MJL

Gotta question the authenticity though.

 

Thanks!

HD

Ditto

A quick search on google has references to that pic coming from Oregon, Wyoming, Montana, Illinois, east Texas, Virginia and now Peterborough, Ontario - Good to see Ontario made the list

So your saying Other than the Ganny, you can fish Wilmont, Bowmanville, Oshawa and Duffins from Hwy 2 south...All rivers in Durham

 

You might want to clairify the book..... Over the past years Ganny cnr south, Wilmont Cnr South, Bowmanville HWY 2 South, Oshawa CNR south and Duffins Cnr South ,

 

Maybe its changed but I am not sure....

 

Please make sure as Mitch (CO) is very active right now looking for people in closed areas...

 

Good Luck

 

Dave

 

Regional Municipality of Durham - all waters

between Hwy. 2 and the southerly limit of the C.N.R.

right-of-way

 

Becarefull of the AND, its river by river access

DMASSE, I’m a little confused about the point you’re trying to get across.

The year round sections for ALL durham region rivers (Ganny is part of Northumberland county) is the southern edge of the CNR bridge down to Lake Ontario (You have Bowmanville listed at hwy 2 south which is incorrect if you are referring to that as the year round section). The CNR bridge has always been the year round boundary for as long as I can remember fishing Durham region.

There however exists an extended season for pacific salmon, brown trout and rainbow trout post Sept 30 to Dec 31 from the south side of highway 2 down to Lake Ontario for all rivers in Durham – Come January 1st 2010, you must fish all rivers in Durham region south of the CNR bridge till the trout season opener. The AND that you are referring to represents the transition point at which the year round section and the extended season section meet (that’s all).

Awesome catch! Cohos are one of my favourite fish to hook into. Great pics and report

Nice Coho. I really really like Cohos in the river, glad they are back on stocking lists. When I used to target them, they were about the last fish to enter the rivers on Lake O, often late November or early Dec just before ice up, even have encountered the odd one still alive the following March during ice break up. This new strain is obviously a much earlier spawner. They are far more willing to hit than Chinooks, seems to be in better shape further up river than Chinooks are and put up a far more acrobatic fight than Chinooks. Also for anyone wanting to target them, they liked green, not chartreuse but a real Kelly/ Forest/ deep grass green. Don't know why, not saying that it is still the hot colour , but would be my go-to colour initially. Did I mention I like river Cohos??

Funny you should mention green...A few years ago I tied up emerald green woolly buggers and spey flies just for the cohos that were stocked in the Humber. They would smash them without hesitation. Funny enough they wouldn't hit black, pink or chartreuse which everyone else was throwing for them. Some of the salmon trollers I meet in the harbours also recommend anything red when green isn't working...Maybe they're colour blind.LOL

For me in the instance where my reel has nothing on it:

I normally fill my spool ½ way with fly line backing. Then put 75-100 yards of mono for my mainline. Rig up my float (and whatever split shots) on the mono mainline tie a swivel at the end and then tie my leader onto the swivel. I don’t use Hi-Vis lines but some people who do put a low-vis “shot line” beneath their float and attach it via a blood knot, double surgeon’s knot or swivel.

With the tangles you're getting, are they problems with line twist? If so, it could be the way you spool line onto your reel or how you cast.

I spool my reel up much like a baitcaster. Stick a pencil through the spool of line so that the spool is "standing" upright (not laying flat as seen when spooling up a spinning reel). I have the line coming off the bottom of the line spool so that it winds onto the reel spool without twisting.

If you're side-casting, as Bill mentioned, that's a guarantee for line twist.

Great catch man

Funny you should mention DD spoons...My friend swears by the yellow 5 of Diamonds and he catches insane numbers of steelhead off the pier and in the estuaries. Who'd thought? LOL

I’ve played around with tons of difference scents for my steelhead fishing (Perhaps this stems from my carp fishing background). I remember trying out scents made by Dr. Juice, Yum, Kickin’ trout, Berkley, Mike’s gel scent, cod liver oil and even some homemade ones where I put some frozen herring, cocktail shrimp and a can of tuna into a blender and pureed it into a mush and soaked my lures in it. In my experience they do work to some degree. I remember smearing some Dr. Juice stuff onto my Kwikfish and watching salmon in the rivers nose up to it and even mouth it a couple times which they hadn’t done for hours prior to adding scent. 2 guys I used to fish steelhead with had jobs that involved chemicals. One was a verminator who sprayed for roaches and the other pumped gas part time. They never used to catch a lot – I was thinking the chemicals got onto their baits. A few sprays with the Yum garlic scent and they were immediately into action. Ironically for my own carp fishing, I haven’t found adding flavours (like strawberry, vanilla, pineapple) to my bait to be all that advantageous.

You lucky buzzard! Those pinks are gorgeous. Good show

When I was going through university, my after class (or in between class) haunt was the Humber river next to downtown Toronto. The number of snaggers, poachers, anglers with no sense of river etiquette, homeless people, shopping carts, drug dealers, people who enjoyed making out in their cars in the parking lot, teens who liked to throw rocks off high bridges at anglers and other shady characters rivaled that of the numbers of steelhead going up

My uncle used to take me to that same spot when I was a kid to watch the salmon jumping at that weir. Last time I took a walk there (a couple years ago), there were fences around it to prevent people from going into a situation like what you described.

A great story Harrison and an amazing thing your dad did for that kid. I’ve only seen the odd person take a spill into a river, sometimes they’d walk into a deep hole and float down river a few meters or so till they got to the shallow tail-out. Even saw kids get pulled in by large salmon and carp but never had to witness or help out someone in the midst of drowning – Hope I never have to.

Thanks for sharing

I’ve had success using the little Berkley trout worms. I’ve used the standard 3 inch worms in pink, white, red, chartreuse, cheese and natural – I’ve caught on all colours except the natural brown. I also bought 4 inch Berkley pink worms from LeBarons years ago and caught shed-loads of fish on those – They are quite a bit thicker in diameter than the 3 inch ones. I haven’t seen the 4 inch ones in stores for a while. I’ve used the soft plastic worms designed for the bass anglers (6-8 inches) and caught a few fish on them as well. So far the biggest plastic worm I’ve been able to land steelhead on was an 8 inch pink worm with the hook and leader threaded through via a baiting needle. Haven’t tried any of the gulp worms but might give it a go next season.

In spring time and throughout the fall, I rarely (if ever) leave home without cobra sized nightcrawlers which I pick from my lawn at night. The live red worms also rock too when the water is super clear. In general, steelhead love worms of all types.

Awesome job Jaden...Beauty bass for sure. You rock!

Great pike Monique

Awesome pics generously proportioned

This past weekend, Victor was curled up in the fetal position and mumbling "when is my new camera coming" over and over again. Perhaps when he sees this thread it will drive him even more insane

Awesome catch Tibbs. Congrats. In the fall I catch tons of steelhead smolts heading down to the lake (some as big as the one you caught). I know some guys who target them specifically during the salmon run with ultra-lites and light action fly rods with dry flies. Mad fun going for them.

That's a beauty bow Fidel. Well done

Congrats Doc

So wheres the report???.........uhhhhhh that is water behind you isnt it?

Ditto on that!

I fished pier 4 a couple weeks ago. I did see quite a bit of scum literally glowing underwater.

At the fish-in that weekend, I vividly remember someone telling me that the blue-green algae is Earth's home grown version of kryptonite. Swimming in it will give you super human strength

Or diarrhea

Last night both Victor and I were free. I had on good authority that a few fresh chinnies and a good run of browns were starting to make their way up one river. Victor having not yet landed a salmon before was dying to give it a go. Last year when I took him, he got his first taste of salmon when he lost 2 off the pier which literally DESTROYED him. Earlier this year I promised I would get him into some more before year end.

I took Victor to a spot not far from the river mouth. Sure enough we could see some fish rolling about in the wide, deep pool. The whole night we had that pool to ourselves and could fish in peace. Quite a number of fish were leaping clear out of the water with lampreys still attached. Victor wasn’t getting any hookups. I managed to land a few fish on bags of skein scrape. Also managed to break the tip of my 13’6” Raven IM9 while fighting a fish – Took 10 inches off the top when I walked into a tree but I guess I turned it into a pretty sweet chinny stick with even more backbone.

After a long night of sheer persistence, Victor finally landed his first ever salmon. Sort of…

Victor unhooking the beast

Victor’s hero shot

Who says Catch, Fillet & Release doesn’t work?

Well done Ryan. Congrats! That's one beauty brownie for sure

Energy drinks, coffee, caffeinated pop drinks, drinks high in sugar and snacks high in sugar seem to have the opposite effect on me. I might get a rush for 20-30 seconds after I drink any of them but after that I crash and I’m even more tired than before I drank the stuff.

When I’m participating in one of the marathon type carp fishing tournaments (48hrs or more) or I’m doing a marathon type fishing session, I find I can do 2.5 straight days fairly easily without sleep or coffee – I do crash on the third day. University was the same. When I’m fishing, I don’t drink anything else but water and I usually don’t eat very much.

Sleep is sooo overrated

For $200 a used Islander gets my vote.

If you can find one, G. Loomis or Tournament Drifter reels (Essentially the exact same reel with a different name stamped on the backplate) are also nice if you don’t mind the heavier weight or the positioning of the handles.

You could also look at Okuma’s 2 reels (Aventa and Sheffield) for around $150 to $250 new depending on where you get it. Both seem to be good reels for the price.

In terms of features, most of it comes down to how well it feels in your hands when taped or screwed onto your rod. I personally don’t enjoy using some of the reels where the handles are too close to the rim (Like most JW Young models) or too close together (Loomis) - They are great performing reels though.

In terms of performance, how long it spins after you give it a good whirl is not of huge importance unless you plan on batting the reel to retrieve your float + rig all the time. Regardless of how long you can spin the reel for, reels should start to spin with very little effort to get it to go (commonly referred to as “start-up”).

Hope this helps

Great hauling Jacques and Paul

Well done with a great report to boot!

My fluorocarbon hierarchy for steelhead leaders (4-10lb)

Tops in my books

- Drennan

- Seaguar

- P-line

- Scientific Anglers

I've had good and bad experiences with these:

- Maxima FC

- Siglon

- Raven

I'd rather use 20lb mono in gin clear water before I used it (I never had a good experience with these):

- Berkley Vanish

- Froghair

The cheap red-wing tackle fluorocarbon has really impressed me this season. It's my first season of trying it out and so far so good. At $9 it looks like it's great value for the money. Will probably go another season with it before fully recommending it to anyone though.

Ok I messed up my first reply. Let me try this again.

 

If I am reading this correctly the fish going upstream do not spawn very well? Hence the "put and take" and "futile death" references. If that is the case (not saying snagging is a good way to do it) but why aren't these fish somehow harvested and consumed by people? Do they taste bad at this stage of the process? Do MNR retrieve eggs from them as they spawn? Sorry if this sounds stupid but we don't have salmon in my area and know very little about them but am trying to become more knowledgeable on the subject.

 

Thanks,

Hoosier

Not sure what the numbers are for wild VS hatchery stocked fish but in the rivers I fish, I’m catching good amounts of chinny smolts while fishing upstream for steelhead above weirs, fish ladders, dams, etc. I asked the local fish hatchery and the MNR and those particular fish haven’t been stocked there (in most cases, they were never stocked in those particular rivers to begin with). The smolts also didn’t swim upstream from the river mouths (where they seem to be traditionally stocked) past the dams to get there. I’m guessing there’s a good amount of natural reproduction happening for the Lake O tribs I fish.

I’m wondering to what extent the biological impacts these salmon have to our Great Lake tributaries when they do die? Out west in BC, Oregon, Alaska, California, etc, when salmon die, they provide nutrients to their rivers which in turn feed everything from beneficial bacteria to aquatic and terrestrial insects to baby salmon and trout to Grizzly bears directly or indirectly.

I personally don’t enjoy the circus the salmon bring with them. Beyond snaggers and some of the less polite/friendly anglers, I’ve seen people using spears, pitch forks, baseball bats, machetes, rocks, nets and volleyball nets. I generally wait for the colder weather when most of the poachers leave the river and I can have my fun with the steelhead in relative peace…In the mean-time I’ll be happy fishing for carp till then.

I’ve eaten 2 salmon from Lake O over my lifetime – Both were fresh silver fish…They didn’t taste bad and I’m not glowing in the dark. The grey mushy flesh just turned me off from eating another one.

Can't really elaborate on what the others have said. Start them off like kids and take them to a place with a ton of panfish action. I usually leave my own rod in the trunk and end up being the 'guide' for the first few trips till they get the hang of things. A lot of the time I'm usually too busy re-tying, unhooking fish, pulling hooks and sinkers out of snags and trees, etc to be fishing myself...It really does pay to be patient and encouraging even when the proverbial bird's nest happens.

Sometimes they just won't cross over to the dark side.

 

My ex-girlfriend broke up with me because I spent too much time fishing/boating/cottage, and not enough time with her..

 

What can I say, I'm not going to compromise some of the best things in life..

You and me both...Cheers to that!

I've posted this story on a past thread but it may come in handy one day

A few years ago I decided to take one special lady angler to a quiet stretch of river for some steelheading. She fished quite a bit…More than any girl I’ve ever met and she was a trooper when it came to the cold and rain. She was new to river fishing though along with wading, rock hopping and felt sole boots.

I hook into a nice fish, engaged the clicker on the centrepin and handed her the rod. She was thrilled to fight her first ever steelhead. Got the palming technique just right within seconds…She was a natural with the pin. The fish runs downstream a bit, around a bend and into a pool where the bank is a fairly steep muddy slope. You might’ve guessed it…Mud and felt don’t mix and she was going in fast!…

As she was sliding in, I made the mistake of yelling out, “Save the reel!”...Apparently a VERY BIG mistake. We left IMMEDIATELY afterward and it was a long and uncomfortable ride home. She was soaked and if it wasn’t for the SPF50 sunscreen I was wearing, she would’ve burned a hole through my head with those “what the hell looks” she gave me every 30 seconds. I’ve never been so afraid for myself and my tackle…

Good grief - that thing's built like a horse.

 

Amazing how many really large fish wind up being identified as genetic freaks. The Royal Ontario Museum has a replica mount on display of a 102 pound lake trout that was netted in Lake Athabasca many, many years ago. Its body shape looks more like a sunfish than a laker. When the ROM examined the actual fish, they found it was a naturally-occurring eunich, neither male nor female. With no sexual organs whatsoever, it grew like an embryo its whole life.

 

It makes you wonder how many record fish over the years may have actually been genetic mutants, naturally occurring or otherwise.

Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to grow up to be a fireman. If I remove my reproductive organs, will I grow big and strong like that fish?

Seriously though, I wouldn't mind something like that at the end of my line. That would make a lot of sushi!

Legend

I'm hoping one day I'll get into a fish that size

I remember reading an article saying that the Seeforellen strain of brown trout (which were stocked in the great lakes) could possibly reach weights of over 50lbs

Great report Doc with some beauty bass to boot!

I absolutely love that last picture. That's one great looking dog.