From bars of silver to slabs of gold

[frozen-fire]

I haven’t posted a report or pics in a long time…so figured now is best with the excellent fall action we’ve been getting

 

Last weekend I was initially going to spend one day fishing for steelhead with my girlfriend. It was my goal to get her into her first chrome steelhead. Last minute changes cancelled that plan and all we did was go shopping south of the border

I was upset since I was looking forward to this trip for a long time, but couldn’t stay mad as it was her early birthday weekend, and not mine.

 

She did let me have the morning of Sunday to fish though. I had to make use of all those roe bags I had tied for the cancelled trip!

 

Most of you have seen MJL’s recent underwater snapshots and I couldn’t resist trying it out for myself. I picked up an underwater housing for my SLR (Canon Rebel T2i) and brought it out with me for the first time this past Sunday. It’s not easy taking pics of fish under the surface in a stained river. I did manage a couple of OK shots though despite freezing my hands in the ice cold water holding both the fish and the camera. I am impressed with the quality of the shots above water with the housing. This was a concern as the housing is one of the cheapest available. However, it performed well and there was no issue with the lens port or reflections.

 

Here are a few of the pics that I thought were OK. I had to play with the contrast and brightness levels to cut through the hazy stained water. Let me know what you think.

 

 

I really like the light bouncing off some waves and hitting the head of the fish

 

I definitely need a wider lens so I can capture more of the fish.

 

Chrome from the depths

 

I only took underwater pics of 2 fish. The water is just too cold to stick your arm in for long. MJL did take pics of another fish I caught that turned out great. I’ll let him post those himself. He did have a little mishap with his setup though. It looks like I’ll be the one providing underwater shots for the next while.

 

I can’t wait to take some pics of fish in clearer water so I can get more detail. It’s still going to take me a while to get used to dunking my camera in the water. For anyone interested, the underwater housing I purchased is the DiCaPac WP-S10. You can pick it up for about $85-100. Obviously there are much better ones out there.

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/547694-REG/DiCAPac_WPS10_WP_S10_Waterproof_Case.html

 

The fishing wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. I landed 7 fish of 9 hooked, with most being silver shakers. Nothing beats fresh fall steelhead. The fight from even the little ones will kick your butt. I lost a monster fish that took me well downstream with absolutely no intention of stopping. Boy, do I want that one back.

 

Here are some above water shots with the housing.

 

Bars of silver

 

Release

 

Yesterday evening, I got a call from my dad wanting to head out with me and my uncle to do some fall night time crappie fishing. It’s an annual event for us to hit some big slabs of gold on calm and cold fall nights. Reports from all over have indicated that the night fishing has been less than stellar this year. I have been out a couple times before and did not do well at all… even skunking the last trip out for crappie. They are a tricky species to target at night in the fall. Hard to pinpoint an exact pattern that gets repeated by them.

 

The conditions yesterday were perfect. Next to no wind, warmer air temps, and bright full moon lit everything up nicely. Can’t ask for any better when night time float fishing.

 

I didn’t bring my camera out on the boat and only had my phone. So the shots suck.

 

First decent one of the night after landing both a bass and a walleye.

 

It took us a LONG time to find them. These fish are very scattered and suspended over 6-8 FOW. Find fresh green weeds and we usually pluck a couple out from there. For about an hour, it was absolutely non-stop action. Double and triple headers. We tried to follow the school of fish, but it didn’t last long. It’s not often I need a net for panfish…but when it comes to fall slabs, you need it! I use a 5’6” UL spinning setup with 4lb mono. No way I’m swinging 15” crappie into the boat with what I’m using. We did well yesterday night. Catching a lot and releasing a lot. Obviously kept some for my stomach later on

 

Mmmmmm….

November has only just begun and there is still great fishing to be had. I will work on getting more underwater steelhead pics for you guys.

 

I am actually really looking forward to hard water this year. Bring it on!

[fishindevil]

well done !!! some nice underwater pics bud !! yummy crappies to boot too...

[solopaddler]

I was really hoping to see a report where you had put your girlfriend onto a bunch of steelhead.

 

Dude, you were so close!

 

Looks as though you did okay though anyway. Especially like the crappie, those are some nice slabs.

[rocheleauc]

well done

[frozen-fire]

I was really hoping to see a report where you had put your girlfriend onto a bunch of steelhead.

 

Dude, you were so close!

 

Looks as though you did okay though anyway. Especially like the crappie, those are some nice slabs.

 

I know

I was expecting her to be loving it after that trip!

Will just try to set something up for next time

[Terry]

nice fish

[Victor]

i can't wait to go back and find the big ones that we lost =[

[Rizzo]

i can't wait to go back

 

...do you mean shopping in the states, because I'm sure that's where the girlfriend would like to be Nice report with some great pics

[northernpike56]

nice crappies!

[frozen-fire]

Pic from MJL's camera

 

[Lunkerhunter]

nice fish, i especially like the crappie. good on you for finding some big fall crappie, some slabs for sure

[Rod Caster]

Great fish combo! Your photos turned out great as well.