solopaddler Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Met up with Bill (BillM on the board) on Saturday for a day of steelheading on one of my favourite north Huron rivers. The river is hard to access in its lower reaches, wide, deep and somewhat featureless. This makes fishing from a boat a huge advantage and that was our game plan utilizing Billy's 15' Legend. Would the boat launch be usable and the river free of ice? We really had no idea, driving the 3 hours up there and taking our chances was the only option. Upon arrival it was a good news bad news scenario. On the plus side the river was wide open and looked prime. On the downside the ramp was still partially snow covered and blocked in with a sizable snow bank compliments of the road plow. Still Bill gave it a shot, and although we did get the truck stuck for a short while perseverance prevailed and we finally launched and loaded the boat. With zero wind we first cruised out to the lake to see if we could connect with some pods of staging fish. Pack ice halted our progress not too far out, but man did it look good! Alas there was nothing happening at the lake so we began the task of slowly and thoroughly working our way up the river, anchoring just above likely looking seams and drifting our offerings down to the fish. We didn't get a ton of fish yesterday, but there's definitely something to be said for quality over quantity. All the fish were bright chrome and a couple were absolute tanks putting up long and drawn out battles. I'll let the photos speak for themselves: Several other fish were hooked, fought and lost, including one that felt absolutely huge (never even got a glimpse of it). We had planned on staying overnight, but the river was rising from snowmelt throughout the day and was pretty much trashed by the time we left. Not complaining though, what a fantastic day!! Cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b2kptbo Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Certainly was well worth the effort, good on ya's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookslav Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Nice job, Some quality fish there for sure and I can't think of a better way to spend a Balmy March afternoon. In retrospect I Shoulda tried that myself....dang! Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 (edited) My F150 would have backed my boat in there one shot Bill ! lol Some nice fish there fellas! Edited March 8, 2009 by irishfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trapshooter Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Beautiful chrome gentlemen. As far as I can tell, steelhead and wild turkeys are the only things missing from Sioux Lookout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 My F150 would have backed my boat in there one shot Bill ! lol Some nice fish there fellas! hahaha!!! Those pics make that bank look really small. I never though I'd highside my oldmans 2500HD Duramax but I did it yesterday. The ramp itself was great, but the snowplows made a nice little obstacle over the winter. A bit of digging later and all the weight was over the wheels and not the front skidplate, lol. It sure was fun to lay the hammer down in 4LO and displace some snow. Good day for sure, not a huge number of fish, but man were they ever pretty!! Mike put a clinic on today on how to read water. Luckily I paid attention.. Thanks again Mike! till next time bud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo_guy Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 hahaha!!! Those pics make that bank look really small. I never though I'd highside my oldmans 2500HD Duramax but I did it yesterday. The ramp itself was great, but the snowplows made a nice little obstacle over the winter. A bit of digging later and all the weight was over the wheels and not the front skidplate, lol. It sure was fun to lay the hammer down in 4LO and displace some snow. Good day for sure, not a huge number of fish, but man were they ever pretty!! Mike put a clinic on today on how to read water. Luckily I paid attention.. Thanks again Mike! till next time bud Nice chrome fellas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiel Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Hmmmmm, perhaps it's time to get my boat out, been some time since I wet a line there. Nice work guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leecher Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Great report and pics Mike Got to love it when a plan comes together Congratulations to both of you on those beauty chrome Thanks for sharing Leechman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott S Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Nice fish fellas. That's my old stomping ground were you were. We use to drive the boat up onto the ice and fish under the ice! The last cottage on the left heading out to the lake has a real nice deep hole right up to the bend. Man I got to make some arangements and get up there. Scooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camillj Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Sweet ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brkygetr Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Ah...the mighty Bruce... that cedar tree has produced a LOT of fish...LOL. Every time I see pics of back home makes me miss bouncin the bottom!!! Well done. Also my favourite river. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulus Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Thanks for the report, doodz. I love that river, too, though I haven't fished it in years. Gorgeous fish! Thanks for sharing p.- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solopaddler Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Ah...the mighty Bruce... that cedar tree has produced a LOT of fish...LOL. Every time I see pics of back home makes me miss bouncin the bottom!!! Well done. Also my favourite river. Yep, the same spots continue to produce year after year, the old river doesn't change much. How'd you find yourself moving to N/W Ontario? That's a move I'd love to make myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdrifter Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 AH that shoulda been me!! Beauty trouts boyz. Well worth the distance travelled... All my creeks were blown, save one unexpected little nook!! Good fun, Mike and Bill. cheers HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinbanger Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 way to go guys Love those pics TB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solopaddler Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 AH that shoulda been me!! Beauty trouts boyz. Well worth the distance travelled... All my creeks were blown, save one unexpected little nook!! Good fun, Mike and Bill. cheers HD I was thinking of you bro, next time for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Fidel, the stars will align sometime dude!! We'll be pounding steel in no time bud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwl Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 gotta love it....looks like you guys got into some great fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jds63 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 beauty fish, thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdrifter Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Fidel, the stars will align sometime dude!! We'll be pounding steel in no time bud. It shall be done! Thanks.. you just made my mounday morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kemper Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 SWEET Seems like the big girls were out this weekend, I hooked three bigguns on saturday and lost a few more, all day I didnt see one fish less than 5 pounds come it. Awesome fishin boys, Mike that one hen is a tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel28 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snag Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Looks like you were alone out there guys. Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIFTER_016 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 (edited) I miss that place. Nice chrome boys. No chrome or open water for me. It was a balmy -47 when I got up yesterday and -45 this morning!!! We are short on open water right now. Edited March 9, 2009 by DRIFTER_016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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