Homer Is King

Great carp! A tank like that has to put up a GOOD fight!

Great report! Thanks for sharing. Looks like an awesome adventure!

Niagara Trip - Day 3 Thought I'd head to the upper Niagara today. The Chippawa River looked like a good spot so off I went. I found a spot that looked great. It was a back eddy off the main current. There was lots of structure and it was stacked with minnows! Where there's pray there should be predators, right!? I washed a bunch of lures but no luck. This looked like a great spot and I'm hoping to get back to it. After supper I headed over to Port Dalhousie. I didn't like the idea of standing out in the wind on the pier so I fished closer to the lock. There is still a good current here. I went back to drifting roe and worms. There was a fish breaking the surface every once and a while so that gave me hope! I tried some spinners but nadda. I did snag this ball of zebra mussels. I really had to pull to get it out. This is why I love fluorocarbon for a leader! The sun was setting so I went home!

Niagara Trip – Day 2 After work I hit the Niagara River hoping for my first Steelhead. Upstream Downstream I rigged up my drift set-up and gave it a try. I'd never tried this technique before so it took a bit of experimenting. I had to add some weight but I was soon feeling the tap-tap-tap of bottom as my roe bag floated along. There were 2-5 other guys there, floating and drifting roe plus 4 guys netting minnows (there shallows were full of them). I have to admit. It was difficult sensing hints. I can't count how many times I set the hook on nothing. After about an hour I felt a tap that was a little different…I set the hook and feel weight…might be bottom…then I feel a head shake!! FISH ON!! It was a good fight, especially in the current. I couldn't wait to see my first steelhead. I see the fish, hot huge but a good fish. It gets closer, I see the mouth on the bottom, a SUCKER!!!. It was a good sucker, a fat 19", but no steelhead! The roe wasn't working so I tried chucking a 3/4 oz blue and silver cleo for a bit but no luck. the sucker was the only fish caught. My steel head cheery is still in tacked. Maybe next time... Here's my drift setup: A three-way with a slinky (5/8 oz worth of shot in a mesh tube) and a 5 ft leader of 8lb fluorocarbon to a #12 hook baited with orange roe bag.

Niagara Trip – Day 1 I made my way down to Niagara on Sunday. On the way I hit a small pond west of Niagara Falls. I had heard rumours of crappie and sunfish. First stop was the local corner store for some vending machine worms. I'd never used one before! I got there at dusk and the water was like glass. Set up my ultralight with a bobber and a small jig and worm and hit the water. I quickly found that there were a lot of fish but they were small, very small! They were very active. I saw 2" sunfish come clean out of the water and go a good foot! Fish nipping at the surface. It would have been a good time for "sunfish on the fly"! My biggest bluegill. This is a small area and I could see about 8 cars on the other side with about 12 people fishing. I think this area is heavily fished and the larger fish are likely already gone...

Court, thanks for the invite...PM sent!

4x4bassin, thanks for the tips. Sounds like the same idea as ice fishing lakers. Make'em chase it!!

jjcanoe, that's for the info, some good starting points. Thanks for the PMs guys! I'll let you know how I do!

Found this on the MNR site. It's a provincal fish stocking summary for 2010. http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/LetsFish/2ColumnSubPage/STDPROD_082329.html They also have lists for past years. I don't understand the issues well enough to comment but here are some numbers to through around!

Awesome guys, that's some dynamite advice! I'm taking my little tinny. It's not much but it has rod holders and a color fish finder. Trolling slow should be no problem!! I've read that comment several times. I like the spoon / lipped bait idea! I will have to give that a try. Do you give them the same leader length off of the 3-way swivel or do you make one longer? Good old live bait! Hard to beat! You must have to use heavy split shot to get a minnow down 50ft when floating in a boat? Have you ever tried a drop shop set up to get the baits down faster? Anyone know of a bait shop near Lake Kennisis? Again, thanks for all the pointers. As soon as I land the first fish I'll share this with my buddies!! I promise a full report when I return (hopefully with fish!).

On the first weekend in June I am heading to Lake Kennisis with a couple of buddies and our families. We are planning a "Rock Bass Derby" for the kids which should be a blast! We plan to get out for a little "adult" fishing. Since bass is still closed we are going to try for some lakers. None of use has ever targeted soft water trout and we are hoping to hook into our first. I've been researching tactics but I was hoping you guys could give me a little advice. I'm not looking for "honey holes" but more techniques and what kind of structure / depths to look for this time of year. We have access to a couple of boats but no downriggers. Here's what I'm planning to try: Flat lining - I'm hoping with the late spring they will still be in shallow. I'm going to try and flat line spoons. I plan to pick up a planner board so I can move the lure away from the motor noise. Can anyone recommend a good style that attaches right to the line for use with a small boats? At what water temp do they move deeper? Dipsy Diver – If they are too deep for flat lining I'm going to use a Dipsy Diver. This way I can get the lure down and out. I've never used one but I have read the Luhr Jensen tech report on how to use them. Anyone have any advice. http://www.luhrjense...2DipsyDiver.pdf As far as location I'm going to work the standard spots. (Points into deep water, sharp drop offs, shallow flats close to deep water). FYI Lure Jensen also has a couple of other good articles on trout fishing Thin Blade Spoons for Trout http://www.luhrjense...llThinBlade.pdf Trolling Spoons for Freshwater Trout http://www.luhrjense...waterSalmon.pdf Spoon Jigging for Trout in Lakes http://www.luhrjense...ingForTrout.pdf

Nice job Live2fish85! You're really knocking the hell out of the trout on your rookie season!

That's a great clip! I don't know how effective it would be for carp control but A+ for originality!

Congrats on the "first"! Must have been a thrill!

That looks like a great trip! Thanks for sharing!

Great report! Thanks for sharing. Congrats on the PB!

My work is taking me to the Niagara Falls area for a week or so starting May 9th. It sucks having to leave the family but being free of my parental duties will give me some time to do a little fishing. I've never fished this area but figure there's has to be some good opportunities. I can't bring my tinny so I'll be fishing from shore. Can anyone point me in the right direction (PM me if you like)? I'll fish for ANYTHING but I'd love to hook into my first steelhead or brown! If anyone is heading out for an evening fish the week of May 9th and has an open seat I'd be more than happy to fill it and pay my fair share of gas and expenses.

I followed in the foot steps of my hero and mentor! Homer J. Simpson! I work at the local nuke plant. I use ultra sound to test welds and metal for cracks.

Awesome report! Thanks for sharing and congrats on such a successful season. Beauty fish!!!

We go to Pigeon yearly. It's a really nice park. The sites are private and the beach is really good considering it's on the Pigeon river. I looked into Golden Beach before as well. For my family of 6 they wanted over $100 per night!

Great job on the bows, some real nice fish! A buddy of mine was looking to target suckers. He has a family recipe for bottle sucker he was to do. Are the suckers running in most of the Lake O tribs right now? More specifically, are they running in the Durham area tribs?

Great job! Looks like a blast!

Last year we stayed at Tower Manor Lodge on the south shore of Rice Lake down near Bewdley. http://towermanorlodge.com/ It's a smaller campground and not as fancy as some of the others around the lake but the rates are good. The pools awesome. The pan fish are plentiful right off the dock.

Real nice fish! Congrats. Thanks for sharing the technique!

I've got a 7'0" in UL. I really like it. It is sensitive and the action is great for fighting panfish. The extra length is great for casting those light jigs.