MJL

Chancho, it’s best not to make fun of Roy or else he will pwn you with the ban button or downgrade your member title from 'Almost a guide' to 'noob'. He’s L33T you know.

Thanks Shaun for putting the vids up. Back in the day I used to tape the carp & steelhead episodes of UOA on VHS tape (as well as other shows). I also have an episode of Fish TV with Leo & Steve, fishing for carp, starring you. Yes I was a nerd and watched them when I couldn't get out ...The VCR doesn’t work with my new TV I must say those carp in the 'twins' episode are very lucky fish

Canon 40D. FrozenFire came with me for moral support...Handing over that much money for anything other than a centrepin or a new float rod just seemed so foreign and highly irregular - It was on the borderline of just being wrong. With 6fps in burst mode, I should be ready for some tail walking steelie action and the weather sealed body makes it somewhat more idiot proof

Beautiful pics Mark and great fish! I'll be getting into steel full-time very shortly... Are you using just a basic P&S camera? You have much more patience than me...I just picked up a tank of a DSLR today (Still need a new lens). I’m pretty sure most rocks found on the riverbank weigh less . Hopefully no more post processing

Mermaid who wanted to have some fun by yanking on his worm...

Great catches Rich. Been almost a month since my last carp adventure...I may have to boil up some corn for some fall trophy carp action...

Beautifully done Timmeh Currently craving some brookies after this report.LOL

I'm sure all of Toronto is rooting for Doc. I know I am. Pure class to the nth degree.

It's a chat full of steelheading commentary as well as snagging and lining salmon

The MNR definitely do confiscate cars (as well as fishing gear). I remember watching them tow away an individual's car at the Humber 6yrs back in the fall. I'm assuming the guy had stashed fish over his limit in his trunk...It definitely wasn't for parking illegally.LOL

He's also a great rod builder too as well as an amazing fly caster. Dozer, if you're in the Scarlem area, you can check out Angling Specialties (Kennedy and Passmore area). There's a decent amount of fly tying stuff to be had. Unfortunately the shop may be permanently closing November/December.

Yes…There’s a general shift in techniques around the harbour. Feeder rods and float rods are becoming the norm there. From what I’ve been told by the local anglers, angling pressure seems to have a lot to do with it (unbelievable I know). Jeff Vaughn is also promoting float fishing as well as feeder fishing when fishing shallow bays, pre-spawn on the St. Lawrence. He says he’s getting 3-4 fish on the float to 1 on the bolt rig early in the season. Except he’s using heavy action Barbel feeder rods (2.75lb), large Polaris floats and 30-40lb PowerPro for those fish.LOL In most places around Ontario, a 1.5lb (or less) – 2.5lb rod is plenty unless you’re fishing big, gnarly rivers (like the St. Lawrence, Niagara, Detroit, some parts of the Trent system, lower Grand during high flows, etc). I got violated by a large fish on the St. Lawrence in September during a tourney using my 3.25lb carp rod!

If you're looking for a European specimen carp rod, a number of stores in the GTA who distribute Angling International products (like Raven, Drennan, Kamasan, ESP, etc) should be able to order rods made by Wychwood for you. Here's the catalogue http://www.anglersinternational.com/2010%20carp%20fishing%20catalogue.pdf Here are the dealers http://www.anglersinternational.com/dealers.html Fishing World in Hamilton has some Shimano stuff and Bill's Bait and Tackle had some carp rods in stock last time I visited last year. You can also order rods online from Canadian retailers like: - New World Carp (Hamilton, On) http://newworldcarp.com/ - Carp Kit International (Milton, On) http://www.carp-kit.com/index.php - If you know what you're looking for, you can also contact Jeff Vaughan at the Long Sault motel. He has a small carp shop there and owns a much larger one in the UK - He guides on the St. Lawrence river in summer. I usually do 1 or 2 orders off of him per year or I stock up when I visit the motel. http://www.canadiancarpclub.on.ca/ or http://www.longsaultmotel.com/ If you'd like, I could supply you with links from US vendors...Keep in mind that shipping costs will be quite high.

I started ‘trout season’ on opener with my dad, and I definitely wanted to end it with him. My dad has never caught a brook trout before or stalked the shrub-lined, brushy hell holes with me before for the resident trout. With nothing better to do Wednesday, he joined me for a day of fishing. Considering I couldn’t get out on the weekend, and it rained Tuesday, I HAD to get out Wednesday. We hit up a river around 11:30 looking for brookies. I definitely wanted to try to photograph some fish in bright spawning colours. First cast into the pool I land this one with a spinner My dad also using a Panther Martin gets his first ever brookie Hens are quite drab compared to the male specks When the spinner action died down, I switched up Colourful male FrozenFire Joined us at the river around 12:30…Unfortunately he missed the flurry of activity. He also took the wrong ‘path’ to the river to meet us. There was no real path but there certainly was an easier way to get to the water On the way back to the car, we saw this fellow – There’s a big red band…Does this mean it’s going to be a mild winter? He curled up into a furry ball when I tried to pet him 1:30, we were off to another river in the hopes of landing a trophy brown trout. We walked for a few KM down the river probing the pools, log jams, undercuts, riffles and various runs. My dad used to fish for steelhead a lot with me in the past and when I told him I’d get a brown out of a spot no more than 4-5 inches deep, he didn’t believe me. 2nd cast with a small Mepps and I got one (first cast the fish swiped the lure and missed). It really opened up his eyes to the amount of fishable water he walked past and didn’t fish. Big spots for such a little guy. Last brown from this river till next year I landed 8-9 small browns to about 12 inches there and Frozen Fire landed a couple. My dad didn’t get any browns but got chub to keep him occupied. Unfortunately my dream of getting a monster resident brown will have to wait until next year ... but at least that’s keeping me hungry till next April . I loved every minute of my trout fishing adventures this season (including those moments where I was: getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, falling into the river and dunking/destroying a camera, getting lost on the backroads in the middle of no where and patching my waders to the point where just about all of it below the knees is aquaseal). Can't wait to stalk the streams again next year. Hope you enjoyed Off I go to learn more about fishing for fall walleyes and I may also pull out my steelheading kit from storage - It's been a while.

Jealousy is an understatement...I want to be there!

Very nice Chris. I’m actually very close to clicking the submit button on an online order for a new switch fly rod blank. I’m hoping to get into the double handed experience. What line system are you using with the spey outfit?

Very cool Jacques! Those sturgeon pics are super cool to the max! I want to catch one now. You should of kissed it on the lips.LOL

WTG Ryan! I'm still waiting to land my first one. Amazing spotting patterns on those fish.

Very cool. In South America, the locals eat them and you can see various species of large specimens at the local fish markets (some as big as 1.5-2ft long) – Apparently they’re rich in iron. Various species of wood eating catfish (panaque) have been in the aquarium trade for years. The Royal pleco is probably the most common one found at pet shops and up until the mid to late 90’s, the blue eyed pleco was fairly common as well. I owned a royal pleco for about 9yrs and he made short work of the driftwood in my tank (cleaning up after it was insane!) – He also ate cucumbers, lettuce, algae wafers, frozen shrimp and blood worms. I named him Jaws.LOL

Driving 3hrs is dedication right there! Definitely paid off. Those brookies are sweet! I really love the colouration on the last fish. Hopefully I can make it out one more time (or thrice) before the season ends.

Pretty interesting topic. Throughout my life I’ve always wondered why some anglers were more successful than others. I’ve come to the realization that, if you can competently use a rod and reel, own a set of eyes that can see, and have a brain that’s willing to learn, you can catch fish. I personally don’t know much about bass fishing. I only fish for them once a year (or less) on average). With that said, over the years I’ve thought about the various ways to approach fishing to become a more successful angler. With just about every species of fish I wanted to catch, I went through a 6 part approach – I apologize to the fact that it sounds more like a text-book. 1. Information Study your quarry and the environments in which it lives. In your case, it may mean: watching Bob Izumi or Al Linder on the TV or reading an issue of OOD to obtain information on possible tactics to try given a time of year or specific conditions. Forums (like OFC) are also great sources of info. You can never have too much info...Soak it up like a sponge! Ideally you want to learn about where bass live (depths, preferred temperature, etc), what bass eat in nature (or key in on food items found in specific lakes), what bass do throughout the year (try to find info on seasonal patterns – this is perhaps the most important item to think about). What do bass do given specific conditions (like during cold fronts, heat waves, etc). This information will be your long term guide on how to fish for them. Before your trip, you should familiarize yourself with the body of water. Topographic maps, hydrographic charts are excellent for this. Similarly you should obtain weather forecasts and determine what conditions to expect on the day you plan to fish. You can create a preliminary plan on what tactics you might need to use or a preliminary location on where to try, given X weather conditions at X time of year. You can do a great percentage of your “fishing” even before you leave the house in the hopes that you’ll be spending more time catching on the water. It also can’t be understated...READ THE FISHING REGULATIONS BEFORE YOU GO FISHING. 2. Observation It means comparing the conditions you currently see with information you’ve gathered in your information search (#1 above). If the weather man was wrong and the tactic you’ve chosen might not be the right approach, adjust and re-think your plan of attack. In this case, a guide and his/her knowledge is invaluable and can speed up your learning curve by showing you what to look for out on the water. Being able to adapt and select the right tactic and location is key. Most people (unsuccessful I might ad) fail to observe and they are keyed in on 1 spot and/or 1 tactic which might not be the correct approach - Because it worked for them last trip doesn't mean it's going to work for them this trip. Observation also means looking for fish and/or wildlife activity. Polarized glasses are perhaps one of my important items of equipment I own. As a carp angler, I might look for carp rolling on the surface to determine where they are. Pike anglers often fish for pike in the shallows if they see them cruising there. Anglers fishing in the ocean look for flocks of birds and floating piles of garbage that collect in ocean currents. Trout anglers observe flying insects or they might use a small seine net to see what bugs are crawling on bottom. If you have a fish finder, looking for bait-fish may also improve your odds at catching predatory fish (like bass). Update your pool of information with real-time data. 3. Presentation Fishing for the most part isn’t 1 complex activity. It’s a bunch of smaller, easy to do things that when all done correctly will lead to success. All I mean by presentation is doing all the little things right. Keep your hook sharp, be stealthy, try to keep negative odors off your lures to a minimum, check your line for frays and cast accurately. 4. Documentation Also another area where anglers fail. Learning is paramount in becoming more successful. Saying you have 20yrs of fishing experience means squat if you can’t somehow use those experiences in a meaningful way. Spending more time on the water will make you a better angler ONLY if you learn something during that time. You have to ask yourself, why did I fail or why did I catch fish. What exactly were the conditions when I caught a pile of fish? What were the conditions when I skunked? What lure did I catch fish on this trip...What didn’t I catch fish on this trip? I have a photographic memory and can remember just about every trip I’ve been on starting from my first trip as a 2yr old (pretty weird I know)...If you don't have a photographic memory, I recommend keeping a diary of your experiences (some people use excel spreadsheets) to document weather conditions, catch rates, time of year, etc. This will become your information (as seen in #1) for future trips. 5. Benchmarking and self-improvement For the most part, I go fishing to catch fish. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the scenery and the sound of running river water, but if I’m driving an hour away from home (and spending $ on gas), I want to catch a fish. I always aim to improve my skills and knowledge in the hopes I become a more versatile and successful angler. I try to benchmark my skills with those of someone or something that does what I want, better. It may sound strange but a lot of what I know about stalking trout was learned by watching sniper training videos on youtube – snipers are the stealthiest people I know of, who learn to gather intelligence from multiple sources and key in on details the best. You’re never too good of an angler to stop learning or incorporating new things into your fishing arsenal. 6. Respect the environment It’s good for karma Hope this somehow helps you on your way to catching more fish Mike

Definitely the case with the streams I fish - Although I have yet to hook into and land one over 15". On average, the brookies in one chub infested stream I fish is 10-11 inches compared to others that on average, are only 6-8 inches without chubs. I just release the chubs.

Thanks for the comments guys. Glad you enjoyed the journey Hey Chris Next year I hope to have my own light fly rod for the trout. This spring I bummed a 9ft 5wt off my friend and used it a couple times. I caught a few fish on streamer patterns - None on dry flies though. Already saving up for a 7’6” 5wt and a nice reel for Christmas. I wish I hadn’t sold the reel I had this spring.LOL I’ll trade you a guided trip to a super accessible, easily walkable stream loaded with browns in exchange for a new custom 5’6” light action rod *Note the stream is highly accessible and easily walkable for those who are young and incredibly fit (and mobile), and able to hoist themselves over large fallen trees as well as push their way through dense, prickly bushes. I guess why I like fishing for these resident fish is that it’s a lot more technical and challenging (accuracy, stealth and observation is definitely a must). It’s different than my usual steelhead and carp fishing for sure. Maybe we can hook up and I can learn more from a Jedi Master of trout

Dood! I'm very impressed. Hopefully this fall I can give it a whirl when I head your way for steel. You ever planning on doing a fly reel? Mike

Fantastic report Doc ...Fishing for those biggun brookies is something I definitely aspire to do one day.