Still waiting, and reflecting.

Despite the great weather we had last week end, I didn't get a chance to hit the water before the rain. I was working on Saturday, and that pretty much killed my Sunday. I got to go through some more photos that I want to share.

 Lets start with what I am missing most this year! About 5 years ago, I found a creek that had a very small run of rainbows. 2 years ago, I found poachers before open season, and shoulder to shoulder fisherman on opening day! Needless to say, I'm upset, more about the poachers, and the ignorance of the people who fish this river when it finally does open. The first year I caught a rainbow in this river, I was using a 4 wt fly rod, going for resident trout. The migratory steelhead really surprised me. For 3 years, I was very happy to see the steelhead returning in better numbers

each year, than 2 years ago, the run was huge, but there must have been a mass mail out about it! I was mortified to see poachers fishing before opening season, and to see people keeping the limit (its still 6 on Lake Ontario waters/trib's) once the season opened. Last year, there were fights on the river, and not between anglers and fish! I guess everyone and their cousin decided to fish the spot, it was shoulder to shoulder before the sun came up. I fishing for 1 hr, and got fed up with the people on the river arguing. Spent the rest of the day on "fly only" rivers.

Not to long ago, I was turned onto carp fishing by a friend who owned a small tackle shop. Since Bass Pro opened, he has gone out of business. I am forever grateful to him.

 I caught this bruiser one evening after work. I drove 10 min from my house, used my salmon rod, and a spinning reel, and rigged up a hair rig with some corn. When I set the hook into this fish, it took off like a freight train! Thats a 9 foot rod its beside! To date, its my biggest carp, and second longest fish. Since I've been put onto it, I make a few trips a year. I don't always catch, but at the very least, its a nice way to watch the sun set after being in the office all day.

This was funny, we were behind it on our way to a fishing lodge, for at least 3 hrs on the highway.

Fishing for crappie, you never know what you are gonna catch! I pulled in about 3 of these guys, all about the same size, on an ultralight with 2 lb. test line. Sad to say, the last 3 muskies I've landed, were on 2 lb. test line, and put together, don't way 1 lb.! These guys were smashing red and white micro tubes.

They made fun of me fro bringing up so many rods and reels! Guess who they went to when this happened to their rod! Moral of the story....be nice to the guy who is over prepared, karma does have a sense of humour!

You never know what the weather is going to bring, but be prepared when it is not good! On Rice Lake on year, 8 am brought the sun, it was nice and warm, and we were hooking some brightly coloured perch. By noon, the temperature dropped, clouds rolled in, and the rain was eminent. We decided to hit an area where the lake bottlenecks, creating a bit of a current. We started drifting and bouncing jigs and grubs on bottom as we went. We had some success with a couple nice walley, after all, that was what we were trying to catch.

Another lucky bass

 Than, this smallie hit! Considering I am not really a bass guy, I've hooked some pretty nice smallies in my lifetime, and I really do enjoy catching them. It seems like the less I try to catch smallies, the bigger they get.  This one hit a chartreuse grub on bottom.

Salmon on your rod!

 Sometimes, being my fishing partner is frustrating, the fish above has an interesting story.

My Zio Mario is the person who really got me into fishing, he put it into me as a young kid. He was the person who would always take me out, and really taught me the basics of fishing. If it wasn't for him, I definitely would not have had as much experience as a kid fishing. Over the years, I've learned from a lot of different people, TV shows, and magazines, and really started to put together my own values, and become my own angler.

A few years ago, I decided to take him to one of my favourite salmon rivers when the run was on. The fish were jumping and rolling all morning, but we couldn't buy a hit! Around noon, he decided to stop fishing to eat something, and I asked if i could try out his new rod. He was throwing an inline spinner, and I was drifting with a centre pin all day, I felt like a little change. I took a few casts, and hooked one. I was hot-shotting the spinner through the tail of the pool. I spent the rest of the day teaching him this "new" technique. It was nice to be able to finally return the favour, I gave him the fish, and cooked some for him that night. Beerbutter Salmon Fillet's on the BBQ is one of my favourites!

A couple nice close ups to close the blog.

Both fish were caught on exploratory trips. The panner was in a pond I saw as I was driving from one trout spot to another. Every so often when I'm fishing alone, I will deviate from the plan, and fish any body of water I see. Best day was when I found a beaver pond that was full of hungry brookies.

Details of a great day

The steelhead, well, I am always looking for new rivers to fish steelhead in peace. I really cant wait for trout to open. I'm almost done refilling my fly boxes, and I have a few spots that I am dying to try out. Going straight to the residents this year.

Not always about the fish

A lot of the reason I love going fishing, is to get outside and experience what nature really has to offer. I take the time to stop, and appreciate my surroundings, and I am often surprised by what I see. Nature has a lot to offer, regardless of where you are appreciating it, and when I take the time to step back and take it in, it resonates with me for a long time.

I spent some time on the Humber river last fall, just minutes from the downtown core, and I ran into a professional photographer. As we were talking, 3 deer came to the river to drink I didn't have a camera on me, and he didn't have a lens long enough. Deer in the city is not something I usually see, but not having the right gear on me when I do see deer is something that happens often.

Walking to one of my favourite spots on the Notty, I spotted a dew covered grape vine. This is really what started making me "look around" when I'm out.

Sometimes, you spot something that just doesn't look right at the side of the road. On our way to one of our Brook Trout creeks, we spotted this deer in the trees, about 5 feet from the road. This is the closest picture I could get before I spooked her. Wish I had my telephoto lens that day.

Its not always what you see, some times a sound gives it away. Again, one of those times I wish I had the tele photo.

One of my favourite ponds, not to far from my home. It was nice to see this family enjoying the pond as well.

The snake actually found me. I was wading through the flats for bass, and I noticed the water moving funny beside me. Very cool to see the way it moved in the water, my camera at the time didn't have video capabilities. 

Im very excited to head out on the water, and road this year. Over the winter I got a new digital SLR, and I am planning on using it. But, it will probably be at home, or in the car when the deer show up!

Open Season Upon Us

With the trout opener a few weeks away, and the rivers high, muddy,and un-fishable, Im really starting to feel the anxiety build. I decided to go through some of my older fishing photos, and realized something. HOW FAT I WAS!! None the less, here are some of the photos from the last few years. We will call this a catch up post.

One thing I should mention, I am an avid believer of selective harvest, and I probably keep 1 or 2 fish a year, if that, and they are never prime spawners. I believe strongly that catch and release works, and that by respecting the environment, and the fish, it can be preserved for many years to come for all of us to enjoy. I also love to eat fish......just thought I should put that out there.

Temagami

We have spent some time up in Temagami, on Net Lake. That lake must have the healthiest population of Smallmouth Bass that I have regularly fished. Over a 3 day stretch, we did not catch a smallie under 18 inches, and we were trying for Pike and Walley.

Oddly enough, as the day warmed up, the Walley came in to feed! One thing most people say when they see photos with me and fish is "The fish isn't that big". Not to say that I'm catching world record fish, but keep in mind, I'm 6'3, I tend to dwarf anything I hold.

Rice Lake

A couple bass we hooked into, in bad conditions on Rice Lake.  All the dams and locks were open all the way to Petobourough giving us high, fast moving water!

Fly Fishing Smallies

 Busted out the fly rod when the wind calmed down, moved into a little back bay, and hooked into my first bass on a fly.

Espanola

26inch-Pike

Last year, we spent a week-end in Espanola. It was a great trip, and we are going back for the Pike/Walley opener this year. This time for 5 whole days!

Next bunch of photos are some pike that we hooked into on our second day. We started off in a calm back bay, and than the chop picked up on the main lake with the wind. We targeted wind swept points, and were hooking into the biggest fish of the trip. Every cast was at least a follow!

The pike really keyed in on Perch coloured X-Raps

I look ridiculous in hats!

 Some Smallies above, we started hooking the Walley first, than all of a sudden, things changed and the bass started to bite. Caught the 2 and moved on,  they were out of season. Either way, I got the photo, its all I really need.

 This was the big fish of the trip. This Pike measured in at 46 inch's and has a big story to boot. One f my fishing partners, had not caught anything yet on the trip. I decided I wanted to help him catch a fish, so I played guide. I steered the boat up to a point, and instructed him to cast. On the retrieve, we saw a large shadow follow the bait, and take it. He froze! Didn't know what to do now that he got a hit. We continued to fish the shoreline, and by the time we got back to the point, I was fishing again. I made the first cast, and he asked me "Do you think that big fish is still here?" to which I replied "Yes!" with a hook set.
 She demolished my last Perch coloured X-Rap, and gave me the typical "Release Bath" of a large Pike. I hope to see her again this year!

Another "wind/point" Pike

Random Bass

Took a trip with my girlfriend, and decided to stop off in Muskoka for a few casts. Wasn't a  huge fish, but it fought like it was!

Another little scrapper that I picked up in the Orillia area. This is one of my favourite places to fish, and there is a Muskie in this water that has my number! I hooked it 5 times, and have yet to land it! I've got the last Saturday in June circled!

So, now I'm kind of caught up. I lost all my trout photos, and I don't seem to have any photos that are more than 3 years old on my computer. If I find any notable one's, I'll post them, otherwise, its onward!

See you on the water!