BillsTheBassMan

From what I've seen of the Sahara, it's an extremely good reel and it doesn't seize up when wet either - one of my main fishing buddies fishes one and it seems like a quality reel.

Heh, sounds like an iffy outing, but you know what they say: a bad day of fishing beats . . . For starters, some reels are better than others when they get wet - the Shimano Stradic is top of the line for not seizing up. It's also one of the best reels out there (my fav by far), you could get one of those and not ask this question again. When my other reels seize up, here's what I do. I take the spool off, whipe the black stuff off the central bar with a kleenex, and leave it like that for awhile. Then I apply some grease and you're good to go. Any reels that I own that seize up don't stay seized for long and I haven't ever had to leave a fishing excursion because of it.

Heh, or he needs to find one who won't give him grief about fishing so often. My lady knows I get cranky when I don't fish 4-6 times a week

What you're doing is commendable! Good on you. my favourite Aunt was informed she has breast cancer this week. Fingers crossed!

I own 2 Pflueger reels and I'd agree with Solo here, but I'm never one to cheap out on a reel (save for fly fishing - and only because I'm a beginner). I'm a firm believer that a Stradic is the best spinning reel on the market and would recommend them to anybody. More on Pflueger topic, I have an ultralite president reel (couldn't justify the Stradic Ci4 for $200 for ultralite purposes) and it has treated me well. My one warning would be that you make sure it DOES NOT get wet. Unlike the Stradic, the Pfluegers tend to seize up when they get wet - as a wading fisherman this is a bit of an issue for me. The point about the warranty made was a good one - mind you most companies won't quarrel over a $60 product - the good word of mouth beats the potential bad word of mouth.

Very Very Nice Fish. I hope they were returned in good shape - they are truly trophies. Well done and thanks for sharing.

I'll most definitely be in touch. You may have to show me a thing or two though . . . I'm kind of a steely noob.

Reminds me of a story Musky or Specks told me when Muskie fishing. He caught a Muskie and a boat of Walleye fisherman yell over at him "Kill it! Kill it! They're eating all the walleye." He yells back. "They're not eating all the walleye, YOU'RE eating all the walleye."

Yeah, they've already started schooling up in deeper pools. Lots of presentations are still working, but I think topwaters are starting to turn-off. Rapalas still seem to be fishing strong. I'll be trouting until Thursday (extremely aggressive right now) and after that it's back to the bass and steelies until end of season.

Most jig presentations are very consistent, people are just scared to fish the bottom - it can be a hassle.

Yeah, it was even more surprising as he didn't come out of traditional "big fish" water. I'm on to browns now though . . . until Thursday anyways! Hopefully the Bass are still feeding thereafter.

I plan on Steely hunting after local trout closes and bass really slows (and probably before that). We should try and hook up for a Saturday or something. I'm going to pick up a new rod for it in a week or two I think as well.

Great report as always FF I made my first trip out for trout last night (since the spring) and had a great night - 4 in 1.5 hours including a beautiful brown in fall colours (17"). I think I'll dedicate this next week to trout for sure. Cheers, Ryan

Yeah, some tackle shop owners on successful steelheading trib rivers are starting to get worried about future year classes because of the amount of fish being harvested. They know it's great for business now, but it could really hurt things a few years down the road. Apparently, the crowds are way up and EVERY fish being caught is being taken home.

Hello! I'm in KW as well! Anyways, it would help if you said what you wanted to target & if you fly fish or not as there are so many sites that provide these services and many of them specify to specific species. As a general rule, don't go cheap and buy chinese made product. You want quality tackle, unless you want to run just anything through the water with improper action and catch next to nothing. Ebay is by far and away the best resource online. You need to search "Auctions Only" as you don't want to deal with many buy-it-now prices, but some Buy It Nows are priced to sell. If you post specifics, I might have some more help to lend. Ryan

This past Saturday and Monday saw Timmeh and I take a pair of days to try to get some quality bassing in before the season ends. We fished full days and did a lot of walking/scouting/fishing. For the most part, the weather co-operated! We explored some new water and we liked most of what we found! Day One - Saturday: Thursday's rain had the river relatively muddy in certain areas and it most certainly negatively affected the fishing. We spent the better part of our morning fishing brown water, but we didn't come up empty. Tim with a 18.5" smallie that is most certainly stocking up for winter: Myself with a 14" smallie that is most certainly being held in the vintage bass pose (the little guy looks like a monster): Saturday afternoon saw the light morning rain turn more into a steady sideways downpour and back to a mist again. We decided to leave the muddy water behind and head upstream in search of clearer waters. We continued to fish most of our daylight away. Tim was the angler of the afternoon as he found LOTS of fish from a nice looking run. 1 of 2 pike - both fish featured these markings on their spine: Tim also managed to catch 3-4 very nice bass from the same run, but this was the true prize of the day (and one of the nicest steelhead I've ever seen) The fish never jumped and Tim had to chase it 75 yards down the bank just in order to land it. I followed with the camera for a picture and to lend any landing assistance that may be needed. Tim handled the fish like a pro, had it out for a few seconds for a few quick pictures, and the beautiful fish was returned to head upstream. Wet and hungry we decided to call it a day around 5:30 instead of fishing another stretch to close the day. Monday: Monday morning met us with gorgeous September weather, the sun with rising temperatures. We hoped this weather would get us into lots of big bass. We weren't disappointed. The day started with us each catching some healthy smallies that were schooling together and were very similar fish: Mine: Tim's: We continued upstream to some promising looking water (after missing in some other promising looking water) and we came into a school of gorgeous bronzebacks. One of my pigs! Another gorgeous river bass (and some good photo work by Tim): And right before lunch I plucked out this fellow - the biggest of the morning (though the picture takes a little away from it): Monday afternoon saw our exploratory nature get the best of us. We decided to leave the productive morning waters in favour of checking out some newer water further upstream. We ate, we left, we went upstream and started fishing some AMAZING looking water including one of the best pools that I have ever seen. Sadly, I noticed right away as soon as I stepped in the river "Damn the water's cold up here." This would prove to be telling as the afternoon was sloooooooow fishing. We kept grinding, silently upset with ourselves that we left the warmer waters behind us. We had one lone fish on Monday afternoon, but at least it was a beautiful smallmouth (landed by Tim). I trailed him and attempted to get the twin follower, but came up blank! The average bass size was just phenomenal on Saturday and Sunday. We only caught one or two fish under 15", the rest were pigs, some pushing 20" Despite having just caught a nice bass, Tim still looks a little dismayed. Perhaps it's because we had to scale a cliff covered in hogweed and loose rocks to catch this sole bass! Regardless, it was a great day out and I'll most certainly be missing days like this in the winter. Here's hoping we have a few more weeks left (though I sincerely doubt we do). BillsTheBassMan

I've started sensing that Winter is on its way and that the season in the rivers is coming to a close! I've been pounding the river religiously and trying to get as much fishing in as I can before the inevitable winter-shack-nasties hit. On many occasions I've had OFC'ers Tybrad and Timmeh join me, and we've seen continued success. Here are some of our outings in pics! Tybrad's Night: Well, this one was Tybrad's day. Tim, Tyler, and myself went to a stretch of river that the three of us had rarely fished in the past. We started with three different presentations and Tyler's proved most successful. He was topwatering (this was a few weeks ago now, the topwater is starting to slow down big-time). Here was one of his smaller fish - you'll notice the feedbag wasn't even on yet: He caught 4-5 more fish that were bigger than that fellow. Tim and I did alright, but we didn't catch anything over 14". Tyler also performed a miraculous unhooking on one of my fish - here he is right after the unhooking, ready to swim another day after almost getting one right in the gills: Also, it has been a frequent observation of mine that a lot of the fish I am catching have recent Catch & Release wounds - this is a great sign. Thanks to anyone who keeps our fisheries in good order: Fishing Familiar Waters This next spot is one of my honey holes and it has produced on EVERY occasion that I manage to get to it. It's always a pleasure to reacquaint myself with the area (even if I do get sore legs whenever I go). Tyler and I had planned to go to this spot one night after work . . . I started the drive to the spot, after having agreed to meet TB there, and I was driving through 40KM winds and Sideways-Rain. The sky was black and grey and I figured it was a write-off. I had agreed to meet a fishing buddy though (and you can't break that vow ), so I made sure I was there. Thank God, the fishing was HOT despite the awful weather. Eventually the sun decided to miraculously come out too! Tyler and I were fishing the same presentation except I was using a fluro-leader whereas he was fishing straight braid. I had caught 10 fish and he was still on the skunk. I tied a leader on for him and it only took one cast. He caught a FAT 14" SMB. Sadly, the picture has been misplaced. Here are a few of my catches from this night (sadly, I had 2 16" bass break off while I was trying to prep them for a photograph ) : Also, this night marked the closest I ever managed to get to a Heron - I was within 10 feet of the bird and it was non-the-wiser. I managed to snap a few photos: Saturday-Afternoon-Solo-Fish: Mildly Hungover, Tired, Mind-Blown, I decide to suck it up and go out for an afternoon of bassin' before a stag party later that night. It ends up being another weird day at a spot that is continously weird. I caught three suckers throughout the day, including a kind that I had never seen before. I snagged this guy underneath a fin - he fought like crazy and I thought I had a monster bass: He swam away just fine despite the relatively nasty snag. Here is the species (that Timmeh has identified as a North American Hog Sucker): Here are some of the smallies from the afternoon (I caught about a dozen in two hours, but none bigger than the first fish pictured): I think the feedbag is on . . . I went out by myself to the spot Tyler, Tim, and I first fished (in this post) and I was short on numbers, but hammered a bass that made the trip worth it on its own! If there was ANY doubt about the feedbag being on or not, this fish ended any speculation. This brute measured in at 19.5" and he looks to have just engulfed a nerf football: That fellow is probably the fattest, most disproportionate smallie I've seen all year! I also got into 4 fish on my Koppers Live Target Smelt Crankbait (which had underperformed for bass in previous situations! As always, the fish were all returned to swim another day! Also, here's wishing Tyler a Happy Birthday today! Hope you enjoyed, Ryan BillsTheBassMan

That's a beauty report filled with beauty fish right there - awesome!!!! Thanks for sharing Doc

I have a couple tiny chub crankbaits for trout in areas where there are both chub & trout . . . they work well!

Hahahaha. I laughed.

Welcome aboard Kwan . . . thanks for leading with a report

This year is a little odd because it went straight from 30 degree weather to . . . Labour Day. Since Labour Day the weather has been real cold at night and a little tempermental. It's like we skipped the generally prime September timeframe, but I'm not giving up on it yet. I got a 19.5" Smallie last night that is easily one of the most disproportiante fish I have ever caught (heavy on the feedbag - report coming soon). Timmeh caught a big 18" today and had to release another one before measurement that would have been pushing 20" easily. Numbers are down a little, but that's ok if the big fellas are coming out to play.

AMEN to that.

The last few trips I've had to the river has been covered in bugs - lots of big hatches going on right now.

Hey Steve, Congrats on another bunch of monster bass. You can send me a message about a fall bass charter for 2 or 3 as well. Cheers, Ryan