MJL

Too bad no walleye were violated in the making of this report...Still an awesome day out by any means...Well done

Mooneye look a lot like herring...I wonder if they're just as tasty?

Congrats Splash on the de-skunking...Great report

I wish I had a van ... Or at least something with a comfy backseat:D

Great report Chris...Really digging the long exposures and the moose was super cool

Thanks for sharing

Sounds like you're really into it Mike. Great report and pics....those words sound as though they could be put to music in a Lightfoot fashion. Excellent and thanks for taking the time to post that.

Thanks Roy

NOT BEIN GAY BUT TOMS A BEAUTY LOL

CONGRATS BRO

Hey Scott...I don't swing that way either...But I have to admit I did give him a kiss before I set him on his way

Very nice, the pics and the poem. Fun knowing where a big one lives and how many times you can fool him in a small piece of water. The chinny really is a strange one, early run jack ?? a smolt that never went to the lake ?? its way bigger than most before they hit the big water.

Around 10pm I saw the big brown swim downstream from a log jam into the pool I was fishing – I had a feeling it would produce considering it looked too good not to produce anything during the day…At first I thought it was a steelhead. Every few minutes he would come up to the surface and splash…I took your advice and drifted a big dewy without any weight on the line from my upstream position. I was feeding the line off the spool as it drifted downstream...He took…Unfortunately after 4 minutes he came undone …He looked as big as a 4lb steelhead. Out of desperation, I waded into the water, arched across the pool in the shallows and stood in front of another set of logs so he wouldn’t go under…I wanted that fish bad!

I stuck it out for another hour but unfortunately he wouldn’t hit again - I also didn't see him surface again either

I've caught tons of chinny smolts in the past before...Never one like that...If he was a jack, I guess his hormones kicked in a little early

Tom the brown lives near Streetsville town, where the Credit flows right through

He lived in there, without a care, till May twenty-two

He munched all day on river crays, as well as minnows and frogs.

He hid concealed awaiting his meal, beneath his favourite log

A snaggy hole for fishermen’s poles Tom was a secret fish.

No eagles nor otters or river trotters, He never became a dish.

One spring day later on in May, Mike walked the banks with stealth

He slid and crawled towards the brown on his belly without a sound

Mike tied on a spinner his favourite lure, a lure with noise and flash.

It’s made of metal with a bit of fur, it’s a lure that’s bright and brash

Beneath the log where Tom did lie, Mike pitched the lure to the stream.

Beneath the surface the spinner spun, the blade brightly beamed.

Tom the brown could not resist the shiny looking meal

It flashed and shimmied like a minnow, a minnow that was real

Tom the brown took the spinner down into his big, wide yap

For a second Tom was a little confused, till Mike gave a snap

Mike set the hook and all hell broke lose, the trout jumped then dove.

Tom the brown was a little scared he’d end up on the stove

The reel sung loud and the rod was bent, while pulling Tom away from snags.

No matter how hard Mike did pull, Tom swam toward the crags

A minute or two of give and take, Mike got the upper hand

Into the net like a now tamed pet, it was a sight so beautifully grand

Golden flanks dotted with dark black spots, shone brightly in the sun.

Mike gently unhooked the lure with care, with great relief that he had won.

To Tom’s relief that Mike wouldn’t eat, the gorgeous trout Tom be.

Mike let him go to the stream again for another angler Tom could see

Tom the brown lives near Streetsville town where the Credit flows right through

He lives in there, but with some care to not meet angler number two

Tom the brown at 17 inches long…The largest resident trout I’ve landed with the UL setup so far

Also met:

Tom Jr

Sally speck

Beth the Brookie

Bob the brookie

Charles the mini Chinny

Beautiful spotting pattern

This one was too small to name but it was beautifully coloured. I’ve never caught a brookie coloured like this before.

Some other friends I made on my trip while wandering the back-roads…I named the white one Craig and the brown one Sinker…They proved helpful this weekend…Many thanks

I spent 16hrs hrs fishing through mosquito hell yesterday landing a few dozen brookies and a few browns. I scouted and fished 6 streams, 4 of which produced trout of some type...A couple surprise steelhead also succumbed to the spinners as well. Just couldn’t handle stretching the trip to the 20-24hrs I was hoping for…The mozzies swarmed like bees all day…Literally ...It got much worse at sun-down (which I didn't think was possible)...but I stayed a few extra hours till 11pm tempting the fish of my dreams to hit - only to have the hook pop out as I briefly touched its tail it wouldn't fit in my net …DEET kept the bugs at bay for the most part…I still got bit in places I never imagined I would Next time I head out, I need someone to stroll around the forest topless in shorts as my decoy Any volunteers?

Hope you enjoyed

For those who are wondering…Tom and his friends may or may not exactly live near Streetsville where the Credit flows right through…

Great report Cliff

Panther Martins are the only things I've been able to get specks with beyond worms...I actually have more success using them than worms...Unfortunately most shops are sold out of the ones I use most

16" is massive...At least compared to the stream specks I've been getting lately. Congrats!

It's either a chain pickerel or an Atlantic

 

-Ben

It's a tiger splike = Tiger musky + splake

Love the markings on that fish. WTG Mike.

Awesome vid Simon

Looking at that fish finder footage brings back a flood of memories at how frustrating my ice season for lakers was...In my case, they rose up off the bottom but turned back down without hitting X 100

There’s a special school in the Kitchener/Waterloo area with an exceptional teacher and some very amazing students…Several years ago Darryl Kierstead, a teacher at Bluevale Collegiate Institute started a fishing club at that school for students in grade 9 through to 12.

On short notice, Hammercarp asked a few of us to volunteer our time and expertise helping the club out for one of their fishing trips for carp – The majority of their trips is actually for carp as it’s always in season at their local swims. In the past, they’ve also ice fished for perch in Simcoe, fished for panfish all over and toured around the Toronto Islands looking for pike.

I took the day off from work and made my way down to Hamilton where the fish-in was going to be held…I got there early around 1:30 and met Darryl setting up a few rods with several of his students…

”Is this all”…”This will be a piece of cake”…I thought wrong…

30mins later a few cars with 15-20 students show up in the parking lot…A few minutes later, another 5…A few minutes later another 5… “How many can there be?”

Well there were 50 students all together who showed up ……From 8 students then at the beginning a few years ago, to now over 65 current members, Darryl has obviously promoted and inspired his kids to take up the sport of fishing...A few students - now in college - are undertaking musky stocking projects and some are working in the forestry business (with the hopes of better fishing up north…Or so they think if they have the time )

It was a manic first hour setting everyone up with their rods, hair rigging corn and boilies onto their hooks, untangling lines and retying new hair rigs after discovering that the ones they currently had on their lines were unusable or knotted up…Darryl and I were winging it as the students came.

Hammercarp showed up a little later after. Lorne and Darryl

Here are some of the pics

For most of the day I made my rounds checking the students to see if they needed anything – I didn’t really fish much…Many of them strayed a fair distance away hoping for the promise of better fishing. In the end, though the fishing was brutally slow, one lucky angler managed a gorgeous carp at 25.5lbs (will post the pics later).

Even with the slow fishing, the majority of students said at least one of the following

- It beats doing homework

- I can’t wait for the tournament next week and the next trip in 2 weeks

- It’s just nice being out here with a line in the water

Fantastic group of kids: Optimistic, out-going, passionate and respectful to the environment they fished - The bank was actually cleaner at the end of the day

Hungry, dehydrated, tired and fishless...I’m still hoping to get out with them again for their next fish-in. Can't wait!

I also have to give kudos to my buddy John for dropping by with a package donated to the club comprising of: Big Bob's carp corn, boilies, groundbait, boilie-stops, baiting needles (which Darryl definitely needed considering he loses all of them each trip ) and more...

If you’ve got old tackle laying around not worth selling and are thinking of donating it to the club, shoot me or Hammercarp a PM and we can provide you with Darryl’s contact info.

Cheers

Best post of the year

I read it 5 times in a row and each time it just gets better

This is Pulitzer Prize material

Spinner porn at its finest

The colours are absolutely stunning. Hopefully this weekend (weather depending), I'll have my chance to land one like that.

Well done Jim

I have no idea what it's called in English, but I know its chinese name. I guess "rabbit fish" it is. However I don't think they are herbivores. These fish like to eat crap (literally crap), you find them around the dirtier water and they have tiny mouths. Here in HK people usually use an octopus hook (basically like 8 hooks all on one shank), put some dough above the hooks and snag them.

You should try them next time...Afraz and Fishingitis say they're tasty...Maybe they're like tilapia where their diet of excrement makes them so tender and juicy

Congrats on yet another successful outing Mike & Ant!

 

I'm guessing the lady friend finally let you use your own camera?? lol!

He let her know who wears the waders in that relationship

I know she's reading this...That's what he told me...honest...

Great report Roy...Looks like a blast with a tasty result

Sooo tempted to take a charter trip out onto Lake O one of these days

I used bait exclusively in the evenings, dewey, crayfish or lip hooked frog or salamander, CHECK the legality of salmanders now ? Once you position yourself, stay still and often it will betray it's presence once it has moved from cover into it's evening feeding lane. It is really surprising the size of some resident fish in very small streams, browns of 18 or more inches where brookies top out at ten inches. Not done it in years but most often it was an individual fish that I had previous knowledge of and was determined to outsmart it

Can't thank you enough for your tips Dave

Funny you should mention frogs…Just hooking one makes me a little squeamish (not that I’ve ever used one before)…Something about their beady eyes and the fact that they use their hands to try to remove the hooks from their head kinda creeps me out a little…Back when I fished with one friend who did use frogs (for pike), I actually bought a few Lucky Strike Alive Harnesses to try out – They’re packed away somewhere in my basement.

Other than a few battle scars, it sounds like the fishing was a success. I break at least 2 things every time I go fishing. Last time I went fishing the nut from the handle flew off my C3 into the drink. And I almost lost a rod(someone left the bail open) and grabbed it before it went into the lake. Lost the lure though.

 

Fishing used to be so much cheaper.lol Still worth it!

Thank goodness for warranties...In my case, I have the worst luck with cameras and water

Got the rod tip fixed tonight...I should be good to go for this weekend (if carp doesn't get in the way)

Cheers

Mike

I guess my young, innocent look with bright puppy dog eyes makes people want to sell me stuff …I’ve never had a problem dealing with any of the smaller tackle shops in Southern Ontario (even the aforementioned ones in this thread).

I mostly shop around local places for non-specialty stuff I need. The service has always been great, prices are pretty good...Location-wise I live down the street from a fair number of shops…The rest of the stuff (mostly carp and some rod building supplies) which I can’t find locally I order online or through mail order.

If anything, when the UPS man cometh with a parcel from the US, I get the Vaseline ready and prepare myself for a violation to the nth degree

Well, I'm not a UL purist I guess. I use a UL rod because it throws small stuff well and does a good job of protecting light line. I more interested in a fish-catching experience than an ultralight experience

Me too...But I gotta admit that fighting larger fish on a dinky rod and using a toy sized reel can be kick-ass fun at times

My dad and I were watching that yesterday afternoon - He finally got a new TV and the National Geographic HD channel

They're beautiful fish for sure. I wonder what it would be like to drift 12 inch streamer patterns with a float rod + centrepin combo?

One other fish related to the Taimen I want to catch is the Hucho (aka Danubian salmon) from Slovenia...They don't grow as big but are some of the most challenging fish to catch.

Too bad they don't jump. Taimen fight like a big laker (you know, like you hooked a giant plastic bag).

 

If you want to put a real bend in your rod, so to speak, consider a trip to northern India for a fish called Mahseer. They're sort of like a six-foot golden shiner, and they jump like crazy. They live in wild, Niagara-sized rivers draining the Himalaya, and you travel to the spots by elephant. No joke.

Oh yes! They’re supposed to be the world’s strongest fighting freshwater fish…The golden mahseer is on my to-catch list…There are several outfitters that you can get to by train + 4x4 provided the road didn’t wash away during monsoon season . If you can find it (in a format suitable for US/CAN), the DVD with host Jeremy Wade titled Jungle Hooks – India is absolutely amazing.

Ever since I was a kid, I've always wanted to ride an elephant after watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom...I wouldn't mind the opportunity given the chance

Hey Vic

Good to see you’re enjoying your trip…Very eager to hear about your squid fishing adventures...I'm actually tempted to run out and get some calamari myself.LOL

Do you know what that species of fish is you caught?

Thanks guys for the comments

Bigger fish are more prone to leave their daytime lairs for open water feeding positions at night.

Bigger fish hit bigger baits, frogs mice crayfish etc.

Bigger fish are much harder to land in small creek, they know their surrounding and will use it against you. ie.heavier tackle

Bigger fish are usually solitary, they are predatory, somtimes cannibalistic, lack of other fish is a key to their presence sometimes.

 

My best browns when I fished Norfolk County when I was younger came when concentrating on specific holes

after dark with bigger baits and heavier tackle. Nice fish and good hunting

Great tips Dave...When I was a kid my older sister brought back a Canadian sport-fishing magazine on trout…She felt sorry for smashing a wad of gum in my hair for no reason…

The 2 articles that stuck with me over time (and perhaps inspired me to try fishing for browns) were these ones…Finding BIG Browns – Be smart about where you look…And Weighted Deep…Both written by Kerry Knudsen

One article speaks of night time being the right time…And using surface lures like Hula poppers and Jitterbugs to tempt double-digit sized browns (measured in pounds, not inches) away from log jams…While I can’t say I’ve ever done the midnight madness thing for stream browns per se, some of the larger ones I did catch (just below 20 inches) were landed an hour or so after sun-down or an hour before sun-rise…I think sometime this coming weekend I may try fishing during the witching hour…Any recommendations on lures or baits I should stock up on? At the moment, I’m just using smaller versions of what I normally throw for steelhead…Like spinners and Kwikfish.

Great Report Man,

 

Those fish you are catching are probably not very heavily pressured as they are hitting worms so hard. Finding browns on worms around here is like finding a smiling face at natural sports - not very likely.

Actually for me, I’ve caught the majority of my stream browns on either worms or mepps spinners. Catching browns on worms is almost a guarantee - They're not shy about smashing worms bigger than they are

For that particular stretch of river I haven’t really seen anyone fishing it specifically for the browns so for the most part they’re relatively un-pressured…From what I know, the people who fish that river do so for the steelhead, which do make it up there but it’s super challenging to fish because of all the snags…After opening weekend, the majority of people are gone, and come walleye opener, you rarely see another angler in sight (which pretty much goes for most rivers in southern Ontario

Yesterday Frozen Fire and I hit up one quiet river for a session of brownie hunting – resident style. Armed with UL gear and some camera equipment, we got to the river around sun-up and probed the various log jams, fallen trees, deeper runs, etc. We were hoping to take pics of the diverse (and beautiful) colour patterns of the brown trout we got.

The browns mostly just hit worms and spinners… However, the trout were only receptive to those willing to risk it all and go for glory by drifting insanely close to the wood (as in dropping straight down into pockets between branches and logs or drifting it underneath the wood). I donated 2 full packs of size 12 and 14 Daiichi hooks and a spinner today to the branch monsters I also cracked the tip top of my rod when the swivel shot straight back when I was trying to un-snag my spinner from the tree

Some pics

Anthony managed to get a small rainbow that materialized out of no where to slam his bait at warp speed in a foot of water out in the open...We were both amazed to see it happen

He also managed to get his new PB brown from the same spot.

I crawled through some shrubbery to get to a half-submerged fallen tree and managed to land 2 browns back to back. Lost a 3rd one shortly after

One of my coolest catches (perhaps of all time) was landing this particular fish from underneath an undercut bank beneath an overhanging tree

CPR does work – As in Catch Photo Release …I caught the same fish an hour and a half later from the same spot when we were walking back to the car. He was an aggressive bugger

I managed to land 6 browns in total (not including the repeat capture.LOL) and lost a few. Anthony managed around 4 browns. In total we walked around 7-8km worth of river to find them also having to trek through bushes and hop over large fallen trees (we tried to keep wading to a minimum to avoid spooking the fish). Both of us were super tired at the end of the trip.

I noticed that many of browns I catch have a distinctive iridescent blue marking just behind the eye on their gill plates (as seen in the pics above…And these pics below)…

From the same river last year

From another river – The blue markings are a little faint but were definitely prevalent.

Do these blue markings indicate if a fish is

a. Wild? I actually found 1 brief discussion on this topic from another message board which intrigued me enough to ask.

b. Resident (instead of migratory)? I don't think I've ever seen them on larger migratory fish.

c. It's Dependent on their diet?

d. Just a quirky colour adaptation for those particular rivers?

Here’s one brown I caught last fall without the blue colouration on the gill plate. It’s possibly one of a few thousand fish that was stocked lower down in the river the previous year.

Feel free to post up some of your pics of your browns for comparison. I’d be pretty interested in hearing your thoughts.

Cheers

I had one of the Laguna UL reels for a brief period till I lost it somewhere in my basement.LOL...It was a decent reel with a nice smooth drag. I use an old 5ft Shimano Stimula UL rod matched with a 2000 stradic for now...I prefer the casting performance of the larger reels VS that of most UL reels with a tiny spool. If anything I may try out a 1000 sized spinning reel in the future.

Nicely done Drock

Browns are definitely fun on the UL

Stunning fish and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous!

Well done

The fish's fins match your shirt.LOL Do the splake you catch ever have the blue halos around their spots like the ones that brookies have?

Fabulous report Mike as always – Felt like I was there in that boat with you guys…Well done guys on persevering through some tough conditions to score big