what am i doing wrong

[drwxr]

went to erindale park today to try out my new float setup, didnt even get a hit....

was using: 10lb mono main line, 1.5ft 8lb fluoro leader, size 12 hook

was using eggs from bass pro from small cans,

first tried 4 eggs, then went to using just one, still no hits, but people around were getting hits and actually fighting the fish.

were and why didi i go wrong ?

[Rich]

Hard to beat real fresh roe dude. There's not too many good substitutes.

 

However, there are better alternatives to egg imitations. Trout worms, live worms, streamers, flies, Gulp Alive minnows... to name a few.

 

Don't feel bad.. I get plenty of hits when I hit the tribs.. I just don't land anything. lol

[drwxr]

im going to eastern tribs tomorow, so i will setup my buddy with fake roe

and ill try some fly fishing with trout worms and flies.

didnt know that shop roe is no good.

[PatrickGG]

Try trout worms the pink colored ones and as for the fake roe i wouldn't bother aint nothing like the real stuff.

[Paulus]

Try getting your roe from specialty stores like Angling Specialties, or out east at Tight Lines or Gagnon Sports. These guys usually sell you decently fresh roe. I personally like the way Gagnon's cure theirs. By the sounds of what you're saying, you were using single eggs. Nothing wrong with those, but I wouldn't put them more than one at a time. You can also get those in different colours. Pink is my fave.

 

Also, not sure how long you've been float fishing, but sometimes it's not so much the bait as the presentation. The best summary I know of online is at www.redwingtackle.com check it out. One tip I can give you is that, although you should always experiment with the depth at which you're drifting in all conditions, faster water, like at erindale, requires that you try to keep your offering as close to bottom as possible.

 

In slow water, I like jigs a lot.

 

Never go without earth worms.

 

Good luck tomorrow. You may see me in the early morning... You can see my new hat for miles.... it has the "OR" logo and it's red - (last one they had at the store ). If you see me, don't be shy to say hello!

 

 

p.-

Edited October 5, 2008 by Paulus

[Marko]

Real rainbow roe has worked for me this year.

Like mentioned above try changing depths until you start getting hits, or try talking to some fishermen around you, hopefully most of them will be friendly and help you out.

 

Good luck on your next trip

[Streamerguy]

or try talking to some fishermen around you,

 

That would be your best bet or bring a round of timmie's

 

cheers

Streamerguy

[ChrisK]

but people around were getting hits and actually fighting the fish.

were and why didi i go wrong ?

This is a really good question because it is a cituation that happens to alot of novice float fisherman out on the river. It happened to me way back years ago and unless you were hooked up with a expereinced float fisherman freind you had to learn it all on your own and so I did...

 

When I started float fishing years ago the same thing happened to me. My set up looked identical to what others were using but I caught nothing.....But there were differencences,very suttle unnoticable from a distance but differences all the same. My main line was the correct size,8lb mono of prefference. 8lb on a float rod will due well. It is durable and strong enough to resist abraission and hold even the largest of fish with a little help from the pole. The float can be of different size pending on current,depth and casting distance required so you have to use the proper size float for the job. Using to big of a float lets say in shallow water will spook fish pending once again on water conditions..Slow moving shallow pools would require as small of a float as possible(non intrusive) to hold up your rig. Most of the time you would be trying to balance your rig so that the float is at a neutral bouyancy thus making it easier to detect a bite....Less resistance to pull it unter the surface. So this is a good start to fine tunning your rig.....

Next is the connection between your main line and the portion under the float(rig). You can either scale down to lighter lb test or just run the main line through the float down to your tippet. I prefer to run the main line to the tippet because the main line will handle split shot better than a lighter line thus creating a strong connection to the tippet with less chance of break offs. This rigging is a critical part of your float rig because it is the part that will or will not be seen by the fish pending on the hardware and material used to put it together. So now we have the float, main line..Now attach a mirco swivel...Smallest swivels available to trout fisherman....Then attach your tippet...Using tippet material greater than 5 to 6 pound test with a float rod in my judgement is a waist of time....Hole purpose of the tippet is to use a light enough line to fool the fish. I use 4lb maybe 5lb in dirty water at the most sometimes scaling down to as little as 2lb in clear water.Using flourocarbon as tippet material is good but don't let it fool you. Heavier tippet material has a stiffness to it and can change the way your presentation moves through the water in a natural way. Then when fish actually commits and picks up the bait they can feel the stiffness of the line in their mouth and drop it imediatelly because it feels unnatural.....So overkill on your tippet will reduce your chances dramatically as well.....Light soft tippet material is a real edge...

Now the hook...Use a hook as small as possible for the job pending once again on water condition. Clear water,small natural presentations,small hooks...Dirty water,large bright presentations,larger hooks....

Now to weight the rig...Some guys run split shot from the float to the miro swivel. I choose just to add a couple of shots above the swivel and a couple below the float to create neutral bouyancy. Either way remember to add enough shot to the rig as needed pending the current and depth....This is a big factor as well because it will put your presentation into the strike zone...To much weight will create a vertical presentation(not good)and too little will create a high presentation(out of strike zone) off course all pending on water current.....You want the presentation to get to the fish before the rigging does or the fish will see it all coming down river at them all at once like a christmass tree and this will spook them.....(not good)

So this is the general idea of what can make your rig different from what other fisherman are using. They may look the same but do have suttle differences....Bottom line is scale down to water conditions when possible,smaller shot,light tippet material,small hooks. Use a little or as much needed to the rig so as not to spook the fish......Being able to find the fine balance in your rigging and reading the water is the key to success.....

 

Good Luck !!!

[douG]

Wow. Nice job on that post there, Chris. Great to have you around.

[ChrisK]

Thanx Doug,

Float fishing has just been one of those things that took a long time to master for me so I like to see others pick it up and go with it.....We never seen float reels and long float rods so when the first reels appeared paired up with the rods it was all new to us. Guys using them were in the low percentages back then and finding someone that would give you some tips was difficult so it was all hit and miss.

Float fishing like any other method is really quite basic and can be picked up easily with a little help from a knowledgable source and thats why we are here.......

 

Cheers !!

[drwxr]

thanks for all advice, muskiestudd thanks for the precious info,

was on credit today, but the fish wasnt bitting for everyone. will try during the week again.

getting little stressed after 2 trips and no fish.

[ChrisK]

thanks for all advice, muskiestudd thanks for the precious info,

was on credit today, but the fish wasnt bitting for everyone. will try during the week again.

getting little stressed after 2 trips and no fish.

I don't know how thick the fish are out that way but what I do know is when I fish the Maitland or any other tribs this way if there are no fish in the pools you can beat the water to a froth and still not get a bite...funny thing eh ? There are going to be days where you going to start doubting yourself on your judgement but in all actuality there isn't a fish in a mile of you to be caught so don't get to stressed out over not getting anything. In time you will develop confidence in your new skill and not second guess yourself....No fish biting ?? Move on to the next pool kinda like runnin and gunnin for muskie on the lake exept your on foot instead of burnin down the lake in a boat....

 

"All good things come to those who wait"

[kemper]

Floatfishing - The act of racking ones brain for several (possibly more) seasons in an attempt to catch fish (namely, trout) that causes stress, high blood pressure and loss of hair. This cycle is repeated until one day when CLICK everything goes right. All side effects are the reversed and added among them is giddyness and uncontrollable giggling when a large trout flies three feet out of the water and YES, she is on YOUR line.

 

 

Pretty good eh?

 

In all seriousness float fishing is something that just takes time to learn. I spent over 50 hours on my local trib before I got the hang of it.

 

The most important part of float fishing (IMO) is learning to read the water.

- Fish in a pool are generally very localized, not spread out. If there are others in a pool doing the same thing as you, and you are not catching but they are chances are that they know the water and are drifting where they know fish will hang out. The number one producer for me are current seams. Look for the area where a fast current meets a slower one. The head of a pool will often have a faster current coming in through the middle and a seam on either side of the fast water where it meets the slower water of the pool. FISH THE SEAMS, you want your float to run right down the middle of the seam, you can tell when you have got it when your float is moving slower than the fast current but faster than the slow one. Sometimes it will even stop and bounce around and this is okay, the fish are just waiting at the edge for food to float by.

 

Match your bait to the conditions.

- Running a huge red roe bag under a float when the conditions are gin clear usually does not produce, the same as running a single egg on a #14 hook does not produce well when the river is muddy. Generally the more clear the water is the more subtle your bait needs to be. I landed 4 steelhead today on single eggs, which I RARELY use but the conditions called for it and I switched it up. If its muddy dont be afraid to go BIG. I tie jigs that are HUGE by trib standards, but when it is muddy they are very effective. I prefer natural coloured bait, and tend to stay away from greens and blues in my baits in favour of reds, peach and black.

 

Vary your presentation.

- When I get to a pool, I will fish from bottom up. That is, I guess how deep the hole/run is and then set my float there. It takes some trial and error but when I find the bottom (float bouncing around) I bring the bait up about 4 inches off the bottom and drift the hole for 5 minutes or so. USUALLY, this is the most effective depth as the fish sit near bottom but if there is nothing biting then ill bring it up another 3 or 4 " and so on until something takes interest. Also dont be afraid to switch up your bait, maybe people are catching on roe but you arent, toss a pink worm or jig out there and see what happens.

 

 

Take a minute to observe before you actually toss your line in.

- Watch the current, observe any fish movement and see how the pool flows. Look for rocks/logs or any current break that might hold fish and make sure to fish any structure around the edge before you get too close and possibly spook fish. Floating is a game of patience and alot of the time pure luck of being in the right place at the right time.

 

Hopefully this helps, when I was learning float fishing it was someone here that wrote a longwinded post that put me on fish and I hope that I can help someone else out with the same kind of thing. I am no professional, but I do spend a lot of time of the water and beach what I think to be a good number of fish. Float fishing is the most rewarding kind of fish, and I can tell you that once you get into those first few fish, the rest will come easily.

 

 

cheers

 

kemper

Edited October 6, 2008 by kemper

[troutologist]

To add to the good info already. When you fish a pool that you know, strongly suspect or just really hope holds fish, drift it with a number of baits and even shotting patterns.

 

I like to start with spawn with a lighter rig, and fish from your feet out. Then add a couple small shot and use more control on the float-hold it so the tip is pointing upstream. If no takers I go to a single egg, bead or globug. These generally require a bit more weight closer to the bait to dampen the presentation.

 

If nothing a larger fly like an egg sucking leech or wooly bugger. Then down to smaller flies like the michigan wiggler or nymphs.

 

Next are the jigs with less weight. Followed by the pink worm...best advice I was given on this bait "fish it last fish it fast".

 

Still nothing. Throw on a half or 1/4 live worm under the float with little weight. If that doesnt work. remove the float and add 2 small shot a foot from the worm and try that.

 

This may not work for you or your style of fishing, in the lake superior tribs I fish there is often a short stretch of water and holes between the falls and the lake so maximizing the output from each spot is beneficial.

 

Last when fishing a tailout, cast to the far side and hold the line creating an arc along the tailout. This seems to produce fish with all baits for me...jigs are #1

[troutologist]

double post

Edited October 6, 2008 by troutologist

[Pachone]

wow... i encountered the same problems drwxr, and appreciate all the posts made in advice. I found out that this type of fishing is extremely difficult to master but incredibly rewarding when you catch...

 

BTW Tightlines out in Pickering has good aray of Roe Baits.... and Ive heard Rainbow roe is like crack on the rivers.

 

Might be a newbie question.. : I thought it was only Salmon that are running up the tribs in the fall? I saw a Brown the other day in the river, but steelies too?

[kemper]

wow... i encountered the same problems drwxr, and appreciate all the posts made in advice. I found out that this type of fishing is extremely difficult to master but incredibly rewarding when you catch...

 

BTW Tightlines out in Pickering has good aray of Roe Baits.... and Ive heard Rainbow roe is like crack on the rivers.

 

Might be a newbie question.. : I thought it was only Salmon that are running up the tribs in the fall? I saw a Brown the other day in the river, but steelies too?

 

 

Steelies too, not in the same numbers as the spring but they follow the kings up and many live in the river all winter long.