12 Volt Man

probably duckweed

great report. I also find that when the fish are jumping they are not hitting.

when you can't see them, they are hitting.

I would also add that I seem to do much better with a chop on the water. waves are good around the piers.

calm days seem to be tough.

I have landed 3 big ones so far this year, with my largest being this fish that was weighed at 24 pounds. I could hardly pick it up. super fat.

I hope to get some more and some rainbows and browns in coming weeks.

very nice fish. if you compare to the legit 24 pounder I posted earlier, the fish looks to be a good 18-20 pounds I would say. great fish! congrats!

true, it is very easy to over estimate the weights on these fish.

the fish I posted earlier with the huge girth was weighed at 24 pounds.

I could hardly pick it up. its a benchmark for me now.

if I don't have trouble picking up the fish without a fair bit of effort, its nowhere near 24 pounds.

I would have thought it was more but you don't know until you actually weigh it.

I have seen people land huge salmon and say its gotta be 30 pounds.

then they pull out the scale and its 18..

easy to do, but it doesn't really matter in the end.

who cares if the fish is 20 or 25 or 15?

they are all amazing fish and they all fight hard!

congrats to all those anglers lucky enough to land one.

its easier said then done sometimes. there are a lot of people out on the piers that have never caught one yet.

still a thick fish! congrats!

nice fish. I just caught my PB out of a creek a few days ago, it ate a worm, no joke, inhaled it. It was about 28-30 lbs.

nice! did you get any pics? would love to see a shot of this monster!

Congrats on the PB and even newer PB! I think I saw you (and a pic of the fish directly on your camera) the night you got the first PB! I bet it gave your gear (including your arms) a great workout!

small world!

thanks, I got another one the other day, but it was a bit smaller than the other two, but still a great fish.

the fight these fish put up is addictive LOL

amazing! love the net cam LOL

what an amazing fish! love the cool hookmouth

thanks for all the kind words.

I actually think I may have beaten that Personal Best with a new Personal best last night:

this fish was weighed by friendly fellow fishermen on the pier at 24 pounds. it was super thick and fat.

probably weighed more than the silver fish, I would think??. It felt heavier to me.

one thing is for sure: I am sure giving my Loomis SJR843 GL3 spinning rod a work out this salmon season lol. just yesterday it begged me to use it for bass again hahaha

but look at the colour: dark/golden. Has this fish been up the river and back out?

I'm confused as to the colour change too.

I was always told they darken when they have been up river. the ones out in the lake are more silver??

Just wanted to share a pic of my largest salmon ever, caught last week from a local pier.

fought like a beast, released to be caught again (or to go up river and spawn lol)

fish was taken on, surprise surpise, a spoon!

 

would tend to disagree Bill that a 10'6" will give you that much more distance. I always used to think that was the case, until I was launching little cleos 20-30ft further than the other guys on the pier this past weekend. Most were using 10'+ rods and I was using my 7' med St. Croix Avid. They seemed to be fairly experienced, so maybe I was using a more efficient casting technique?

 

 

 

you were using a better rod. I notice this too with my Loomis GL3. I am casting just as far or farther with a 7 foot Loomis GL3 with a 2/5 or 2/3ds oz Little Cleo than people using the 9 or 10 foot cheaper rods. 7 feet of high quality rod/taper is going to cast better than 9 or 10 feet of wet noodle.

nothing wrong with cheaper rods but they will not cast as well as the better quality rods like avids GL3s etc.

you really don't know until you cast one. and easier too. you just flick your wrist. takes much less effort with a good quality rod.

with the cheaper stuff it seems like you have to put your whole arm into it.

people are probably going to flame me, but I have noticed this too and I think this is probably why.

I went to last years show and I loved it.

fishing world was there, saw my friend Steve who works there at the booth.

bought a G. Loomis TSR791 rod for $250 including tax (not a deal because this is what this rod goes for but I couldn't find this rod anywhere else and wanted to physically handle it before buying).

its now my favorite rod (im an UL fanatic)

got to play with the new rods/reels etc.

however, the actual hall with all the fishing stuff was not well advertised.

people were leaving saying there wasn't much stuff.

thats because they were in the wrong hall that had mainly the boating/camping stuff etc.

i will be taking a peek this year too. fun way to kill 2 hours.

there is still time! caught a rainbow off the pier last weekend. my first ever RB off the pier.

thought I would share a pic of this monster I landed last week.

I froze my butt off but it was so worth it!

IMHO

 

No.1 G. Loomis

No.2 St. Croix

 

After that the rest of the pack.

agreed.

these two manufacturers are far ahead in terms of design, actions etc.

you really don't know until you cast a higher end offering from SC or Loomis.

everyone else is playing catch up.

I have a fenwick from the late 90s that was made in the USA and it is a great rod.

but its heavy for its rating.

one thing that both SC and Loomis do better than most of the others is make light blanks.

I don't bother with the other brands anymore. if I am going to spend money on a rod, I save up for one of the mid to high range offerings from these two.

if you hate EVA foam like many of us do, don't get the Stradic Ci4. it has an awful EVA foam grip with an uncomfortable shape.

but the new stradic FJ looks fantastic, and has Septon handle grips which are great.

as far as the foam on the shimano's, go with a G. Loomis rod instead.

you won't find EVA foam on any of them (thank God) and they are amazing.

I have yet to fish with a Loomis model that I didn't love.

very well designed rods.

 

Yup all rebadged, pretty disappointing ICAST for shimano IMO.

 

nothing is more disappointing than the awful cheap EVA foam grips on the new Sustain.

its the same awful handle that most people hate with a passion on the stradic CI4s..

myself included. I will never buy a reel with that kind of handle. feels terrible.

and now they put it on a 250 dollar reel to save costs

XL is great. especially the green colour.

I use the Sustain 1000 FE for ultralight fishing and it is amazing.

cant speak for the crucial rods, I use the G. Loomis Trout series rods, (TSR rods) which are fantastic, but not cheap.

however, the crucials have a great rep, so I am sure you will be very happy.

I have a St. Croix 3 peice premier travel rod (7 foot, medium power, fast action) that came with a great PVC codora covered tube that was $200 from basspro.

its great.

I take it down south for fishing opportunities.

is this test free? or does it cost $100+? lol

as I was flipping through the Le Baron catalouge the other day, I was thinking about how they have a pretty good selection of rods/reels tackle out there.

however, I was thinking something seemed missing. then I realized: St Croix rods!

to me, its a bit surprising considering how popular they are and that they offer rods from $50 right on up to $300+ so they have a rod for all budgets and techniques now.

are they missing a major 'boat' so to speak?

seems like almost every tackle store I have been to seems to carry St. croix these days, except them??

do the other stores (like their montreal location) carry them? but the ones here in the GTA don't?

ps cant wait until they start being open on sundays! its not the 1980s anymore

yes, any of the 1000 size shimano reels work well on most UL rods and easily handle small diameter lines like 4 pound mono or braid.

I prefer 1000 size reels over the 500 sized models because the slightly larger spool handles line better (coils not as small, they cast better etc)

most people are going to think I am crazy, but since I LOVE UL fishing, I have a high end combo.

I use a G. Loomis TSR 791 rod (the new trout series rods - they are amazing) and paired it with a Shimano Sustain 1000 FE.

easily my fav. (but most expensive) rod and reel combo.