The Girl That Rocked The Boat! Mighty Niagara

[Aaron Shirley]

This past weekend had perfect for conditions on the Niagara River to drift for steelhead and brown trout. I met friends Christine and Ben on the way to Queenston, and were launched as the sun was rising. I was very happy to see the river clearing with several feet of visibility. I knew this meant the fishing would be great. The weather was excellent with no wind and slightly below freezing. We traveled down river to where there were no other boats and began to drift full of anticipation.

It wasn't long into our first drift when Christine hooks a big fish. It pulled drag and put quite a bend into her 9'6" RSC rod as it dogged down deep. After an intense battle of tug-of-war with rod and reel, Christine put her first brown trout ever into the boat. It was a beast at almost 11 and a half pounds. What a first brown trout to catch! Well done Christine! On our very next drift, Christine boated a beautiful Niagara steelhead. Ben and I hooked up a few times, but Christine dominated the boat in the morning hooking fish after fish while Ben and I played net attendant for her.

While drifting, Christine hooked a really big fish that we knew was a steelhead instantly. A very intense battle ensued. It violently erupted on the surface of the water thrashing its head and tail-walking across the surface of the water. This had all of us gasp and giggle with excitement as Christine perfectly fought and landed the most beautiful fish of the day. Christine was in her glory and had a smile and excitement that was contagious. I was happy to see her first experience on the Niagara so amazing. The girl got two personal best trout within an hour as she absolutely rocked the boat out-fishing the two experienced guys. Christine was hot!

We eventually moved up river after the drift we were fishing became busy and found another drift all to ourselves. It wasn't long before we hooked up and I got a Niagara Grand Slam! A brown trout, steelhead and lake trout. Ben hooked a couple feisty steelhead that took him to task and got the better of him. Some Niagara chromers can leave many anglers with a broken line and heart with their powerful ability to take line faster than a NASCAR race car speeding down the track. We ended our day with many hook-ups, laughs, big trout and great boat camaraderie. We couldn't have had a better day on the majestic Niagara River.

Good fishing!

Aaron

[Richie Razor]

Wow, those are just some incredible speciemens!!!

[okumasheffield]

WWWOOOOOWWW!!!

[Joey]

That's AWESOME Aaron!

[4x4bassin]

That river really produces some nice trout , way to go Aaron !

[pidge]

Insane. Wow those are some huge fish. Very nice job to all.

[wormdunker]

Those fish are awesome! Good going!

[corvette1]

great day on the lower Aaron congrats

[Renegade67]

That sucks, only one eater. lol.

 

Just an awsome display of trouts! Thanks for the wicked porn!

[bassfighter]

Always impressive to read your report , those size fish are also exceptional.

 

Care to share your set up?

Lead weight size for bottom bouncing?

Aside from roe, any other artificial you tried?

Saw some crankbait behind some picture, can they go that deep?

[Ralph Field]

Great report ! Those are some nice fish as well.

[Big Cliff]

Fantastic report and beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing!

[TDunn]

Love it man!

Drifting for steel this time of year is so much fun!

Great fish Aaron

 

TDunn

[solopaddler]

Sweet buddy!

 

Your new boat sticker?

 

 

 

 

[lookinforwalleye]

Great report...marvelous fishery the Niagara...

[BillM]

lol awesome man!

[Ron]

Right on.....

 

The usual for us Aaron, "A day late and a dollar short". Only this time we were a day early. Water just started to clear late in the day Friday. Coulda woulda shoulda......

 

Cheers, Ron...

[Freshtrax]

Sweet fish....I love the niagara

[linweir]

Great Aaron.

Txs for this report.

[spinnerdoc]

Those are some sweet specimens.....thanks for sharing

[muskymatt]

Wicked pics of wicked fish, looks like a total blast!! Thanks for sharing!

[lurechucker]

nice pictures some big hogs thanks for the report

[Aaron Shirley]

Bass fighter, we employ a Three-way rig to bottom bounce with the bottom current. Boat control with Minn Kota is important to keep a slightly vertical presentation. I use 10lb main line on a spinning reel to a small black Three-way swivel. A dropper line same # approximately 10" to a pencil weight or slinky weight. I prefer slinky between just under 1/2 ounce to 3/4oz. I then tie a 4- to 8lb fluorocarbon leader (4- to 9 feet long) on to a black gammy octopus hook size 8 or 6. I then add either roe, skein, yarn, corky, TriggerX single egg, emerald shiner, TriggerX minnow 3" in white or something similar.

 

I also use Kwikfish, Hotshots, streamer flies, and have caught them on crankbaits. Pink worms between 3" and 8" are also good, as is orange worms. Casting hair jigs, spoons, spinners can work well, as can floating various baits as mentioned earlier. Jigs under Floats can also work well.

 

Good fishing!

 

Aaron

[Aaron Shirley]

Thanks for all the nice coments everyone. Hopefully the conditions stay good!

[Moosebunk]

Have always enjoyed viewing the great fishing Christine has done through her life. Kudos to you Aaron for making that such a great day on the water.