mirogak

Haha, I swear I was thinking the same thing - he must have seen the same ad on Craigslist. And yes, I will be doing my first fly cast in a couple of hours ... can't wait for AP next spring. Cheers mate, Miro

awesome fish there mate.

Okay - forget the voting. I paid $120 for it - he was asking $150. Pretty close Mike but now that you guessed the price so close, it makes me think I didn't get a steal.

That's it Mike. Man, you should be in that show "Storage Wars"

Hi gang, This forum is great - have learned a lot here. And I think it just helped me land a great deal. I have thinking about getting into fly fishing and I know that the gear can cost you an arm and a leg and maybe your head too. So I had been checking out Kijiji and Craiglist for some half decent gear at a half decent price to get into the sport. Check this out: Fly rod - Fenwick HMXF 866-2 (8' 6" long - 2pieces) Fly reel - Fenwick World Class 56D (with the line) Flies - 35 beautiful looking flies (nymphs and dries) of various sizes (and they don't look like the cheap Crappy Tire kind) Waders - chest high Browning neoprene waders Vest - Misty Mountain fishing vest Net - and a wooden net that gets attached to the back of the vest They are all in excellent shape with no wears and tears. The waders don't even have any dirt marks on them. And I have learned from this forum that Fenwick is one of the better brands out there. The reel I am not so sure about. All I need now is some fishing boots. Any tips on where and what kind I should get? How much do you think they are worth second hand? I'll take your votes and then respond back with how much I paid. Check out the pics.... Miro

good looking steelhead there.

Love the first picture with your daughter - what a backdrop? Good on you for taking the kids out. Cheers, Miro

Aaaaah brookies !!!

Nice report and what a great catch - I myself never caught a smallie that biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig

Great pics, report and fishing - never knew those tubes could be that effective. I hardly use'em for bass. Question for you Brad, after using a tube for a day or so's fishing, it looses that oil/scent that they come with in the package, but can you still keep it and reuse it in the future?

He has touched and changed millions of peoples lives directly or indirectly. His tools assisted me in my latest trip to AP when I was chasing them brookies, or when I go in a new lake in my boat I always leave a GPS marker in case I could not find my way back to the dock. Let alone all the hundreds of other ways his vision has simplified my daily life. Not saying we need more technology in our lives, matter of fact, I'd say we need more "twignology" but this guy was a genius. Leonardo of today's gen has passed away - don't think you will see another for quite some time. RIP Mr. Jobs.

I concur Dana - something definitely wrong with his taste buds. Actually the first fish I ever caught (and also ate) was about an 18 incher pike just south of AP on Benoir lake. I almost gave up fishing, especially fishing and eating, after that until I discovered pickerels. But now I have heard so much about brookies, I must have one. You guys probably think I eat what I fish but in my entire 2 years of fishing I have probably eaten 8 fish. Anyhow, unless you batter and spice the heck out of them pikes, I can't see them being good table fare. Miro

I don't watch TV but I sure do watch that program and that Storage Wars one. Good laughs .... Well said up there "choot'em" hahahahahah

Nice catches Dana - I am glad to see the curse lifted off of your shoulders. Now its my turn but I can't try again till next Spring in AP as I live in the GTA and there don't seem to be any good spots around here. Great report too. Miro

Hey man, how the hell did you get up to Baffin island ... good for you.

Thanks Jayess - wish I had read your post on time, it would have triggered me to fish deeper which I didn't and I think that would have made a big difference.

Here is that baby speck

Here is my report on my novice brook trip to AP: Was there for 3 days (Fri, Sat and half-day Sunday); stayed at Rock lake due to close proximity to some of the stocked lakes and also for the leaf colours. Friday - I hit one of the stocked lakes just east of where I was; involved a 2 km easy portage; beautiful isolated lake with nice views; trolled the shores with little cleos and williams wobbler but no hits; tried the rocky shoals, bays and near the eastern spring. Then I changed strategy and tried casting off shore with worms, floats, spinners but nothing except 4 smallies. These guys are everywhere and attracted to me. By the way it was pouring down hard the entire 4 hours I was there. On my way back on the portage saw a mother deer with her two fawns .. nice !!! At least I got something out of the day's adventure. Saturday - woke up early to take some beautiful shots in the misty morning, even drove to another stocked lake with huge steep cliffs (picture below), tried a few casts but the spot was not ideal for casting, but did hear 3 fish splash in the distance. I knew they were specks because that lake is only stocked with specks. I had to come back to this lake with a canoe when it got darker. But in the meantime I had another lake in mind (that is not stocked) in the Tea lake vicinity. After a heavy breakfast, unfortunately my buddy lit up a spliff (the green stuff) and gave me a few drags. I usually don't smoke that stuff for good reason - because it knocked me out and I went to sleep for a solid 3 hours. So my plans got ruined for that day and we decided to go to the lake where I had seen the fish splash early in the morning. Canoed that lake for a good 4 hours; tried different depths, shorelines, near an awesome beaver damn (just mind blowing), in the marshes but nothing. What happened to those fish that were splashing? But did see lots and lots of baby trouts (or so I think), they could have been minows. Sunday morning - before breakfast decided to try another stocked lake right off of the highway; there were good casting spots and you could tell others had fished from here because they left garbage and bottles behind (aholes) .... lots of small baby trouts and minnows (I think) but no big bites. Sunday afternoon - after packing decided to hit the Oxtongue river on my way home. Found a couple of nice holes, had a few small bites and caught two small trouts - 10 incher and 7 incher. Too small and felt bad; so let them go. I only got the photo for the smaller one, see below. In summary - I shall come back in Spring (mid May) and give it another go. I was not all that disappointed because I came back with some good memories and some new lessons learned. I think the water was still not cold enough for them to surface. I fished the surface; I should have gone deeper with a 3 way setup. No more spliffs ... and next time I buy a canoe cart. The sights were gorgeous. Adios, Miro PS: back to the real world now.

Good for him ... Did he enjoy it. I see he is getting head start.

Man - I was at Rock lake and what beauty. Musky! I am happy for you. Ofcourse, must be the experience. Were u there this very weekend I was there? Did u eat one? If so, how was it?

Ok just got back with a broken heart. Feels worst than grade 10 heartbreak ... I guess that's why theses fish are so prized. Not for your average newbie. But spring is not far. Full report on Tuesday .... Gotta unpack. Ciao. Miro

Okay the time is near and I think I am all set. For lures I have: - 2 inch Williams wobbler - Little Cleos 1/4 oz and 2/5 oz (sliver/green and silver/blue) - 5 diamonds yellow spoons (various sizes) - Mepps #0, #1 - Blue fox #2 - don't have those minnow/perch type of plugs (cost was adding up fast) I have some top surface plugs and really deep diving ones for bass and walleye For bait - nightcrawlers, - mini marshmallows marinated with garlic and salt (my recipe ) - my own dough bait (cheese, dough, cornmeal, garlic, and sugar) ... )) - fresh salmon rowe I got from a Jack I (correction: someone) caught two days ago (no time to cure it) Spots I'll be hitting (and I don't mean lake names) For specks concentrate on shoreline structure like large fallen trees, beaver huts, inflows and outflows. Windswept shorelines are also good to key on as well as obvious neckdowns and narrows, especially if they contain shoreline structure.Find granite drops....very steep drops, shoals, and shoreline structure with adjacent deeper water When that light starts to fade...cast and cast and cast.Work the shoreline and cast to any downed timber. (these are accumulations of what I gathered from some of you on OFC) Man, if I don't catch a speck or two, I'd be more heartbroken than I was in grade 10 I hope to provide a full report when I am back in office on Tuesday. Ciao, Miro signing off.

Yeah - agreed. I catch the drift now.

Okay .. count down begins 3 days to go before I hit AP. I hope there is no frost that weekend like this past weekend. Thinking about these Specks - what is your favourite method of cooking one (Grill, Bake (foil paper), or pan fry).

Got it! re plug .... thanks, Miro