ckewley

Nice, got invited last minute to the derby out of Burlington today, you may have won with your fish. Not to many boated down that way today

Awesome stuff man!

That's a OFC team 2 Pike if I ever saw one...... AWESOME catch man

Out of Hamilton but traveled passed Bronte.

Launch around 5:15 & after playing chicken with a lake freighter coming into dock we were cursing out to our starting point. Water temps were were between 42-45* in 90 FOW & it wasn't long before a plainer went off with a little shaker King. After trolling around for a bit & marking allot of fish with no hits my buddy pulls out this water probe & sticks on his rigger. I have no idea what this thing is till he tells me it checks temp & speed of the current....technology sure is awesome!!! Everything was in check so we switch out a few spoons & within a few minutes a rigger fires & I pull up a nice Laker (75Ft). Followed shortly by the first King of the day. A decent maybe 3 yr old that would have been the biggest King of the day (85ft). Things seem to dry up when the sun peaked so we head off to where my friends hit pay dirt yesterday. Water temps were a bit colder around 39-42* in 190 FOW & it was THE BIG EMPTY for at least an hour, the wind seemed to shift a bit & became overcast & it was almost as if someone hit a switch. This glut might be my PB Laker, man I love catching these guy's (85ft). After boating a few more decent Lakers (8 lb range, 75-85ft) the feeling was the morning King bite was lost. We continued to troll around looking for those elusive fish when the non active rigger fires (85ft). Right away you knew it was a salmon as it darted upward to meet you, actually got a wee bit of hang time. He felt much bigger than he was, in fact he fought harder than my next King. The sun came back in full force & started to melt our faces, but we were in a prime patch. Double headers firing with Lakers, small Kings hitting a cheaters & then I get into my biggest King of the day. Things finally stopped firing around 1 or so, so we headed back to port. Really couldn't have asked for a better day. Lake O was like glass, little wind, the sun wasn't too hot (I hate the heat), the BUGS sucked but the fish rocked!! Boated north of 15 fish & my friends let me do most of the heavy lifting so I can't complain one iota.

Beauty job & fish man!

Most cyclists will not pass a cop car on the right at a stop light. As a kid a officer told me it was illegal to pass on the right, he likened it to a car hoping the curb to pass, he said you must wait in line & don't be afraid to take up the lane as it was also illegal for motorists to cram beside you. However this was 20+ years ago & the bike centric City Hall may have changed a by-law or 2.

Awesome staff man, the kids were rocking!!!!

Incredible fish & spot, thanks for posting!!

It started years ago that a friend & I would skip trout opening as the crowds were insane in favor of booking a few days off during the week to go & practically be alone on any given river. Flash forward a few years & it has morphed into a solid 9 days, including opener in search of all things Trout. We always plan on way more than we could ever possibly do, but that's kinda fun lets the chips fall where they may. Our plan is fairly simple, we hit a few of our time tested spots, we try new spots on the same river & we always try to throw in a new creek/river or two that we've never fished before, maybe even hitting a lake or two. This year the ground we covered was the Saugeen, the Pine, the Boyne, the Notty, the Grand, Bronte, Coldwater, the Rouge, Duffins, Oshawa, Bowmanville, the Ganny, Gages , Cobourg & a little creek that I don't know the name of but it was the best surprise I've had fishing in a long time. Opener saw us at Bowmanville & opener is opener, tons of guys, lots of swearing, lots of really dumb people & a few fish. Bain got into his first ever river caught bow & while it was nice seeing that happen she was a little lethargic & I wished it had been a super fresh one that would dance all over for him as he's put in the time now to be rewarded. A few more fish caught that day. Sunday rolls around & it's off to the Shwa where I finally drag a brother from a different mother out for a go & doesn't he land a nice spawned out hen. He hasn't fished in a long time & was super awesome seeing him land a fish, bite was SLOW that day so we booked it to the Rouge with little change. Monday comes around & the real adventure can begin, Ed & I, we were going to go fish the Maitland as I know someone with property there & gain easy access, no brainer however about half way there I get a call saying NO FISH & he said Bayfield is pretty much the same so we head slightly north to a spot we know on the Saugeen where we can catch endless Brookies & proceed to do just that. Most of that day was fried due to driving so we called an early one. Tuesday saw us hit up the Pine, Boyne & Notty with very limited luck catching a few Brookies & small bows. A friend of ours lives on the Notty & he texted that fish were around guess they received that text too cause they were gone. Ed had a bug something fierce about catching a steelie on his fly rod,. This is something we only just picked up about 2 years ago & are far from even halfway decent beginners, but we try. So with this bug so far up his ass we hit Bronte & he got his first taste of what it would be like to battle one on a 6 wt. I only packed my ultra light gear as I figured we'd be into 8-12" ers not hunting Steelheads, so at Bronte we weren't there 5 min when he yells out he's on one. I bolt over to see the line snap. I had found a nice pocket of little guy's so I was content fishing there. About 10 minutes go by & he yells out again, this time it stays hooked for a good 3-5 min before the snap off. I shortly after hook into one that lasted mere seconds, retie, pinch barb a cast into this pocket of little guy's NOPE big dude comes rocketing out & the hooks slips. 3rd time on a big guy the hook snaps off, up untill this point I wasn't targeting steelies but then though what the hell & retied & layed into one for a good 10min+, the ultra light & I were bested on every front & just when I had him beat (or so I thought) he threw the hook. Ed would also end up in the zero category that day. Wednesday comes & we hit Colbourg landing a few sub 5lbs'ers & although sighting lots of fish they weren't into anything we chucked at them so off to Gages creek where I run the mother load of small bows, all around 10" but a strong 10", I'm content with this kind of fishing all day puts a huge smile on my face. Ed still wants that steelie on the fly however, we've never fished the Ganny before, not for a unwanting too but just way too many folks, we're not into combat fishing, however we decide to try & see what it's like midweek. Busy...hell ya, but not at all what it could have been. We heard more than on person say the "bite was off today" & "it will be better next week" but we both go 1 for 2 there, maybe given the number of fish (a metric crap ton) YA the bite could've been off but hell we had fun. And oh yea Ed forgot his fly rod in the car...lol!!!!. We end the day at Bowmanville where Ed would see his crowning achievement of landing a steelie come true....I was about half a Km away but could hear the cheering!!!. Thursday saw us head up Port Severn/Coldwater way with a few stops along the way, one being a creek that a old timer on another forum once told me about. He copied a map for me & gave me directions to get there. It was about half Km walk through thick bush to get there & once there it was a slice of heaven. Creek couldn't have been any more than 5 ft at it widest part , most stretches were between 2-3ft but the fishing was unspoiled. Brookies were few but all in the 8-10" range while the bows were in the 10-14" range (some smaller of course) but it was the big ones that get spooked easy that had us shaking. Guessing in the 16-20" range but couldn't get within 10 ft of these guy's. This spot made my year thus far. After a awesome time there we had back to Duffins where the fishing took a different turn. Suckers & nothing but SUCKERS, hundreds of suckers. Truth told I don't mind catching them, they are kinda fun but when out for trout they suck. It was then we decided to turn this lemon into lemonade & basket a few suckers to hit Dunnville on Friday. Perfect way to end the week even if it's not trout related. Friday morn we head off to Port Maitland to start, spend a few hours there. Saw a few fish landed but most folks were packing up so did we & off to Dunnville. Spent a few hours there & caught 1 small cat maybe 2-3lbs but dropped him before I could snap a pic...oh well. After spending the last 7 days burning it we'd pack it in around 3pm & head home. Saturday came freaking early with a return of Bain as we hit up the Shwa one more time & while the bite was slow Bain poped 2 more steelies under his belt & one he didn't land but gave him that Steelie fight, cartwheeling, jumpimg, bulldogging...ya it safe to say he's hooked. Too many photo's to go through so I'll post some of my favs. Here's to the start of I hope what will be a awesome soft water season!

I'm pretty sure OPG & Hydro One were intended to be sold to the private sector but to this date it hasn't happened & remain government owned. If memory serves Ontario Hydro was split into 5 companies not 2 but I could be wrong?

Those pictures are incredible, amazing detail!!! Oh & the fish aren't half bad either (jealous big time)

Awesome stuff man

I'm sure there were some guy's but not at all what I expected to see given the quality of fishing you guy's had. Awesome photo's, I really have to get a passport & travel state side.

The creek I fish I just float worm but they hit roe, pinkies just about anything. I've seen guy's fly'n for them as well.

The day was this awesome!!! Great day, it was only Chris & I not another sole to be found on the lake, Fishing was awesome 9 Lakers total nothing of size but still fun.

Awesome day.... I thought you said a fish took the rod!!!! Marked some big fish just couldn't get them to bite & walked away with a slight sun burn to boot. Gull Lake really is a amazing setting.

I'm in, you dig Guinness or Innis & Gunn?

A Snugee eh! Not a bad idea & I'd fit in with the regular folk that fish that pier...LOL!!! Legs were soaked (wick-dry pants) packed rain gear for the top half just not the bottom. Saturday the pier was on fire with some 35+ fish landed, I wasn't fishing but had awesome fun watching everyone else catching. Bain caught his first "real" steelie & his euphoric expression was quite cool to see. As for the handling, I hate when this topic comes up because no matter how far you go to safe handle the fish someone else will always pipe in & say you didn't go far enough as though they were there watching your every move (no one here has done this). I can say that the fish that was released was 100% handled correctly given where we were fishing, even going so far as to dig snow to wet his hands before handling the little fella. Sundays fish left in a bag.

Awesome news man congrats!!!!!!!1

It does depend on locale & plants but a good measure is May 24 weekend, before that there is risk of frost at any given time. I grow chili peppers, start them inside & move them outside. Lately I've been stuck to container growing with no yard but can still grow monster plants.

If it is indeed science driven then I'm all for it, would rather see something akin too the Aurora trout though where lakes are on a 3-5-10...whatever year rotation closure to ice fishing maybe with a open water restriction as well.

Ya man I couldn't buy a bite & everything seemed to go wrong, peeled 100ft of line to help avoid twisted line....nope still messed up (last seasons line), Use another rod set the hook & start reeling darn handle became loose...lost. Damn rubber hooks but a fantastic day none the less. That new antifreeze was brought back from India for me, it is quite a nice Rum, apparently it is illegal for me to have as I'm not in the Indian military came packaged in a T-shirt bag.....?

Many moons ago on another forum I had gained a few spots on this lake but it wasn't until this past weekend that I went to try them out. I had worried about if the access was still there, the nice lady at the township office gave me the thumbs up so off we go. You couldn't ask for better weather, the morning saw -19 but by 11am or so you could almost run without a jacket. We walked out maybe a mile (roughly) & punched a hole on a shelf about 20fow, Bain set up his tip up & we walked out to deeper water. Bain punched his next hole in about 85 fow & I set up at 93 a few yards away. Bain started marking fish pretty much from the get go & armed with a white tube started jigging. Wasn't long before he had one give chase & bumped it up near the 20ft mark but no dice. I on the other hand wasn't marking a thing, almost to the point I though my scanner was messed up. Finally a few did a drive by which solved the argument, I had switched lures a few times trying to call in something but in the end it was the minnows that did the trick. Didn't mark the time but it was around 10:30 or so when things started to heat up, marking fish every 4-5min all through the column & then my first of the day was on-line. Not a big guy by any stretch but hella fun. In great Maritime tradition the fist to catch must lick the fish before sending it back (just kidding ) Now it wasn't long before Bain was on the board with another small guy but at least we were catching the targeted species. Aside from my dumb thumb it was all smiles. Some time had passed & while we were still marking fish not many took interest. I started playing the column but my scanner with such a small minnow on was hard to see at 93ft so I found myself over/under shooting most of the time. That is until this guy B-lined my bait. Definitely a bigger fight in this guy............ but hey I'm sitting at 2 now. It was around this time when Bain had a case of rubber hooks. Rod goes down, Bain runs like a mad man, sets the hook, 2 seconds pass &....GONE. Drops it back down, feels the nibbling, BANG pulls the trigger & 2 seconds pass....GONE!!! NOW if any of you have seen Clark Griswolds rant in Christmas Vacation here it was being spoken in Cantonese, Bain had to take a nap afterwards.... Not long after I marked a slightly bigger fish & she was on the ice a short time after that & Bain got into his second All in all a awesome day even if the fish were on the small side, Lake Joe has cast a nice spell over us & we'll return for sure.

You truly have one of the worst jobs on the planet Mike, I don't know how you get up in the morning! Incredible video, love that river (never fished it mind you, but one day), your Sutton River piece & video drive me mad with envy.