castgame

gorgeous, gorgeous fish. one day i hope to catch a brookie as magnificent as that. that is what fishing in this province is all about.

great report! was thinking of going to manitoulin late august... wonder how i'll do on manitou with a canoe?

don't miss the mackerel run

this either means the river's dead and not worth fishing, or so good a few of you are trying your best to keep the secret from getting out if it's anything like the innisfil creek, i guess i can expect some small bass and pike, with a ton of chub

i'd head to the niagara glen, find some eddies in the river, and work them with grubs, spinners, crankbaits, or a worm under a bobber. that's all i know about that region! let us know how you make out

scoping out the simcoe area on google earth, looking at places that might be accessible by canoe. a google search indicates the river's mostly warm-water, carp, catfish, pike? any largemouth? does it turn into coldwater/trout territory upstream?

great report. man, do i miss those simcoe smallies... we used to nail them off cloud island, crayfish or leech imitations on the bottom. wish i could get out there in a canoe!

i'll remember that about the golf courses. right there at old baseline there's the caledon club, i thought it would be a funny thing to float through it on a canoe. i don't think i'd get as far as norval anyway... likely only float down to terra cotta or so--i'll still have to paddle upstream!

guess i'll give it a shot and report back!

i was hoping for browns (i hear there are some around), and maybe the odd resident bow or brookie. water looks low though, don't know that it's navigable...

i'm thinking about dropping my canoe in near inglewood and taking a leisurely paddle down, targeting trout. can this be done? how's the current and obstacles? anybody had success with a trip like this?

largest smallmouth i ever caught was on a crazy-crawler in the kawarthas, but last summer i nailed three trophies on charleston with a pop-r. that was a strange situation, too, because they were way out in the middle of the lake, and that lake is nearly 100ft deep in parts. first i'd seen that.

nobody else ties a palomar? i only tie a clinch when i'm fed-up with trying to get a doubled line through the eye

climb at lion's head, so long as you lead 5.10

that's a gorgeous brookie. seriously, keep this spot under your hat and if i were you, i'd release nearly every fish i caught.

my old stradic served me for a decade. my new stradic is a joy to use

tastes like chicken? lol. speckled trout is my favourite freshwater fish. try just pan frying it in butter with a little salt...

any time can be good, but i'd say dawn tends to be a little above the average pretty consistently... depends, of course, on the species and conditions. there's a reason people rise at 5 to be on the water!

how many conflicting reports are there now? i don't trust any of them to really be laying it out clearly. i'll eat the odd salmon or bow from ontario, but not much else. the great lakes have been abused so hard for so long, it's an outrage that we value industry over the environment, but that's the society we live in. hopefully we'll see the lakes get better in our time and not worse... i really believe this can happen.

prepare to get into some monster rock bass if you're targeting smallies! we did well on rock lake just trolling a rapala along the shore line. good luck.

been said a million times now, but light mono--4lb or 6lb (or even 2lb!)--is the way to go for these delicate little fish. i use a 5'6" ultralight rod with 1000 (small) shimano stradic for my setup. if you can make the trip to somewhere other than crappy tire, you can get a nice little ultralight kit for pretty cheap. here's a couple of links actually: bass pro 1 bass pro 2 lebaron or your local tackle shop will have a comparable selection no doubt. but i've never seen anything of the sort at CT... as for worms & releasing, also been said: brookies inhale worms, and a fish hooked in the gut is very hard to safely release. no problem fishing this method, but make sure to do it only when you're planning for supper. and i would recommend not too frequently, unless you want to see your gem of a population disappear. if you want to fish under a tiny float, try dropping a barbless fly--any number of nymphs will do the trick. if you've got a fly shop in your area, go in and ask! you'll get pointed in the right direction. can't tell you how envious i am of your catch. i was out yesterday in the blue mountains and got into some little guys, but nowhere near that quality. once again well done!

beautiful fish bud. those are definitely speckled trout (brook trout), and nice ones too. if you want to target them sportingly, use the lightest gear you can go with--ultralight rod and reel, and either 4lb or 6lb test. you'll slaughter them with a small float, small (#10-#14) hook, small splitshot, and a worm, but that's sort of the problem: you'll have a much harder time releasing these delicate little guys after they've swallowed the natural bait. i'd recommend using barbless artificials only for these fish, unless you're sure you want to keep a couple for dinner. once again, well done! any chance you can give a general indication of where this creek is?

if i were you and determined to catch a big bass, i'd do this: spend an afternoon catching bluegills with a worm and bobber, or overnight with a minnow trap. then one evening, take one of the little guys, rig him up with a treble hook, and throw 'im out under a big float or even a balloon blown up to about the size of a small lemon. if that injured bluegill doesn't entice a big largie to hit, i don't know what will!

bass typically out-compete trout from what i've heard. or maybe this only occurs when they're both naturally spawning--somebody more knowledgeable should enlighten us other possibility for the trout disappearance is poaching. word gets out, next thing you know you've got only empty tim horton's coffee cups, and no trout...

wouldn't be too surprised if they're down deepeer in the midday sun. you might try running a deep-diving crankbait along drop-offs, or natural bait (dew worms, small bluegills) under a slip float. if i were you, i'd be fishing the surface early in the morning and late into the evening. also, good bet the trout are done--trout and bass don't co-exist so well together.