rhare Posted June 8, 2008 Report Posted June 8, 2008 Well today I had the pleasure of fishing with Paul Castellano of Cast Adventures on the Lower Niagara River. The plan was to get into some late season steelies and you couldn't ask for a nicer day to be on the river. With the temperature being so high over the last 2 days we kind of figured on a tough bite. We worked over the drifts a few times weeding through some little smallies. After a few passes a couple missed fish and a break off I hook into a nice scrappy male. I love how strong the fish in the Niagara are even late in the season these fish put up a good battle. Landed another male and then Paul asked if we would be interested in trying out some ultra light tackle for some white Bass. Ultra light fishing sounded awesome and a nice way to break up the day with some variety. I had never caught a white bass before and looked forward to getting my first. Paul put us on a good school and we managed to hook into a bunch. We had to fight to keep the smallies off, I hooked into a real nice smallie a new PB for me after a quick pic back it went. We caught countless fish on the ultra lights and then decided to hit up the drifts again for some steelies. We ended up landing 4 more beautiful fish one going 30" and almost 10lbs. I thought I was into another nice steelie, the fish felt more dead weight, well if it isn't my first sheephead. A nice scrappy one at that.At the end of the day we had landed 6 nice steelhead, a bunch of white bass, a few sheephead, endless amounts of smallies and a perch. Now that is a variety day if I have ever had one! I have got to thank Paul for putting us on great action all day. I would highly recommend Cast Adventures to anyone looking to have a memorable time on the Niagara River. The service we had was untouched by any charter operator I have ever been out with. Paul was more then willing to share some techniques, provided a great lunch, munchies and drinks, had top quality equipment and really strived to make the day fun. You can count on us being back real soon. My new PB smallie, although totally accidental. first white bass
danbouck Posted June 8, 2008 Report Posted June 8, 2008 Great Report! Looks like a perfect day fishing.
fatherof3 Posted June 8, 2008 Report Posted June 8, 2008 great report and congrats on the variety of fish
Tarzan's Jane Posted June 8, 2008 Report Posted June 8, 2008 Congrats on your PB....great photos...nice smiles too. Sounds like Cast Adventures came through for yas...did ya tip him? lol Don't answer that...I'm just being cute.
jwl Posted June 8, 2008 Report Posted June 8, 2008 Paul from Cast Adventures is an A-1 guy I spent some of the harshest days this past winter fishing steelies on the lower Niagara and every single time I saw Paul's boat out there, he was carrying a full load of action and smiles from everyone aboard the boat. I seen days where 100 fish where boated between 5-6 boats out there and a @#$% load of guys for little fun derby days ect....and I also had the pleasure of hopping aboard the boat with Paul one day for a let's go kick some mule on the water day...not a working day.....a fishing day... . Paul wanted to get in some fishin and scope out a couple spots, and a couple of us wanted to share some kickmulewinter steelie tactics. We headed out on a great adventure,the day wasn't so great..it was raining, it was snowing, it was freekin freezin' outside but we made a great day of it sharing alot of fun and many laughs along the way. It was in Paul's boat that very day that I got my biggest steelie of the season,It was a great winter for steel on the big river if ya had the $%^# to take on ole ma nature and get out there, bundle up and go fishing pretty much better to head up into this neck of the woods in Paul's 20 footer than my boat I am, however still trying to figure out how to get all the slime off the carpet from the winter still, before I slime my boatup musky fishin from a kick mulewinter of catching these puppies..............the BIG river is a whole other story,..........no "flossin'em" with pink marshmallows here
dobee Posted June 8, 2008 Report Posted June 8, 2008 nice fish man, paul is awsome guy! glad you got into some steelies!
Guest Johnny Bass Posted June 9, 2008 Report Posted June 9, 2008 (edited) Niagra river is an amazing fishery with tons of different species!Sounds like it was money well spent. Edited June 9, 2008 by Johnny Bass
Victor Posted June 9, 2008 Report Posted June 9, 2008 Congrats on a great day with a mixed bag of species!
jdmls Posted June 9, 2008 Report Posted June 9, 2008 awesome report...I am kicking myself in the head for not getting out their with Paul this spring
Cast Adventures Posted June 10, 2008 Report Posted June 10, 2008 Thank-you Troutguy for posting about your Niagara Adventure!!! It was a great day on the water, with lots of fish hooked, landed and lost I have a story from that day that people may want to hear about........Troutguy was standing at the back of the boat when a 5foot 100lb sturgeon jumped less then 10 feet from the outboard motor!!! The thing was HUGE and swam under the boat, giving us a very good look at it in the clear waters.........very cool. Yesterday was the last Niagara Steelhead trip of the season, water temps are now 63 degrees and the weeds are really bad. Time to switch things over LM & SM bass, muskie, pike, walleye and carp. What a great Niagara River Steelhead season!!! See you on the river,
woodro Posted June 10, 2008 Report Posted June 10, 2008 awsome I didnt realize steelies were in the river this late in the season. Good show. Does anyone ever target sturgeon in the Niagara?
jwl Posted June 10, 2008 Report Posted June 10, 2008 awsome I didnt realize steelies were in the river this late in the season. Good show.Does anyone ever target sturgeon in the Niagara? Sturgeon is closed all year..no open season for them from the Peace Bridge on the Upper Niagara, right through down to the Lower Niagara and Lake O..pg 91,92,93 of the regs. The steelie run ran a bit later this year cuz of the later start to warm weather and the water being so cold for a while.
rhare Posted June 11, 2008 Author Report Posted June 11, 2008 Totally forgot about the sturgeon, what a cool fish it was so close it looked like you could touch it. Does anyone fish sturgeon here in ontario? I started last year but we didnt have very good results. Ive seen a few caught when guys where fishing for cats. To my amazement they kept the 50-70lbs fish after doing some research I found that fish was over 35 years old and likely could have been spawning for the first or second time. too bad there is a keep limit on them at all.
BillM Posted June 11, 2008 Report Posted June 11, 2008 You can't beat the lower Niagara, such a mixed bag.. While out Lake Trout fishing at the mouth one night after school, my oldman and I snagged a sturgeon trolling in about 90ft of water.. Thought it was a snag at first, but it just took off like a bat out of hell. Fought it for a good 2hrs, even had a bunch of boats around watching the action.. It was a good 12ft fish, I couldn't believe the size of it.. Pulled it up boatside and one quick rip of the rod and the shadrap was gone from it's tail... I really miss it down there, perhaps while we are at a wedding in Sept, we'll sneak out for a few hours
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now