Steelhead Opener with Lonnie King

[Aaron Shirley]

I fished a small Lake Ontario tributary with Lonnie King on trout opener and had a great time. We got into a bunch of steelies each on fresh roe and soft single eggs. The water was ridiculously low and clear, worst I have seen in 30 years of the trout opener.

 

You can view a couple pics of Lonnie from an Aaron Shirley http://twitter.com/GettingHookedTV update from my Blackberry. Lonnie took a bunch of other shots that turned out great! Will post them when he sends them to me.

 

Lonnie sent me a handful of pics from his digital SLR.. although he didn't send many of him, and I did take a bunch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bite was good first thing in the morning, then we had to use stealthy tactics to get them after a couple of hours of daylight. We walked around pools and runs, then crawled up the creek to make a cast and fish a pool down current from us. This worked, but we had to keep moving around to get bites, as a hooked fish thrashing would spook the others in a pool. We didn't see many people which was nice on openers, and I had a good time taking Lonnie out steelheading.

 

I used a smaller new 11-foot North Coast Rapala rod with my other pin, and with the low clear water on such a small creek, it was awesome! Much better for small creeks than my 13-foot rod.

 

This recent rain will trigger a major push of drop backs to migrate back to the lake. It may be slim pickings come Monday, but there will always be some late spawning drop backs in the lower stretches of creeks and rivers for a week or two after opener.

 

Don't wait to get out there, get on some creeks and rivers before they are gone back to the big pond!

 

Hope to see you in your neck of the woods next Lonnie.

 

Good fishing!

Edited April 27, 2010 by Aaron Shirley

[Harrison]

Glad you and Lonnie got into them, I am sure he got some great shots. Excellent photographer.

 

Haven't seen him in a while. Lonnie is a great guy, had him out for crappie years ago on Simcoe for a shoot.

[Aaron Shirley]

Thanks Harrison.. Lonnie is a great guy. Always enjoy fishing with him. He doesn't do much tributary steelheading, so this was a treat for him. He got just as many fish as I did and had a blast

 

Good to see you also had a great opener!

 

Aaron

[WeedLine]

Great pics

[rock34]

Nicely done Aaron. I think you guys ran into one of my buddies out there as well. He told me he was chatting with Lonnie and he took a bunch of pictures of him with fish. I fished the same stretch of river Sunday morning as you guys. I didnt see another person, it was a treat.

 

Nicely done and thanks for sharing.

[Aaron Shirley]

Hey Rock, I remember your buddy, he pulled in just after us and beat us to the river LOL. I wasn't worried, that is the nice thing about that area, not much traffic. Most of the time there are less fish than other spots, but I like the peace and beauty of fishing there. I did see your post

 

Aaron

[douG]

I noticed that Lonnie was using a spinning reel there - interested in that.

[solopaddler]

Very cool.

Many many moons ago Lonnie and I had a close mutual friend who's now out in Brockville. (He'll know of whom I speak)

 

Nicely done gentlemen, but Aaron you stole my pose!!

 

 

[Aaron Shirley]

Hey Doug, a spinning reel can be used for float fishing, it is what many of us started with before centrepin reels were readily available or popular. The spinning reel isn't as effective as the pin for presentation, but you can still catch just as many fish.. Just a little more cumbersome to get a good drift, especially on larger rivers.

 

Hey Mike, which photo is your patented pose? LOL

[Joey]

Great report Aaron. Love that pic of the fish under the log.

 

Looks like a really productive day out there.

 

Joey

[asdve23rveavwa]

Very nice Aaron...love the shot of that beautiful "brownie"!!!! I totally agree with your statement about less fish and peace and tranquility, it isn't always about numbers.

[TJQ]

Great Report Aaron!!

[solopaddler]

Hey Mike, which photo is your patented pose? LOL

 

The rod over the shoulder.

That's okay though, feel free to use it.

[Aaron Shirley]

Ahhhh, the rod over shoulder pose! I like that.. Think I saw it on FF.net years ago and thought it was a great idea. Half the time I try to balance the rod on one leg my pin falls into a silty creek. It's a pet peeve. I believe that shortens the life on the bearings a lot.

 

My pin fell into the creek off my leg first steelie on opener, then grinded a bit. I took it apart and washed it in the clean part of the creek and it helped for the rest of the day.

 

Yeah, I know, I need bearings. It's long overdue, haven't done them in the 8 years I had that pin, I just got another one LOL

 

Anyone know where I can get bearings replaced around Burlington?

[rock34]

I have stolen a few of Mikes poses without his permission In fairness though, he started it when I went out with him. Plus Im not very creative. thanks Mike

 

The rod over the should one however I did on my own, I can show you my first steelie ever and thats the pose I used out of neccessity because I was in the middle of the river with nowhere to set my rod down.

[Leecher]

Great report and beautiful pics Aaron

Nothing beats a day out amongst friends.

Thanks for sharing your opener with us

Leechman

[packrat]

Excellent report----like the fish under the log pic and the one that really stands out is the bow at water level

Edited April 28, 2010 by packrat

[Carp]

Nice fish and pics Aaron.

Congrats and thanks for sharing.

[ehg]

Great report and well composed pictures

 

Liked Lonnie Kings fishing shows on Rogers Cable 10 back in the 90's.

Nicely done