Snidley

Great post. Protecting them so other anglers can enjoy them is true conservation.

I had an acid wrapped floatrod, a GL3 1263 and it was an awesome set up.

I have zero time for religion and I try to never do business with individuals that quote God to me BUT the Salvation Army is a virtuous organization that helps millions of people in very practical life altering ways. The double whammy of this debacle is that the actions of these two rats might lead people to reduce or eliminate their contributions to this exceptional organization. That would be a real travesty with horrible implications way beyond Christmas toys.

At $3 a minnow I'd dive in and catch them in my teeth.

The best brown eggs used to be sold by Primrose Trout Farm. They were $5 for a little jar (really little) and they were not cured but immersed in mineral oil. They really worked not only as eggs by also the oil they were soaked in was excellent for dipping you yarn flies and glo bugs in. She would never tell me what brand of mineral oil but whatever it was it only carried the roe scent, nothing else was detectable. It was probably medical grade mineral oil available from pharmacies.

Actually I'm wrong. They have been found in Flushing NY and Philly. The same document says they could have a range from Mississippi to Hudson Bay. The picture shows an animal that is definitely not an oil painting.

Where in New York are Snakeheads? The closest I have seen is the Potomac River

Snakeheads can't survive out winters but all the same it's disturbing that backward cultural traditions are potentially compromising our environment. By far the more dangerous shipment was the live Asian Carp that were being brought across the border a few months back. That and the fact that the Yanks are not taking the Asian Carp around Chicago seriously.

Those runs look incredible. The scenery alone is worth the trip. Those were exceptional Bull Trout, real monsters even for BC. Next time you guys might want to rig up a baitcast floatrod (Loomis 1263c's are very popular there for a reason). They can give you distance without the really heavy weight and they are usually shorter so you can actually jig your flies while under the slip float. Somtimes that really helps. All in all we can all see why they call BC "Super Natural"

Very popular fod fish in Asia and in Japan they are sort of like their pike.

There's several places on the Upper Niagara for muskies but not really from shore. You could get lucky of course. The lower Niagara around the bar holds huge muskies but again not accessible from shore. I've caught them from shore in the Whirlpool and I have seen behemoths there but they are mostly an annoyance since most guys are targeting salmonoids with light line. My biggest ever Muskie came from the Niagara bar, one of five that day. It was about 54 inches so they are there and they are big. Many locals have told me that the best way to catch them in the lower is to fish for bass and the muskies will be a by catch. I believe they also get a few at Port Dalousie pier every year as well. Overall you would be best to go local in Hamilton and for big fish salmon, huge Sheepies and steelhead would be a better bet from shore. All of which are better to catch than muskies IMO. There's also 30lb carp all over the place at Hamilton harbour. If you can stand to be a hole sitter they pull well to.

CK you are very easily entertained

Kwikfish are known as K-numeral. So K9 is what you are thinking or if a Flatfish, you would want an X5 for a similar size. Either one is probably too big for a stream or most lake conditions though. I use k9's or X5's at the Whirlpool in the fastest water, K8 in medium water and K7 in slow water. A single hook K7 or maybe a K8 might be good for browns but Kwikies would not be my favorite bait for browns in any case. Great for Salmon, Steelies and Smallies though.

Trout fishing has been very slow this fall at Bronte. Wonder where all the guys that claim we are having a trout renaissance here in the western GTA are when the fish are this scarce. It's always been a zoo at Bronte, and it is definitely not just pinners. Lots of strait netting going on this year. Trespassing/ Check, Litter, especially Timmy cups, roe bag material, empties and dead line/Check. Same as 25 years ago. I wonder how many loogans would show up if A)you had to display your fishing license on the outside of your clothing where everyone could see it and on the back was a space to list your catch species and date of harvest to account for a YEARLY allotment of trout and salmon B)possession of and fishing with roe was illegal on the river. In my opinion, VERY FEW and the ones that tried their shenanigans would get busted almost immediately. Unfortunately Ontario has always had an extremely permissive approach to trout and salmon exploitation and this has become the base education for almost all pelagic anglers here, me included. In Ontario it's almost a right, in the mind of most trout anglers, to use roe, to keep multiple fish every outing and ultimately turn what should be a sport into a trip to a free grocery store. Clearly changing the "whatever it takes" attitude is a tough row to hoe in Ontario so until attitudes change we get roe stripping/fish gutting, privately run catch and kill derbies and almost zero enforcement of any sort of rules. The roe issue has even given the Birkestock set at the MNR license to ignore federal law because if the anglers don't care why would they care.

Yes virtually all. Some, including guys I know on this site, will head to the the Oak as an example, for the sole purpose of gathering Brown roe. Those fish end up in the bushes since only a complete idiot would eat them from there. Bronte is another spot where this happens, to the point that there are not near the Browns there once was there. Oshawa harbor, same deal

Beautiful Smallies but for most anglers that fish the Niagara River this time of year those are NOT adequate replacements for steelhead

Virtually all roe anglers will kill a female brown for their roe and many will just dump the carcass. Could be that. Browns are very fond of small thin twitch baits like small Rapala X Raps, Yozuri Hardcores and 3D Minnows, Lucky Craft Pointers and jointed Rebels and Rapalas

Just a reminder. Those chaps fishing off the train tracks are trespassing while fishing. In other words they are poachers and very likely litterers too.

I think this is the first time I've heard people complain about there being abundant smallies in their locality. I think we have to remember that New York has an early Bass "Trophy" season with 1 as the limit. It's in the lake and there's lots of fishing beds too. Still, there's lots of big fish out there. Personally I think opening the season is good if someone actually knows it won't decimate the fish. It's probably good some places and damaging in others. Hopefully they open the places where it's all good.

Once they get used to the cold they will resume hitting lures of all sorts. The vast majority of the winter steelhead I catch are on cranks, spinners and spoons. Come to think of it they like jigs hopped across the bottom too. Some of those guys are Lakers though. Right now trolling will be a big part of keeping the bite on all day. Or you could give up and go to bait.

I never used my pin all day long. In addition I used a spin rod, baitcaster on all outings. I know that pin anglers at the Whirlpool blow through line at an amazing rate because of the strong flow, and rocks as well as the need for max casts on heavy weight. Most guys use slip bobbers but they still drop tons of line from twist, abrasion and casting issues. The travails of being a one rod angler I think. Possibly you have to change out the Hydro line frequently. Even with the expense and hassle I like the Hydrofloat to the same point I like braid on every other rig I own. I never use mono of any sort except for leader.

Trying the rod out is always great advice. Buying from a store that will swap out for a different rating is another great piece of advice. I think sometimes if you fish with braid the whippy feel is diminished somewhat. A lot depends on how much weight you feel like chucking too. I have my 9'6" for hardware so it's a floating only rod for me. In the end I will actually turn up with my reel in hand then string the rod to see what it feels like loaded up. I know that with St Croix their Wild River vs Avid,vs Legend Elite steelhead rods all feel and perform different, as per rated parameters, than one would think. Not brand consistant like say Loomis or Fenwick.

It certainly won't work with a Core 50 sized reel because it is thick line, but, P Line HydroFloat line is not only great on a pin or spin reel it also excels on a baitcaster. It's braid that not only floats but it does not take on water like regular braid (it's coated like a flyline) and it's high visibility colour as well as its floating properties make it the best line for floatfishing IMO. Those 10'6" Avids definitely sound like the ticket but I would go with the lighter one, the ML version, as it will be more fun for any fishing in colder water where the fish don't have the same power.

That's a good deal for a 10'6" Avid. A comparable Loomis would be over $300. Hopefully its the lite line rated version. Petes is such a great shop even with Pete gone.

Wow great pics. The Whirlpool. With a girl. Fishing :worthy: