MJL

Bit of an amatuer question, but when you say sucker, are they a type of carp cos they dont half look like it? lol

Suckers and carp are part of the same minnow family (cyprinids)...Just think of them as Canadian barbel.LOL

Looks like an absolute blast of a trip. Well done to the both of you.

As for the sucker, I think you might have caught a species of redhorse. I've only landed 3-4 of them in my life. Not steel but a great catch nonetheless.

Love the vid Mike. Really great watching your uncle landing that fish. Thanks for posting

Well done JDMLS! Great reportage + pics. The fish in the 5th pic is absolutely mint.

I always look forward to the opener. For my dad and I, it’s an annual tradition. During the week before the opener, I go through the same rituals of tying flies and jigs (even though I really don’t need more), repairing or building new rods, re-spooling line, sharpening the hooks on my spinners and deodorizing my lucky socks.

Yeah it’s shoulder to shoulder a lot of the time but many times, we end up fishing spots that 95% of the people fortunately walk past or we’re fishing beside friends we’ve made over the years and only see once a year on that day.

gonna be my 2nd year fishing it and my first with a pin ... can't wait!

Technically speaking, it's going to be your first true season opener...Last year we went the day after ...Try to remember the crowds that were there that day and multiply it by 4.

Ahh nice, yeah we have an appartment at 231 Fork York Bvd so will be near enough in the same location.

 

Take it the pike and bass are taken on lures?

 

Carp, they taken on boilies or that not something thats done out there? I did notice a large (25-30lb) carp dead near the water park? Last time I was over.

 

Panfish? new one to me that!

I'm not much of a pike guy but the majority of pike I've caught have come to minnow baits like Rapalas

As for carp, if you're fishing the islands in spring, canned corn, maize and worms work extremely well (especially if you're into stalking them). Boilies do work as well but I find they're better in the late summer/fall than in Spring at the Islands. I love fishing the islands for carp.

Panfish = sunfish, bluegill, rockbass, perch and crappies.

BTW Are you on other message forums in the UK like CarpForum?

I assume the IM6 has different guides? Im saying this because I popped the insert out of the last guide the other day without busting any off while I was yanking a huge knot through them.

 

IDIOT.

 

I wonder why I do such stupid things...ah well a little crazy glue and the insert is good as new

I’m fairly sure the IM6 has a different set of guides on it.

I bought my IM9 back in 2001. They were marketed to have Titanium framed SIC guides on them back then. When the first guide broke, I thought it was a freak accident. I ended up repairing the guides as they broke over the years. They all broke in the same spot where the 2 legs of the frame met the guide foot. In 2007, I replaced all of them except for the tip top with a set of Fuji SIC guides.

I’ve never been a fan of the smaller match style guides found on the factory Ravens or Loomis rods. I’ve done a fair number of repairs for my friends who ended up bending or breaking the small guides especially on the tip section – They also suck when you have to pick ice out of them too.

Well done Carole and to all those that participated. Great post!

Unbelievable reportage!

Float tubing for steel is something I definitely want to try...Pick a seam and go with it

Definitely some beautiful water there.

If you’re looking for a new factory rod, I think St. Croix and Raven offer great value for the money – With Loomis Canada gone, there really isn’t a whole lot to choose from in terms of factory rods. In the last few weeks I met a few guys on the river who were playing around with Rapala float rods and they were saying it had a very sweet action for cheap.

I’m used to rods on the softer end of the spectrum so for me, the St Croix Wild River and the Raven IM6 seem OK. I think the IM8 has the best all-round action compared to the other Ravens.

I did have problems with the guides on my Raven IM9 breaking off. 7 of them snapped off at different times while I was: in the process of rigging up, dropping the rod sections into the rod sock and fighting fish. I think it had to do with the manufacturer grinding the titanium guide feet down too aggressively and over heating the frames. I stripped the guides off and saw that the guide feet were almost black where they were ground down. I’ve had similar issues with other titanium framed guides and now grind them down slowly with a hand file or my friends adjustable-speed grinder (I normally use a Dremel tool for stainless guides)

If you’re thinking of going for an inexpensive custom rod, a Rainshadow RX7 isn’t going to be a heck of a lot more than a factory Raven IM9.

At least you’ve got some time before opener to get yourself rigged up.

Hope this helps

Totally awesome...Congrats to the both of you. Would've loved to go on Saturday with you guys but I was busy...There's always next time. You can try using over flavoured boilies for them...Last year I got into quite a number of them in the Niagara when I was fishing for carp...Certainly a lot less messy than cut-bait for sure.

Those are huge

I've never purposely tried fishing for them. I normally get them by accident when I'm carp fishing. I'd definitely love to hook into fish of that size.

Well done

Beautiful! Love the action shot and the scenery. Can't get them much fresher than that

Well done

Holy mother of chrome...Another report?

Congrats Carole on the new PB

I had a similar experience this past week on hitting size VS numbers. Always seems surreal when you hit a pod of behemoths. I'm guessing night-time steelheading is on Victor's mind now...He got into his first steelhead on the float set-up yesterday but couldn't land it. Hey Vic, how about working 9-5 and fishing 5-9 this week?...I'll be up for it

Well done C&C

The chrome is so bright you need to wear sunglasses at night ...Some real beauties you two managed to get into.

Happy belated b-day to the little one.

When I see the letters STD in posts revolving around 2 guys utilizing their 'rods' for a bit of 'sucker action', I get a little bit worried.LOL

Great post and welcome to the wonderful world of rainy days, constantly looking at weather forecasts, freezing your nuts off while wading into frigid water and putting a big bend in a big rod when everything goes right.

Great report CC. Kev's fish is chromified to the max!

Well done

I used to fish the Humber a lot after class (sometimes in between classes if I had a 6hr break). Smuggled my gear to class - Even wore my waders a few times too without anyone noticing

As for your questions:

1. Yes you can use a spinning reel for float fishing and bottom bouncing. In fact for newbies, I'd recommend starting off with one if you're most comfortable using it over a float reel. One of the most important keys to catching steelhead is knowing how to read water and understanding fish behaviour. A float rod + float reel won't do you much help if you're drifting unproductive water. You can still maintain a proper drift with a spinning reel.

2. I have friends who used to live up north by Lake Superior and fish the Superior tribs. They'd fill their fly reels with mono and use their fly rods. Their drifts were very short because of the uber-snaggy conditions and that combo worked for them. With that said, mono does wear through snake guides and IMO if you still want to use the fly rod (for whatever reason), I'd stick a spinning reel on it.

The Humber is a great place to fly fish. If you have waders, it really opens up a few holes not easily fished from shore. The river is wide enough to throw some monster casts without hooking trees behind you. 95% of the time you can get away with floating lines + a few small split shots crimped onto the leader to get the fly down. I always swung the fly but most people I see down there are either nymphing or dead drifting. All tactics work.

3 If you're stuck to using TTC (and don't want to transfer over to using GO, YRT, or Mississauga transit), Rouge and Humber are probably your best options...The Don is accessible by TTC but I personally have no experience there (not sure anyone here really does).

Hope this helps and welcome to the board

Like Rover mentioned, I always try to use the heaviest line possible to minimize the length of time needed to bring in the fish. With that said, when I started steelheading, dropping down to 2lb mono was fairly common. With float rods like the old House of Hardy or Lews, you could literally bend them into an 'O' without snapping the line. Nowadays when the fishing gets tough, I either drop down to 4-5lb leads or break out the spinning tackle and toss spinners to the fish (I often carry 2 rods with me).

I wouldn't call 1 guy using 2lb leads a trend.LOL If anything, a lot of the guys I see out on the rivers are using 6-8lb leads and faster tapered rods.

Nice fish. Definitely well deserved after some tough fishing.

Can you please tell me where it says in the link you gave that erindale is open all year, I cant see it.

 

Thanks

Pg 80 (3 of 6)

Rainbow trout, Brown trout and Pacific Salmon open all year

Credit River and tributaries - City of Mississauga

from the south side of Hwy. 403 bridge downstream

to Lake Ontario

Erindale park is within that open year round stretch

Nice fish MJL, must have given you a great fight. Maybe we'll see you this weekend on the tribs.

Hey Berge

Let me know if you and Silvio are going to be around my neighbourhood this weekend. It would be nice to see Silvio get into some fish too

(He knows I'm joking...I hope)

I've come to the conclusion that given the opportunity, steelhead will run up a wet lawn.

I've seen fish swim up a boat ramp and into a parking lot so I would have to agree with you on that statement.LOL

Thanks guys

if only you could use ur charm of meeting guys on the river on girls ...

 

now i need to stop reading anymore reports or i will start thinking about the "lack of fish fix" ....

Who says I don't dabble around with the opposite sex. None of the ones I ever meet know what a double haul is or know how to slice up some fresh sashimi.LOL With that said, I'm not the one who has to spend time talking about my feelings to someone else at home on the phone when the rivers are prime and the steel are running

You up for round 2 tonight?

Those ling are nifty! Fantabulous report Ben.

I wouldn't mind dropping one of those ling in a deep fryer and having a taste. They look meaty!