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I have been out after work in not so ideal times for steelhead on Lake Ontario tribs, but that is when I could get out. As it turns out, it didn't matter, as the fishing was mostly great. I didn't fish opening weekend, or any weekend day for that matter. I made short 3hr trips locally after work. Italo joined me for most of the trips and we had a blast! Apart from the good steelhead fishing, the scenery and spring coming to life is a big part of why I like this type of fishing so much. I really enjoy the beauty that nature offers, and especially relish it so close to home. Although I enjoy the nature and always have, I don't often post photos of what I hold dear to me. This year I was inspired to take photos of not only the typical grab and grin photos, but nature and what makes tributary fishing special for me. When I was younger, I spent most of my time fishing crowds shoulder to shoulder for numbers of steelhead disregarding the amazing nature around me. For the past 20 years or so, I have come to enjoy fishing a bit less pressured waters with fewer fish and fewer anglers and take in the entire experience. I enjoy this far more than trying to worry about racing guys to the next good hole like when I was younger. I just take my time and fish while enjoying the beauty around me. We started the season in high stained water, and over the 2 weeks the water slowly dropped while the water visibility increased. The last two trips were low gin clear water and we had the toughest steelheading as a result. We still managed a bunch of steelhead each and had a blast taking unique underwater photos. Bigger brighter roe bags drifted under floats did the damage in the higher water, and when the water cleared I downsized to 4lb fluorocarbon leaders, size 10 Gammy octopus hooks with a stealthier split shot and smaller float approach. The micro roe bags were tied in peach mesh for the highest success in tougher conditions. Seelhead are still dropping back, and with the forecasted rain this week, they will migrate back to the lake quickly. I may make one more short trip this week, then switch gears to something else for the long weekend. Enjoy some of the photos that we took over the last couple weeks. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as we did taking them! Good fishing! Aaron

Italo and I joined Jason and Tyler for a film shoot on an Erie tributary for channel cats on Friday. This would not be a typical shoot with 4 of us in the boat all float fishing. I worked all night on midnights and got out at 8am. I headed home, made coffee, took a quick shower, grabbed my gear and left to meet the guys. We got a late start at about 11am, but we were hopeful we would tag some midday cats. I rigged up a 10.6" medium heavy steelhead rod with a baitcaster and 20lb braid and 16 gram slip float. Inline weight, bead, swivel to about 16" 20lb fluoro lead to a 5/0 octopus hook. Pretty simple and really cool way to fish cats! I started off fishing shrimp, while Italo tried shad and the local boys had a cooler of vacuum sealed sucker chunks. I fished shrimp for hours without a fish, while the guys got some on sucker. I switched up and finally got a couple. We moved around from spot to spot trying the deeper areas with undercut banks and timber. It seemed the cats were not grouped up and spread out over the river. It was pretty cool to see a float drop and tag a feisty channel cat. The guys told us that many central Erie tribs have channel cats that are available from boat and shore. Typical rigs on bottom can work, but float fishing is the preferred way to target them. Unlike the Grand River, the channel cats come in much later and the fishing is good in May and June, and sometimes into July. This year, June and July has been good. Channel cats are common 4- to 8-pounds with several over 10lbs and up to 20lbs! It was a bit slower than when the guys fished a week earlier. They believe the cats are starting to migrate back out to the lake now after spawning. We got cats up to about 13lbs. Italo had the hot hand getting 4 cats, while the rest of us got a couple each and missed a couple bites. Here are some photos of cats that we got into. I'll definitely be floatin' cats again! Good fishing! Aaron