MJL

Sweet fishing Kemp, nicely done

Looks like you're out of luck fishing the Kawarthas anytime soon unless you plan to ice fish for them in the new year. Kawarthas are closed to fishing for all species at the moment.

Regulations for FMZ-17

"Closed to angling for all fish species (including bait-fish) from Jan.1 – Fri. before 4th Sat. in Apr. & Nov. 16 – Dec. 31, except where noted as an exception"

New regs are supposed to be in place in the new year. Might wanna give ice fishing for carp a try if you're really desperate.

You can try giving a harbour or rivermouth around Lake O a try if it's close by...Might be a little crowded with the steelhead guys though. I usually find once the salmon enter the rivers in the fall, they push out the carp from normal holding spots and drive them out into the lake.

Good luck in your quest for gold.

heh .. ever since the little ... shall we say ... incident ... with the salad .. my dewies arent welcome in the fridge any more

 

but ... I sneak them in from time to time

I'm in the same boat...banned from using the fridge for worms, leeches and maggots (roe is still ok but pushing it).

My sister found the escaped worms (about 2 dozen super jumbos) in a bag of carrots...I tried to tell her that the carrots didn't come pre-washed from the grocery store but to no avail

I’ve only fished with 1 guy who had the Ross Flow – Haven’t used one or played with one myself…Quirky reel design, you can pop the spool off and switch the handles to the other side if you ever decide to retrieve with the other hand – No need to respool the other way (great if you get tired and are ambidextrous ). I own a few Ross fly reels and they’re quality pieces for the price (Cimarron and CLA) – Not sure how their float reel would compare.

If it were me, I’d go with either an Islander or a Raven SST if you can afford something in the mid priced range. In the end (in most cases), you won’t be spending more by buying a more expensive but quality reel that will last and perform to your needs. I’m more partial to Islanders mainly because I’ve had one for ages, abused it and it’s never let me down.

Been a reel bad year for me as far as steelheading goes!..........I've thrown the kitchen sink at them this year, but to no avail!

I almost exclusively use hardware, as this has worked for me other years, just don't seem to have the patience for float fishing, maybe thats my problem?

I feel your pain...One season I tried to do the hardware thing the entire fall, winter and following spring

I blanked on a bunch of trips during the winter and early spring

On the bright side, I've never caught so many larger trophy fish in one season

Keep at it...BELIEVE

Thats Good Advice for sure. As for the all the costs, I have an islander and I think my collection of leader material and floats adds up to more than the reel, lol.

Ya gotta start picking floats off trees at the end of the season . I normally go for the Riverwoods and customs and leave the Drennans behind for the others (can’t see them anyway)

Got 5 boxes worth of floats in total…1 box of floats just from this spring and early fall …If in the middle of the night you see a strange figure climbing up a tree on the far bank, please don’t try to shoot it

Wow,..

 

Those are expensive lol...

 

Are there any under $100 for a starter? lol

If you can find one, the ugly black LEEDS reels used to sell in the neighbourhood of $100. The tolerances were pretty poor and it wobbled when you spun it but those reels started many anglers onto using the centrepin. They also mashed up your hand pretty bad when a fish took you for a run cause the machining was pretty poor You could probably pick one up for $50 now. I’d recommend saving up and getting something like a Raven or an Islander – You could probably get either used for $200-$250. Buy once and there’s no ‘need’ to upgrade to something better later on. I put ‘need’ in quotations because there will always be a ‘want’ for another reel

Not overly familiar with the Brantford area but 2 shops which sell them not too far include:

- Natural Sports in Kitchener

http://www.naturalsports.ca/listings.php?category_id=7

and

Angler's Outfitters in Woodstock

I Just bought a cheap one from CT.

 

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5/Sp...BFly%2BReel.jsp

 

It's probably not even the right type lol. (told you I was a noob)

Is that link of the reel you bought? Or perhaps the wrong link? You may want to reconsider that purchase if you're looking for a float reel...If you bought it, you purchased a fly reel...Fly reels are totally different from centrepin float reels.

With that said, a lot of guys up fishing Lake Superior tribs spool mono onto their fly reels and use them for bottom bouncing.

Incredible report Moose...A great read to start off my morning with.

Totally agree with the felt soles...They suck clinging onto anything but the cleanest algae-free gravel and rocks.

Stunning fish all-around. Congrats guys!

Well done Mike!

As far as the waders go, on the plus side Orvis is great with returns. You'll get a new pair from them with no problems.

That's the best news I've heard in a while ...Probably will ship them in sometime in late Dec or Jan. From what I gather, it's only $30US to get work done on them.

Took the waders for a test drive today (My parents dropped me off at the river and went to the flea market for a couple hours in the afternoon ) The left neoprene bootie still seeps after smearing aquaseal in every imaginable spot

On the bright side I caught 2 fish which made getting a little wet OK

Thanks guys for the comments

Beautiful fish Andrew...Nicely done

Thought you would've been out today with the other guys...Ran into them today...F1 is done for the season

If the fish dies you still have to let it go. I've asked the CO's before because its happened to me with a sub legal musky and with a trophy Lake Trout I got through the ice on Simcoe fishing for perch in December. The reasoning is that those less scrupulous individuals would always make this claim in order to keep a fish.

Yes this is true.

From the Ask a CO web-page

http://www.outdoorontario.net/AskMNR/mnrfaqfish.html

Question 124:

What should a person do if they were to hook a walleye that would definately not survive if released due to the way is was hooked? Is it up to a C.O.'s discretion or must it still be released?...

Asked June 28/00

Answer from the MNR

I am assuming from the context of your question that the walleye that you were referring to was in some way illegal. Otherwise, its butter and flour time! The answer, if the fish is illegal (out of season, under or over size, over limit, illegal gear, etc.) is that the fish must be immediately returned to the water. By regulation, this must be done in a manner which causes the least amount of harm to the fish. Even if the fish were dead, it must be returned.

It's rare to deep hook steelhead with spinners but it does happen occasionally. 95% of the time they hit the spinners and turn, hooking themselves usually in the corner of the mouth. A lot of the time, I don't even really set the hook because they're either already air born or steaming off down river before I realized what has happened.

Yes I have timed myself,...just to work out the Math,..Sorry Im a scientist, cant help it,..lol, but apparently you have also. Now after seeing that machine in the video,..So hilarious that it was Grandma using it,...I can indeed see who it was invented for Blind, feeble and sausage fingers,..lol,...mine are half way there, but I have dexterity. Bill why do you sit in front of the couch instead of on it? I like to watch TV or talk on the phone with earpeice in while I do it. Does sitting on the floor help? lol

Could speed tying roe bags be the next Olympic sport? I’d spend 30 minutes of my life watching it and cheering on some of Canada’s finest

As for the bags that the lady was tying up with the machine, in chartreuse or hot pink, I’m sure they’d be deadly in stained water…Could save you from needing yarn for added bulk and silhouette fishing double double

When I tie bags, I usually sit in front of the TV and watch the hockey game…Doesn’t matter if it takes me 10 minutes to do a few dozen bags or 3hrs to do the same amount…I’m there anyway watching the Leafs get destroyed

I need to hear more about this device, if it doesnt produce better bags faster, then is it made for the half blind or feeble? lol,..or whats the story? I have a buddy that doesnt see the greatest so he uses some sort of hook tying device,..I've never looked to closely at it, but all I know is I retie about 10x faster and probably better with one eye closed, lol.

Here's the machine in action.

As for the way I tie roe bags, I have one of those orange Melnak Bait makers for tying bags up with. I got one for Christmas when I was 12-13. I threw away the metal gate thingy and just use the hole in the orange plastic base. Put your sack material over top of the hole, put eggs in the middle, shove the eggs down into the middle of the hole with a finger and the mesh or scarfing folds up nice. Grasp the sack material just above the eggs, twist once and tie off with spider thread a couple times. Cut or snap the thread off and cut off excess sack material. The guys at the local shop have a roe tying table and do it this way...They've got 50 holes on their table to put mesh and eggs over which speeds things up even faster. Sure faster (at least for me) using the baitmaker base to fold the mesh up than trying to fiddle around with it on a flat table or the palm of your hand.

As other guys have said, it's a lot cheaper to tie up your own bags and far more versatile.

Congrats Laz. Earlier this week Fidel was saying to me he was thinking of taking you out to try to get you into some fish...Glad he did

Once you hook your first one, there's no stopping the urge for another, or another

Steelheading is like an addiction which can't be cured...My own life has been spiraling out of control mainly because of my need for chrome steel

I’ve been getting tons of PMs and calls lately asking how I’ve been doing. Haven’t posted many reports lately. I’ve been busy fishing quite a bit this fall (more so than the last 3-4 years) and repairing waders (more on that later). Been averaging 3-4 trips a week since mid-September for steel. I don’t get the car for very long during the day (plus I’m busy with other stuff) so a lot of the trips have been either to a few local tribs for 1-3hrs during the day (usually after 9am or after lunch) or during weird hours like 11pm through to 4am in the morning. Bummed a few rides with Kelfun for some 12-14hr fishing sessions on the weekend which are always fun - Really appreciate it dude

I figure I might as well fish whenever I can, wherever I can

Some pics so far from this fall

Took Victor salmon fishing in September a few times to try and get him his first ever one. He hooked into one (one that hadn’t been filleted yet) and fought it like a champ. He finally landed 1 after 2 years of trying.

Managed to get into a decent run of small cookie cutter sized brownies on cobra sized dewies on one trip

Chrome steel is what I love fishing for the most (tied with fishing for carp of course). They’ve been fighting beautifully this fall – All the ones I hooked into went air-born and fought crazy hard…Hard not to love October/November steel. Had a couple days this fall with amazing numbers of fresh fish but with mostly low water in the rivers and lack of rain, fishing has been a little tough going (especially the last couple weeks) – Managed to land some fish on most trips though with a couple blanks here and there during my midnight fishing sessions (starting to really learn more about fish behaviour at night now). Casting your rig into a tree on the first cast of a trip (and obviously having to re-rig) was vital to pleasing the steelhead gods in giving up some of their steelheading mojo

Got the car for the day this past Wednesday and managed to do an 8hr session (sister didn’t need the car and she filled it up too ). Tough fishing but got into 8 gorgeous fresh chrome hens throughout the day from 4 rivers (2-8lbs). Fishing wood and other snags and sacrificing some terminal tackle was key. Here’s one:

With all this fishing I’ve been doing, I think I’ve finally destroyed my waders. A month ago, other than the odd patched hole on the inseam, everything had been just fine. The last 3 weeks, I’ve had to repair a new tear, seam or hole after every trip . Water still seeps in some places I already tried sealing up from the inside or outside. With 6 years of hard use, I can’t complain. My jacket and boots are going too but still have another season or two in them. Hard to ship them in for warranty (If I still get any) when there’s chrome steel to be had in the rivers

1 pair of Orvis ProGuide II breathables + 2 big tubes of aquaseal + 1 mini tube of aquaseal + 2 tubes of Loon UV wader repair + 1/2 roll of McNett’s Tenacious Tape =

Leaky Seams on both legs which were fixed with a shed load worth of aquaseal

Pinholes in the same spot on both legs near my shins – I couldn’t locate them exactly but the seal seems to be working

Toes were seeping on both feet but fixed up

Inseam of both legs have holes due to wear and tear and a roll of discarded barb wire I tried jumping over but never quite made it – Combo of Loon UV wader repair and Aquaseal. The left side was much worse.

The heels were leaking on both neoprene feet…Aquasealed the outside

The left side still leaks…Aquasealed the inside this afternoon and I’m praying it still doesn’t leak this weekend – May not be repaired in the end.

When you can’t locate the source of the seeping…Aquaseal and tape the hell out of it . Already have copious amounts of tape and aquaseal on the inside. Another one which might not be repairable.

Had a run-in with a submerged Rapala J-13 (Fire-tiger) on Wednesday (I’ll get to filling in the holes with tape and aquaseal tomorrow)

Quite a few other parts on my waders not seen in this report had to be repaired

Lots of memories standing, sitting, kneeling and falling into the river with those waders on. My biggest problem is finding a new off-the-shelf pair which fits me right (I’m in between S and M for most companies and am either too big or too little in some places for MS ) – Also a little strapped for cash at the moment which doesn’t help either…The ones I have don’t fit me perfectly but they’re the closest fitting ones I could find that are really comfortable. Anyone have any thoughts or reviews on the Simms G3 or any other breathables with some durability? Reinforced legs are a must... Must be Mikey-Proof . I’ll probably order a new pair for Christmas.

Hope you enjoyed

Great pics from both parts. Nicely done guys. Stunning fish all around

Congrats Goran! Best wishes for the both of you

WTG

Nice fish dude...Great meeting you the other week on the river.

Beautiful fish Dave...Well done!

As Kemper mentioned, spool some fly line backing onto the spool and then spool mono over top of it. Dacron lines also work well as a backing - I've got 30lb Cortland Musky Master filled up on my Islander.

Some reels have shallower spools (eg. Angspec, JW youngs') and backing isn't entirely necessary for those reels (if you plan on wallis casting most of the time you don't need much line on the spool anyway). I think I only ran about 50-60 yards of mono on a JW.Young (Bob James) when I owned one briefly.

You really only have to remove from the reel seat back, the fore grip can stay, the first ring is usually a tapered shape to keep the ring from sliding up the blank, but tape them anyways and that wont be an issue, I hate to see a good burlwood reelseat and butt cap get the dremel, but its all about the feel, I have a Loomis Gl3 11.5 ft with rings and would prefer the reel seat, that job is really not that difficult, but must be done with utmost care as to not damage the blank, further more if that is a factory rod altering it will void the lifetime warranty, if its a custom built rod apparently your ok, ran into this issue on a 13 ft 1562 IMX, and thats the way it was explained to me by GTA rod builder

Yes this is the way to do it

Here’s what I’ve done in the past: Take a hair dryer or heat gun to remove the wood butt cap depending on what adhesive the builder used to stick it on – with enough heat, 5 min epoxy softens up (try not to cook the blank though). Alternatively, carefully cut it off with a dremel tool and scrap it. Carefully take a sharp razor to the cork on the butt grip and remove as much as you can – Clean residue with a combo of light heat from a hair dryer and methyl hydrate or acetone (AngSpec sells a solvent which cleans it up even better - Acetone has done some weird things to rod blanks in my experience...I don't recommend using it). A lot of the custom turned wooden reel seats I’ve used on float rods didn’t slide off the bottom section because the internal diameter was drilled out narrow so you didn’t have to shim it much with tape (or graphite shims) to get a snug fit – take a dremel cutting tool to that. Once you’ve got the cork and reel seat off and cleaned off most of the cork, tape and epoxy residue from the blank, you can start to rebuild the cork handle from the bottom end. As said a couple times before, the utmost care must be taken as to not damage the blank in the process. Also not one of the most enjoyable things to do when fresh steel is going up the rivers.LOL

From what I’ve been told recently by a rep, with G. Loomis rods should you require warranty service, all you have to do is cut off the decal on butt section of the blank (just above the fore grip) and ship it in. Doesn’t matter if you’ve done custom stuff (like change the guides or add a reel seat). A lot of guys who run the newer GLX float rods, switch the recoil guides to SIC (or other ceramic rings) and put in a reel seat. The owners of the newer 13’ IMX float rods are switching up the guide spacing from the current 9 (I believe) to 14. Those running the older GL3 and IMX have the same deal (I think)…You just gotta ship in the decal + $75 and you get either the new GLX or the new IMX. That's what I've been told when I inquired about getting a new float rod for myself... It's best to call Shimano Canada's customer service hotline and confirm.

Stripping down a handle and rebuilding it can be pretty labour intensive at times (Especially if you can't remove the reel seat from the butt end). I'd rather watch epoxy dry and hand turn a rod than scrape cork residue and hardened epoxy off a blank

There was one rod builder in the Niagara region who posted here (CCRods)...Think he might've gotten out of the business though...Worth shooting him a PM.

Also

- John Collina (JC tackle Calendonia)

- Randy (Natural Sports in Kitchener)

- Phil Ptak (Not sure if he's still building but he's not far from you in Buffalo...He fishes up in Hamilton for carp sometimes)

Spiel might be able to do it for you too.

Too insane for words

I recently just started fishing for small stream brook trout this spring (after a lifetime of wanting to) but I'll be working my way up to the steelhead-sized coaster ones hopefully soon - Already have a trip in mind to the Nipigon

Great photos and editing. Love the colours especially on the last one. I remember listening to a podcast online of Brian O'Keefe giving some photography tips which I've used myself in my own nature photos. He does great work.

Thanks for sharing...An inspiration of what I want to achieve in my fishing and photography career