PickerelHunter

I wrote a paper in 4th year university on the ethics of hunting, and during my research I stumbled upon some P3TA websites etc. and was blown away at the brainwashing propaganda that they publish. They had an entire website geared towards kids and teaching them how hooking a baby fish is no different then hooking your baby brother. Like come on, are they serious? This is a very very evil organization which can be very persuasive to those that are uninformed

I spent 2 months in Europe and a year in Australia...the most economical and efficient way to take money out is through your credit card at the ATM's over there. They have the best rates you can find. No middle man which saves you money (aside from the 1 euro charge for using the ATM). Don't take out 20 euro's each time though, make it a few hundred at a time and this is the way to go.

what's young to you?

I'd love to join but don't have a boat. Any boaters have an open spot maybe? Please let me know.

Tbay---ya that was definately you...nice to informally meet you. Thanks for the info you shared with me. I didn't fish back at that same spot, kind of around the corner and it wasn't until about 5-6. I'll be back there on MOnday after work for the evening bite. Fisherman---WOW, I can't believe it's up that much more then usual...any idea how long it takes before the levels go back to normal...and do you steelheaders fish it when it's this high?

Started off with minnows and only had that small one to show for it. Maybe the bite was just turning on when I switched to the microtube.

Drove around yesterday, covered about 300 km throughout the whole day just looking at some present or future fishing spots around Barrie. Went to look at some streams and rivers where I hope to try steelheading eventually. Stopped in at Trombley's to check out their big sale, TONS of people, about 50 waiting in line and another 50 or more roaming around, just crazy. Had only a few bucks worth of stuff and once I saw the line I said screw this, not worth it. Outside I had some of the best chicken wings I've ever had, and the turkey was very good too. Anyways, headed down to where I knew people were catching crappies and decided to join them. Never been here but will be back, the place was just packed on shore and quite a few boats too. Didn't have much luck for the first hour or so, thus I moved on to find some other spots but most were either provate property or unaccessable. Came back to fish with the crowd and found a fairly less crowded spot and got into a few using a micro tube without a float, just barely jigging it back. Here's the Nottawasaga...not sure what it's supposed to look like, but looks VERY flooded to me The crappie spot (it's no secret, everyone's there) My first crappie since 2006 (remember I was overseas for 2007, so it's not as bad as that sounds!!) And finally a nice sized one

I went there for the first time yesterday. Everyone is in search of crappie, the bite didn't really pick up till later in the afternoon/evening from what I saw...although I left for a few hours because it was so crowded. I saw a few people keeping everything they caught, and just checked the regs and it's a 30 crappie limit...would question the amount they had, but wasn't going to look through their pail obviously. If you have a boat you'll do well for sure.

WOW, awesome report. The pics are gorgeous and the river looks really good. Thanks for sharing

Looks like I have a lot to learn on the subject, and getting out and trying will be a big learning step for sure. jdmls recommended the book "Steelhead Float Fishing" which I plan on getting....is there any others some of you experienced fisherman could recommend? Thanks PH

Nice fish, good stuff. I have the same philosophy as you with the pics, if you can pick out a random tree in the background you already know the spot, nothing new there...noones going to realize a spot from those types of shots.

Exact setup I use and it's been flawless for the species your looking for

Thanks for all the information guys, it's really helping me get an idea about this. Just a question....can someone explain this surgical tubing as a float thing? I'm a bit confused about it. Sounds great if you don't need to re-tie but can't grasp the idea

Well I was going to name this the crappy report, but then it would have given the impression that I actually caught some. I was hoping that my first report on here would be one filled with pictures of fish, but unfortunately not one fish was caught all afternoon. Having just moved to Barrie and getting off work at 2 this seemed like the opportune time to find some good crappie spots. Had all my spots mapped out, some were in Barrie, others in Orillia. A few ended up "looking" promising but didn't get me anything. Are the creeks running too fast? I have no idea, but something was not working. I didn't even see one person fishing in any spots in Orillia or Barrie, so this meant one of three things...I'm fishing the wrong spots...I'm early...or the conditions aren't right. I just got home quite down because I had such high hopes for the day. Didn't even see any fisherman's mess (e.g. old line, empty worm cans etc.) lying around in any of the spots I fished, so either the fisherman around here are much much cleaner than the ones I'm used to, or these were just questionable spots. Oh well, a day out still beats anything else. I'll be back at it again soon. The first four are the same area in Barrie, (two from one side of the bridge, two from the other) it was flooded pretty good. These two were on the outskirts of orillia

Just read that topic after I posted, thanks alot, gives me a bit of an idea

Hey guys...I've never fished steelhead in the streams/creeks/rivers but this has been something I've really wanted to get in to for a long time and this is the year I'm finally going to do it. I know steelheading is a very sensitive and secretive topic and for good reason, but I hope someone can answer some of my questions (even by PM if need be). I've found my river and found some major access areas to it off of main roads. I'm not looking for spots as I know this river holds many steelhead, and half the fun is walking the banks into more remote areas and finding holes that hold fish, so my questions are mainly about equipment. I'm a recent university student of 5 years (one of those being in Australia) so saying that i have a lack of funds would be a complete understatement...here's the main gear I have to work with. 8'6 Shakespeare Catera medium action Spinning reel with 8 lb CX premium P-line Flouro carbon coated small hooks, splitshots, barrelswivels, slipfloats etc. (and if I don't have it it's cheap enough that I can afford) Rubber mesh landing net Water proof boots Polarized sunglasses and Patience I plan on fishing with a slip float (or other float if suggested). I don't mind buying some things if needed of course (like line, types of hooks etc.) but need to stick to the hardware I already have if possible and make the most of it. Now here's the questions... 1. What kind of setup/rig should I be looking at (leader, weight, bait, depth etc.) with the rod and reel and type of fishing I hope to do 2. Is there a certain clarity the water should/shouldn't be for optimal fishing. The river is flooded and running pretty fast and muddy right now, so I'm assuming this is not good at the moment. 3. If I do run into someone else fishing the river, what are the ethics of have far to keep away? 4. In general, what am I looking for on a river to give me an idea that there might be fish in this spot or that spot (fallen trees, change in flow, boulder etc?) Thanks alot for reading and I hope to learn about this as I'm very excited to get into steelheading on these rivers and streams. Like I said it's something I've always wanted to do but never got around to it. If I asked any question that is asking for too much info, forgive me, I have no clue. Thanks Peter

Good stuff Tbay...nothing better then checking out spots and finally being rewarded. Thanks for the pics too

I drove by the docks and the waterfront on the north side of Kempenfelt....ice right against shore was gone on dunlop and lakeshore drive. By gone I mean 50 cm - 1m from shore, the rest was ice. So getting on might be difficult. The docks looked solid though. Not sure of anything south of the docks as I turned on tiffin to get to work. Either way be careful.

I like the darker beers in general...just stumbled upon Sleemans Porter which is good. Love Kilkenny....drink alot of eastern european beers too Zywiec, Lech, and EB from Poland (I'm polish)....Golden Pheasant from czech or Slovak. In general Euro beers are really nice

Yeah I did eat the black bream (bass shaped one) and it was delicious. I've never eaten a smallie or largie so can't compare to the bass family, but it was quite mild like a crappie in flavour, but a little bit tougher (not tough at all, just not as melt in your mouth). As for the surf fishing, yes it was all done out of salt water. The picture in my previous post was down in the Melbourne area, but anywhere I went this seemed like a popular technique for sure.

If I'm out for more then 3-4 hours, my first stop (even before the tackle shop or gas) is to pick up a bag of chips (usually crunchy cheetos), a snickers bar, and a big bottle of gatorade....this keeps me happy for a full 8 hours if need be!!

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I look forward to sharing my reports and reading those from others. Should be a great open water season. I never realized how high volume this site is. Takes a long time to go over the posts made within 24 hours!! Since many of you seem to like the Aussie pics, here's a couple more This is a Mongrove Jack The teacher that took me out fishing a few times called this thing a Ramorey (sp?) And this is what surf fishing is all about (that's not me down there, but I love the pic)

Don't know what the best thing to use is, but I've caught my fair share while bass fishing with inline spinners

My go to crappie lure is a 1/16 or even 1/32 white, yellow, or pink maribou jig. They work awesome for crappies and 90% of my crappies are caught on this, both in Niagara and on Buckhorn. You can use a slip float with it with success as well. I'm trying to find a few spots up around Simcoe as well, I would guess any run off streams from the lake will produce in spring

Hey guys, I'm new to the board and this is my first post. Apparently I signed up in December (which I don't remember doing) but was planning on joining today anyways. I'm from the Niagara region, but for the last month have made Barrie my home, so I'm really looking forward to finding some spots in and around the city. I've fished the Niagara region from shore quite solidly for the past 5 years and have found some very productive spots for many different species. I hope to have the same success in my new area, and am already doing some legwork to find some spots for the pike opener! I missed out on the entire 2007 fishing season as I was in Australia for teachers college, so I'm chomping on the bit to get the season going. Did a bit of ice fishing since I got back but nothing to write home about...plus it took me awhile to get acclimitzed to the winter again! The main species that I target are pike, bass, perch, and crappie...with the first two being my major focus. I look forward to being involved in this forum, and if anyone has any questions about fishing the Niagara region, or fishing in Australia, or even going there, please feel free to message me on here and I'd be happy to help. Here's a few pics just to introduce myself These few are from Oz A black bream on the Herbert River near Townsville. They're not usually this dark, similar to a smallmouth I'd say Don't remember the full name, but it's an Estuary Cod Met this guy along the river Some beach fishing Now to some Ontario stuff.... My first (and only) musky A smallie released on Buckhorn A couple little trout Lake Erie walleye A nice (and tasty) Buckhorn walleye Couple nice largies from Niagara And finally, a pike (I very rarely keep fish but she was very badly hooked) Thanks for viewing guys.