Paulus

Sweet! Congratulations to Solopaddler mini-me Here's what the conditions of the weekend yielded for me, despite getting cheated (defective alarm clock) out of my favourite fishing spot... Bill, you trickster! The water was just fine . p.-

Sweet, beautiful chrome! Thanks for sharing p.-

As usual, you always have a good argument But it's a cap hit on something better than what the Leafs had before, for about 60 games a year. Is there a better scenario? for sure, and that's why you go with only 2 years. Sorry, but you do get a guy who's better than Bozak, and you get depth: I don't think you can go wrong with depth. And the byproduct of having Connolly as the #1 is that there is less pressure on Bozak, which is great since pressure is usually what causes a lot of these kids to crack. No argument whatsoever regarding Lombardi. Better forward. Lower price. p.-

I usually order mine online at Mountain Equipment Coop. They are not usually on back order. Plus, MEC has tons of other stuff, like Gore-tex patches, that can come in handy. p.-

I'm with you on him being injury prone and wishing we were watching him play (instead of reading articles about his injury being worse than they thought). A couple of things to remember about Connolly though:a - he's better than Bozak even if he only plays 60 or so games and b - he was the best that was left in the free agent pool when they signed him. I'd personally rather see the Leafs pay him what he's getting now, for two years, instead of the huge contract that the Rangers gave to Richards. Plus it's not like Connolly's breaking the bank or part of the Leafs long term plans. And with him around, even when he's not playing, it does take a little bit of the pressure off Bozak - who knows, maybe that'll be good for the kid. p.-

Steelhead run in both Spring and fall. Once you've read up your regs, another smart thing to do is read up on the fish. Here's a good example: Steelhead article - Ontario out of Doors I'm with CCMT on the "they're not biting because they haven't spawned yet" thing. One of the best times is to get them before they spawn, well before, in early or late March when they start entering the streams for the Spring run. Good luck in your quest! Post often and you'll find help here p.-

I love this shot. Well done! p.-

Good post. Thanks for putting this up. Incidentally, it's also good for May, after the trout opener. Very much the same thing happens - need to take care around those redds! p.-

AIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! LOL! haha! When that part came up I spit my beer all over my screen, ROFL! Whoever did the subtitles has a great sense of humour! Thanks for sharing p.-

I agree with Spiel. But keep some of the wet goopy stuff and tie it as is. It will work wonders in slow, froggy water. Trust me. p.-

Learned much, you have, young padawan. Steelhead they are. Good fried in butter they are. hmmmm!hmm!hmm! Go fishing now I must also... Hungry I am! p.-

It's a coho for sure. Here's a slightly clearer pic of one from last year. The snout is pretty much the same. Nice fish, though. Good catch! p.-

Rosy frogwater... I like! p.-

And the raven sang... caw! recovered dropback male beat up chunky hen droppie hen really close to home shiny new huron male well fed wild lake O. hen ad nauseum... p.-

I agree with Solopaddler. I've used an original SST for nearly 10 years and it has always been steady and smooth. The SST3's are a gorgeous reel, too, and extremely light. Amazing bang for the buck if that's what the seller on Kijiji has. For $11 more... p.-

AWESOME Is that a YES!?!?? So, I'll make arrangements with my boss and go home and tell the wife and kids. I'm gonna miss 'em, but it's sure gonna be worth it! I didn't know that he was going with you, but I'm not surprised. Since he moved to T-Bay he's returned to form and getting into 'em a lot more. Stands to reason, I guess. p.-

It was a very honest mistake and to tell the truth, I wouldn't bother changing it. People are pretty open-minded on this board and always welcoming to anyone new. This is a good post for anyone else who didn't know the difference and is new to the sport. Plus, I really like that you released the fish, because that's what we should all be doing most of the time - especially in southern Ontario where pressure on all salmonids is so high! p.-

Correctomundo... A male steelhead looks a lot more like this Note that the colours tend more toward silver, white and gray, as well as the reddish/pinkish stripe down the side. Chinooks can also be silver, but this time of year they tend to be yellow to green and eventually black. A sure way to tell is to check the tail. Chinooks have tons of spots, but in disarray; steelhead have lots of spots too, but they're concentric. Still, that was a good first fish - kudos on the release! p.-

Awesome, sweet summer fun! My dad never took ME on any trips like that...so... Um.... I'm thinking of quitting my job, moving into your house and becoming your adopted son... I pick up after myself, I can cook and I can tie great roe bags! Would that be ok with you..."daddy"? p.-

Largely depends where you're fishing. Whenever I've attached a swivel above the float, I've used it where I knew my lead was not going to exceed roughly 8' to 10' (I use a 13' XST). I've also done it for a portion of the day, if I was fishing a shallower stretch on a deeper river (i.e. the 'Geen) and wanted to get rid of line twist comfortably. If this means re-rigging, then so be it: I don't mind re-rigging as I think that it can be a way bigger waste of time to fish with the wrong setup than to take 5 minutes to do it up right - and fresh. Also, microswivels are so light and tiny that they don't interfere with mending your line and, for the lazier moments, most float tubing can slide over them pretty easily with a little bit of jimmying. p.-

The next thing to learn is trotting. You asked about it early on, and I didn't see anyone explain this. Basically it's what the centrepin is made for, and it's about delaying the drift of your float so that the bait travels downstream in front of your rig. You do it by applying pressure to the spool as your float "trots" downstream. One of the biggest challenges at the beginning is to not "over trot." I don't really know any other term for it, but I've seen several new 'pinners' do this, and I have been a long-time victim of this self-inflicted torture myself (I still catch myself doing it). Basically, if you're over trotting you're pulling the bait up and out of the strike zone in an unnatural way that can spook fish - of course if you happened to tie on something that's supposed to rise (i.e. caddis fly) then you probably should over trot now and again - but most bait is supposed to just move along in the current, at the speed of the flow. Not sure where you're fishing, but try varying the amount of pressure you put on your spool during your drift. It could bag you a fish p.-

Ha! Truer words were never spoken! The only advice I think I can add to this already well-answered thread is to practice the different casts - spinning side-cast, wallis, modified wallis, BC cast (not that I'm proficient at all these styles myself )- when things are slow. It's a fun way to get the best of both worlds, and eventually the more you practice the more sub-conscious your casting becomes. p.-

Welcome, Kroot I wonder who your photographer is... whoever it is, I think he needs to spend less time taking pictures of you and more time catching fish lol! A couple more: p.-

It is definitely an unusual circumstance, and hopefully things correct themselves soon For me, not much has changed though. I've only had 3 short trips, no glorious full days on the river - but I can't complain about any lack of success so far. Your old rod has been a godsend, though. With most fish, the fights have been over really quick, making for good releases. Plus the rod is sweeeeeet I just dunk it in clear water, if ever the sand gets in there. You wiggle it around a bit, and that's usually enough. But it is a centrepin, which has only 2 bearings & sand usually only gets in between the spool and backplate. Different story if you're using a spinning reel... p.-

With so much rainfall and so few other anglers out and about, fish were very easy to find this year. I'm with CC when he says "I LOVE RAIN!" Only three half-days spent on the rivers so far, since April 23rd - including one unforgettable morning that rates among my best ever; and I hope to have a few more outings before all is said and done. I'll be taking one of my 5 year-olds for his first "serious" trip soon - which means 5 minutes of fishing with an actual worm; so let's see if that's enough time for him to get into something unforgettable, too . Anyway, here are some of my pics. Enjoy! This next one took me well over 15 minutes to land. She was almost completely recovered, very well fed and extremely energetic and strong. The first five minutes felt like I was hooked to a freight train! I kept her in the water for the pic; no need to add to her extreme stress! Not all fishing. Gotta take time to smell the roses, too... Red sunrise Yummy! Who was here? Footsteps in the pool Swan Redwing Blackbird Reproduction in full swing! p.-