stop and catching my breath and thanking God I didnt catch a thing... haha that would take me forever I havent been there since then hahahaha

You must become one with the land. Use the terrain to your advantage. You must become a steelhead of the land - Find the path of least resistance!

When you’ve got 40+lbs of gear, food, water and bait strapped to your back on the way down, gravity and momentum play a huge role in making speed