MJL

I have news for you, the vast majority of the digital scales out there are no better.

Agreed. I remember fishing a carp tournament one year and the digital scales, even of the same brand and model, weighed differently when we had to check them before the start. Some were off by just over a pound. The spring scales that some of the anglers brought with them were more accurate on average – They were high-end spring scales though not readily available in North America. I found out my digital scale has been weighing 4oz too light for all these years

In Europe and the UK, the gold standard scale to use are made by Reuben Heaten (spring scale). They are used in a lot of the carp and match fishing tournaments. The last few world record carp have been weighed and verified on a set. For my own recreational, pleasure fishing, my 50lb Berkley digital (when combined with a dampened weigh sling for bigger fish or shopping bag for small fish – I hate weighing fish by the gills) gives me a good enough ball-park estimate of how heavy a fish is that I might want to know the weight of (I just subtract the weight of the sling at the end). I've caught thousands of carp and steelhead over the years that I really don't weigh very many unless they're approaching Leviathan status

I would like to know what happened to the OFC board. This used to be a great board with lots of info. Now all it is is a place to run people down when they ask a question. Comeon people come on this board wanting to get some info and that is what it was made for. Now everone is afraid to make a post asking a question without getting run down. I will no longer be visting for a while because this has got to be too much. I post a question about my car even and get run down what the hell is with that. This board needs a serious "clean up" and untill then i will be sticking to ************

 

I HAVE HAD ENOUGH

The way I see things.

It was free to sign up and it costs nothing to leave – Why complain? Everything about the use of this message board is done voluntarily by its members. You can give a lot of tips out to others and you can get a lot back (In most cases like others have said, you get what you give)…You however are not guaranteed or entitled to getting answers for questions or replies to your posts. Be prepared to receive replies you weren’t expecting (if any).

OFC is what it is…The information contained within these pages is free for members, lurkers and Google-bots alike to view and make use of the information. I personally don’t reply very often to requests asking where I’ve been fishing (especially to those who have a post count of zero) – I’m not an ass (Really I’m not) – I just don’t appreciate seeing spent fishing line and empty beer bottles dumped in my favourite fishing spots by those who might have less of an appreciation of the environment than I do. I’m sure you would agree with that as well…If I remember correctly, you yourself ripped the piss out of a 17 yr old kid earlier this spring for posting the name of a certain steelhead creek who was only trying to help somebody out. Would I feel the same if my home spot was posted on the net? Probably…I certainly would’ve handled it differently though.

If you absolutely need an answer for fixing a motorcycle, car or lawn tractor, like GCD mentioned, a reputable mechanic is the way to go…You’ll pay some $, but you’ll get an answer for it. Failing that, try an automobile based message board. Failing all of that, OFC – but be prepared to receive replies or answers you might not be looking for or ones that won’t be as helpful as if you went to the mechanic yourself.

If OFC doesn’t provide you the answers for your fishing questions, there are other resources available to you: Stop in at the nearest tackle shop and chat with the owner, take a walk or scout out the lake/river/stream you want to fish and talk to the anglers there (I see very few people doing this). You can also hire a fishing guide for the day, pick up a few books from the bookstore or library (definite goldmine here), use the “Ask Italo” feature on the Canadian Sport-fishing web-site or ask a pro on WFN (a couple of which already use OFC), etc. As great as OFC is – I really hate to say this – It isn’t the “be-all” of fishing information. Be pro-active and resourceful in your quest for information.

I still can’t understand why so many people get worked up about message boards…People were fishing long before the internet came into conception right? At least I was…

OFC is great, I’ve met so many people who share the same passion of fishing that I have and can communicate with those who are literally thousands of km away. I’ve posted fishing reports in the past and received free advice on where to try next without even asking for it from members I’ve never met or spoken to previously. Lurkers who have never posted a single thing on OFC have recognized me out on the water and given me tips and free bait when they see me. The members of this board, given an introduction with some participation now and then, are some of the friendliest and most helpful people you can find. Several of the members have guided me around their home waters FOR FREE (a $375 value each trip). Saying please and thank you really does go a long way.

I came for some fishing tips but stayed because of the people.

This past Friday was my mom’s birthday. For her birthday present she wanted nothing more than to go over to Buffalo, NY to do some shopping (Anyone who knows my mom knows she’s going over for some new shoes and CorningWare). Sunday was the day she wanted to go so...

Like usual, my family drops me off at the Niagara whirlpool parking lot and goes over the border to do their thing at around 9am (they usually pick me up around 5-6pm)

I walked down the path with around 40lbs worth of gear, food, water and bait strapped to my back and made my way down to the water. I opted to leave my rod pod at home and took my tripod adaptor + 3 banksticks with me instead. The slack-water areas I like to fish were already occupied by anglers fishing for salmon and bass. From what I could tell, it was slow going for them with very few fish to show for their efforts (only sheepshead and 1 channel cat were caught with worms). I chose to try my luck in a swim with some fairly fast current and set-up my gear.

View of the swim

The aero-car that travels across the whirlpool.

My set-up

The baits I brought with me were maize, boilies, jumbo corn, flavoured chick peas, a few packs of rubber corn and a bucket of stiff method mix. The method mix I made was a mixture of stuff I had around the house: Stale white & whole grain bread run through a food processor, breadcrumbs, molasses, maple syrup, a handful of maize and a small opened can of sweet corn that I found in my fridge which turned almost into a gluey, jelly-like mush but smelled great. Mixed together, dampened with water and formed into balls, it could certainly handle being tossed into some serious current without breaking apart till it reached bottom.

I did a few rough calculations in my head and figured how far upstream I needed to be to bait up my swim and how fast maize, boilies and balls of method mix would fall to the bottom. I baited up the swim with maize and balls of method mix and waited an hour till I got my first run. I lost the fish but a few minutes later I finally managed to bank my first Niagara carp of the year.

The fishing itself was a little challenging. There was an ever present current flowing through my swim which made baiting up and holding bottom a little tricky – 5oz barely held bottom and leads 2.5 through to 4oz bounced along bottom and got hung up in the rocks downstream (or upstream depending on which way the current direction switched to). I had issues with a few bits of terminal tackle that kept on breaking (i.e. lead clips – The things I attach my lead sinker to the line with). In the end, here’s the rig I was using for my fast-water carping for the day.

From left to right: Size 6 carp hook, braided hair rig material, swivel, "broken" lead clip + tail rubber, 5oz lead sinker (these ones were designed for sea fishing), 15 inch piece of rig tubing (to prevent tangling on the cast)

From 12pm to 4:30pm the action was almost non-stop. I managed to land 16 fish and lost 8. I was in “tournament mode” and was concentrating so much on catching fish I took far less pictures than I would’ve liked. Fish ranged in size from 10lbs to 18/19lbs and many would take within seconds of the rig hitting bottom. A couple of times I saw my tripod tilt over but managed to catch it in time before it toppled over – The takes couldn’t have been more violent! I actually saw one guy’s rod get pulled into the water TWICE yesterday (he got it back both times).

This one was one of the bigger fish of the trip around 18-19lbs

Overall I had a blast. It was great that I could make it down to the whirlpool again this year (I only did 1 session so far down there for steelhead earlier this spring). A few people who were hiking around the gorge recognized me from OFC and stopped by my swim for a chat – Didn’t get their names but they were quite friendly and interested in carp fishing – Always a pleasure to talk fishing. One of the hikers had his 2 children with him and they had absolutely no reservations on getting carp slime on their hands. Kids are always the best carpers...They don't get repulsed by the slime

Despite the long walk down (and back up), I absolutely love that place. I always feel at peace staring at the gorgeous scenery and battling some of the hardest pulling carp I've ever come across.

Can’t wait to get back down there again.

Cheers and all smiles

Well done Cliff & Carole

Looks like a day well spent. Great report and pics!

It's probably a little late now, but you can't get much simpler than 3-4 kernels of canned corn threaded onto a size 6 hook and an egg sinker 8-12 inches further up the line. Other baits you could try are bread, dough balls (lots of recipes online) or chick peas.

Keep a close eye on your rod and stay close to it...Seriously!

I'm not too familiar with the Brantford area so I can't help you much there.

The last few weeks, Victor and I have been planning to do an overnight carp fishing session somewhere. Our plans finally came into fruition on Wednesday. We decided to hit up the Kawarthas. I’ve done a few night sessions in the Kawarthas over the years and have done reasonably well in a few spots. Victor has never tried fishing there at night. I wasn’t expecting the action to be all that great. The locals told us that the fishing was slow the last few days. There was also a full-moon overhead which according to carp fishing myth, means slow fishing. I didn’t have anything better to do and neither did Victor so we were up for fishing anyway.

Victor and I got to the swim 7pm and set up our gear. We invited Randy (Wolfville) to come with us and he just finished setting up his gear when we arrived. After 10 minutes of setting up, Victor’s rod goes. I managed to steal Victor’s fish while he was taking a short walk to a swim 30 yards next door

First fish of the trip at 14lbs caught at 7:15pm

This trip we took a more scientific approach to recording our catches. We weighed every fish in a weigh-sling and Victor recorded the times, the weight and who caught the fish on a piece of paper. The total results are at the bottom of this report.

An hour later, Victor gets into another fish with fermented maize.

Randy gets his first fish at 8:50pm. It was 15lbs.

Victor gets his biggest of the night at 22lbs

I wasn’t getting much action compared to Victor or Randy even though we were next to each other in a swim that was 15 yards wide – I was on the left-hand side of the swim. I think I was just a little outside of the ‘zone’. I switched up to a tiger nut and cast my rig out 10 yards further and got into fish almost immediately.

My first official carp for the night. It was quite a handful on the bank

Overall, the action was fairly consistent once the sun went down. We had several double headers during the night. I managed to get a double header with Victor. My fish was 24lbs and Victor’s was 19lbs

Randy and I had another double header as well

It was a little cold at night. All night a cold mist blanketed us leaving a layer of dew on just about everything (including my camera and bedchair!). We started a fire in Victor’s coal BBQ to keep warm and cook our sausages.

Randy caught a fish with some funky scale pattering near its back. In carp angling circles, we call these muddlers

At 3:40am I get a fish that peels line off the reel in a hurry and keeps on going. 7 minutes later I bring it close to shore and realize I have to maneuver it around 3 sets of submerged stumps and a couple of other snags – It was certainly a little dicey doing that in the dark. It was 19lbs

Victor with a long torpedo shaped carp

Around 4am, Randy left for home.

The sun starting to creep above the horizon at around 6am

Enjoying a misty morning at the lake

Victor crashed in the morning after a night of hauling

Once the sun came up, the fishing got tougher. In the morning, I managed to land 2 fish at 18 & 15lbs and lost 2 fish to snags. Victor didn’t get a run on his rod all morning. Around 7am, Beans came by to visit Victor and I and fished a swim 30 yards to our right. He chatted with us and told us about what carp fishing was like when he was our age (That’s almost 50 yrs ago!). It was certainly a pleasure listening to him tell his stories. Unfortunately he lost the only run which came to his rod. He left around lunch time.

The afternoon bite was better. Once 1pm hit, both Victor and I started getting into some fish.

One that just didn’t cooperate for a photo-op

We left our rods out while we packed everything away in our car for the ride home. Victor hooked into a fish while reeling in for the last time but lost it – The net was already packed away In the car. Most of the fish we caught came to maize but a good number came to tiger nuts and pineapple jumbo corn. Victor tried some honey flavoured boilies but they didn’t get any fish. We used basic ledgering rigs either with a straight lead or a method feeder. Here’s the result break down for our trip from 7pm Wednesday through to 7pm Thursday:

Captor: M=Mike, V=Victor, R=Randy

Weight: Ounces were rounded down to the pound

Time/Weight/Captor

7:15pm, 14 lbs, V/M

8:10pm, 19 lbs, V

8:45pm, 15 lbs, V

8:50pm, 15 lbs, R

9:00pm, 22 lbs, V

9:15pm, 24 lbs, R

9:18pm, 15 lbs, M

9:45pm, 16 lbs, V

10:25pm, 19 lbs, V

10:25pm, 24 lbs, M

11:10pm, 14 lbs, R

11:35pm, 19 lbs, R

11:56pm, 14 lbs, R

12:30am, 14 lbs, M

1:10am, 18 lbs, R

1:40am, 19 lbs, M

1:40am, 15 lbs, R

1:43am, 15 lbs, V

1:55am, 16 lbs, M

2:00am, 18 lbs, V

2:05am, 16 lbs, M

2:10am, 15 lbs, R

2:50am, 12 lbs, M

3:10am, 15 lbs, M

3:40am, 19 lbs, M

4:05am, 17 lbs, V

4:10am, 19 lbs, M

5:30am, 22 lbs, V

5:45am, 13 lbs, V

5:55am, 13 lbs, V

6:20am, 16 lbs, M

7:05am, 18 lbs, M

9:40am, 15 lbs, M

1:25pm, 15 lbs, V

1:50pm, 18 lbs, M

1:55pm, 14 lbs, V

2:15pm, 20 lbs, M

2:45pm, 19 lbs, V

3:00pm, 13 lbs, M

4:00pm, 18 lbs, M

4:05pm, 19 lbs, V

5:50pm, 15 lbs, M

6:20pm, 12 lbs, M

Totals

Captor/ Number landed/ Total Weight/ Biggest fish

Victor: 15.5, 263 lbs, 22 lbs

Randy:8, 134 lbs, 24 lbs

Mike:19.5, 321 lbs, 24 lbs

• The 0.5 in numbers landed represents the fish I stole from Victor

• I lost 8 fish all together and Randy lost 2-3. Not sure how many Victor lost

Victor, Randy and I all had a blast. This is the 2nd all-nighter Victor and I have done together (We did one last year). This time we were prepared to sleep a little – I brought my bedchair and Victor had his cot. I didn’t use my bedchair much. I just can’t sleep when I’m fishing - I’m too busy scanning the water for activity. The full-moon phase didn’t seem to phase the fish much and the fish were of a bigger average size than what I’m used to catching at that spot.

One of the locals who stopped by to chat with us said, “You guys are crazy…I can see myself doing an all-nighter with a blonde, maybe even for walleye, but for carp???”

YOU BET!!!

Can’t wait for the next one

Hope you enjoyed

I fished it once back in May 2004 for trout...Didn't catch anything. According to my "Fishing in Algonquin Provincial Park" book, there's only lakers to be had. If you're looking for smallies, the lakes along hwy 60 are your best bet

Hope this helps

I'm SO NEW to this type of fishing - I have no idea what's going on! What the heck is a backplate?

It's literally the backside of the reel...In your case, it's the piece of metal with the word MATRIX on it.

My islander has a ported backplate - Meaning there are holes drilled into the back of the reel

That catfish looks like he's smiling

Awesome report Jacques with great pics too. Thanks for sharing

Here are some vids to help you out with understanding what a feeder rod is and does.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B5...tt+hayes+feeder

Hope this helps

Beautiful musky. Congrats!

Great report and pics too

Thanks guys for your help. I really appreciate it

Are you fishing byng island?

I'm not sure if it's the same island. We'll be fishing a little downstream of the conservation area

Can anyone recommend a place to stay in Dunnville? My dad and I are looking for a decent (yet inexpensive) motel to stay for one night (this Friday). We’re just need a goodnight’s rest and a shower - We’ll be roughing it out at a carp tourney the next couple of days.

Thanks

I really think carping is about location over bait choice for the most part. I tried last year at the mouth of the credit for days with no luck.

Ditto on the point about location. It's easier to fish a natural 'carp highway' than it is to try to attract them to an area that they may only use during one part of the season - For example, carp might only use shallow bays and marshes during the pre-spawn and spawning periods. A few weeks after the spawn, the entire bay (which probably held several hundred if not thousand fish) could be entirely devoid of all but one or two stragglers. After the spawn, most fish seek deeper water or cruise deep channels wherever they can find them.

Here's a link which shows opportunities around the GTA for fishing

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/STEL02_163569.pdf

Awesome report Jacques. Beauty bass all around. Congrats to the both of you on a fine day out.

As a kid I used to play with perch and bluegills that were 'living' in my uncle's "white bucket". I'd get poked and had similar reactions to what you have. The next morning I had rashes that itched a little on my hands and arms - A day or two later they were gone. Since then, I haven't experienced anything like that for almost 20 years despite getting spined by some feisty sunfish and perch.

With that said, getting cut or poked by fish spines or other fishy parts is definitely no laughing matter. A few years ago, my aunt told me a story about one of her friends getting a small cut while holding a pike by the gills. The pike thrashed a bit and his hand slipped. He received only a small nick. 3 days later it was infected to the point where he had to have several fingers amputated.

According to Shimano's website, the only parts of the new Stradic that are carbon fibre are the: Frame, Sideplate and Rotor Construction. The gears are still metal (Paladin Gear Durability Enhancement).

Still a reel I'm definitely going to play around with at the shop

I don't think I'm a 'Carp King'...I'm more of a carp violator

TJ, what did you have in mind?

Was this fish caught in Ontario?

Nope

Cherry salmon

Co-nook...Best of both worlds

Anyhow tossed rest of my corn out as far as i could, ill prolly give it another shot tomorrow at the same spot. One question tho, since there is a bit of a current wont the corn just get carried away? :S

Bubblez

Depending on how fast the current is where you are, it could. There's a few different approaches to get loose fed (chummed) corn where you want it in flowing water

1. Figure out the depth of the swim, the speed of the current (factoring in surface and bottom currents), and the hydrodynamic properties of bait along with its coefficient of friction as it travels through water. With your findings, develop an algorithm to calculate an approximate trigonometric distance upstream of your intended target…Use the algorithm and bait up at X distance upstream.

Or

2. Mix your corn into a stiff, well binding method mix…A mix of bread crumbs, brown sugar and various flours will work. Mix ingredients together, add water to dampen and form baseball sized balls. Throw the balls of bait into the water...They should sink fairly quickly and remain intact for a few minutes depending on whether you got your mix just right. After a few minutes on bottom, the balls of bait will break apart exposing the carpy goodness within.

Or

3. Look for areas of slack water and bait up (Definitely the easiest way to go)

I haven’t fished smoke lake for about 6-7yrs. From what I can remember, there were only smallies and lakers. Wouldn't be surprised if rock bass or sunfish found their way into that lake like some other lakes along the hwy.

My dad and I used to do day trips along hwy 60 once or twice a year for the smallies – We’d usually hit up smoke lake for a couple hours before going to another lake.

One trip, I was sitting on a rock eating my lunch and saw a big smallie cruising a few feet away. I pitched my bait out and on the drop, the bass took it…My biggest smallie from smoke lake, I think I might’ve been around 15yrs old at the time:

My dad with one from the canoe

Smoke lake can get choppy in a hurry!

In a nutshell, yes

In spinning reels, long casting spools tend to be wider in diameter as well as wider between the lip of the spool and the skirt of the spool (the space where the line goes). The idea is to reduce the number of coils coming off the spool in order to reduce friction on the spool lip and the butt guide of the rod.

The reels in the picture can show you what I mean (albeit a little on the extreme side). The reel in background (the blue one) has a standard spool. The reel in foreground (black one) has a distance/surfcasting spool. Both reels have the same sized body.

From the looks of it, United is now in discussions with him on fixing his guitar

http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1647542

Love the song