MJL

Hey Cliff

Awesome report! WTG Sydney on that monster crappie!

On a side note, did Scugog always have crappies in it? I remember fishing it with my uncle often as a kid and never hooked or seen one caught there. Haven't fished that lake for quite some time now.

Great report Mike! Suckers can be lots of fun to fish for when nothing else is hitting in spring. I can't believe how skinny and cigar-like those suckers are. WTG

No words can describe the awesomeness of that speck

I still have yet to catch my first one...Congrats!

Wicked report Gerrit! I'd love to do the deep sea thing one day.

I love this pic

Great job dude. Love the vid.

Congrats Efka. Totally sweet fish. I hit up one of my local rivers on my way home after the opener and was really surprised to see none yet in the lower stretches that usually have some around this time of year. Good to see you got into some...Especially without the crowds

Great catches Doc. I've always wanted to fish the Salmon river but never had the wheels to make it down there. Sooo very tempting. How long was the pinky that the brownie took?

Fantastic report Dan! Looks like a great time out. Your son shouldn't feel bad about losing to a carp...When I was a kid, I had quite a few similar incidents which will remain untold

Well done and beautiful pics Paulus. I'm always impressed with the quality of your photos.

Great report Kemper. Beauty hen. Can't think of a better way to spend a few hours. Definitely a good warm-up for the opener - Only 24hrs 8 minutes to go

Glad you were'nt arrested for molesting Baby Fish!!!

Baby fish? That fish is 15lbs...It just so happens Bill is 10ft tall and has hands bigger than a yeti's

WTG Bill! The Notty is definitely one river I'd love to fish...I'm hoping to make it up there this summer for maybe carp and in the fall for some steel. I can't wait.

I've always fished below the CNR tracks in Durham region and below hwy 2 at the Rouge which are the year round sections for for steelhead and trout on those rivers.

I've been getting into suckers on almost all the tribs I've fished since early April. Should be lots around on all the creeks and rivers.

Beauty brownie...Congrats!

Olive woolly buggers with bead chain eyes were my #1 producer for fly fishing around Toronto. Another fly that worked well was a 2-3 inch piece of black rabbit strip tied onto a streamer hook along with lead dumbbell eyes. A good set of polarized glasses is a necessity. Look around for mudding or tailing and cast to it. When the fly hits bottom, strip it in a bit. I haven’t fly fished for them for about 4yrs but usually the local flats were good from mid-May till the spawn (usually mid June/early July depending on the weather). If you're able to wade slowly, you can get surprisingly close to them when they're busy hoovering up the bottom.

Great report Ryan! Your daughter is a natural when it comes to fishing. I'm hoping my 1.5yr old nieces will be the same when I eventually take them out.

Congrats on the one still baking away in the oven

Thanks for the headsup on the mags. You’re right about availability (or general lack thereof) of carp specific magazines. I used to occasionally get Carp World and Carpology at The World’s Biggest Bookstore in downtown Toronto if there was an article I was interested in. Now it seems they only carry Carp World…Quite pricey Mags too and many articles seem rehashed over and over from issue to issue.

I’ve always enjoyed Lonnie King’s (OOD) articles on carping as well as the ones found in In-Fisherman.

At the moment the only magazine I get is the one from CAG that comes once every few months.

If you’ve never caught carp on the fly, it’s a total blast. I used to take my fly rod down to some of the local flats around Toronto and sight cast to them. You need lots and lots of backing. LOL

Dont think I like the idea of it being crowded, Like the peace and quiet haha. Yeah, plan to get a licence and card?? when I arrive along with finding a cheap folding ned to stick in my rucksack. Wheres my best bet to head for the licence

You can get a licence at Wilson's fly shop in Toronto near Queen st and Jarvis.

I'm not much a light-action fly guy but from what I've been told, a 5wt is a good all-rounder for some of the smaller species. 8wts are the lightest fly rods I use.

In terms of what you should be looking for, I'd recommend a med-fast action fly rod. A med-fast action fly rod is forgiving enough for the newbie caster but will have power in reserve for casting big/heavier flies. When it comes to casting, the fly line AND the rod are important. For the size of fish you're after, the reel will be more of a storage device for the fly line. Any idea on how much you'd like to spend on the outfit?

I heard the bullheads with the tumors on them make them extra tasty...And healthier too

Great flies! They look great

I usually don’t worry much about hackle length much when I tie mine. Like Efka mentioned, if you’re looking for shorter hackle, saddle hackle will tie up real nice without being long and they give a very buggy appearance to the fly. A lot of my woolly buggers have long hackles made out of schlappen as it gives the fly a very nice pulsating action when I’m swinging them with the fly rod or I’m fishing in slow to med-fast water under the float.

Tie on a small pink or orange head made of chenille or a small yarn egg at the eye of the hook and you have another great steelhead fly. Fly tying is addictive!

Your jigs work.

The IQ level of that sucker just dropped 2 points

Well done on the bow

Great catches iCarp

It won't be long till I make the switch from steelhead to carp. Gotta love the fight they give.

Can’t help you much with the price/quality aspect other than I get 85% of my stuff from AngSpec and the other 15% of my stuff from Wilson’s. I live 3min away from AngSpec in Scarborough and I used to go to school down the street from Wilson’s.

From what I can tell, most places sell the same brands and/or product quality at similar prices – AngSpec’s prices are fairly good (if not slightly better) compared to others if you’re strictly looking at local shops. Like Twocoda mentioned, you can probably find the same materials for cheap in an arts and craft store – It would obviously be less convenient than in a fly shop but there’s still some savings to be had.

Woolly buggers are a fly that gets you into trouble if you’re on a budget…They’re so effective in different colours and it’s a fly that presents countless opportunities to experiment with different types of materials and patterns.

After 10yrs of experimenting and hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars spent in “R&D” costs, I have come up with a TOP SECRET, super woolly bugger pattern which uses materials so exotic I can’t even remember what animals they came from.LOL

Not sure where you planned on shipping the lure to but the Canadian distribution centre is in Oshawa.

Normark Inc.

1350 Phillip Murray Avenue

Oshawa

Ontario L1J 6Z9

Canada

Phone +1 905 571 3001

Fax +1 905 433 0111

In the past I have sent in defective lures where the plastic lips fell off - They replaced them no charge. My friends and I also did a few batch returns of rusty lures and the good folks at Normark gave us brand spanking new lures FOR FREE. Great customer service IMO.

Theyre steelheading not purse shopping

Steelhead appreciate soft, silky smooth skin too. Especially in the midst of being violated and touched in some sensitive areas .