frozen-fire

Odd thing happened this season with my Finbore III auger handle (the entire top section). It is now somewhat bent. The top section has 3 holes for different heights where you can screw the bolt into. I can only screw it into the bottom one (for highest setting) and the other two are no longer able to take in the bolt, due to the bend. The section actually can no longer fit into the bottom section anymore either. Not sure how this happened. Maybe it was under some extreme load during transport. As of right now, it will no longer cut through ice. I fish with 3 other guys that all have the same auger and they can drill fine and have not experienced a bent/angled top section either. My blades are relatively new... replaced last season. I've had this auger for about 2-3 years. Anyone experience something similar? Do they sell replacements?

Last year, I've had a few fish rocket off bottom and smack my tube 40 feet up. Thinking they were small lakers, it was truly surprising to see they were whities. Wish they were always that easy

If I skunked again on Sunday, I might've given up for good! A few quick pics before sliding it back down the hole: And yes, I was very glad that you lost that laker at the end with my rod and my hole LOL.

Ohhhhh Mann. That clear ice is sooo nice. There's just something about a few inches of clear ice separating me from 100+ fow that's holding me back! I've only been ice fishing for a couple years and it still seems sketchy to me. Especially when the ice flexes when someone walks/runs by.

These have been keeping me occupied for the last few weeks. However, I'm getting desperate for lakers and whities. Not sure if it's happening this weekend. Did Environment Canada not say it was going to be a super cold winter? Maybe I should try exploring a far north lake for some stocked trout

This. I've been using CBI for years now with zero issues.

Simply amazing. :worthy:

I also have the MH... picked it up late last year and I think I've landed a few whities and a laker with it. Great rod for the price. It's now my go-to Simcoe deep water rod. Wish I could use it this year.

I need to get one of these. Just waiting on a good price for the HERO2

One thing I learned while steelheading this fall is that in isolated pools and runs, there are fish of similar size that pair up and stay paired up. When you catch one of them, there's a good chance that it's partner will get caught too. Does anyone else ever notice this? Maybe it's just coincidental... but it's happened on several occasions this fall. And no, we're not fishing in spawning water. Pair from Saturday: We actually called this double-header. At first, I cast into this sweet looking run where the current slows down a bit and it gets a bit deeper. Float shoots down and I'm into a nice buck. Coloured up and lots of spunk. I tell MJL to keep fishing cause there has to be a decent hen in there with it. He casts, and drifts the same line and his float also shoots down...all while this fish I have on is thrashing about on the surface. Now we're both fighting these fish in the same hole...being very cautious not to let them tangle up. Eventually we both land them and I force MJL to keep both fish in the water while I fiddle with the timer on my camera. Keep in mind it's well below freezing LMAO! MJL sacrificed his hands for these photos Pair from Sunday: We did some exploring and found a nice hole where we got into some fish the following morning. I made a cast along a seam and watched as my float drifted down. In awe, I watched as a small shaker sized chrome steelhead came up to the surface and completely swallowed my 4g Drennan Loafer float. I didn't really know what to do. It turned to head back down to the depths and it spat my float out. As my float came back up to the surface, it shot down... FAST. Set the hook and I was into a fish (not the fish that took the float). MJL drifted the same line again after I was fighting my fish, and his float similar to mine, rips down just as fast. We end up landing both fish successfully and that gives us the second double of the weekend

Thanks guys... After some googling, it is confirmed that it was a cranefly larvae (aquatic). Found out there are terrestrial forms as well. I was very surprised at the size of the thing. Considering mature crane flies have such small bodies and a rather thin abdomen. It just didn't seem like a match and no way I would've guessed crane fly just from looking at the larvae. I would have expected a much bulkier bodied insect.

When did you get a black froggie?!?! Love the shots. I'm considering a wide angle lens myself. Was thinking of the 10-22 but now considering a 12-24.

No better month to go hunt for chrome than November. There is just something about going out on cold November mornings and smashing fresh chrome steelhead that is so satisfying This has been an exceptional fall with lots of hard fighting steelhead for everyone, and I'm sure the fun will continue until ice-up! I still consider myself a newbie when it comes to steelheading and I've still got a lot to learn. Bait choice, different rigs and setups, depth, time of day, temperature... so many factors that can make the difference. Most of my fish have come on roe bags this fall, but I would like to concentrate on getting into jigs and flies. It's hard to switch up when you're doing so well though. But we'll see how it goes. Enjoy the pics... some of the best photos this fall came from this past weekend. Couldn't have been possible without a great netman and cameraman (Thanks Vic!) This little guy was insane! I hooked up with this fish and fought it for about 5-10 seconds. It then wrapped me up in wood and broke me off at the leader. I retied and a few drifts later, get another fish on. I land the fish and see a line coming out of it's mouth. This was the same fish that broke me off a few casts before! While examining the fish, I realized that there was another line and hook coming out of it's mouth. So in total... there were 3 lines, 3 hooks and 3 roe bags in the mouth of this small steelhead. This fish wanted to be caught so bad. Taking everything out of its mouth. All cleaned up and set for release. Can anyone ID this thing? I found it swimming downstream.

HOLY CARP!!!! I'm still waiting to break 30! What a magnificent fish... love the underwater release footage as well.

Pic from MJL's camera

Can't beat fresh Georgian Bay steel. Great pics.

I know I was expecting her to be loving it after that trip! Will just try to set something up for next time

I haven’t posted a report or pics in a long time…so figured now is best with the excellent fall action we’ve been getting Last weekend I was initially going to spend one day fishing for steelhead with my girlfriend. It was my goal to get her into her first chrome steelhead. Last minute changes cancelled that plan and all we did was go shopping south of the border I was upset since I was looking forward to this trip for a long time, but couldn’t stay mad as it was her early birthday weekend, and not mine. She did let me have the morning of Sunday to fish though. I had to make use of all those roe bags I had tied for the cancelled trip! Most of you have seen MJL’s recent underwater snapshots and I couldn’t resist trying it out for myself. I picked up an underwater housing for my SLR (Canon Rebel T2i) and brought it out with me for the first time this past Sunday. It’s not easy taking pics of fish under the surface in a stained river. I did manage a couple of OK shots though despite freezing my hands in the ice cold water holding both the fish and the camera. I am impressed with the quality of the shots above water with the housing. This was a concern as the housing is one of the cheapest available. However, it performed well and there was no issue with the lens port or reflections. Here are a few of the pics that I thought were OK. I had to play with the contrast and brightness levels to cut through the hazy stained water. Let me know what you think. I really like the light bouncing off some waves and hitting the head of the fish I definitely need a wider lens so I can capture more of the fish. Chrome from the depths I only took underwater pics of 2 fish. The water is just too cold to stick your arm in for long. MJL did take pics of another fish I caught that turned out great. I’ll let him post those himself. He did have a little mishap with his setup though. It looks like I’ll be the one providing underwater shots for the next while. I can’t wait to take some pics of fish in clearer water so I can get more detail. It’s still going to take me a while to get used to dunking my camera in the water. For anyone interested, the underwater housing I purchased is the DiCaPac WP-S10. You can pick it up for about $85-100. Obviously there are much better ones out there. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/547694-REG/DiCAPac_WPS10_WP_S10_Waterproof_Case.html The fishing wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. I landed 7 fish of 9 hooked, with most being silver shakers. Nothing beats fresh fall steelhead. The fight from even the little ones will kick your butt. I lost a monster fish that took me well downstream with absolutely no intention of stopping. Boy, do I want that one back. Here are some above water shots with the housing. Bars of silver Release Yesterday evening, I got a call from my dad wanting to head out with me and my uncle to do some fall night time crappie fishing. It’s an annual event for us to hit some big slabs of gold on calm and cold fall nights. Reports from all over have indicated that the night fishing has been less than stellar this year. I have been out a couple times before and did not do well at all… even skunking the last trip out for crappie. They are a tricky species to target at night in the fall. Hard to pinpoint an exact pattern that gets repeated by them. The conditions yesterday were perfect. Next to no wind, warmer air temps, and bright full moon lit everything up nicely. Can’t ask for any better when night time float fishing. I didn’t bring my camera out on the boat and only had my phone. So the shots suck. First decent one of the night after landing both a bass and a walleye. It took us a LONG time to find them. These fish are very scattered and suspended over 6-8 FOW. Find fresh green weeds and we usually pluck a couple out from there. For about an hour, it was absolutely non-stop action. Double and triple headers. We tried to follow the school of fish, but it didn’t last long. It’s not often I need a net for panfish…but when it comes to fall slabs, you need it! I use a 5’6” UL spinning setup with 4lb mono. No way I’m swinging 15” crappie into the boat with what I’m using. We did well yesterday night. Catching a lot and releasing a lot. Obviously kept some for my stomach later on Mmmmmm…. November has only just begun and there is still great fishing to be had. I will work on getting more underwater steelhead pics for you guys. I am actually really looking forward to hard water this year. Bring it on!

That is so great to see! I was expecting to see a solo pose at the end

Absolutely stunning colours on those specks.

Hopefully I get to join you out there on your next vacation! Great pics!

Fantastic chomer! Loved the description.

As stated earlier, they generally go for around $200-250 used. I didn't know you were looking for a brand new reel. If you're only going to head out a max of 6 times per year for steelhead, maybe just stick with a regular spinning reel and save the money? If you know you're not going to get into it, I don't think it's worth it to buy all this extra gear.

Clear 10lb Raven for me. MJL got me into using this line and I haven't had any issues. I did use Maxima for a while, but still prefer Raven.

Perhaps you should spend a few bucks more and go with the Islander? It's a float reel that will likely never fail you.