Jump to content

A day of playing in the river- Updated!


Recommended Posts

Trout opener is a special day, it marks the start of spring and softwater fishing. The fish thought they had made it from the danger when they passed the exception limits, just sitting in the pools, unknowing that soon there would be an army of fishermen barreling down at them, throwing as much roe as they could eat passed their faces.

 

Our day started at 4am, on the road by 4:30 and at the river by 5. The sun was still hiding behind the trees but there were already as many anglers as you could count on the river. My favourite pools had at least 20 anglers on them but the fish didn't care, 5 casts in and I landed just my second lifetime steelhead, measured 27" on the tape and put up one hell of a fight.

 

photo-21_zps9223013c.jpg

 

After that the anglers flooded the pool and we decided it wasn't worth it to try and battle for casting room, we headed to the next river instead. The water was high and fast, a few people got fish but it was tough fishing overall, so we headed upstream to the spawning grounds. We found good numbers of fish, but they were easily spooked and casting room was at a premium. One person that we asked caught a fish, possibly because now the sun was high in the sky, so we broke for lunch to look at a map to decide where next. On the way back we met a very kind man who directed us to 2 spots, one was strictly fish watching as the property was private, the other turned out to be heaven. But first, here's the view on the no fishing pool

 

Viewing pool

 

Once we had enough of that (took a while) we headed to the second spot, this is by far the most fish I've ever seen in one spot, so instead of bait fishing I pulled out the fly rod. Started by nymphing pocket water with wooly buggers, maggots and stoneflies, got a few takes but couldn't land any of them. So I switched to leeches and spey flies and swung them in slower water. It was easy to see the fish, and if you made a good cast easy to catch too. This was the first of the evening.

 

_DSC9135_zps3282367c.jpg

Should've taken the stupid hat off!

 

_DSC9194_zps9aa6f1ed.jpg

 

and the second fish

 

_DSC9206_zps0b0b9844.jpg

_DSC9211_zpsae939612.jpg

_DSC9218_zpscf5b17dd.jpg

 

And the third

 

_DSC9238_zpsb6f35788.jpg

_DSC9241_zpscc8f47a0.jpg

 

Finished roughly 4 for 10, had at least 30 takes that I missed, I'm hooked!

Edited by Christopher k
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks again everyone!

 

Good action on the fly Chris. It was a long time before I ever managed to catch one on the fly. Your becoming quite the accomplished angler.

My goal for this year is to catch every sportfish in southern ontario (besides catfish) on the fly this year, might be a long shot but I think I can do it :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice report C. I'm jealous as well. There are plenty of catfish around ottawa and I've caught a number on the fly (muddlers, white minnow patterns, black wooly buggers and standard nymphs. The best pattern on the Ottawa river for me is a hot pink hammils killer with a white wing (mallard flank) tied in over the back. The river I fish has good clarity and I target them in the evening in relatively shallow water. You can catch most fish with a fly if your persistent. Best of luck.

 

Ches

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recent Topics

    Popular Topics

    Upcoming Events


×
×
  • Create New...