BillM

Mono has it's place. But I find the sensitivity of braid along with the no stretch is really great for working tube jigs and fishing the slop for bass. It also helps greatly while working walk the dog type baits like the zara spook. The only time I ever use mono now is on my pin and my UL setup for trout. Braid on pretty much everything else.

Hey Chris, I wish I could say that the path lead to monster brookies, but it didn't cough up anything. That river, atleast in that area is just to fast and to shallow. No real nice holding pools from my 2-3km hike down river (maybe I'm blind, who knows) If you interested in more specific details just drop me a PM. I did more driving then fishing, that's for sure

That's it, you and Leechman aren't allowed to post anymore

Spiel, that's awesome man! Looks like you did a lot better then I did on the opener. Extremely jealous of those stream browns, still one fish that has eluded me on my creek quests, lol

Dave, you do any icefishing? :)

The anticipation I've had for the 25th of April has grown and grown until reaching an apex lastnight right before bed. Double and triple checking my equipment before loading it into the truck still wasn't good enough, I was tossing and turning in my sleep with the thoughts of forgetfulness. Four thirty am, came awful quick once I actually fell asleep. The alarm goes off, I wake up, and stumble into the bathroom in the dark because the gf was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her up. After getting dressed, feeding the kitties, it was time!!!! The day I've been waiting for was finally here. I don't know how to really explain it, or even compare it to the fishing I've been doing the past 6 months, but the urge to was as strong as ever. I absolutely love fishing for steelhead on the pin. Being introduced to it this year and having the help of of a true steelhead master has made my learning curve a lot easier then it probably should have been. There is no other way I'd rather spend a cold winters day, but in a half frozen river with great company catching steelies. Today however is different. I'm not new to this type of fishing as I've been doing it for a while but I still get as excited as ever. The damp smell of the cool morning air as you step out of the front door is intoxicating. It's a prerequisite of the opener. I headed out, grabbed a Tims and headed east. I wish this was an epic report, chalked full of monster fish and insane numbers, but to me today was more about the overall experience. I hit my first creek at around 6am with thoughts of brookies leaping around in my head. Unfortunately the fish had other ideas This was a new to me river. I wasn't going in completely blind as I had my GPS programmed, and my backroads maps ready, but as far as the river itself was concerned, I was a complete rube. The wildlife today was surreal.... turkeys, deer and even a couple of grouse crossed my paths without to much of an effort to get out of my way. Luckily for me I avoided the crowds and found myself in places like this... I was greeted with this view as I made my way down to one of my rivers I visited. Reminded me of Sleepy Hollow for some reason Even though the trails in were nice, the view of a natural brookie coming out of a tea stained creek doesn't get any better. The fish wasn't a monster by any means (Although I think Leechman has us all beat!) but on the larger size for this area. A few more before the release. All in all a great day, the fish were just a bonus. Another opener here and gone.

The Loomis IM6 would have to be torn from my cold dead hands I love that rod. It's a funky custom built 3 piece. You looking for a setup?

It's awesome man. I can really load it up when I cast, which is nice. With my Loomis IM6 it seems like I really need to muscle it in order to bomb out a cast, with the GL3 it just loads up and is gone Sil: I've got 3 complete setups now... what can I say this floatfishing thing is addicting. 5 days and counting Mike!!

Bring on the maiden voyage!!!!!

If the regs allowed, I was going to ship them down for you to use as bait

Sil, you're right man I haven't fished to many of the rivers up here except for a few major ones. I need to change that, lol

Well, after seeing Kempers thread today I decided to break out the pin one more time to try this damn river that's skunked me everytime I've been on it. Conditions weren't that great with only 3-4inches of vis, but what the hell. The weather was nice, the sun was shining and I had a few hours to waste. Hit the first pool that I'm familar with and was greeted with this sight.. So much for that pool!! (note the giant landslide on the right, lol) I can't believe how much the winter has changed this river. It's like a night and day difference. After fishing this river a few times during late Sept of last year with a low water level, I figured out where a few nice runs were inbetween pools. I hit one of those and the first drift down goes the float! Nice little chromer with lots of spunk. A quick pic and she was on her way.

Kemper, that is a fatty! Way to go man!

Get ready for the chaos... I'm hitting some small creeks/rivers Sat morning, everyone else can fight over the steelhead.

Oh geez, don't make me post my oldmans Duramax again :)

Dave, it was a nasty fish. Any idea on what yours weighed? Looked well into the teens. Mine was ugly, but not that big, maybe around the 10lb mark or a bit less.

Nothing beats solder... If you want it to last, you gotta fix it properly.

Geez, that thing is a monster. My personal best from last year is alot uglier

Nothing gets easier then walking the dog Spinning outfit is fine... You really can't do it wrong, the more you screw it up the better it looks, lol

A pair of wire strippers, a bit of solder, some shrink tubing and you are good to go! For a quick fix, splice the wires back together and wrap them tightly in electrical tape.

You might wanna PM that info instead of posting it in a reply..

I don't see any 'walk the dog' type topwater baits. Bass and pike love those... 2 or 3 Zara spooks in different sizes would be a good addition me thinks.

Sounds like a crappy salesman if all he can do is trash the competition in order to get a sale.

Regs state that only artifical lures and 'one' barbless hook may be used. So I think a barbless treble hook would be just fine. It doesn't state 'single' anywhere in the regs. So you are allowed one hook, whether that be a single or a treble I guess it's up to you.

Steve, I am hoping to make it out that way and try my luck Sat morning. Only have been a few times around the Markdale area. All my fish will be released also, hopefully I luck out and hit a decent stream!