solopaddler Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 As long as steelhead are running, the lower end of the rivers, the estuaries, are always a good bet. Usually the water is slower and deeper near the lakes offering the fish more security. The closer to the lake you are the more apt you are to stumble upon fresh run fish as well. There's usually always a few freshies poking their nose in for a look to go along with the staler, darker fish that have been there for a while. Slower water means a refinement in tactics. Longer slender pencil floats are used, the dead slow water not conducive to a more buoyant oval or round style. In clear water many times self-cocking pencil floats are used. Leadcore trolling line is stripped of it's outer sheath and wrapped around the bottom stem of the float and epoxied. This allows you the ultimate in stealthy presentations: float, long fluoro tippet with no shot and your bait, jig or fly. When fish are wary this particular method of rigging will account for a few more fish. Speaking of jigs this type of water is tailor made for them. If there's enough wind kicking up a small chop to bob your float up and down all the better. With no wind a small twitch every now and again will make the jig pulsate under your float and incite strikes. In the ice cold water of early winter jigs will work 1000 times better if they're tipped with something. Usually that something being alive and wriggling and adding much needed scent. Maggots (yes maggots ) are the preferred choice. Many times one is all you'll need, although sometimes 2 or 3 work even better. They're small enough that they don't impede the action of the jig yet are still an amazing attractant. Beyond maggot tipped jigs the obvious choice is fresh skeined roe, the softer and gooier the better. In the dead slow water skein imparts an incredible amount of scent and tends to draw a lot of strikes. Recently Bill and myself fished a favoured estuary and hit a good number of steelhead on both skein and maggot tipped jigs. Many of the fish were virtual slabs of chrome, fresh run, thick of shoulder and deep of belly and an absolute blast to catch. Even with the water being so cold some of these fish surprised me with the speed of their runs, they were electric. In this type of water the hits themselves were breathtaking. While some were subtle pecks most were absolutely savage with the float literally being ripped under. Watching that happen in such slow water is more than half the fun for me! All in all it was a fantastic day of winter steelheading, the only downside being the drive home. In the late afternoon heavy lake effect snow began to fall covering everything including the highway. The drive home was a bit dicey, but ultimately we made it... I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. Cheers, Mike
asdve23rveavwa Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 Too funny...just mentioned on another thread how much I love seeing your photos of chrome...was out on one of my favorite rivers on Tuesday (swung another day off work!!) didn't catch alot...went two for two, but just to be out at this time of year catching a species you love was well worth it!! Plus I didn't have quite as bad driving conditions as you faced...light flurries, some slush. Thanks, again for your reports.
BillM Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 That snow storm was interesting to say the least, I am glad I slept through most of it!!! As always a fun day on the river Mikey, I still have those maggots in the fridge I still need to email a certain jig manufacturer about that hook that bent and pulled out resulting in me losing a nice fish. Second time it's happened...
Kingsalmon Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 I guess it was worth the drive. As always incredible photos, and an amazing report. KingSalmon
anders Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 Those are some thick fish....nicely done!
Paulus Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 Those are all nice pics, except the last one. I'll be seeing too much of that in the not to distant future.... argh! Great post as always, Mike! p.-
solopaddler Posted December 10, 2009 Author Report Posted December 10, 2009 Save some for me will ya!!!! Ya better bring your arctic woolies my friend. Long range forecast looks cold. Not N.W.T. cold, but still. (And no worries there's plenty of fish left to be caught. ) That snow storm was interesting to say the least, I am glad I slept through most of it!!! Forgot about that. While I was embedding my fingers into the steering wheel trying to keep us both alive and get us home Billy was in a coma.
Guest ThisPlaceSucks Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 nice fish. i've never floated any estuary water like that...the calm water is sort of intimidating with a float... i've spincasted the mouths of streams with hardware... i got 53 cm of snow with my cold this weekend...on the drive back to the sault on sunday all of the tribs were 3/4 frozen... time to start digging out my brookie gear methinks!
Bondar Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 Great pictures guys , now if work would only give me a break for a couples days next time your passing through i'll be the hitch hiker with the waders on
strakey Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 I have a question from the rube section of your following here..........When fishing the bigger waters like the ones in your pictures how far are you casting into the rivers to find these steelies. I fish the humber as i live it beside it and the mouth is wide like your "magic rivers". ******nice fish porn
troutologist Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 Right on, some nice fish there for sure. I've had a lot of luck with waxies at various times of the year. This spring in MI they were the ticket.
solopaddler Posted December 10, 2009 Author Report Posted December 10, 2009 I have a question from the rube section of your following here..........When fishing the bigger waters like the ones in your pictures how far are you casting into the rivers to find these steelies. I fish the humber as i live it beside it and the mouth is wide like your "magic rivers". ******nice fish porn The rube section? It depends on where the channel, trough, slot is. At one point I was fishing a seam 10' in front of me. In other spots I was casting to the middle and more towards the other side. If you live beside the Humber then you have a perfect opportunity to learn the topography of the riverbed. That's what you have to do to fish that type of water effectively. As an aside an experienced eye should be able to read water like that and know where to fish without any prior knowledge of the river. It's just something that comes with experience. (The rivers I fish aren't magic. )
trapshooter Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 More quality steel-heading there Mike and Bill. Hard to beat those fresh, fat fish. Thanks for the report.
DorkusMalorkus Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 (The rivers I fish aren't magic. ) just heavily stocked lol
tibbs Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 Great Report + Pics!! Thanks for the tips on fishing frogwater!
BillM Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 just heavily stocked lol A bonus with winter estuary fishing. Nice mix of fish to.
strakey Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 (edited) The rube section? It depends on where the channel, trough, slot is. At one point I was fishing a seam 10' in front of me. In other spots I was casting to the middle and more towards the other side. If you live beside the Humber then you have a perfect opportunity to learn the topography of the riverbed. That's what you have to do to fish that type of water effectively. As an aside an experienced eye should be able to read water like that and know where to fish without any prior knowledge of the river. It's just something that comes with experience. (The rivers I fish aren't magic. ) The rube comment is from the other day when i recommended siglon f for floatfishing. AAAAnnnnnnnyyyyways the mouth of the humber is deep and wide, no seams just constant wave action, probably better bottom bouncing. It narrows past the lakeshore to more like your style, but it is slow and the bottom is muddy and about 5-7'. Again no seam, structure or pocket water. thats my dilemma. I usually tend to go elswhere or up river, but your post is inspiring. Edited December 10, 2009 by spawn
BillM Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 and chummed I've never chummed(unless you count throwing a busted bag into the river), although I got a buddy that does extremely well with it when things get low and clear.
solopaddler Posted December 10, 2009 Author Report Posted December 10, 2009 The rube comment is from the other day when i recommended siglon f for floatfishing. AAAAnnnnnnnyyyyways the mouth of the humber is deep and wide, no seams just constant wave action, probably better bottom bouncing. It narrows past the lakeshore to more like your style, but it is slow and the bottom is muddy and about 5-7'. Again no seam, structure or pocket water. thats my dilemma. I usually tend to go elswhere or up river, but your post is inspiring. That rube comment was tongue in cheek and not directed at you. Give the frogwater a shot, you might be surprised.
Guest gbfisher Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 You hack!....Did ya leave any in the creek?
solopaddler Posted December 10, 2009 Author Report Posted December 10, 2009 and chummed Some of trib's I fish are stocked, many are not. As far as chumming goes I've never chummed in my life for steelhead except for one time 22 years ago anchored in a boat off Meaford. (and ice fishing )
solopaddler Posted December 10, 2009 Author Report Posted December 10, 2009 You hack!....Did ya leave any in the creek? No we stung every single fish. (It's childs play when you're fishing a stocked ditch while hurling out buckets of chum. Right? )
BillM Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 I got so bored of catching them, I started to spear them with giant icicles.....
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