solopaddler Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 (edited) Living and guiding full time in N/W Ontario steelhead aren't normally on Bens radar. However a short trip back home to southern Ontario provided the perfect opportunity to remedy that particular situation. We'd made plans to meet and fish together on Thursday and his timing couldn't have been better: beautiful clear skies, comfortable temps and once again a river full of hungry dropback fish. Ben had never fished for steelhead in a river before but not surprisingly he's a pretty fishy individual and caught on pretty quick. Fortunately I had enough gear to outfit him completely (waders, rod/reel, etc, etc) so we were good to go. Thursday morning was a bit tiring for both of us. Ben had a full 11/2 hours of sleep after hitting the Neil Young concert Wed night then driving out to my place for 4:30am. Me? I was going on andrenaline once again after fishing hard the day before.. It's all good though, nothing a 6 pack of Java Monsters can't handle. Here's Ben wading a river for the first time. A little tentative at first but as you'll see by the end of the day he was charging right in. Upon arriving at our chosen hole it didn't take Ben long to break the ice. The particular pool we were fishing has just the right combination of current speed, depth, size and cover to attract huge numbers of spent fish. After doing the nasty upstream earlier in the spring they were kicking back on their lazy boys enjoying a smoke before heading back to the lake. Fortunately for us they had a bad case of the munchies as well. Maybe 2 minutes later he hooked up again and I managed to capture a short video clip of the action: Some still shots: He got in a pretty good little groove there for a while: I even hooked a few myself. At this point Ben hooked a fish that jumped wildly multiple times. I managed another short video clip of the action: It was a golden day, couldn't have been any more perfect. Mixed in with the steelies were an ever increasing number of coarse fish. Maybe not the prettiest fish in the world but they do put a good bend in the rod: Ben began to put on a clinic: Cool shots dontcha think? In between playing photographer I managed a few more myself. Near the end of the day we slipped downstream and found a huge pod of fish, mostly small jacks in the 3-5lb class, but all were pure chrome and the aerial acrobats were something to see. Unfortunately not too many pic's of the action (yes I do get tired of taking pictures ) As mentioned earlier Ben was a bit tentative wading but caught on fast. He lost his fear and began to follow me with no hesitation. (Not unlike a lemming over a cliff. ) It was a fantastic day on the water and a true pleasure fishing with one of OFC's finest. 'Till next time bud (Maybe in Sioux Lookout?) Cheers, Mike Edited April 17, 2009 by solopaddler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 You fish some great waters SP. Great pics and report. Ben,s a natural. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douG Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Wow, Mike. Fabulous again. Maybe next time I will be able to tag along *hack sneeze hack*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danc Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Ben passed up the Sioux Lookout Steelhead run for this??? I'm guessing that he'll probably miss the blueberry festival too. Mike. You're the ultimate Steelhead host. One of these days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solopaddler Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Mike. You're the ultimate Steelhead host. One of these days... Anytime Dan, anytime..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJL Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Looks like an absolute blast of a trip. Well done to the both of you. As for the sucker, I think you might have caught a species of redhorse. I've only landed 3-4 of them in my life. Not steel but a great catch nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdrifter Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Stellar day guys! Mike, I hope you still got plenty of love to go around!! swweeeeeett HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Ben, YOU MADE IT! I'm glad I didn't kill ya in the lot before Neil. It was great to finally meet ya. Ben, myself, and his buddy Jeff held down the lot/tailgate party prior to Neil. It was just us three. Glad you made it out...at 11:20pm, i thought Neil was just going to play until the next day. Longest Neil show i've seen out of the 20 plus i've seen. Cats, Bows, and Neil Young.....what more can ya ask for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kemper Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 unreal, as always Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccmtcanada Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Unfreakinbelievable! Great day of steelheading guys! The videos were a nice touch too Mike...looks like you got used to being the cameraman on that trip... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben306 Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Bit of an amatuer question, but when you say sucker, are they a type of carp cos they dont half look like it? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJL Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Bit of an amatuer question, but when you say sucker, are they a type of carp cos they dont half look like it? lol Suckers and carp are part of the same minnow family (cyprinids)...Just think of them as Canadian barbel.LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Bit of an amatuer question, but when you say sucker, are they a type of carp cos they dont half look like it? lol Just think of suckers as great muskie bait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewilly Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Mike, Ben. Nice to meet you guys yesterday. Your post pretty much sumed up our day as well. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAsin Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 there has to be some photoshop done! Ben in a river? with steelhead? just last week he was holdin big wallies on ice! congrats on the good day lads! love the reports Mike always so full of pictures and great fish thanks for the read Matt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Epic as always! You might need some handcream though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kemper Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Epic as always! You might need some handcream though Theyre steelheading not purse shopping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJL Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Theyre steelheading not purse shopping Steelhead appreciate soft, silky smooth skin too. Especially in the midst of being violated and touched in some sensitive areas . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyb Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Good-bye Gold, hello Silver! Nicely done Ben and kudos to Mike for graciously hosting you for the day. Hopefully you can return the favour Ben, I'm sure the steelhead would enjoy the break Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limeyangler Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Awesome Solo....so used to seeing Ben on the ice...it takes a bit of getting used too. Ben...you lucky dude....lol....good stuff man...really nice fishes there bud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedfish Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Great story and really great pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiel Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Now I really feel like I missed out on something special this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solopaddler Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Theyre steelheading not purse shopping You guys both made me laugh LOL! Good eye Victor, although you're only partly right. What I needed was suntan lotion. My cheeks, ears, back of neck and back of hands were burnt to a crisp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joeytier Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Another stellar report. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solopaddler Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Now I really feel like I missed out on something special this time. Chris if I thought for a second you might be interested in joining you'd have been more than welcome. Next time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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