MJL

Awesome job on the eyes Ben

Beauty fish all around. Is it true if you hold walleye on their belly (like the hold in the first and last pics), it makes them go limp...Or at least immobile?

i went to the doctors today and he said i have the STDs...salmon trout disease :D

Kelfun, I’m not so sure the STD you have stands for that. Did you wear protection during the spawn?…You know, gore-tex waders reinforced with 5 layers along with wrap-around polarized glasses for eye protection from errant flying hooks

On another note, do you like fish-sticks?

It’s been 4 days, 4hrs and 42 minutes since my last drift for steel…I think I’m making progress. I visited the tackle shop today and didn’t fondle the shiny new centrepin I’ve wanted since last fall. I also picked up some ingredients for my uber-top-secret carp bait and a couple more lures for brookies. Thank goodness there aren’t any recent steelheading posts…I don’t know what I’d do if I read another one. Anybody want to be my go-to buddy when I think I need help?

Thank you OFC for your encouragement on helping me quit my addiction – Except for you BBNotty…That was terrible!

I’m off to hunt down a beauty hen now…Of the human variety of course …That should solve my addiction for good, right?

Be careful of the regs, alot of tribs of the few popular rivers are no kill..

 

Gotta remember, killing a few fish out of a small creek could have a big impact, I personally would let them go.

Hey Bill, you're absolutely right about checking the regs...I made sure I did that before I left. The creek I fished has a limit of 2 for a conservation licence (which I have). I considered how many fish I was getting there and I made the choice to release them all.

I guess it’s been a long time coming. Each year I tell myself I’ll try my hand at fishing for resident trout but never get around to doing it. I've caught lots of small brownies by accident when I'm fishing for steelhead. I've never caught a brook trout before.

The state of my tackle says it all…I have a 4wt fly reel which I intended to use for trout but never got around to purchasing a matching rod or fly line for it – I bought it from Pollacks a while ago. I have exactly 1 spinner in a size smaller than 1 (I think it’s a size 0 panther martin). I don’t remember ever using the ultra-lite combo which I bought at the 2004 Spring Fishing Show (500 Daiwa Laguna spinning reel + 5’6” Shimano Stimula spinning rod). I am well stocked for steelhead and carp though

Decided this morning to give the ‘trout thing’ a try. Spent some time on Google Earth looking for likely rivers which trout might be in along with access points. I spooled up the baby Daiwa with 6lb mono (the lightest mono I have) and tied on a 3ft fluorocarbon leader (4.4lb) + my only micro sized panther martin. I also packed small hooks (size 12-14) and split-shots plus small live trout worms, bigger mepps and Vibrax spinners (size 1-3) and a few packs worth of soft plastics which I normally use for steelhead (pink worms, micro tubes, micro craws, etc).

I picked one river to try and off I went. Got to the river at 10:30am – It was gin clear. I didn’t really know what kind of water brook trout usually hold in. Most of the footage I see on TV of brook trout usually involve log jams or fallen trees of some sort so I looked for that…I also fished undercut banks, riffles, deep runs and other water that looked like steelhead would hold in too…In this river I don’t think steelhead make it up that far – I didn’t see any signs of them or salmon smolts.

First few casts into a deep pool, I see flashes of silver nailing my spinner...I was on an adrenaline rush till I pulled this in – I didn’t even know minnows take spinners.LOL

I also caught dozens of creek chub (some of them bigger than my hand) on the panther martin and worms. They also really enjoyed the pink worms too.

Walked further upstream till I found a fallen tree – Like a sniper, I crawled on the floor through the shrubbery to get into position. Switched up to a worm + 4 BB split shots and dropped it down in between some branches. I immediately had a take. The fish jumped and I felt my knees start to shake…While fighting the fish, I slipped and fell and made my way into the river (I have a habit of getting wet ). In the end I managed to land my first ever brookie

I’ve been told by other anglers that it’s bad juju to kill your first speck so in the end I released it. I couldn’t get another take from that spot…I probably spooked the hole when I plunged into the water.

I slowly walked upstream till I found a deeper riffle. I re-tied the panther martin back on and 3rd cast upstream I get this beauty

Close up

For 10 seconds I kneeled there contemplating what to do – Almost like being at a cross-road in life - I couldn’t decide if I should take it home for dinner or release it. I always wanted to try eating one…Being the gorgeous thing that it is, I let it go.

Walked further upstream and found some deeper, faster water with an undercut bank directly below me. First cast in (I really just dropped it straight down) I get a fish that actually pulls drag and swims downstream. I land it, measure it against my rod and put a mark on the blank with a sharpie pen…Measured it when I got home and it was 14.25 inches long. Unfortunately it kicked free from my grip when I was trying to take a picture of it. I guess my next purchase will be a new trout net. That one was the biggest of the day.

I landed 2 more brookies (1 tiny one about 5 inches long and another one at 9 inches). I also landed dozens more creek chub + minnows and this beauty piece of steel

My line somehow lassoed around the head of the thing…Really impressed with the 4lb Redwing Phantom fluoro. It pulled it from the log jam like a champ.LOL

Landed 5 specks in total (all of them released). This trout fishing is actually quite fun. Although the fish are tiny (at least compared to what I normally go after), I had an absolute blast today hunting them down in the small creek and crawling on my belly like a commando (some plants I encountered on the floor were prickly though and it hurt…But still so fun). The small stream/resident trout type of fishing is definitely something I plan to do again hopefully soon.

Hope you enjoyed.

Beauty catches Bill

What fly combo are you running for those fish? I've always wanted to try fly fishing for those resident fish but never really got around to doing it. I have a 3-5wt fly reel which I've owned for about 6-7yrs but I haven't gotten around to buying a rod or line for it

My name is Mike, and I have a problem. It was 5 days, 9hrs and 27 minutes since my last drift for steelhead.

My carp fishing buddies seeing that I was on the ‘wrong’ path to enlightenment held an intervention to discuss my addiction to steelhead and all things steelhead – There was a big banner that read “friends don’t let friends check river levels hourly”. There were hugs, tears and promises involved.

The last few days I’ve been faltering – you know…Playing with the centrepin in front of the TV while watching playoff hockey, reading message board threads on steelheading and tying a few roe bags ‘for this coming fall.’ I had a jar (almost like a swear jar) where I’d put my loose change in every time I did one of these things…I had $4.75 worth of pennies and nickles which I ended up spending on a pack of pink worms.

My friend’s incredibly hot sister tied me to a bed and did horrendous and disgusting things to me as a form of shock treatment to make me forget all about steelhead (actually fishing in general) – OK maybe I dreamt that but gore-tex breathable hip waders and spey fly earings were part of that fantasy.

I hate to admit that I’m a sucker for ‘pier’ pressure…Had a bunch of people message me on MSN asking me if I’d like to hit a few rivers with them...At first I declined…But after conversations involving statements like “we’ve been hammering them” and “Just give it one more shot” or “Just look at yourself, look at what you've become!”…Plain and simple, I caved on Wednesday

Perhaps my new favourite pic – My last steelhead till fall (for real this time)

In 3hrs worth of fishing, I went 3/3 on bows (3-12lbs) and 15/15 on chinny smolts all of which were caught on pink worms, white worms, live trout worms and brown woolly buggers. I’m not proud of what I did – I feel a little ashamed. I know placing the blame on Canadian Copper & Silverstreak's posts or Kelfun (whom I actually did meet at the river) won’t solve anything. If anything, I place the blame on Silvio who's float rod I'm in the process of partially building and I have to see it everyday when I wake up...No I can't do that either.

Are there any organizations out there that could provide support? Something like a CA (Chromaholics Anonymous) or AAA (Anadromous Addiction Aid)? Right now I have 35lbs of corn boiled for carp and I’m even toying with the idea of going out and catching my very first brook trout with the ultra-lite outfit I didn’t even know I owned…It just rained and the conditions will be prime…I don’t know what to do.

I know OFC has always been there for me and this community was the first place I turned to

Hope you enjoyed

Great report Vic...One of these days I'll try giving those browns/brookies a try. And you thought that you weren't going to be doing much fishing this summer...

Awesome job with the yak Jamie!

One thing I've always wanted to try was to hook a big carp from a float tube.

Well done Ben

You're lucky to be living so close to harbourfront. No doubt I'll be making the pilgrimage to the islands very soon for carp...Hope to run into you down there.

Well done CC...Beauty fish

I promised myself I wouldn't fish for steel anymore...Why did you have to go and post this!? My carp fishing buddies held an intervention on my chrome addiction the other day - They said I had to stop reading threads on steelheading...I really thought you were taking drugs...Honest j/k

Amazing report! Stunning scenery and fish.

I don't have a car and I'm not sure if I can fit my float rod in the bus...How long will it take me to walk there from Toronto? Road trip anyone?

The common carp can be invasive – Whether or not they are DESTRUCTIVE is debatable…Stick a highly adaptable, hardy fish into a new body of water with little competition and presto, you’ve got something that can thrive in a watershed. Same goes for smallmouth bass, rock bass, northern pike, bullheads, pacific salmon and other non-native salmonoids like brown and rainbow trout – Stick them into areas where they shouldn’t be and they can out-compete the native fish. Because something is native to Canada (or Ontario for that matter) doesn’t make them indigenous to the body of water they were stocked in.

“They just seem to make the water awfully dirty and these fish are just everywhere to be found.”

This is the basic argument against carp. Carp root around the bottom for food, stir things up and this sediment blocks light from reaching aquatic plants – Hence they die. Can’t say I agree with this. When I see carp feeding, I might see a few clouds of mud being stirred up from the bottom but as far as muddying up an entire lake…I don’t think so.

Some basic thoughts:

- Dirty water can be a result of (in no particular order): Algae blooms in lakes (most probable cause in summer), storm run-off, high winds, damming of rivers to form reservoirs (where else does the sediment from run-off go after a storm?), human created (as in the case of soil erosion caused by wakes from high-speed boating) or simply the nature of the substrate that surrounds the rivers or lakes you fish (for example if it is mud or clay based)…They don’t call it Dirty Duffins because of carp.LOL

- If you enjoyed fishing for other species within the time between now and the late 1800’s (when carp were first introduced), most likely a decline in the quality of fishing can be attributed to something other than carp – For example: Climate change, degradation of aquatic habitat from urbanization and development, damming of rivers, introduction of other foreign invaders (predators, competitors and disease), over harvest of native gamefish, stocking of ‘native’ gamefish not indigenous to that particular river, lake or stream, etc.

- We have world class fishing for carp in the same areas that have world class fishing for bass, pike, muskies and other species of fish. The St. Lawrence is probably the carp fishing capital of the world but it also has world class musky fishing too. I also don’t hear many people complaining about the musky, steelhead, lake trout, brown trout and bass fishing around the Niagara yet it’s teaming with carp. I wouldn't be surprised if many species of fish used juvenile carp as a food source.

- Having stained dirty water isn’t such a bad thing…Apparently the Bay of Quinte was a lot murkier than it is today and the walleye fishing was a lot better before the introduction of zebra mussels…A lot of waters around Ontario were a lot more coloured than they are today. When I fish for carp in the Kawarthas, I can see 15ft down to the bottom.

- Not sure when you started fishing for carp but there were a heck of a lot more (and bigger too) 15-20yrs ago.

Back in the early 90’s several programs were used to try to eradicate carp around the GTA. Long corridor type trap nets were used to catch them - The ones that were caught were killed. This did little to the population.

Carp are here to stay. I fish for carp because they’re widely available and they grow bigger than just about any other species we have available in Ontario. Are they destructive? In my eyes they do far less harm than what WE have done (and still currently do) to our lakes, rivers and streams by urbanizing and developing the surrounding environment.

Very nice report pal! Some good looking chrome played to hand.

 

Are you not concerned about grit or sand getting into your reel in this shot?

Actually that shot with the reel in the sand was more of an accident. Not shown is my line wrapped twice around a tree near the tip of the rod.

Not overly concerned with an Islander getting dirty (On the other hand I do baby my AngSpec a little). With my Islander, I've fallen into mud with it, dropped it by accident at the beach, dropped it into the river, etc. Islanders are easy to clean out - All you need to do is take a coin, pop the center screw (don't lose it), take a rag and wipe off the spool and backplate. I don't think I've ever touched the bearings or actually had to clean them in the years I've owned the reel.

Okuma's authorized repair centres in Canada include:

- ANGLERS CHOICE - 867 GRANDVIEW AVE. ST. JOHN,

NEW BRUNSWICK CANADA E2J 4C6 (506)696-8389

- STRYKER ROD & REEL - 15044 CANARY DR. SURREY, BC CANADA V3R 4V1 (604)585-6958

Probably your best bet in finding or ordering replacement parts for the reel. In terms of getting parts in the GTA, Tom at Angling Specialties or Aikman's might be able to order and get the right parts for you.

In the meantime, you can always wrap a rubber band around your rod near the reel seat and stretch it over one of the handles on the reel...Works better than most clickers IMO.

You're missing too many hits because you're not using your carp rod...Gotta go for the full Euro experience

Great catch

For flies, I’m primarily a steelhead guy but some patterns that I’ve caught both steelhead and resident browns (which I almost always have in my fly box) include:

- Size 8-10 black woolly buggers

- Size 6-10 stoneflies

- Various nymph patterns (prince, mayfly, hex, PT, etc)

- Caddis pupae

Don’t overlook some of the streamer patterns like:

- Zonkers or Matukas (I’ve got into a good number of browns on these on the Ganny)

If you’re going to BassPro to get your flies, talk to Gord in the fly shop. Back in the day when he worked at Pollacks, he set me up with my first fly box for steelhead a good number of years ago.

Hope this helps

Not time to quit, just need to carry more gear lol This time of year I struggle.....fish for trout and see carp everywhere, next time I take the trout gear and I see the trout jumping......argh! Great report Mike, look forward to your carp reports. You heading out this way anytime soon?

Hey Carole...If I get the car, hopefully I'll be out your way one night during this week - I'll let you or Cliff know if I'm coming down. Just gotta prep some of my ultra-secret bait

NICELY DONE BRO. BUT THE STEEL HUNT NEVER ENDS . WELL NOT UNTIL BASS OPENER ATLEAST LOL

So true but the carp fishing should be on fire very soon...As in at the end of this sentence...Period

Plus I gotta regain all that weight that I lost from walking the tribs and lugging around a heavy wading jacket...Carp fishing can be quite sedentary and almost too relaxing. It's my form of recuperation after a long season of steelheading.

I've never had mine in d'nile but it has been in d'notty, d'geen, d'sauble, d'sydenham, d'beaver, d'bighead, d'credit, d'bronte and many other rivers in the last 28 years and other than the occasional rinse it's never failed me. The sealed bearings are as good as the day I bought the reel.

I've dropped my reels into d'Duffins and d'Don...I'm stuttering uncontrollably

With all the carp reports on here as of late, I was undecided on what I wanted to do today. Along with steelhead, carp are my other passion in life.

This afternoon I hit up one river for a few hours to see if I could get into at least 1 more chrome bar of whoop-ass before finally retiring my steelhead kit for the spring season.

Fished a few deep pools without luck and continued walking along the river. My only company for today was a chunky black squirrel which followed me everywhere (literally)…I think he wanted to get some of my almonds – I caught him going into my backpack trying to steal a granola bar. Continued walking (and walking some more) until I found a deep quiet pool. I lugged around 2 outfits with me today

1 – 13’6” float rod

2 – 7’ medium action spinning rod (for tossing spinners)

Tried a few of my spinners without luck. I rigged up my float rod and put a live worm on the hook and within 5 drifts I hook into one. It tail-walks and darts around a few boulders – Even jumped almost as high as my head once. I managed to land it – Another person nearby took a picture for me

Walked further downstream and found another pool. I tossed a spinner upstream and retrieved with the current. On my 4th cast, a fish smashes it.

Somewhere inside is a size 2 Mepps

The fishing in general was a little slow. I hooked and landed 4 bows during my time out (all around 4-7lbs). Also got into a couple salmon parr. Being the crazed nut who’s “last cast” is always the cast after the next cast, I do my “last cast for the day”…Float goes down and I hook a small bow about 3lbs on a small pink worm…Unfortunately it comes undone after 10 seconds or so.

OK…Officially the last cast for real this time

Cast out…Drift….Drift…Drift a little longer…Drift a little bit longer…Float goes down…FISH ON!

The steelhead gods are telling me it’s best to end on a high note and it’s time to switch it up.

I almost forgot how much of a handful carp are when you don’t have a net…Which I forgot at home this time…

My steelhead season has mostly come to an end. I might do a trip or two to the Niagara for steelhead when my family decides to go over to Buffalo for some shopping – They drop me off at the river. For the immediate future, it’s hair rigs, bite alarms, rod pods, swingers, spods, boilies, feeders and 160lbs worth of corn

Hello carp 2009

Hope you enjoyed

Great pictures Dmasse...Certainly a fantastic couple of days out on the water

Epic report Cookslav!

I can't believe how red the meat is on those brookies. At first when I saw the zip-lock baggies, I thought you were using skeins for bait which were treated with pro-cure.LOL

Thanks for sharing

Nice catch, it's pretty early for that algae bloom

It's not an algae bloom, it's the toxic gas produced by this fish farting

Great report and pics Ben

Thanks for sharing

Beauty bow there...Congrats

Looks like a great day out...Congrats on getting into them. Those bows are almost snake-like...They gotta be hankering for some munchies.