FishHeadRic

I'll second that one there Jed. FHR

OK, so the other day I was out fishing on the North Shore of Long Island. I had made my way out to one of my local Honey holes, Target Rock on the north side of Loyd Neck. I've posted several times about this place and have come to know the area like the back of my hand. (And trust me, I know the back of my hand! ) While out there fishing I saw this insanely huge storm cell come from the west. This thing had to be at least six miles high and about 10 miles across at the bottom. When I first spotted it it was just over the city, (NYC) and coasting along the Connecticut shore line. NYC is about 30 miles away from me so I figured I'd have a little time to get onto shore and wait it out. I reeled in my lines and took another look back over my shoulder to absolute horror! The entire shore line of Connecticut to the west was gone! Just engulfed in black and lightning and all of this was moving strait for me. I was a good quarter mile from the shore and really just scared poop-less. The thing that was most eerie about the whole situation was that where I was there was absolutely NO wind. I grabbed my paddle and started booking it for the shore just listening to what was goin' on behind me. All of a sudden the wind went from 0 to 5 and then to 15 mph. Then it just turned into a strait 40-45 mph gale. I could feel the wind pushing me toward the shore, Thank God! cause at this point I wasn't too far but by now the sky above me had gone Charcoal Grey/green. I must have hit the shoreline doing about 10 knots cause my boat almost beached clear out of the water. I leaped off, pulled it up the beach and ran under a dock for cover. Squatting under the dock I was blasted with sand for about 20 minutes while lightning was smacking down everywhere. I've seen some really crazy weather before but I can honestly say that I've never been in fear of my life before. Never! Last Friday around 5:15pm I was instilled with this fear. As quick as this storm came over me it was gone. Long Island sound was just churned like butter right in front of me and as the storm moved past in moved the most beautiful calm weather. Just creepy. So this morning I got an email from a friend of mine who lives one town over from me. He works at a yacht club and his story of the same storm was even more fantastic. The yacht club he works at in Oyster Bay had a tornado come down right in front of them and then move off into the entrance of the bay. I guess once a tornado hits water it's considered a water spout but what ever you wanna it it's still scary as hell. A bunch of people he was with snapped off a lot of shots of this thing. These first two his buddy took from the launch boat he was operating. They were trying to go around the mooring field and pick up as many people as they could. Really frantic and scary situation he said. These next two were from his camera. He was back at the boat house on radio detail. The point that the tornado (water spout) is in front of is Billy Joel's house. Lucky for him it didn't make land fall again/ It just disappeared into the sky right in front of his boat dock. This summer, this year has had some of the CRAZIEST freak storms I've ever witnessed here on the Island. It's really got me wondering what effects we are responsible for here or is Mother Nature just ticked to high hell. Oh yeah, I don't like Killer Bees. FHR

Hehe Johnny, I'm on the north shore of Long Island across from New Haven Conneticut. It's definately salt water but a lot more shelered from the ocean. Long Island sound isn't that big. Maybe 4-5 miles across. I could probably make it across on my yak in an hour or two but the currents would probably drag me a few more miles in or out if they were running real hard. Hey Johnny have you ever been up that river? There's a bunch of boulders in the river and it's tricky but just after the first major bend there's a huge stump feild that's covered in lilly pads. The only largies I've ever caught up there were in that part, but they were all BIG! Patrick...YO!! Ric

Hey Raf, Anytime man! Just swing on by. If you're down there in the fall, late you'll at some point be passing huge schools of Stripers migrating down the east coast to the Chesapeake Bay. The two major rivers they spawn in are the Hudson and the Chesapeake. You should follow the coast down Jersey and just keep stopping and fishing. Or better yet hop on a party boat or two along the way. Ric

Tjsa, hop in the car with spiel!!! Ric

Spiel, anytime you wanna come down to NY you have a place to stay with me. I'll get ya into all the stripers ya want to! Johnny!!! How are ya man? I saw that post ya put up the other day and the other one where you went up to Head Lake. It's a tough lake eh? If ya want I can send ya a map of the spots I know up there. My uncle owns property on the north side. Fished it hard for an entire summer. Lots of smallies and some decent walleye as well. Seen the Ski's up there but only caught one about the size of a kit-kat. I have a good Idea of where they hang though. As far as catching anything else down here goes, depends on the seasons. Right now bluefish are in in force. Fluke (summer flounder) are everywhere, Porgies (Seabream), Sand sharks, Brown sharks, skates, sea robins, sea bass... As far as I'm concerned Striped Bass are my new Pike. They're all I really wanna go after. :/ FHR

Scuro, either you have really tiny hands or that is one hell of a pike in your avatar! Holy Crapoli! I miss them critters! GCD, Victor, they definately do take me for a ride. I usually end up a few city blocks from where I hook up with them. I'm only running 12lb test so it takes a bit to land em. Thank god they don't have teeth. The Brown Shark I hooked into at the biggining of the summer had me going for over 45 minutes and it took me for about about a mile and a half ride. Victor I Just bought a water-proof camera so more pics will definately be taken, hopefully some under-water shots as well> FHR BTW Victor, I'm not kickin' anymore! Just paddeling!

GCD, try WD40 next time. I know it'll instantly kill bees and wasps. It might just take the rust off of that there spider too! FHR

Good Doug, good! How's things on your side? Ric

It's been a while since I've been on the board. Sorry for not stopin' by but I've been out fishing with every free chance I've gotten. Last year when I first got here I bought a little 15ft Grumman aluminum but with the price of gas and the extra added stress of towing this thing around I decided over the winter to sell it off and get a Kayak. After doing a bunch of research on yaks I decided on getting an Ocean Kayak Caper. It's 11'2" and 34" wide. Nice and stable for what I needed it for, (mostly back bay and semi-flat water conditions). I rigged it up with a milk create, 5 rod holders, anchor trolley, fish finder, lights, cargo hatch...... So about 3-4 weeks into it and about 800$ in I decided I was good to go. My Best friend Todd lives on the water so he let me keep it at his place. Works out great for me, all I have to do is get down there and rig up and I'm off. (about 15 min) Early season was kinda slow and mostly just bottom fished but as soon as April rolled in the Stripers started flooding out of the Hudson and right by me. Mostly smaller fish at first, ( Smaller stripers are refereed to as "schoolies") but there were a few nice ones mixed in. Unfortunately I wasn't taking my camera out with me when I first started cause I was getting real wet but the few times I did I took these shots. Todd snapping a shot of a schoolie. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy! Couple of mine on that same trip. When you fish for stripers a lot of the fish will be around the same size, especially early in the season. So if you're into smaller fish you can expect to be catching smaller fish all day but when you get into larger fish... You can expect to be catching larger fish all day. These two were from the end of the spring. Todd and I caught about 20 of these that day. So as the summer has been progressing I've been picking away at the stripers and learning how to sail on Todd's boat. Catching a lot of Sunsets And catching a lot of fish! It's gonna take me a bit to catch up reading all the posts I've missed but I'm gonna try to get caught up. Hope all of you are having a great summer and catching a lot! FHR

Here ya go. http://www.download.com/FastStone-Photo-Re...cdlPid=10851096 Nice and easy program. FHR

http://www.gotransit.com/publicroot/en/schedule/sysmap.aspx Port Perry will be right on Scugog. There is a boat rental place on the West end of this lake...some marina. Ric

Toronto lsland Largie My best "Lew face" High Drifter on lake O Count Dougula Workin' the fly rod. Not sure which is the real basket case? Can ya tell l like the pike fishing?

Nice! Great report Fidel! Good to see ya had a great opener. I'm on my way out the door to do an all nite yak trip. You should come down for the fourth of July. Lots of fishing, Lots of boozin' !!! I talked to Count Dougula the other day. He's looking into coming down around then too.... FHR

Mr Bond, There's nothing l'd like more then the fresh smell of irony fish-slime on my hands but the 30-40 lb stripers flooding out of the Hudson right now will help me in my rough time Maureen, hope things have been good with you. Victor, np thanks. Jed, Dan's just upset cause he knows l'd live-line brookie under a slip float, if I could

Benti, Your best searching lure would be a #5 Mepps spinner or a spoon like a 5/8ths cleo. Just point the rod tip down to keep the lure low. When they were deep I'd drag the bottom to find the green weeds. Once l'd find these weeds keep working through them with the Mepps or put on a longer leader that would sink an X-rapps or HJ-12 down there. (l make my own floro leaders) Another lure to think about would be the rapala count down, a shad-rap or a rat-l-trap. FHR

Hey guys, Thanks. Dan, what can I say, I just love the toothy critters. Even if we had the brookies you've got up there I'd still be going after the pike Ric

OK, a bunch of people have asked me about fishing the GTA and I decided to put together a little how to for those who want to give Urban Piking a go. This was taken from a PM Project I did for a few of the guys on the board. I was very selective as to who I shared the original PM with and originally had specific spots and maps but to post spots to the general public... sorry guys. Toronto's not that large and doing the leg work for yourself really isn't that hard. This post should help a lot with getting ready and figuring out what to look for. The topics I want to go over with this are: 1. Seasons (what to use, where and when) 2. Structure to look for 3. Lures (my favorites to work the different parts of the water column) 4. Methods for locating pike 5. Equipment (line, rods, leaders, reels, pliers, spreaders...) OK as far as Lake Ontario goes the season runs from may all the way through till the end of march. So basically the only month you can't fish for them is in April. (The reason being that they spawn in April) Pike are very sensitive to water temps but are very tolerable to cold temps. During the warmer months they will seek out cooler water (colder water has more oxygen) but fortunately for us that just means casting to the deeper bays. They usually spawn in waters that are between 40-50 degrees. Prior to the spawn they will migrate into areas just adjacent to their spawning grounds and beef up on anything they can eat. The main food source for Lake Ontario predatory fish is alewife or perch or smelt. I've also had a few pike puke up crayfish, small bass, gobies and even small walleyes. I've also had pike attack other pike that I was reeling in. There are some VERY LARGE PIKE in lake O! To date my largest was a 46" monster but I've also seen fish over 50. It's a great fishery because #1 until recently no one has been going after them and #2 almost everyone fishing for them are just releasing them. After the spawn they will feed ferociously! May till around the end of June will be your best bet to land a large fish. The 46" one that I caught was picked off on Canada day '03. I never got to take a pic of her cause I didn't have a Digi cam back then. As soon as the temp get into the upper 60's and 70 the big fish need to move into deeper colder water so they can breath easier but the smaller ones will still hang out all year round. When looking for pike the first thing to look for is structure. Structure meaning weeds, drop-offs, dips, walls, rubble... The most important of these being weeds. There are two major types of weeds in and the around Toronto waters. Hydrillia, Coon-tail and I'm not sure what the other is but it's long and broad leafed Broad leafed plant... Hydrillia The pike will lay their eggs in this stuff and the plants will also keep the areas oxygenated. On top of that this stuff is the prime ambush point for them. When you find these plants you will find the pike! It's hard in deeper water, especially if the weeds don't make their way up to the point you can see them but I had a trick for finding them. What I would do is to search out areas with a nice sized spoon. 5/8 Cleo, 5 of diamonds, Oz Crocs... Just cast out into the areas and let it hit the bottom, reel nice and slow until you get hung up on the weeds. Once you do hook up just pull steady until you actually rip the weed out of the bottom. The reason I do this is to actually see if the weed I'm pulling up is fresh and alive. There's a lot of weed beds that will just die off. when this happens the fish really don't hang out. Once you do find an area that looks promising next thing to deal with is lure selection. OK my all time favorite pike lures go as follows: #1 The Rapala X-Rap. As far as colours go Perch, Clown head (yellow w/Red head) or green back. This lure has accounted for over 50 % of my pike in Toronto. When they first came out I bought a Clown head that caught me over 60 fish before I had to retire it. The suspending abilities of this lure right out of the box along with the nice tight wobble on the retrieve just does something to the pike that I've never had with any other lure. #2 The Rapala Huskie Jerk. This lure is a very close second. The properties of this lure are almost identical to the X-Rap except that it doesn't cast as far. I also find that not all of them suspend right out of the box so I was having to tinker with them to get them to sit right in the water. When I did get one to work though, Wow is all I have to say. Cast these out with a rip and pause retrieve. Just deadly on the pike, as well as the bass. #3 The Mepp Black Fury#4 or #5. Black and yellow dot with teaser or Yellow with black dot. I was never a real big fan of these lures until I had a friend of mine lend me one. The first 3 casts with this lure all got me fish! Ever since that day I've never gone out pike fishing with out one. Of all the pike lures it's probably the most versatile lure out there. It can be ripped back across the top to cause a nice V-wake. It can be slow rolled across the bottom. It can be jigged back in short pulses. All of which will cause viscous strikes. When I get a lot of pike following my Huskie jerks or X-Rapps but not hitting I'll always drag a Black Fury through to get them to strike. I think the blade causes such a pulse in the water that they just can't help but hit them. Great lure! #4 Spinner baits. (Bass type) Again I think the pulse has something to do with it but spinners also throw off a lot of flash that can really trigger some great hits. I almost always tip the hook with a grub tail. Just seems to add that extra flutter that I think really makes the difference. I also think the size of the blade is important. Big Colorado type blades do a lot better then the double willow tails. I've caught fish on the willow tailed ones but it think the water displacement the Colorado blade makes is more of what the pike are looking for. #5 The Good Ole Spoon. First pike I've ever caught was on a 5 of diamonds. Something about the spoon thats so basic that almost makes it the perfect lure. You can use them at any speed in any part of the water column. I went through the whole gambit of spoons and since most of my fishing was from shore I found that the Little Cleos in the 5/8 size or the Oz Crocs too be the best lures for the GTA. The size and shape of the Croc is a perfect match for the smelt. It also has a hypnotizing wobble to it that isn't really matched by any other lure out there. The size and the Cleo is a perfect match for the alewife. Starting in April the Alewife will start to school up in the shallows in and around Toronto for their spawn. If you guys spend some time down there you'll end up seeing massive schools of them by the time June rolls in. It's kinda a minus because the pike will gorge on them and not really feed at every opportunity. When this happens it's very important that you get out early to catch em. If the schools of alewife are thick in the area the pike will be done feeding just after mid day. They don't feed at nite so what they will do is at first lite they come into the shallows or up just under the surface to warm them selves up. Once they're warm enough they feed like crazy till they're full. I found that on warm sunny days the bite would be great from 8-11/12 and then just die off tile around 3-4. Frustrating, yes but if you plan your fishing in these time slots you'll do just fine. Gibbs Croc and the Little Cleo OK, I already touched base on locating pike with the pulling weeds method but I also wanted to discuss other aspects to finding them. First and for-most being just spotting them. Don't know if you guys have a good set of polarized glasses but if you don't.........GET THEM! Even if they're a cheap pair of Bob lzumi specials, get them! Out of all the fish I've caught up there I can honestly say that in the spring and winter, at least 30-40% of the fish I caught I spotted first. Once you get used to spotting them it's just amazing how easy it will become to see them. I can spot fish 30-40 yards off. It's just a matter of knowing what your looking for. If you look at the water at different angles it will allow you to see right through it. Another thing to look for is areas with light bottoms. These area's make it easy to not spot the fish but spot their shadows on the bottom. One thing I will warn you about is that if you're fishing with someone and you do spot a pike, DO NOT POINT AT IT!!! If you can see the fish, It CAN see you! Pike have very good eyesight. Pointing at them will spook them and even if they don't take off they will know you're there and not feed. Trust me! This has happened to me countless times trying to get other people to into fish. They'll finally see one and start hoopin' and hollarin' and then the pike just shoots off. Keep your wits about you and your success rate will be a lot higher! Another way of getting pike to give up their hiding spots is to just rip a lure through the water. Mepps are my favorite for doing this. I'll just cast out as far as I can and let it drop. Reel in 10 times really fast with the rod tip pointed at 9:00 and then let it fall again. Even if they're not feeding you'll get them to follow. They're very curious fish and will investigate things moving through there area. This method works best if you're fishing with someone else. Have them follow up your lure with a different lure, X-rap, huskie jerk... Even if the fish doesn't go after the other lure it will allow you to get your lure out and cast past the fish and get another shot at it. I've kept fish close by and cast at them 6-7 times before they struck. It just gets them confused and angry enough that they end up striking. Equipment. This subject is very important because if you're not ready to deal with an angry, toothy pike with a lure hanging out of it's mouth then you shouldn't be out there, plain and simple! Being equipped means having the right tools and gear to deal. Besides your rod and reel you should also be carrying a set of good long nosed pliers, spreaders to keep the fishes mouth open, a net if you're fishing from a high vantage point, good line, and most important a leader. The teeth on pike are serrated. I've had some big pike bite right through 80lb floro. They're not line shy so a steel leader will do just fine. As long as you have one.Pike will roll on ya so I would shy away from those uncoated titanium leaders. I tried them but had a fish roll and it cut him up pretty bad. Lures are expensive and using a leader will help you keep your gear. More important than that it will ensure that there isn't a pike swimming around out there with a lure stuck in it's throat! The hooks on these lures would rust out if given time but having an entire lure stuck in it's throat will just end up killing them. Get em and use em! The second most important tool is your line. Good line will ensure you get the fish in and overall keep your fishing experience a positive one. I've had bad line before. It's a pain in the ass dealing with crap line. With line it's just a matter of "you get what you pay for". My favorite mono is P-Line Floro-clear. I went through a lot of different brands but nothing ever worked as good. For braids you can't go wrong with Power Pro. Hope this helps those that are unsure as to what they should be using or throwing. If I didn't touch on anything that you want to know about please ask away on this post. Also Don't PM me asking for the maps I did up. I spent a lot of years figuring out the pike in and around Toronto. The info I've given here should be a giant leap forward for those that are going to give it a try. Good luck to all of you and have a great season. And lastly PLEASE TAKE CARE OF THE FISHERY! There's going to be more and more pressure on these fish as time goes on and it won't take much to ruin it... so please. FHR

Ya know, sitting on that bike might make ya look a little Necro.... FHR

Hey Clive, Sorry this took so long! A lotta crap has been going down in my life. Don't wanna go into it so... Anyways I picked a few things off the net that I hope will help ya out. Bunch of tutorials I found on Utube. Here's a good read on the basics of fly fishing. http://ezinearticles.com/?Fly-Fishing-Basi...e&id=508158 Here's a great site. A lot of info on the boards here. http://www.flyforums.co.uk/index.php

I've had a pike bite thru 80 floro. It's the least I would go with the floro. Coated steel will work just fine but with the floro leaders you will avoid the kinks that you get with the steel leaders. Also DO NOT USE UNCOATED TITANIUM LEADERS!!! Pike will roll on ya and they cut right thru their skin! As far as lures go you can't beat Huskie Jerks or X-rapps. Twitch, twitch, pause my friend. Burning babies has a good point with the R bend spinners. I used to just slip a split ring over the little part the leader attaches to. (You can also just bend that part so that the two parts touch) FHR

Hey Gang! S'up Fidel! Striper season doesn't start till the 15th of next month. Flounder on the 1st. I've been turning some plugs but haven't gotten a chance to get on the water to test and weight them, thus painting has been on hold. Been a little Crazy with the fishing flea markets and shows down here. Seems every weekend there's a seminar/fleamarket/show. Spending too much, way too much but hey... It's well worth it. So far I've picked up 4 new surf rods, 5 reels, tonns of lure, line, hooks, hardware... I'm only slightly addicted... slightly... OK I'm full on. ( Hi my name is ric and i'm addicted to fishing...) So Fidel, you still up for coming down late May/early June? Stripers should be in full swing. Blues to be had as well. Summer Flounder is still up in the air as to and opening date but hopefully it'll be open by then as well. Missing the pike a lot! Also got an itch to hit some chrome but oh well. Fair price to pay I guess to deal without snow. Anyways... Tight lines guys! The posts will be coming soon enough! Ric De La Cruz

p-line FHR

Clive, Just wanted to know where you were at with all of it. I'm going out for drinks on the west side but I'll post some helpful stuff for ya tomorrow when I'm getting rid of the hang-over Right off the bat I can tell ya that rod you have is an 8 wt rod. You'll have to match the line to this.... I'll write ya more up tomorrow.

Can't go wrong with a rainshadow blank. FHR