MJL

The carp guides on the St. Lawrence soak their's for about 2-3days without boiling. I know a couple guides who soak maize in large rubbermaid garbage containers left out it in the sun for a couple days. For them it's impractical to boil a few hundred pounds (if not a couple thousand pounds) of the stuff each day. I find by boiling it, it enhances flavour absorption (if you decide to use flavours), softens it up (so you can put a needle or a hook through it) as well as expands the corn to its maximum. The point about soaking/boiling is that you do not want the corn to expand in the carp's stomach where it can clog up its digestive tract.

12lb Trilene XT will work. I always use single hooks

Grab a can of corn (Green Giant, Del Monte, Alymers, etc), open it up, stick 4 kernels of corn on a hook and cast away. Relatively cheap and easy to use. Hard to find a more effective bait. Back in the day, I used stale white wonder bread that was lying around the house. Pinch off a piece, wrap it around the shank of the hook and press firmly - No need to mash it into a ball, I leave 1 end flaky. In spring, in some of the places I fish near Toronto, worms outproduce any other bait bar none. I use them when I stalk carp to avoid hooking other species of fish (Like bass). If gobies are a problem pick up a sack of maize (aka: cow corn, feed corn, field corn) for about $10/80lbs from a farm feed store. Works as well as canned corn in most places and is almost indestructible. Requires a lengthy preparation process to render them safe for the fish to eat. Soak minimum 24hrs, boil 30min. Or boil for an hour. Boilies are a little harder to find as most tackle shops don't stock them but they also work in areas with gobies. I've tried the Berkley doughbaits and really didn't have all that much success on them. Perhaps other board members have different experiences. I would save up $ and purchase a few cans of corn instead. I use lines from 8lb mono to 50lb braid depending where I'm fishing. For a 7' Medium heavy rod, I imagine 12lb mono would handle nicely with it. Most of the time I'm fishing on bottom using a variety of sinkers - Egg sinkers work. Carp fishing can be as easy or as advanced as you want to make it. Good luck with your quest

Seems like I wasn't the only one out last night - Managed about 50 worms in about 20min from my lawn. My neighbours are used to my late night lawn perusing. Great photos Cliff and good luck with the fishing. If your daughter is into worm picking, come over to my lawn...Last year the grubs pretty much annihilated my front and back yard so the worms are now easy pickings - No grass to get in the way

Beauty fish! Welcome to OFC

It's always worth getting out IMO - Sure beats housework Had a feeling that tribs were going to be blown this morning...They were. Stopped at one trib, looked at it, went back into the car and drove to the next. Probably spent more time traveling than actually fishing. If at first you don't succeed, hop back into the car and drive to the next trib, or the next or the next... In tough conditions, beggars can't be choosers. The 2nd brown of the day - It was the smaller of the 2. I'll take one of these any day over a blanking.

Those gotta be fake...I'm talking about the tattoos

Great pics and I'm loving the scenery. You're lucky to have a wife who's into fishing. Top angling to the both of you.

For me, it's not so much the weight that I'll be carrying throughout the day that I'm worried about, it's the motions involved compounded by the weight and carried over a long period of time (years) that I'm most worried about. I'm young and fish hard now, I want to be fishing hard when I'm old. I know a few anglers who had to give up the sport they loved because of injuries to their wrist, elbows and rotator cuffs - prominent in fly fishing, some in float fishing. An activity doesn't have to be strenuous to cause injury. You can be sitting down at your computer browsing the internet using a mouse and develop Tendonitis and/or tennis elbow - I did case studies on this in school and its surprising how much a problem ergonomics (or a lack thereof) actually is in the workplace. Auto assembly workers who do nothing but screw bolts onto a car without having to lift anything can develop injuries. Casting a rod for 14hrs a day over years can cause injuries. Pain is a sign something is not right. I love fishing and do my best to do it in ways to prevent injuries. When I'm 80+ yrs old, I want to be able to do this - Definitely worth watching when it hits 2:30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc3Z9okcH3A...feature=related You don't have to feel pain when you're old.

That's what rod holders and trolling motors are for

Sorry for your loss. He sounded like a great man and a special person. Condolences for you and your mom.

Best of luck. Algonquin park is such a beautiful place. I imagine is freaking cold there at this time. Stay safe and have fun.

For me, I'm probably one of the smallest guys out on the river - I'm not particularly tall or heavy nor am I very strong so finding the best way to lug around a heavy rod is important. Consider the physics of levers. Fishing rods are just that. You have a long length on one side of the fulcrum (where you place your hand) and a short length on the other (butt section). Naturally physics is working against you in terms of what load you have to carry. If you wanted to lift a heavy object, you'd push down with the long length between you and the fulcrum to lift load the short length. You can have the lightest rod in the world but the physics of it is always working against you because of the fact that the butt section of a rod is always going to be shorter than the rest of it out in front of you. There is also the multiplier effect - I'm no mathametician but it's something that I studied in operations management and ergonomics. If you try to lift something farther away from you, the harder it will be and the greater the force needed to lift it. Hence, this is the reason why people can get away with using heavier centrepins - They're located very close to the fulcrum...Stick it at the long end of 13ft of graphite and you've got problems - Ounces seem like pounds. With that said some things you can do - Shove the butt end of the rod under your armpit so that it takes off most of the load - You yourself become the counterbalance rather than the 12 inches of cork and a rubber butt cap. - Find a position that keeps your wrist as straight as possible - A bent wrist kept in that position for hours will always hurt at the end of the day...That's why they used to sell those ergonomic computer keyboards that split in the middle. It screwed with people's minds but at least it kept your wrist straight. - Switch up the way you hold a centrepin over the course of a day to minimize the repetitive strain on certain muscles in a particular position. - Take your rod and reel to a physician and have them help you find a good way to hold things to minimize strain and the chance of injury. I took my rod and reel to school and showed my prof...He helped me understand what I needed to correct in my casting technique. - You can always blow $ and buy a custom rod and reel which may be lighter and better balanced. One tip I've used from my experience in fly fishing is to use your body to cast. Lefty Kreh advocates this is the best way to prevent screwing up your arm. I tuck the butt section of the rod under my armpit and turn my body during the cast. All the power generated comes from my body rather than just my arm. You can't cast as far but I can cast to 95% of the places I fish. It helps if you use slightly heavier weight on the business end to load up the rod during the cast and act as a weight for zinging it out. Always stretch before fishing - sounds weird but it really is a physical activity. These things have helped me. I still do get sore wrists after 2 days of fishing 14hrs each day. The pain is far less than what I used to experience.

Tapered leaders will substitute parts 3 and 4 (I'm guessing part 5 is the actual fly). The tapered leaders have a thick butt section which tapers down to a smaller diameter line (tippet). You can tie them directly to your fly line - Eventually you will have to replace the thin part of the leader with tippet material because of wear and tear and the fact that you may be snipping off flies and changing them which eats up the tippet section. I have them in my pocket but a lot of the time I tie my own using a stiff section of 20lb mono and splice it to a softer section of 8-10lb test...I fish for steelhead and use split shops and such - No finesse required...From what I gather, it's more critical in dry fly fishing to use them because they present the fly in a more delicate fashion (I don't fish dry flies so I personally wouldn't know) One guide, Ian Collin James ties on a "level" leaders...A 8-10lb piece of mono to the fly line...Seems to work for him just fine

That's the standard way of doing things...For me, I prefer a loop to loop connection for the fly line and the leader. I have a small loop of 30lb mono nail knotted to the fly line and tie either a perfection loop or a double surgeon's loop in the leader and join the two. I also create loops by doubling over the fly line onto itself to create a small loop. Whip the doubled over fly line using tying thread. Goop aqua-seal or Loon's UV knot glue (I actually use the UV wader repair stuff) over the thread and let cure. Tie a loop in the leader and join...Never had a problem with either connection breaking. Might want to use other knots if you're heading out to salt water - IE. Bimini twist. Edit When in doubt take it to a fly shop and have them set it up for you.

Nicely done. Great work on Bowshep's part. Would that happen to be a Thunder Creek silver shiner pattern lodged in its yap?

Great write-up Anytime you can get out is great...I know the feeling. A nice fish there. You do realize that for the next while, you'll be the source of all jokes relating to your man-to-hand relationship if you know what I mean...

I fished the head waters yesterday morning. In total I think I must've walked a little over 4km and saw a couple fish tucked far into a log jam. The creek seemed pretty devoid of fish. Always worth bringing a rod...Stop in at Tightlines and ask for info...If the steel aren't biting, stick a worm on a hook and fish for suckers if they're there.

Awesome report! I've always wanted to do something like that. Sure gets you away from the crowds WTG

Thanks for taking the time for posting this. I also have a Stradic albeit an older model. I now know that my mechanically challenged @ss stands no chance in opening it up and greasing it. There are so many parts...Knowing myself, I'll probably put something in backwards or leave something out...Off to Aikman's I go! Fly reels and centrepins are as far as I go...Only one screw involved

Thanks everyone for their comments. We really appreciate it. I'm hoping to do a few more trips for steelhead before switching over to carp. That makes sense...Victor, another road trip next weekend to catch your first steelhead Everyone knows you can't catch steelhead just fishing marshmallows bottom...You need to fish them dry/waking style on a spey rod using a long greased line j/k

St. Lawrence in September for you guessed it....CARP!

Well done on the brute especially with the fly rod. My dad and I are planning a trip down there in the near future. The first pic is definitely an inspiration. WTG A couple questions I have: Are you rigging up with shooting heads, full sinking, sink tips or just plain weighted flies + split shot to get down? Are cleats mandatory or can I get away with felt soles? Thanks

Beautiful! Especially love the first two pics but all the fish are gorgeous. Congrats on a successful opener. What kind of camera did you use to take the pics?

Beautiful pics of stunning fish. The yap on that big male is massive! Well done...Looks like an amazing opener you had Top Angling