MJL

Swing casting isn't the easiest cast to do but it certainly cuts down on line twist. The only places I ever do it is on the west coast or down in the Niagara when I'm using 20+ gram slip floats and a bunch of heavy pencil lead. Rod selection can also make things a lot easier too with slow-action (yet beefy) rods making things a lot easier - parabolic action rods load up nicely on the cast. My favourite rod for doing it is the old-school Sage 3113lb float rod (especially when matched with a worn-in bushing centerpin reel). I prefer heavier mono too when swing casting. With the right outfit, you can chuck your rig surprisingly far by swing casting. Keep in mind that if you're fishing shoulder to shoulder spots, it's definitely not the best cast to use.LOL

For rivers around the GTA - as others have mentioned - side casting, spinning side casting or wallis casting are easier ways to do things with lighter floats and rigs.

Unless it was the absolute last form of sustenance on this earth and the only way to survive, I might consider eating a dirty boot...Then again, what would be the point of living?

Perhaps the only reason people keep the dead ones (or near dead) is because they are obviously the easiest to land...They generally don't fight back when they're hooked.LOL

You also have to consider that the Ontario guide to eating sportfish does not recommend eating chinook salmon over 20" from Western Lake Ontario (for kids and women of child bearing age) - That's considered pretty small as far as Lake O chinooks go on average - And that's the fresh fish still swimming in Lake Ontario.LOL

Hands down, corn is the most instant bait out there for carp. Unless you're fishing extremely pressured waters for carp - where they've been caught over and over on corn - pretty much every carp on the planet will eat corn. Bread, maize (cow corn), tiger nuts (aka chufa nuts) and worms (especially at this time of year) are other fairly instant baits you can try. Boilies, in my experience can be very effective at times but they aren't as instant as the baits I previously mentioned - it usually takes some time to get the fish to feed on them. They are great at sorting out the bigger fish though and if small nuissance fish are a problem (like gobies), they hold up great. There is a huge difference in the store-bought 'preserved' boilies vs freshly made ones or freezer-boilies IMO, with freshly made/freezer baits being the best.

Chumming little and often is usually the best tactic. The idea is to get fish rooting around bottom but not overfeeding to the point that your hook-bait gets lost in the mix. You also want fish competing amongst themselves for the free offerings. If you're in an area with a lot of fish close by, it doesn't take a lot of chum to get them going and to keep them going for hours. Of course 'little and often' is relative depending on the number, size and activity level of the fish in a given location.

Keep in mind that fishing for carp while they're actively spawning is often an exercise in futility. They're generally too preoccupied doing their thing and have little interest in feeding. They can be caught but you're better off looking for fish that aren't in the midst of spawning.

Welcome Rob

Lived in Scarborough my whole life. Spent tons of time fishing at the Rouge marsh when I was a kid. Actually caught my first ever fish from there (A perch). Fun times

Then they should eliminate tournies involving livewells too

There's a bass fishing tournament show on WFN where the weigh guys are right on the participant's boat...Who knows...

The last one is a fatty!

Nicely done

Very cool Brian..Great footage!

Were you floating around in the pontoon?

From my own observations, I've seen guys take 30 seconds to unhook fish and then another 2 minutes grabbing their phone from a bag, fiddling around with it and then taking multiple shots over and over again because the first few didn't turn out well. The fish is tossed back in the water after an extended (and unnecessary) period of time.

That's the point of the legislation. The rule was written down not to eliminate OOS pictures from social media (although that would be a result). It's there to minimize the amount of unnecessary mortality when it comes to the capture of Out of Season fish.

For the guys complaining that they still would like to take pics of OOS fish, the laws could be a lot tougher. Some fisheries, (particularly on the west coast) have made it illegal to remove fish from the water even for photographic purposes (unless you plan to keep them).

http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/recreation/activities/fishing/caring_for_your_catch.print.html

This is how it should always have been IMO. I wish Ontario would put the same rules in our regulations booklet.

Releasing OOS immediately should mean just that - Pop the hook and it's gone. It's probably a lot worse in winter when eyes and gills can freeze in the sub zero temps.

I would love to see CO's handing out tickets to the guys spending minutes showboating OOS bass to the cameras while fishing for pike.

A friend of mine got banned from a golf course for fishing one of their ponds. Apparently it was loaded with bass, crappies and hammer handle pike.LOL

What about the hero shot guy? The guy who takes pictures of every single fish he catches.LOL

That's pretty funny stuff. I love that first buffoon holding the wiener fish a mile out in front so they look huge. And these guys think no one can tell? LOL!!!

Holding fish in front of the camera with your hands is for newbs! The pros use this...

https://youtu.be/hpKY-362D48

NIcely done Brian

Definitely one of my favourite events of the year...Hoping to make it out again this year

I think we're going to need a bigger tape measure

Great article. Over the past 5yrs, I've been trying to evolve my fishing and photography around conservation best practices (ie. keeping fish in the water as much as I can). I believe it gives you a more aesthetically pleasing picture and both you and the fish are happier in the end

Brookie by MJLeung, on Flickr

Reflection by MJLeung, on Flickr

Below the ice by MJLeung, on Flickr

Half & half bass by MJLeung, on Flickr

Gar by MJLeung, on Flickr

I don't take too many selfies...Sometimes you just gotta be your own cameraman

Selfie brownie by MJLeung, on Flickr

As it was described to me by a dermatologist at the hospital, any rating over UPF30 doesn't really add much to the overall protection from UV rays. Once you hit UPF30, you block approx 97% of UV rays. UPF 60 will not give twice the protection against UV rays unless you consider that it may provide additional longevity against water and sweat.

I read that darker coloured fabrics block UV rays better than lighter coloured ones. You'd feel the heat if you were wearing black though.

I'm a big fan of synthetic long sleeve shirts. I bought a number of Simms shirts on clearance and have a number of generic polyester and coolmax shirts. They keep me cool in the heat and I don't get sun burned...They also dry very fast when I'm wet wading.

I'm covered up well when the sun is beaming down. Hat, buff, polarized sun glasses, Simms guide shirt, Simms guide sun gloves, Simms lightweight zip-off pants, polypropylene socks, Columbia water shoes FTW!

Imagine what it would be like if the $50 that was spent to pimp someone else's products on that site, went to other organizations like the Nottawasaga steelheaders, Metro East Anglers, Credit River Anglers Association, Ontario Steelheaders, Casting for Recovery, Project Healing waters and similar organizations instead. There are certainly other ways to get into the fishing industry with a wealth of contacts available if you look.

Are you using Adblock on your browser?

I wasn't able to view the site for the last number of days until my dad recommended I try turning off Firefox's adblock for OFC. I disabled it for this site and it works as normal (except with ads).

I went in August with my sister, brother in-law and 2 nephews. As others have mentioned, buy the tickets in advance or you could be waiting for a while (probably not so much a problem if you go during the week during a snow storm). Great place to visit and wouldn't mind going back in a few years. Would've loved to have a go with the fishing rod in the shark tank.LOL

A few years ago I got tennis elbow after a couple days of ripping bucktails for walleyes. Ice and rest for a couple of weeks and all is good.

I don't see why fishing should be banned in the Rouge even if it is a National Park. I fished in Banff and Jasper last year. Paid for a permit in the parks office and went at it.

I fished the Rouge my whole life. I live 10mins away and would hate to have to a local haunt closed to fishing.

Mirrorless cameras are the future! As far as image quality goes, it really depends on the model – You’ve got APS-C, Micro 4/3, CX and Full frame mirrorless cameras each with their own pros and cons.

Most mirrorless camera bodies are quite small. With that said, stick a lens on (especially a zoom lens), and they become less pocketable unless you get some form of pancake lens or smaller prime (still lighter than a DSLR though). Battery life also isn’t as good compared to what you would get out of a DSLR. If you have large hands, you may not find mirrorless cameras as comfortable to use compared to a larger DSLR with a larger grip.

For me, I’ve been really tempted to get the Panasonic GH4 (for video), or the Sony A6000 or Fuji Xt1 (as a walk around camera for social events) or waiting for a Sony A7R mark II (if it ever comes out with better auto focus, quieter shutter and in-body stabilization). At some point in the future, I’ll probably buy a mirrorless camera and a lens or two to try out.

 

Many of the GTA rivers (including ones that you mentioned) are stocked with salmon and/or trout.

Indeed they are - I have fished most of them at one time or another.

I should have stated that I would prefer to stock urban fisheries only that have little to no natural reproduction instead of rivers with an existing good degree of natural reproduction.

There's a number of rivers that get some pretty amazing runs of cohos and they were never stocked with them...

Cohos are one of my most favourite fish to hook into. Just a blast on lighter tackle.

From what I can remember reading, stocking on top of natural populations doesn't work too well. Personally I would love to see the Notty as is - If anything, this fall was one of my better seasons up there in terms of numbers and average size for steelhead.

I would really love to see urban rivers close to home like the Humber, Don, Rouge, Mimico, Etobicoke, which have minimal to no natural reproduction get stocked with cohos, browns, steelhead or chinooks.

Nicely done Tyler. My dad and I are itching to get back up there for next year

Nice fish Brian

Methinks the fishies got violated the day before...