solopaddler

Pictures of few steels I got few weeks ago.

 

 

 

Been doing good... Not as good as last year but still good. I guess it's time war. Some times I find a good hole with few right in there but due to the lack of water + gin clear water, they will not bite unless I fish really early.

Nice fish!

Under those conditions try fishing at night with a glow stick on your float...

Eveyone's a self-professed expert Steelheader Solo, didn't you know?

 

They're not really that hard to catch, especially drifting Roe...

True, but 10% of the steelheaders still catch 90% of the fish.

And yeah no doubt they're possibly the easiest of all fish to catch, but you still have to

time your trips properly, know how to read a river well, and present

your bait correctly....

(I normally don't get on the soap box as much as this, guess I'm guilty of being a self-proclaimed expert too ).

Personally if you want to get into steelhead fishing...

the only way to go is by flyfishing or centrepin floatfishing. Spin casting is looked down upon

by the rest of the river fisherman it almost seems like there is a hiearchy.

And that's just my opinion so no need for a whole bunch of

negative comments back.

Well, can't say that I agree here either. As mentioned before the mark of a truly great steelheader is one who's able to adapt to any conditions and succeed using multiple techniques. Not pidgeon holing themselves by "just" floatfishing.

I suspect that most of the younger guys who're relatively new to the sport here in Ontario would have their eyes opened wide if they broadened their horizons.

There's tons of incredible rivers all around the great lakes and out on the left coast each with their own unique challenges.

Experience is the best and only teacher...

There's no denying that there's an element of elitism amongst steelheaders. However it's usually the guys who can't back up the bravado with results with that attitude.

Why is it that it's always steelhead threads that go south?

Hey c'mon guys give Milty a break, he was attempting to impart some knowledge and I'm sure his intentions were good.

My response certainly wasn't a shot at him...

Rule of thumb: don't say something on the net that you would never say to the person face to face.

By putting someone down you just end up making yourself look small.

BEAUTY FISH BRO!!!

HAVE TO HEAD OUT 1 DAY WITH YOU!!!

IM SURE THERES LOTS WE CAN LEARN FROM EACH OTHER!!!

Definitely

Enjoyed it immensley, thanks for posting.

Very cool!

Any idea what it's a mascot for? Looks like the hood ornament from a car...

I see my error. Sorry 'bout that. Guess I'm a bit touchy tonight...

Actually bud, I've been fishing that place for 15 years now and have never heard it called "the dump" before, LOL!

I did "get it" though, but it would be pretty easy for someone to assume that meant a trip to the local landfill site was in order .

Can't believe you murdered them little preciouses. Sin I tell ya.

:D

Just awesome, the pic of the 275lber could be a magazine cover!

How'd you manage to drag the others into the boat?

If u want to catch the most stealhead on the river, leave the hardware at home,...get an ultralight (4-8lb) rod in a length of 12'6-13'6 or even 15'. More important than the rod (IMHO) is the reel. You might want to start with a good spinning reel with a very good drag (atleast 8 bearings), ideally you want to move to a centre pin.

 

Use 8lb mono main line with 3-5 g raven or drennan floats (or smthn similar) shotted appropriately below the float to match the float size,..then to a micro swivel and 2-3' of good flourocarbon leader in the 3-5lb class depending on brand, again i reccomend raven or drennan.

 

Use a #12-14 hook and wetflies, steelhead jigs, pink worms and steelhead eggs for bait. Spinners will work only when the fish are very aggressive, which isnt all that often.

 

In conditions when spinners work and you are floating instead your float will go down like a large mouth just hit it,..these times are rare,...most often a steelhead hit is hardly detectable to the untrained eye and it takes alot of confidence to set that hook and set it well...and risk a hook up with a stick or the tree behind you,...it takes alot of learning to become a good steelheader,...by all means bring a 9 ' lite action spinner with you,..but the long rod, ultralight CP combo is defintaely the way to go if you want to catch fish!!!

 

Sorry Milty, gonna have to disagree. (The following is not directed at you BTW)

Too many steelheaders these days are one shot wonders. They pick up a float rod, hit a few fish and suddenly they're God's gift .

Floatfishing is deadly no doubt, but certainly not the be all and end all.

There are many, many instances where tossing or drifting (yes drifting) spinners, spoons or other hardware will totally outproduce a float presentation. Especially on the big waters of Michigan where Zib is from.

In fact bottom bouncing (a lost art it seems) will easily outproduce floatfishing on a regular basis if done PROPERLY.

Back when I started steelheading most guys either bottom bounced or threw hardware. Learning how to fish this way would make anyone an infinitely better steelheader.

Why?

Simply because in order to achieve success you MUST be able to read the water much more efficiently than a float fisherman. The drifts are short arc's and the length of time your bait is in the strikezone is miniscule compared to a float presentation where you more or less hit a seam with your float and let 'er drift waay downstream watching intently.

No sense of "feel" involved, no "touch" required.

By FAR the best steelheaders I know cut their teeth on other techniques before they turned to floatfishing.

Utilize more than just one technique. Don't use other methods halfheartedly, MASTER them.

For God's sake think outside the box!

For an off the rack rod for tossing hardware I'll have to agree with the 9' Avid, it's a great rod.

Sounds like chronic fatigue syndrome (or yuppie flu )

http://www.healthline.com/adamcontent/chro...atigue-syndrome

Wow! You did good Mike. That roe almost looks edible.

A few years back I was tying up some roe bags at my desk when the office manager strolled in.

I had a similar container of roe sitting up on the counter with an open box of Ritz crackers beside it, LOL!

He thought the roe looked good too and before I caught on to what he was doing he had scooped up several big piles of it and wolfed it down .

....Sweet, tie some up for me.

No problem bud, tie up a rod for me and you've got a deal!

Wow, congrats Mike. Did you take the skein off it or did you get liquid gold?

 

Joey

All fish were loose .

so when the BBQ???

This weekend at your place, LOL!

So yesterday I'm checking the freezer to see how my roe supply is and darned if I'm not running low.

Wonder how that happened?

I decided to make a suicide run to favourite spot for browns today...Worked 'till 6am this morning then left straight from the office with my gear in tow...I had to work fast as I had to be back in the office at 2pm for another 16 hour shift .

Anyhow I'm basically a zombie at the moment but mission accomplished. Tied into a bunch of hen browns as well as 1 bonus female coho.

This is pretty much the only instance where I'll harvest these fish, once a year every fall.

Here's a few shots of the browns...

And the bonus coho...

And best of all...

Brown roe

And some very sweet bright orange coho roe

Look out steelies here I come!

Check your pm's Wayne

Wow, that is one incredible chunk of Temagami shoreline you just aquired Wayne.

Congratulations

Hey no one's perfect.

It's probably not a great idea to hurl stones when you live in a glass house either...

Personally I like Cronz, faults and all. Over the course of his career he's been the voice of the common man here in Ontario when it comes to fishery issues, and has undoubtedly done more than anyone on this board to promote and enhance the sport...

Heck, just last year it was HIS initiative that started the ball rolling with the steelhead stocking in the Saugeen river.

Something that will very likely result in the 'Geen becoming THE premier great lakes steelhead river.

Nice! Never get tired of your camp reports TJ .

I'd like to personally thank everyone involved, job well done boys!

If I could live anywhere in Ont., it would be Thunder Bay.

I used to guide there .