A weekend of everything

[aniceguy]

This was to be my last full weekend off, prior to the big push to finish up some work both at home and work before Christmas so I know the days might be limited. It’s also the time of year as we all know lots of fish put the feed bag on and the rivers start to empty of bronzed Chinooks and begin to fill up with obnoxious bright steelhead. Last year this time after thanksgiving I spent a full day on Quinte just destroying largemouth on a jig ironically enough in shorts and a t shirt, not this year late fall steelhead attire was the norm.

 

 

 

I woke up early Sunday to go over to the CRAA hatchery and do something I take a lot of pleasure in, that’s stocking the fish off for the year; I give some weeks upwards of 20 hrs on CRAA related work so to see the end result of the work enter its natal stream is a very very rewarding feeling.

 

I will say the dedicated group or CRAA hatchery folks are to be commended as lots of your rainbows come from here next time you hook an unclipped fish let it swim please….

 

This year’s collection

 

 

 

 

 

After a long day in the cold stocking these great fish I was lucky to come home to a great feast.

 

As an American my wife takes a lot of time and energy preparing the feast on both the days, to her it’s an important day, to share the bounty of the harvest with her loved ones as she puts it, I agree fully and I will admit it’s one of the greatest meals of the year, no store bought anything it’s all from scratch from the cranberry’s to the stuffing, it’s a FEAST !!!!

 

 

 

Now with that great meal in me it was time to plan out Mondays’ adventure

 

It was the first frost warning of the year and I know that I had to get out after the rains we had and fish some of the smaller branches of the big tributaries looking for pockets of water stuffed with chromers yet these same stretches are devoid of a lot of people, those that do fish them are generally fairly skilled anglers so it was a perfect way to spend an early fall day.

 

So after a great thanksgiving dinner prepared and a through garage and house purge, roe bags in hand off we went.

 

One of my favorite scenes on this river is the double arched bridges they are old they are scary and somewhat run down but in their essence they are truly beautiful I hope I was able to capture their grandeur fully here.

 

 

 

On to fishing the entire day was filled with a mixture of fresh run fish and some that have been in this system for awhile

 

Here is a fairly robust male that just decided he wanted no part of the shore line, it was a pleasure to see his colored up nature

 

 

After a while we run into huge pods of these fresh fish, they were not huge by most standards but they were rather plentiful, I found their acrobatics actually funny, fall fish are just that way and one of the biggest reasons why I love fall over spring steelhead

 

 

 

After a while we decided to move up stream to peak at some of the remote water, this system with water has some seriously nice stretches to fish filled with a lot of “run and gun”pocket water fishing, some great nymphing water and the traditional slow moving deep pools almost any style of steelheading works well here short of swinging as spey.

 

 

Sections like this continued for long periods of time and each one had a plethora of fish within it, with high water a serious pleasure to fish, as the roe was put back and nymph’s were pulled out, honestly teasing these steelhead out from timber is one of my favorite things to do, you certainly require a fast rod to set the hook and one with back bone to immediately turn the fish out into water, it’s really a you against the fish mentality, akin to flippin a jig in serious cover, but with a 13 footer a reel with no drag and a fish bent on busting you off….its intense to say the least, couple it with a bug strike and anyone who has fished timber for migratory fish understands.

 

 

 

After a few hours of timber fishing we decided to walk back down and start our journey to the car, it was a long drive home and we both needed to work in the am. We crossed an intersection and stumbled onto what some call the mother load I prefer to call it steelhead nirvana, to post 50 pictures of similar sized fish doesn’t do justice and to be blunt I wasn’t stopping to take picture after picture of these clones, suffice to say it was a great way to end the day and judging by my smile a pile of fun at the moment.

 

 

 

Now its time to turn my mindset on these for a few weeks

[Fishing 24/7]

WHAO!

 

congrats on the mix of fishery.

 

and those small mouth !

[BillM]

Nice fish Louis, I knew I should have called you!

[anders]

Thanks for sharing that all with us!

[aniceguy]

Bill any time

[Paulus]

Nice pics Louis, thanks for sharing. I like those bridges too, as well as the rivers that flow nearby. I assume that that system's big sister was either over-invested or showing her usual "true colour"... Meanwhile, further east, ditch-side, no such thing materialised for me on Monday am.

 

That looked like a delicious supper, too!

 

p.-

[msp]

QUOTE- "it’s really a you against the fish mentality, akin to flippin a jig in serious cover, but with a 13 footer a reel with no drag and a fish bent on busting you off….its intense to say the least, couple it with a bug strike and anyone who has fished timber for migratory fish understands."

 

Very well said

Very well understood

Great report

Thanks

[StoneFly]

WOW, gotta be Stateside,..nice Chromers, but that first pic looks like the tiniest river,...how can it be open this time of year? are the Reg's down there much more lax than up here?

[solopaddler]

Hey next time don't email me at 9pm the night before you're going!

 

(glad to see you had a good day)

[aniceguy]

Hey next time don't email me at 9pm the night before you're going!

 

(glad to see you had a good day)

 

 

I didnt put it together to go until ohhhh about 3 minutes before....didnt wanna call Joanne might have killed me, I ll be back Friday

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Very nice. Looks like you had a phenominal day. Very clean looking fish and some nice hogs to boot. That Thanksgiving dinner is identical to the one cooked by my girl but she is from the east coast. Just substitute the corn for squash and sweet potatoes and add a cheese cake and apple pie made from scratch for desert. Yum!!! Anyways thanks for sharing.

[aniceguy]

That Thanksgiving dinner is identical to the one cooked by my girl but she is from the east coast. Just substitute the corn for squash and sweet potatoes and add a cheese cake and apple pie made from scratch for desert. Yum!!! Anyways thanks for sharing.

 

Johnny thats the reason Im no skinny toothpick

[Ziki]

to post 50 pictures of similar sized fish doesn’t do justice and to be blunt I wasn’t stopping to take picture after picture of these clones

 

low blow... a lot of people here really appreciate solopaddlers steelhead reports.

[aniceguy]

low blow... a lot of people here really appreciate solopaddlers steelhead reports.

 

 

he is skinny and healthy... Im fat and a sloth....all that bending would rapture a spleen in me these days lol

[AzuluSpookd]

Great report! I'd like to get involved in the hatcheries around here, but I'm not sure they exist anymore.

[aniceguy]

Great report! I'd like to get involved in the hatcheries around here, but I'm not sure they exist anymore.

 

they most certainly do pm me your email and I ll put you in touch

[johnnyb]

Fantastic report man!!! :thumbsup: A pleasure to read...thanks for posting.

[highdrifter]

That was a sweet read Louis..

 

cheers

HD

[solopaddler]

low blow... a lot of people here really appreciate solopaddlers steelhead reports.

 

I didn't realize that comment was directed at me!

 

Okay Lois now I'm really ticked!!

 

[aniceguy]

naw dude Im just fat and too lazy to bend

[DRIFTER_016]

Those tunnels look familiar to me too.

Hopefully the weather will co-operate and I will be able to smoke a few chromers when I come back East at Christmas.

It's been over 2 weeks since my last chromer and I'm jonesing already!!!

[solopaddler]

Those tunnels look familiar to me too.

Hopefully the weather will co-operate and I will be able to smoke a few chromers when I come back East at Christmas.

It's been over 2 weeks since my last chromer and I'm jonesing already!!!

 

Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery Dave.

 

It's a 12 step program you need to follow to ween you off the chromers.

 

You start with the Kenai then fish the Notty, the 'Geen, the Bighead, the Sauble, the Beaver, the Maitland, the Ganny, then the Shwa. (all on a busy weekend)

 

The last 3 will cure you.

 

Walnut creek at the manchester hole on a Sat.

Burt Dam (anytime).

Then finish things off at Bronte just above Rebbecca. The stench of rotting carcasses and the three pronged attack of the local bank mutants will clinch the deal.

 

You will never again want to catch chromers.

[mojobass]

The look of that meal is nothing but perfection to a hungry man like me right now haha. Thanks for sharing!

Edited October 16, 2009 by mojobass

[DRIFTER_016]

Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery Dave.

 

It's a 12 step program you need to follow to ween you off the chromers.

 

You start with the Kenai then fish the Notty, the 'Geen, the Bighead, the Sauble, the Beaver, the Maitland, the Ganny, then the Shwa. (all on a busy weekend)

 

The last 3 will cure you.

 

Walnut creek at the manchester hole on a Sat.

Burt Dam (anytime).

Then finish things off at Bronte just above Rebbecca. The stench of rotting carcasses and the three pronged attack of the local bank mutants will clinch the deal.

 

You will never again want to catch chromers.

 

 

HMMMMMM, maybe I'll just stick to GIANT GREYS then Mikey!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2009 by DRIFTER_016

[Roy]

Nice fish. White meat, Drifter?