ctranter

Those small black wooly buggers always produce for me too. I find purple is effective in clear water as well. Most days, a single egg fly is just as good.

^this. And a variety of hardwater toys

Nice fish! yum

I kept a brown and a bow. Dave's brown swam away to unload her fat stomach of eggs. I caught the bow while it was dark and we forgot the camera so we snapped a quick shot after moving back upstream. Thanks for all the positive feedback guys! After the jungle that is the weekend clears up I'm hoping to get out again

The Canadian in me agrees with this, but there's a reason these guys were 1 and 2 in the US hockey program in the 2010 Olympics. Remember the guys that put together and coached a team that roflstomped Canada in the round robin and made us crap our pants with just seconds to go in the finals? There's a reason they have highly distinguished careers. Remember the team that we had before Burkey came in? At least this team doesn't make the bile in my stomache turn. They might be losing, clearly slumping, and deflated, but at least they have character. Exactly. Keep in mind that it's easy to look back in hindsight at certain events and make claims about decisions. Say the leafs kept their 1st round pick, there is no guarantee that they would get the top pick for Hall or Seguin. They would be guaranteed a solid player, but it's still a lottery. I agree, but don't expect those "couple of trades" to come easily or quickly. I believe that there is interest in certain players on the leaf roster. The leafs D core (which isn't turning out to have chemistry) is still comprised of many proven vets that tons of teams would love to have. Still, don't expect anything until the deadline, and prepare for this current squad to shoulder the majority of this season's record. Ron Wilson will get the job done. The lack of scoring comes from lack of talent, plain and simple. My concern is that Wilson tends to be a defensive-system coach, and I'm not seeing coordination or consistency from the D at all.

Stay positive man. The best thing to get through tough times is support from the community. Your reports always impact me and make me rethink how I fish, and this one is no different.

You might wanna rethink that one. I've taught elementary and high school in the states and it's no secret that your educational systems are failing you. In 5-10 years, USA will be far behind China, India, and most of Europe in math and science development, unless something changes now (which your government has proven is not their priority). For example, I've taught in Buffalo which boasts a 50% drop out rate in high school. Obviously this is an extreme example, but expect other failing economies to follow suit, and once their do, your "most powerful nation" will be catching up like everyone else.

'Twas the morning of Wednesday When all through the town, Not a creature was stirring, Except for some browns! Like Jedi vs. Sith, good and bad faced off on the bank in an epic battle for supremacy. Armed with night sticks for floats, freshly tied roe, and an eager sense of immediacy, we set off to determine who was the master of the night. As green neon clashed with glowing red, the fate of the entire tributary was hanging in the balance of fates. Cast after cast, we matched each other's Chrome. Dave (DMASSE) lands a 6 lb... I land a 7. I land steele with spawning colours, Dave pulls out pure crimson. It seemed like this one was going to OT. For hours we fished in perfect dark. Coyotes howled, owl's hooted, yet we motored on with hopes of finally catching a glimpse of the elusive brown trout. The sun started peaking over the horizon. Finally, natural light took over. I readjusted my float, let some line out, and cast towards some cozy looking tree roots on the far side of the bank. The float crept through the pool like a soldier beyond enemy lines. Suddenly, a pause. I wait, watch, and snap the rod back, driving the hook into the fish and the fight was on. It immediately jacks back into its safe house. Shaking its head and curling head to tail, I held on to it with all might. Something felt unusual about this one -- no jumps, no runs, just unmitigated strength. The fish lets up and I pull it to the bank. To my surprise... a brown! FINALLY With that huge load off of my back, I feeling pretty confident in sealing the victory over my fish-mentor. That is until he lands a bigger brown!!!! All in all a fantastic day. Dave was in the double digits, I went 8 for 10, but best of all, no pitch black retying with nothing but a flashlight!. Balance was restored to the force as master defeated protegee, Dave took top prizes for size and numbers. These are my two for the smoker: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. It's DAMN cold out there. Enjoy!

haha Double post.... I'm going to copy mine in here.

I like gamma 8 or 10lb main line, smoke green, with froghair leader flouro

This is bad information. Read additional opportunities and it clearly states "Regional Municipality of Durham - all waters between HWY 2 and southerly limit of C.N.R right of way (open for bows, browns, pacific salmon) until Dec. 31st.

Looks like that rain brought some more fish up. nice steele

Good afternoon OFC! I thought I'd share a story about a childhood friend of mine. I grew up in Toronto with a great group of friends. We attended elementary, middle, and high school together, and now we are like brothers. One of my good buds is a young man by the name of Mark Demontis. Mark is a pretty extraordinary guy. The story is best told from his own voice (for the quick version scroll down to the video), but I'll do my best. At 17, he was living a perfect life. He played AAA hockey, he was class president at York Memorial CI, he was dynamite with the ladies. One day he was golfing with his Dad, and he realized that he couldn't see the pin. After getting checked out he was diagnosed with an extremely rare vision disorder called Leber's Optic Neuropathy (Wikipedia), which left him legally blind. Many people would not have the courage to continue living life to the fullest, but Mark is an inspiration. Inspired by a dream to play in the NHL, Mark started a charity called Courage Canada. His dream is to expand blind hockey in Canada, develop a nationwide blind hockey organization, and introduce blind hockey to the Special Olympics. In the summer of 2009, Mark set out for the journey of his life. With another buddy of ours, he roller bladed from Toronto, through northern Ontario, the prairies, the rockies, and finally to Vancouver. Those of you in Thunder Bay may recall a big rally he held there on his journey. He has told me some great stories from the trip, but the pictures say it all. He met countless NHLers (most of the Flames), Walter Gretzky, several ex-Oilers, premiers, and the entire cast of Trailer Park Boys (I thought they shot out East?). When the Queen last visited Toronto, he was chosen to represent Canada in giving the Queen her official departure flowers. He works in collaboration with Herb Carnegie, and received tons of support in sponsorship money from Eugene Melnyk. Here's one of several videos he has made. Does anyone recognize the arena from it? (Hint: you may have seen it in McDonalds commercials with Wayne Gretzky, many Tim Hortins commercials, or a recent musical hockey film ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEi98Pw_4UY&feature=player_embedded If you have a minute, check out his website, add Courage Canada as a friend on facebook, or follow him on Twitter. He is a great guy who is always happy to share some words of wisdom or just chat. Courage Canada Homepage Facebook Link Twitter Link

Haha wow that is an amazingly clear picture. I would have left it there, it's not like the owner wants it back now! If one or more of the doors were open, imagine how many fish would have taken up residence. very cool

If there's one thing I've learned from this site it's that people know a lot more about fishing than hockey. Regardless what the outcome of the leafs v sens tomorrow night, one thing is for sure: Ottawa fans will do ANYTHING to avoid addressing their own team. With that much talent its sad how poor they play (every year). my 2c

Those were two times that I personally encountered a CO. Many people fish their entire lives and never see one. My point stretched beyond myself, and to accounts from countless friends of mine who all had the same thing to say. Either way, this thread is getting derailed quickly. CO's are not fish-Nazi's. Moving on...

It's that overdone effect that I enjoy, actually . Do you edit with CameraRAW/Photoshop? I'm trying to learn them, myself.

Nice pics! Do you jack up the contrast in your pics or does your camera shoot like that? Looks really cool in the seagull pic at the bluffs.

Innocent until proven guilty Seriously though, I've seen a CO twice in my life, both times he just smiled and waved. My impression was that this CO perceived me (based on gear/whatever) as highly unlikely to be breaking any offense, so he chose to spend his time more wisely. Sure enough I walk downstream and he's hiding in the bushes, video taping some snaggers. Through my experience with CO's, they certainly didn't come off as power-crazed ticket machines with a lust for finding any possible way to screw you over, like this thread seems to imply. (Don't group yourself with the white bucket brigade by bringing home live fish though )

Great! Those purple wooly buggers were working for me on the fly today too.

This sounds exactly like the lake I have my cottage on (and another hunt camp), makes me think you're all talking about the same little bass lake that I am. My family has owned a cottage on this lake for over 60 years, my grandfather built it with some locals. My parents and I have watched two of the nicest camp sites you can imagine turn into complete dumps. The first site is on an island that we dubbed "Garbage Island", because of the mini dump that has collected in the center. Over time, my family and I took bag after bag of other people's garbage until it is finally clean again. The second site is following the same path, as several returning groups of campers simply leave junk behind, including lots of broken glass and homemade toilets. It's sad to see such a perfect bass lake turn into a landfill

Congrats!!!!!!

Ain't that the truth... Dalton McGUILTY is next

Wow, the one with the Mother and cub chewing on a sockeye in the river is fantastic. Those are amazing

Family reports like this make me smile. The highlight for me was that monster pike and all those beauty brookies. Thanks for sharing