MJL

Nice fish! Funny you should mention me. Perhaps the only reason I actually got started on fishing for resident fish was seeing Ehg landing piles of beautiful brookies and looking at pics Wallacio posted of several gorgeous browns here on OFC - OFC has also been the catalyst for other forays into other types of fishing for me too (like ice fishing). Stream fishing for trout is addictive to the max! I'm itching to get out to the streams again.

From what I’ve been told, Salmo Trutta-Itis or STI is an incurable disease which strikes 1 in 467 anglers. It is the inflammation of an angler’s imagination and mind, to which he (or she) is perpetually thinking of or dreaming of catching brown trout of monstrous proportions. It can manifest in fly, lure and bait fishermen. While symptoms may seem different from one discipline to the next, the end results are the same...Obsession With only 14 days left in regular trout season, I had a flare up yesterday – Actually it’s the 2nd one in about 8 days . All summer I’ve been replaying that moment in my head when I lost what looked to be a 4-5lb resident brown this spring. It would’ve been my largest resident fish to date . I did a good number of trips this spring seeking redemption but to no avail The previous week, Frozen Fire and I hit up one stream looking for some browns – Both of us had a craving. This spring, that particular stream coughed up some awesome gems which were beautifully coloured with amazing bright red spots as seen below. Perhaps we were overly confident on the ride there. To summarize, beyond 2 tiny browns which I caught, neither of us were hauling in anything other than chubs. We however did see in 1 stretch of river, no longer than 20 yards, 2 browns which would’ve weighed 4-6lbs, and 6 other fish behind them – Perhaps the smallest fish in the group would’ve went 15 inches! We stayed into the night casting aimlessly in the dark (with just about everything we had or managed to catch like crayfish) hoping for just 1 of those fish. Nothing ever did materialize at the end of our lines. Since that trip, I’ve been itching to get out again. The rain we got Thursday afternoon sealed the deal for me. Yesterday I just had to get out to scratch the itch . Got to the river at 10am and proceeded upstream. The rain didn’t do as much as I hoped – If it did, I missed it. The water was still super clear. Stopped at 1 pool and managed these colourful brownies (I had my camera on continuous burst mode and kept the finger on the shutter). He took a cream coloured jig/fly I tied up. dark amber hue on the adipose And beautiful red marks on the dorsal I was so tempted to use him as bait I walked up to the pool where I saw the 2 large browns the previous week. They were still there chilling right in the middle of the river along with another large fish of equal size. All I can say is that I tried and failed miserably – They spooked into the nearest log jam after the 3rd cast with my jig/fly 1pm, I hit up another river. This spring I was tipped off by one gracious OFC member on a spot to try for brookies – Some as large as 14 inches. Seeing as how it was on the way to my next brownie spot, I pulled off to the side of the road and butt slid down the steep, grassy (and thorny) bank to the water. Got these beautiful gems in a few minutes. With brookies, my #1 lure has been the Panther Martin. During the summer, I swapped the stock trebles with single Siwash hooks and crushed the barbs. Spent a half hour fishing for the specks and ate my lunch before heading to the next spot. This summer I studied topographic maps quite a bit and I was dying to try 1 river out that I had not yet fished. Like most streams I scouted, I had no real clue whether or not it would hold browns in any real numbers. I drove along tight, 1 lane dirt backroads (which was pretty freaky seeing as I didn't have 4 wheel drive) and got to the river. I knocked on a few doors to see if I would be trespassing. I got the OK from the neighbouring property owners and I made a mad dash to the river – I actually forgot my rod in the trunk so I made that trip twice (I was pretty excited) First cast into the pool, I land a beautifully spotted brownie I made my way downstream catching good numbers of smaller fish (to 12 inches) using a variety of spinners (Mepps, Vibrax, Riverwood, Panther Martins), kwikfish & flat fish, GULP soft-plastics and my jig/flies. The fishing was very much like target practice with accuracy being essential (or you'd snag up in a branch). With not another angler in sight (actually I hadn't seen one all day), I was thinking about all those years I spent shoulder-to-shoulder on the piers and rivers in September. I enjoy this fishing waaaaay better . I probably walked a mile and a bit downstream with only the sound of the flowing river and the birds to keep me company. One spot I came up to did not cough up a fish like it should have . It actually bothered me somewhat. I went through my arsenal of lures and soft-plastics with no luck. I tied on my lucky #1 skunk Kwikfish (which I reserve for only very rare occasions) and backed it underneath a submerged stump. All heck broke loose! Managed to land it . Measured him against my rod and marked it off with a white china marker to measure it at home. At 17.25 inches, he was the biggest resident brown I landed this season and the biggest I’ve landed on the UL. I set him off for freedom and he swam back underneath the stump. I fished till an hour after sunset hoping for a bigger fish but none ever came. It was still a great day with good numbers of fish and solitude. I’m still on a quest for that 10lb resident brown...I’ll settle for a 6lber though . T-minus 13 days and counting. Cheers and all smiles

Chromeage indeed! Me likey

Great to see you're out fishing Cliff. Gotta hook up with you this fall! Nicely done guys Is it just me or is that a giant white marshmellow? Were you trying to line walleye?

Awesome report Ryan

I certainly don't like it when I see trash strewn around my favourite fishing spots. If I can, I try to make the place better before I leave for next time. Whatever I pick up gets packed out and disposed of at home.

Great video Simon. Definitely got my mouth watering for some walleye. Did you catch all of those fish on 6" sucker minnows? That's really like giving them a steak dinner

- Fall steelhead - No bugs that eat you alive or drink your blood - Freshly baked pumpkin pies - Turkey and other various meats (fried, baked and/or smoked) in quantities large enough for a meat induced coma. - Halloween at the college campuses where the nurses can examine me for whatever ailments I may have, and the lady cops can arrest me for whatever reasons they want to

Very nice! I remember back in 2004 my friends wanted to do a trip to Killarney but after receiving an e-mail from the friends of Killarney park of poor fishing due to acid rain, we canceled...Wish we never did. That place is beautiful. Really love the shots of the falcon. WTG

WTG Art I never under-estimate the generosity and kindness of OFC members. Earlier this spring, I was reunited with a certain magazine issue that I lost a few years ago, containing perhaps my favourite article of all time. A certain, generous OFNer shipped it from Hamilton to Scarborough for free . I’ve read it at least 2-3 times a week since it arrived in my mail box . karma does exist and what went around definitely came around to the right person. When I joined in 2005, I came for the tips but stayed because of the people (and Tuesday night chats )

I just got into ice fishing this past winter almost exclusively on lake Simcoe for lakers. I don’t have an ATV or snowmobile either. I can’t imagine walking the distances we walked on the ice with a gas powered auger (Anywhere from 4-7km in total per trip depending on how the action and snow was). I picked up an 8” Finbore III and it was way easier to cut holes than any other manual auger I’ve tried. I prefer getting both hands cranking VS 1 single one. It takes me about 20-30 seconds to cut a hole through 2ft of ice…It takes most people about 10 or less with the same auger

Welcome back Rich. Great line-up of fish. Some spectacular specimens for sure

I’ll be going to Ogdensburg, NY with my dad and fishing the St. Lawrence in the CanAm Carp Cup tournament. I’ll be on Team Canada for the third straight time, aiming to bring home our third straight victory against the American carpers. 48 straight hours of no sleep, chucking bait into the water at 100 yards and hopefully tons of fish fighting. Definitely need a long weekend after this weekend

Nicely done guys. Great report I know the feeling. I spent all ice season with my friend skunking on lakers, only to come home and read the reports of other just smashing them Coming home: - "Conditions weren't that great today" - Log into OFC - "No we really do suck"

You know it! Most of the fish I do enjoy eating come from the sea. I don’t usually keep any of the fish I catch though. I’ve never tried crappie, walleye, bluegill or pike so I'm probably missing out. I really like eating the oily types of fish like mackerel, herring, tuna and salmon the most. I guess I have an acquired taste for it. I do like halibut in fish & chips as well as small baked trout and BBQ eel (from the sushi restaurant). This season I kept 2 small brown trout that swallowed the hook too deep and they were pretty tasty.

Not surprising. I’ve been purchasing a few e-books myself (all fishing related so far). Instead of paying $25-$40 for the soft-cover versions, I paid $6-$12 for the pdf version. I find them more convenient to use as well. If I need a hard copy, I can print out whatever I need myself. I can also read the pdf version basically anywhere with a computer. A few books I purchased didn’t have an index at the end, so the search function in the pdf was a super fast way to find stuff. With a dictionary, I haven’t used a paper one since high school - Even then it wasn't a massive one. I much prefer online ones for convenience. In any case, 95+% of the time I actually needed one, I was on the computer anyway writing stuff for school.

Some live forever and become immortal... ...in the minds of those fortunate enough to hook into them

They do

So Ryan, did you obtain all the secret brook trout spots from Musky or Specks like we talked about? Payment pending Great report!

Loon makes something called UV Knot Strength…I’ve never used it but I used their UV wader repair stuff to make a loop in my fly line (beyond repairing my waders with)...Seemed to work pretty well and was strong. Other products you can take a look at commonly used by fly anglers are zap-a-gap and Pliobond. I think both are waterproof/water resistant. I've never tried super glue or crazy glue...If you have some around the house it might be worth a try experimenting with it at home before you hit the water.

You got my interest at Aurora trout and my mouth started watering watching the vid. Awesome report Mike! Congrats to HTHM on getting his Walleye and Sauger

If I only had 1 rod to own, a 6’6”-7’ medium action rod would be a good all-rounder – I’ve used mine for panfish, bass, walleye, steelhead, salmon and pike. Something rated 6-12 or 6-15lb line and 1/4 to 5/8oz lures (or similar) is probably the bread and butter rod most people have at least 1 of. Something like a Shimano Sedona or Symetre or Saros reel in a 2500 size and a 6’6”-7’ Shimano Clarus or Compre would probably fit into your budget depending on what combo you would choose to go with. You can also go the Daiwa route for reels (like the Tierra in the 2500 size) and a value-end St. Croix rod for similar money.

Growing up, there was (in no particular order): - The float rod phase: When I learned how to build rods in high school and could easily obtain components from G. Loomis Canada for relatively cheap. I think at one point I owned 8 different float rods (11’6 – 14’) mostly from Loomis, Lamiglas and Hardy. But I made money on almost all the rods when I sold them which was good - The centrepin collecting phase. Some of which only saw the water once and others I regret selling/trading now for what I sold/traded them for. - The entering into the wonderful world of fly fishing phase (I was quite partial to Sage fly rods) - The entering into the wonderful world of ice fishing phase...It wasn’t too bad but I’m still down a portable hut, survival suit and a really good set of boots Ironically I never really did spend that much in a year on carp…Except in 2008 when I blew a wad of $ on a new custom carp rod and a new baitrunner I think I’m on the road to recovery and salvation. So long as I don’t pick up any other types of fishing (Like for muskies and saltwater toothy critters), I should be fine This year: $11 on corn for carp… $70 on NY licenses $100 on terminal tackle and lures for trout and walleye $18 on worms $18 on minnows $9 on leeches I’m doing well comparatively

I'm usually in there Tues nights...Ironically the only other person I've chatted to recently was Rapala Boy.LOL

He's MOTIVATED! MOTIVATED! MOTIVATED! MOTIVATED! I can't stop watching this!