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Hey guys, planning a boat trip on may 19th to fish the Muskoka's. Debating between lake of bays or lake Rosseau as I'm trying to target pike and lakers in the same day. Also have parry sound as a backup but that would be more dependent on wind. Would greatly appreciate if anyone could help me narrow down my decision and provide me with some tips on locating these species. Thanks

Coming at this from a somewhat western point of view as we travelled from SK to get to this Mecca of trout and salmon. I got a late start on our first day so only made it as far as Winnipeg. The next day we woke to clouds and rain and it chased us all the way into Ontario ,so much for high fire ratings. We checked into the Northland motel a nice but little independent motel on the south side of the TransCanada as you come into town from the west. Due to a late arrival I had to wait for Canada's smallest Canadian Tire store to open in the morning to get my fishing license renewed. I made a new friend of the stores very affectionate black lab. license in pocket it was time to hit the road for the Alexander dam. I followed a local hauling his boat in the same direction which made it a lot easier to find the ramp down to the river, not that we could have missed it. I Off loaded the peddle drive kayak and made my way upstream against a moderate current, but was able to make decent headway without having to break out the kayak paddle. Low water conditions allowed me to park the boat on a rock bar and fish the channel formed between it and the western shore of the river. As I paddled upstream, I had seen salmon rolling on the surface so the adrenalin was already kicking in before I even had a line ready to cast. The morning was dark with low clouds threatening to rain with a stiff north wind coming right down the river. With limited tackle on hand, I went with the old adage dark day dark lure and put on a small Brass spoon. I started laying out quartering casts down and across the rapid that laid out into a fast slick with a short wing dam of rocks coming off the west bank, out towards the bar I was on. The East end of the bar was occupied by Kyle a local fellow I got some help with later on in the morning. As I was casting, I noticed him hook up to a fish and couldn't help being nosy so ran over to see if I could give a hand. He had it well under control as he already a the decent Pink salmon in the net and was releasing it as I arrived. He shared some suggestions on lures and techniques. After returning to my spot I made another cast across and down and was rewarded with a solid strike. With Chinooks, Coho, Pinks, Steel head and Brook trout all in the river, I had no Idea what to expect. The fish wasn't large but in the current he felt a lot bigger then he actually was, when I was able to beach a decent sized Pink Salmon in a shallow pool on the west end of the bar. I'd broke the skunk so the pressure was off. I started to switch up lures and fell back to an old standard but likely wouldn't have thought of it if it hadn't been one that Kyle had also suggested when I talked to him earlier, a blue back 4 inch Rapala. It made perfect sense in hind sight, with the number of smelt in the river and lake making up part of the natural forage base, it probably should have been my first choice. I moved upstream to the head of the rapid and cast across stream to the shore. I cranked it down to get the current to catch the lure and it just started to cut into the main current when it was stopped dead. The first solid thump left no doubt that this was no little pink salmon, and in a split second this fish had me back tracking down river on the rock bar. When I got to the bottom of it and had no further bar to run on all I could do was keep the pressure on, and hope to get the fish through the main current seam of the river and into the slack water on the downstream side of the bar. At one brief pass and I got a glimpse of white barred fins and I could have melted on the spot this was a fish I had dreamed just seeing once in my life time. But here I was No guide, on a DIY trip, with a truly world class Brook Trout on a lightweight spinning rod in full spawning colours. A quick call out to Kyle and he was good enough to come over and help get the fish as gently to shore as it would allow. After a few very quick photos it was released to make more memories for some other lucky fisher I hope. I was too pumped to get right back to the casting. Kyle was willing to share more of his expertise so I asked how his morning had been(since I hadn't got to the river before 10 am). He quickly pulled out a couple of Chinooks, and a Coho that he had caught as well as the Pinks I had seen him catch. I had to admit he had his technique down pat. Which was using a swim jig with a leach like rubber trailer. As the morning broke towards midday the pinks were still rolling but less inclined to strike. With hunger building, I headed back down stream to the boat launch. We loaded up and headed into Nipigon for Lunch at the Northern Grill Restaurant just west of the Petro-Pass card lock gas station. We had a great lunch and decided to take in some of the fall colours checking the streams and rivers out to the east. We stopped at the Granite and Little Granite Rivers along with a couple of others on our way to Schrieber, and ended up walking the board walks into rainbow falls. A small but highly scenic little waterfall inside Rainbow falls Provincial Park. We saw fish in a few of the smaller streams but not enough to make the trip back down again the next day. On arrival back at the motel I set about trying to arrange a very last minute charter out on The big Lake Gitchi-Gumee. I'm slowly checking all the great lakes off my bucket list, and a trip for lake trout and possibly a salmon would leave me with just lake Lake Erie to finish them all off. A call to Archie's Charters got me a quick return call, but he was sorry to say he was already booked. It didn't surprise me, I should have had this locked down before we left Saskatchewan. But with Covid playing havoc with everything I just didn't want to book something and have to cancel because of regulations changing every day it seems. Archie however had a fall back for me in Ian Parker, who fills in for Archie with his fully rigged Kingfisher. So a quick call to Ian and the charter was set for 9am the next day to meet at the Silver Islet harbour. We woke to dead still air and heavy fog. The drive out to the harbour is along your standard twisty, turny, hilly, blind curvy road in the dark and fog did I mention the fog! as we approached the hamlet of Silver Islet the fog had lifted and we were greeted with and absolutely remarkable sight the waters of Lake superior were glass calm with seagulls and eagles overhead you couldn't have painted it any prettier. A very short trip out of the harbour and Ian was setting lures and downriggers to depth and low and behold I'd like to say we had some great conversation as we waited for the fish to become co-operative but there was no time in the 4 hour charter we had one quad header , two double headers, and I think 4 singles forgive me on that one I lost count after the quad header. Talk about a fire drill! For value for money I don't think I'll be able to beat this charter. Ian was good enough to share his techniques and opinions on suspended fish that I can't wait to try if we ever get the chance to head back down to ND or Montana to fish their big lakes for Laker's and salmon. We consistently took Laker's in 20 -40 Feet of water over a 100 to 150 foot bottom I have to wonder now how many late season fish I have been fishing underneath of. The day ended with three nice 5lb Laker's and a small un-releasable chinook in the box. Ian had the fish cleaned on the trip back to the landing with the cleanings being quickly and skilfully picked off by Eagles and gulls. We finished our trip off with a stop overnight in Thunder Bay. Entertainment provided by a live performance of a play written by a local to the area woman about the stresses of the COVID situation on three women a comedic ,dramatic, musical with a bluegrass theme. Wow what a pack of talent that town has! I couldn't put the rods away just yet, so I did a walk along Mc Vicars creek and found some more pink salmon to play with. I landed 2 on a small beadhead fly I made up to look like a dragon fly nymph in chartreuse seemed to do the trick. I'm not sure why Pinks have such a poor reputation I had a blast catching them. With a quick stop at Kekabeca Falls and then a long stop on HWY 17 because of a fatal car accident that blocked the road for 12 hours we made it back to the flatlands of Sk Until next time enjoy your day and your waters Ontario Fishers.

Some days now I can't remember what fishing stories get passed along where, and that's weird cause I write about half what I used to. Early Old Timers starting, who knows? What I do know is that it was a miserable rainy day today and that being so I slipped away back into some Arctic sun my missus, friends and self all enjoyed this past July... Arctic Circle Lodge is a self-guided fishing experience on Great Bear Lake NWT and it is there where lake trout numbers are just absolutely staggering. Some years back I think it was about 285 fish Bren and I caught over the six days fishing with some good big greys in the mix. This year little had changed except that we were a group of six instead of two. BIG, BIG fish this summer too, Bren caught her first over 40 pounds while other's picked up PB's as well. With a drone along, my buddy captured some great videos and photos, including the photoshoot and release of Bren's giant. The extra shots make this report something special. Anyways, it's a cool read, loaded with pictures and for those whose fishing is slowing down, it's good and free entertainment to pass the time. Here's the link... Strokes & Putts Fish Plummer's Arctic Circle Lodge. Later doods! :)

Hi all, The Arctic weather continues here, and even with a shelter I am finding it hard to motivate myself to go out but still do just to maintain a socially acceptable level of sanity, anyway....it toughens the nipples which is good for breast feeding. Headed across our lake early yesterday morning to meet with a buddy on his home lake, I was set up and fishing by 9am and got a text at 11 am saying he was too hungover to make it, I texted back to say the fishing up to that point was probably worse than his hangover. It took almost five hours before I landed a fish. It was a tiny laker that had been keeping me company for that whole time and probably decided that since we had known each other for a long time we should meet, kind of like internet dating I guess. After that 1st fish, the lakers turned on, suspended and on the bottom, that lasted an hour and then the Burbot came out in force. I put the Lake Trout back and kept the Burbot, got a nice bag of cod fillets out of the deal, just deciding what to cook with them, not a great fan of the 'poor man's lobster' option (sorry Misfish), but thinking a lemon crusted fillet, steamed in wine on a bed of garlic butter zucchini spaghetti would be better, but that's just me.....lol. 64' FOW again, same spot as the other day. Trout would hit anything, burbot would only hit small acme spoons tipped with a minnow resting on the bottom. The burbot are small but my hungover buddy fishes them at night in March during the spawn, he says he gets much bigger ones....cant wait!

The short version or the long? To summarize here, I spent a few weeks in Nunavut this August working in an awesome little place named Taloyoak. This tundra town in the Kitikmeot region is Canada’s furthest north settlement on our mainland. Rugged and very remote, here Arctic life and culture rule. Lucky to have free time and a fishing pole, on some days off I was able to search and find char, lake trout, caribou and more while out on the beautiful barren lands. A full story with many outdoor and fish pictures is posted at my own website if looking to view. Link below... http://bunksoutdoorangle.com/a-nunavut-nomad-ii-taloyoaks-caribou-char-child/ Here’s just a few pics of that recent experience north... Thanks for reading. Bunk. Here’s just a few pics of that recent experience north.

For anyone who liked my backlake fishing reports in the past here, I have a YouTube channel for documenting our adventures now. Our first serious video was uploaded today (our first upload was just a quick trial run). We fish 3 lakes in one day, catching brook trout, lake trout, smallies, and pike and enjoy a killer shore lunch breakfast. We're not professionals but we're both happy with the outcome, hopefully some of you will enjoy!

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Just landed from a 2 week trip to my favourite lakes in Eastern Ontario. Each year we make these trips and catch some great fish. Last season we broke 5lbs and this trip we broke it twice and crept so close to 6lbs. I landed a half dozen 4lb class fish and even got my Dad, Papa and Uncle out for there first Laker's. What a blast is a understatement! The trip started with dept's 2-3' above normal with wicked current from rain's back in early August. The bite shallow was great as bays with 1-2' of water had 4-5' of depth. I struck out with the biggest of the trip on day 1 using as always my PTL Plastics. The swim jig (1/2oz) with the 4.8" swinging hammer cut down 1" in length caught 5% of the fish. The same swimbait texas rigged caught the other 5% and 90% of this trip was pitching my little Texas-Rig Jig craw. The jig bite was crap so I pitched the craw in deep weed for the first time and it was flawless. Water dropped 3-4 days into the trip and it fell quick 2.5-3' to be exact. I followed the fish to the deep weed and fished as many miles as I could. Enjoy the pics guys, I'll post part 1 of my 3 part series below and well add the next and the next to the thread as I release them on YouTube. Big fish of the trip Second shot of the beast little over 5-1/2lbs Second biggest of the trip little smaller by 2 ounces. Longer fish however. Second shot of the second beast! High 4lbr 2 ounces under 5 such a wicked trip cant put it into words Mid 4lbr off rock/weed kinda banks Last day of the trip cracked a 4-1/2lbr on that TRJ. Smallmouth were tricky but the morning bite was stupid for me. Back's of bays mid lake humps. All I could do is cast around schooling baitfish on the surface and the smallies were there. 90% on the Vision 110+1 and a couple fish on the Dog-X Speed Slide topwater. Lot's of fun got to put em in the livewell or the school spooks and it's a 1 fish scene. Had some great mornings 6-8am kinda action 4lbs 5oz and a low to mid 3lbr best 2 out of the 3 or 4 we got that half hour. Big fish one morning little over 4lbs Another pair not 4's but beauty's none the less! Another piggy topwater if I remember correctly Dad's biggest of the trip, his first 4lb smallie was stoked for him. Couple largies Dad caught thru the trip. Was a tough go no frog water for the boys this year but they picked up a few behind me! He loves the swim jig always produces for him. And another! More beautiful deep weedline largemouth Another 30' down and another small tank Lake Trout time. My goal was to taste a lake trout for the first time and get one on the line for my Papa, Uncle and Dad. My papa has health issues and couldn't reel his in but he got to enjoy the fight and see the fish. All 4 times I went out I got 1 or 2 fish all kicked back strong and fast and every one let out air on the way up. Fish were caught all on Lead Core 50-70' down and every fish was mixed into schools of bait. What a blast these fish are glad I gave it a go a handful of times! My Papa's fish I just fought it out. Keep your health guys it's all we have. Dad's Uncle's And 1 more for me Back to the bass here was a even 4-0 on the TRJ. Never got a bite deeper than 11' most fish were 6-9' deep shallower weedlines seemed to produce best. If you had a bay behind ya it was a guarantee fish would pull to the edge as the water fell. Morning piggy on the swimbait Here is the video I posted this evening. Part 1 of a 3 part series Part 2 Part 3 LakeTrout Thanks for reading and checking out the report everybody! It was a exciting 13 days out there. I'll post the next 2 video's in the coming 2 weeks as they are released. Tightlines and go bassin it's been on fire! MTBF

My fishing partner and I headed out for Laker opener yesterday with hopes of hooking up a couple. Getting to the launch we set up and backed in the boat. I'll rewind to last fall where I went to go late fall muskie fishing but the steering cable on the 115 Etec snapped before getting the day going. Off to the marina I went and by all accounts they had it fixed and ready to go for this spring. Being that yesterday was my first outing of the year, I had not tested the steering yet. Ok, back to yesterday. I hopped into the boat and started it up and threw it into gear and started backing away from the dock when I immediately knew something was wrong!!!! After a couple minutes I realized they hooked up the cable backwards, when I turn the wheel to the right, the boat turns to the left, when turning wheel to the left the boat turns to the right. What the......????? Although it was tricky and awkward, we went on anyways as it was a 1.5 hr drive to get there. Soon into the day one of the rods on the downrigger went off and I handed the rod to Matt, yes we are both Matts lol. He fought what looked like a very decent fish for a couple minutes but it spit the hook. Not long after I hooked up on this nice natural 4.5 lb laker We switched over to jigging and immediately were into fish with me losing one and having a nice smash on my jig. Matt then hooked up this nice sub 4 lb natural laker. One more at under 2 lbs that went back and we called it a day. It was smoking hot on the water and I had forgot my hat....ugh..won't do that again. Great day of fishing but off to the marina tomorrow to get the steering cable fixed.

Got out on Friday with a buddy for the first fishing trip in the new boat. A few weeks ago I picked up a 17ft Princecraft with Merc 115hp from another member on this forum (Thanks G.mech!) and couldn't wait to get on the water. We launched out of LaSalle Park in Burlington around 7am and trolled along the Hamilton/Stoney Creek shore towards Grimsby. This was our first time fishing Lake Ontario so we didn't have super high expectations, but we each bought a dipsy setup, some new spoons, and I got a new Daiwa trolling combo while he used his Muskie setup (the guys at Fishingworld in Hamilton were a big help getting me setup and giving a few pointers - many thanks) Once we got out from under the skyway bridge we setup the divers and started trolling in 40-50FOW. We marked a few schools of bait fish but that was about it. Water temps early in the morning were 40F but climbed up to 44F by the afternoon. We didn't mark a single fish for the whole morning but it was a great day to be out so we weren't too discouraged. Once 1pm hit we got about 10-15km from the bridge so we turned back and decided to troll a a little closer to shore (20-30FOW) for the return trip. 20 minutes after the turnaround we start marking some good size fish near bottom..not long after that my buddy's reel starts screaming - he's on one. I grab the net and he starts bringing it in. Being new to this type of fishing we have no idea what it could be which made it that much more exciting. I get a glimpse of the fish and see it's a good size, he reels it right do the boat and in the net it goes - a 12lb Lake Ontario lake trout which was the first fish in the new boat, his first fish out of Lake O, and also his first lake trout. We snapped a couple pics and sent it back to be caught another day. We were both really happy to have turned the corner on a slow day, so we got the lines back in the water and continued on our way. Not too long after that my reel starts going so I pull it from the holder and set the hook - fish was off... That happened three more times on the way back but couldn't land another one. I guess the shallower water was they key. We pulled the boat out around 4pm and called it a day with sunburnt foreheads but feeling good about our catch. After that we may try and get out again next weekend but if not we have a trip planned for some Balsam lake pike with a few other buddies at the end of April. Cheers, FF17

Not sure this is a really a big secret, and Drifters post got me thinking so I figured some might find this helpful. Sometimes you have a lure that you like but maybe it just doesn't cut it for bigger fish. It might be that the weight just isn't heavy enough to cast well on the rod/reel that you use for bigger pike, muskie and/or lakers or the heavier line dampens the action too much. Maybe the hardware just isn't up to the task, or you simply want to offer something bigger. If that's the case some of us will go for a little salt. Saltwater lures often have that little extra that works great for those bigger fish. Finding them can sometimes be difficult but it seems that more and more brick and mortar stores are carrying saltwater lures even if they are thousands of kilometres from the ocean. If not, you can easily find them online. To cut down on shipping I wait until a place like bps has a free shipping deal on. I just picked up a saltwater popper type lure and a lipless crankbait that I'm ready to try as soon as the conditions are right. The lipless crank is one of my favourites for pike (if I'm not fishing on top) but I wanted something bigger and finally have it. The popper type is another that is just too light on even my pike set ups, but I found this one and it's going to get wet early. The popper is the first saltwater lure I've come across that had hooks that I felt were not suitable so they'll be swopped out. The saltwater x-raps have been used a lot the 8-10 years and have also boated the odd big walleye. The top lures (gliding raps and flatfishes) are for another post and are not saltwater.

Well.. I have for you a video from this past Saturday on Lake Simcoe, ice fishing for lake trout. At the beginning of the day, I hooked up immediately and it looked like it was going to be a stellar day. However, the action for me was all within the first hour. Nevertheless, I got some good footage and was able to get this video up. Have a gander, I especially enjoy the sonar footage

Happy New Year everyone, it's been a while. A co-worker of mine is looking to rent a hut for his family for the day on Simcoe. He'd like to go for lakers and whitefish but might consider perch fishing for the action and keeping everyone entertained. I'm wondering who is the best of the best out there now a days. I'm sure most are good or they wouldn't be in business all these years. So from your personal experience or what you know, who do you recommend? Thanks and appreciate the input. PS - Perhaps a guide? Not sure what their budget is. I believe Steve Rowbotham and Slayingm were guiding out there. PPS - I was at Home Depot on the weekend and they had Frabill ice huts, 2-3 man hub style, not thermal for $249 I believe. Just thought I'd throw that out there if anyone is looking around. This was at the Whitby location and lots of stock.

Headed up to Gull Lake this past Sunday for the Chris Brock Show (haha sorry Chris I couldn't help myslef). After a short sled ride from Deep Bay my buddy and I were fishing by 8:00. It started off super slow and any marked fish did not seem interested in anything we were throwing at it. Tubes, spoons and single hook minnows were not doing the trick. Every fish I tried to bring up quickly lost interest. After a couple hours Chris came back to check up on us. This is when the action started picking up. My buddy landed his first Laker and after a few miss strikes I was finally on the board. Chris ended up pulling a walleye out of the hole he was fishing near by. A couple more fish came out the hole and a couple beers went down. Just when we were wrapping everything up for the day my buddy hooked into a Ling that he was praying for all day. When he was pulling it out of the hole it spit the hook and slowly sank back to the depths below. All in all we had a great time and I will be going back for sure. Chris was great fun and super helpful. He picked us up, brought us to the hut, got us some minnows and even let us use his fish finder. Awesome dude and a steal of a deal. We got our limit of fish, good times and home brews. Looking forward to the next adventure! Thanks Chris. Pictures to come.

Today, a buddy and I decided to put some miles on the ATV's. We drove past the middle grounds of Lake Simcoe but never really found a good bite. Out in the middle grounds, it reminded me of the hardened lava fields in Hawaii.......only this was jagged pack ice with more pressure cracks then we've ever seen. Brutal to drive over. I managed to pick up a few nice, fat lakers out there so it made the drive well worth it! The fish were super picky today but tricked them with a little sparkle and flash of the Bass Magnet Lures 4" chartreuse Tinsel Tubes. Colin

Since I was on-call last week, I really could only hit the ice for a limited amount of time due to work commitments but still managed to get a few topside. The pressure cracks are very tricky this year so be careful out there but the ice in general is great! First whitefish on the Kamooki Smartfish New prototype colour from Bass Magnet Lures New prototype colour from Bass Magnet Lures Cloud-o-herring Colin

It seemed like Lady Simcoe froze instantly over night last week which is good news for all us hard water lovers around the area. Not saying that the entire lake is good to go but the places that I fished, you couldn't ask for better ice. Pure black ice...other then the odd little pressure crack (which aren't big as of yet). I didn't put in the hours out there that I would have liked due to work commitments but it was still great to get out there and shake off the cobwebs from the deep water sticks. I was recently added to the www.kamooki.ca field staff team so I was dying to try out their Smartfish lure. It was raved about at ICAST and it caused quite the stir in the depths of Lake Simcoe this weekend. My first laker of the season came on the Herring pattern! Man, I missed the ice! Here's a few from the weekend. Kamooki Smartfish Herring Bass Magnet Lures Glo Shift'r Shad Cheers, Colin

Been a while since I have posted a report. Actually it has been quite a while since I have done some real fishing as well. This year I hadn't been to my favourite park for some real fishing, so I decided to go the weekend after Labour Day. What a great decision to not go on a long weekend. Peace, tranquility, scenery, fishing was just great. Below are some pics. I was targetting Specks using this new technique but I ended up with lakers. Hey, I don't mind. I love trout. I actually thought I had specks until I fillet two for dinner, at which point I looked for the signs - forked tails vs square tail, and the worm like markings versus the halo spots. Ofcourse, how could i forget that beautiful Speck I caught a couple years back. Anyhow, was there for the weekend. Hooked 8 fish on two tries, landed 7, kept 2 for dinner. Peace out, hope you all had a great summer. Miro

The MNR is holding 3 information sessions on the current status of lake Ontario and to discuss NEW stocking plans for the lake in 2015 and beyond. I have posted a link with details below. Sessions are: April 22 - Belleville 7:00 – 9:30 pm Belleville Fish and Game Club 170 Elmwood Drive, Belleville May 6 - Port Credit : 6:30 – 9 pm Clarke Memorial Hall, 161 Lakeshore Road West, Mississauga (Port Credit) May 8 – Oshawa 6:30 – 9 pm Quality Inn & Conference Centre, 1011 Bloor St. East. Oshawa, Agenda • Status of Lake Ontario fisheries including the Bay of Quinte: The results from Ontario and New York State 2013 monitoring programs for the recreational fisheries, the status of prey fish and the overall status of the Lake Ontario fish community. • Lake Ontario Fish Stocking Program Review: Learn about the Lake Ontario stocking program for Chinook and Coho Salmon, Rainbow and Brown Trout, Atlantic Salmon, Lake Trout, Walleye and more. For more information email [email protected] or call 1-613-476-3255 Presented by: Lake Ontario Management Unit Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources

This past weekend had perfect for conditions on the Niagara River to drift for steelhead and brown trout. I met friends Christine and Ben on the way to Queenston, and were launched as the sun was rising. I was very happy to see the river clearing with several feet of visibility. I knew this meant the fishing would be great. The weather was excellent with no wind and slightly below freezing. We traveled down river to where there were no other boats and began to drift full of anticipation. It wasn't long into our first drift when Christine hooks a big fish. It pulled drag and put quite a bend into her 9'6" RSC rod as it dogged down deep. After an intense battle of tug-of-war with rod and reel, Christine put her first brown trout ever into the boat. It was a beast at almost 11 and a half pounds. What a first brown trout to catch! Well done Christine! On our very next drift, Christine boated a beautiful Niagara steelhead. Ben and I hooked up a few times, but Christine dominated the boat in the morning hooking fish after fish while Ben and I played net attendant for her. While drifting, Christine hooked a really big fish that we knew was a steelhead instantly. A very intense battle ensued. It violently erupted on the surface of the water thrashing its head and tail-walking across the surface of the water. This had all of us gasp and giggle with excitement as Christine perfectly fought and landed the most beautiful fish of the day. Christine was in her glory and had a smile and excitement that was contagious. I was happy to see her first experience on the Niagara so amazing. The girl got two personal best trout within an hour as she absolutely rocked the boat out-fishing the two experienced guys. Christine was hot! We eventually moved up river after the drift we were fishing became busy and found another drift all to ourselves. It wasn't long before we hooked up and I got a Niagara Grand Slam! A brown trout, steelhead and lake trout. Ben hooked a couple feisty steelhead that took him to task and got the better of him. Some Niagara chromers can leave many anglers with a broken line and heart with their powerful ability to take line faster than a NASCAR race car speeding down the track. We ended our day with many hook-ups, laughs, big trout and great boat camaraderie. We couldn't have had a better day on the majestic Niagara River. Good fishing! Aaron

Hey folks. I made a video of some of our spring fishing. The bite started slow and spring was late but we managed the best we could and as always put some fish in the canoe. https://vimeo.com/67742598

I got out to Lake Simcoe recently with some TonyB and friends for a good group of six of us. One of the nice things about ice fishing is the social aspect of being able to get out in larger groups, and sometimes meet new people. You can't do this in most fishing boats. We headed out slowly just as it was getting light out, making sure to check ice conditions as we went. We got to an area that looked good in 100 feet of water and set up without a soul around. Before we knew it we were completely surrounded by hundreds of anglers and our sonars had a lot of interference. The fish must have been in the area recently with the amount of anglers there. We tried all kinds of things with only a couple bites and lazy looks on sonar to show for our efforts after a couple hours of daylight. We had to move... but where? Everywhere we looked around us had quiet anglers not getting much. Without any clues as to depth or location, we had to make a big decision. We thought about two things; moving shallow or deep away from everyone. Nobody wanted to make the call in our group at first, but we eventually decided as a group to make the trek out to deeper water well away from any anglers. We moved out to 123 feet of water and looked on sonar. We immediately saw several fish on sonar at once and we spread out and set up. It didn't take long and Johnny got into a nice laker. Once we were all set up and jigging, the action was fast and furious. It was non-stop action one after another! My tip-up line with an emerald shiner and jigs were both taking shots, although jigging was by far the best approach. It is so much fun watching fish teased into biting on sonar. It never gets old! A jig and pause worked well at times, as did reeling up a foot or two and pausing, then reeling up again and pausing. They hit on the pause and you can totally read their behavior on sonar to realize which approach would work best on individual fish. We lost a few absolute beasts that pulled almost all our lines out at times making for an even more exciting time. These are the days that we live for. Pure adrenaline action-packed fun where everyone in your group is hammering fish!!! Sadly, I had to leave midday, even though the action was still hot. That was a very tough thing to walk away from, but I am a man of my word and family comes first. It was ok, I got more fish in a couple hours than many full days spent on the ice at times. I was content, and we all had an absolute blast. The heavy snow and mild weather this week will spoil the ice. We only had approximately 3.5- to 4-inches of black ice on the weekend, so it will not be safe for a while. Make sure you take all precautions when you think it is safe enough to venture out. Wearing a flotation suit and carrying ice pics is a good idea. So is a buddy system and a floating rope. Enjoy the photos These are from my phone. My wife broiled the whitefish I brought home for something different, and it was great! Much healthier than frying it in oil as well Good fishing! Aaron