Week 7 GOSD King Fun

[Aaron Shirley]

GOSD Week 7

 

This year has been very tough for me to get out, as I had a baby girl the first week of the GOSD. Fortunately, things calmed down enough for us that I was able to get out a few times the last 2 weeks of the derby with the blessing from the wife Week 6 was bad for me with few fish in a quick evening fish, and same for most of week 7. Things changed with my luck on the last day of the derby though, and I had a field day on big matures despite a very slow start.

 

Here are a few photos from a couple of evenings after work in week 7, mostly scenic shots, as I don't take many photos of salmon under 20lbs.

 

 

 

Mike with a huge rainbow!

 

 

 

 

 

The last day of the derby, I decided to stay local and try the lift bridge to Bronte despite the reports of slow fishing. I had the go ahead from the wife to fish the entire day, from dawn to 8pm. This was the only day of the derby that I was able to fish more than a few hours, and I was determined to find matures and figure them out. I started off in tight at the lift bridge and had a good picture.

 

 

 

 

My optimism slowly faded along with the hooks on sonar as I had only boated one 10lb king and lost another after a couple of hours. I was on the horn to a few buds and the fishing seemed slow all around from shallow to deep. At this point I decided to try skinny water... really skinny water from the McIsaac's to Bronte. I worked from 12 FOW to 20 FOW with 2 and 3 core off boards. I tried various lures, but the only thing I managed was a lot of debris from the debris slick toward shore.

 

 

I love the zoom on my Kodak. Smile, you're on candid camera lol

 

 

 

 

 

I decided that was a bad idea despite the cold water temps and made a decision to fish from 30 FOW to 65 FOW west of Bronte. Despite finally having a good picture again on sonar with fish checking out my meat, flasher/flies and Big Erns, it was slow.

 

 

I finally got a good fish at about 12:30 pm on a SD/fly 21' down 20 back off the rigger. Finally, a big mature! It was a few pounds shy of making the leader board, so back it went and I fished with a lot more enthusiasm after that.

 

 

The next little while was slow, and I changed up a whole lot trying to get those stubborn kings to bite. I tried various meat rigs, various flasher/fly combos, various Big Erns at various depths etc. It was slow. Very slow.

 

I talked to a buddy Mike (Zebra from spoon pullers) and told him that I got a good king and had good hooks, but it was tough fishing. What he told me next would change the rest of my day. He told me try to a specific coloured Big Ern tight to the ball, as it worked great for staging kings. Mike is an expert with Big Erns, and when he speaks about them, I listen... and I'm sure glad I did! He also told me that staging kings like the action with a split ring on the top to attach your line. So I got out the green/yellow ladderback Big Ern, made sure it had a split ring and sent it down about 10-feet back down 21 feet. It wasn't down long and fish on!

 

This next fish didn't release well for some reason and didn't make it. I weighed it in the waves and it bounced from about 25-26lbs on my scale. I decided to head into Fisherman's Pier and weigh it to check the accuracy of my scale and see if anyone milling about wanted the fish. It weighed 25lbs and someone wanted the fish, perfect! On my way through the canal, I took some scenery shots of some people fishing from the piers.

 

 

Did I mention how much I love the zoom on my camera? lol

 

 

There were not many boats around the shallow water in the afternoon, and I pretty much had the area to myself with all big mature kings. The decision to fish 30-60 FOW would change my day in a very good way, along with that tip from Zebra on a specific coloured Big Ern. I had a riot spanking kings with an average of 26lbs, all on the Big Ern in that colour. I tried other coloured Big Erns off the other side of the boat, even some closely coloured to no avail. They wanted that specific Big Ern down 21-26 feet on a short lead.

 

Here is the king porn, minus shots after 6pm when my camera battery died.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to have enough juice for this shot before it died for the day and got stuck open. This was a very pretty picture on sonar in the evening when they lit up well.

 

What was most impressive, was a 100 percent hook-to-land ratio on the Big Ern! This was surprising, as I tightened the drag really tight on my Hydros to muscle every king into the boat that wasn't over 30lbs. Hindsight, this wasn't very smart, as I only had one spoon that colour. Mike puts musky split rings on all his Big Erns, and also changes the hook to a specific single quality hook. I'm sure glad he does that, as I really put them to the test on Saturday. Not one bent hook, not one failed split ring, not one king came unpinned. I have just become a huge fan of Mike's Big Erns, as I really put the screws to these kings.

 

We've done well with Mike's Big Erns this year, but this day really opened up my eyes to just how well these bad boys produce. Mike's modified Big Erns with his own unique colour patterns have just become my go-to salmon spoon.

It was an absolutely beautiful day out there spanking big kings. The only thing that could have made it better would be a top ten entry, but I'm not complaining

 

I was invited to fish the fall Scotty with my bud Eric from Striker, and I really want to go, but I just can't do it this time. I'm spending the long weekend with my family.

 

Good luck to all those that fish the Scotty.

 

Congrats to Matt on the big win, and to all the others that made the leaderboard!

 

Good fishing!

 

Aaron

[moemoe]

Nice shooting, It's funny how a little colour on the right day makes a difference, I have run the same spoon with little results,

[johnnyb]

Fantastic report....sometimes you just gotta stir it up! LOLOL

[Nipfisher]

Great fish Aaron and great screen shots from the HDS5. So that is what it looks like when you mark allot of fish. I wouldn`t know yet as I stick mostly on Nipissing lol. I like the Stir It Up`` shot better then the king porn.

[Gregoire]

Wow, thanks for sharing. We are heading out tomorrow morning out of Bluffers. We've tried fishing in tight, but not with the big ern in that colour. We are planning on heading out the the blue zone, but maybe we can chase some staging kings before we head in. It's too late for the GOSD but they are still a load of fun.

[ccmtcanada]

Great report and the pics were awesome! Gotta love pier fishin!

 

At least there were no storms to contend with this past week!

[fishnsled]

Sweet report. I need to hit the piers more often....

[BFSC Kevin]

thanks for the report...

i saw the video of you two running from the storm.. lol!

[MCTFisher9120]

Nice catches man! Nice job with the zoom haha

[Joeytier]

Gotta love the ladderbacks.

 

This is my favourite time of year to target kings.

[workwear]

well done !!!!.......

[Aaron Shirley]

So true Moemoe. Right day with the right colour and lure makes all the difference! I had a bunch of go-to lures, flashers, spoons, meat etc. Heck, I even had go-to Big Erns on with nothing. Unreal. I thanked Mike for that tip many times

 

I felt quite inspired to "stir it up" on Sat hahaha. Girls like that didn't fish the lift bridge when I was young and single! I fished beside that old grumpy dude that chain smoked lol