Ganaraska River Steelhead Report - Example of an OFF Report

*The following is an actual report from the Ontario Rivers and Tributaries reports section. I have posted it here so new members have an example of what OFF fishing reports look like. If you are making your first report, please use this report as a general guide*

The Ganaraska River is considered a world class Steelhead River and recieves the biggest run of Steelhead in Ontario. The mouth of the Ganaraska River is located in Port Hope. (See the red dot on the map below)



I was at the mouth of the Ganaraska River on Sunday March 30th, 2008, between 6:00AM and 11:00AM with 2 fishing buddies. It was sunny, cold and very windy. The temperature when we first arrived was about minus 11 degrees. The temperature increased to about minus 2 degrees by the time we left.

The spot I was fishing, looking north:



The spot I was fishing looking south towards the lake:



Much of the river was frozen at dawn, but the ice gradually broke up and melted as the morning progressed. Ice was constantly flowing down the river and presented problems at times. I also had to deal with my guides icing up as well as ice forming on my line:



We started the morning using roe bags with limited success. I had one nice hit in the first 15 minutes, but missed on the hook set. I didn't have another hit on the roe-bag for another 30 minutes or so, nor did I see anyone catching any fish... everyone else was also using roe that I could see. Since it seemed that roe wasn't producing, I decided to change things up. I put on a 3" Gulp Minnow (Watermelon Pearl), wackyrigged. I proceeded to fish this bait in the same manner as a roe bag, simply drifting it under a float. It didn't take long before I started getting hits. On the second hit, the Gulp minnow was smashed, taking the float straight down hard. I got a good hook set and it was fish on! 30 seconds into the fight, the fish came off. I didn't get snapped off, the fish somehow spat the hook.

I changed my hook to a slightly larger mustad and continued...

5 minutes later The gulp minnow gets smashed again. Fish on! I landed this fish, a small male:



The fishing was good for another 2 hours and we landed a few more fish.

At one point I lost a REALLY BIG steelhead. The fish took 3 good runs, my reel screaming as the line peeled off! It felt like a salmon... There was a small crowd gathered watching me fight this fish. The problem was that my line was going through the ice. After a 10 minute fight, "fish off"! I didn't even get to see the fish. I was heart-broken as this fish was surely over 15 pounds. Oh well.

Here's a small female:



The biggest fish landed of the day, a HUGE male. (for perspective, you can see 2 other smaller fish near the edge of the picture)


By 11:00am, the action had died down and the wind was picking up. We decided to call it a day.

In summary, I was badly outfishing the guys using roe. The Gulp minnow was getting smashed left, right and center while guys on the left and right of me didn't get a sniff with their roe-bags. I had many people coming over to me to find out what bait I was using that was hooking so many fish.

I will definitely continue to experiment with non-traditional baits like these on other rivers in future.

One of the guys I was fishing with was also hooking fish one after the other using a large home-made black fly/jig.

WOW KICK ASS REPORT ! ! !

Just wondering... how long is the handle on your net ?

Those nets by the fence are the typical nets you see at that location. (piers)
Too bad it won't fit in the car.

You see frozenfire... you need a monsterous net like that ! Our bass net aren't even do'able there.

Wow, sweet report.
Guess I got my work cut out for me on my first report. lol
*Dreams of the day he catches a steelhead that huge*

Nice report! Those are some nice fish too boot.. What time of day is the best time to head down there?

OK question, what if people dont wanna give away their spots, if its more unknown and not out there as ganaraska?

urbanangler said:

OK question, what if people dont wanna give away their spots, if its more unknown and not out there as ganaraska?

Click to expand...

The short answer is that they would be losing out. I understand your concern, but to honest, you have nothing to worry about. Here's why:

I put this report out here because it is Ganaraska and everyone knows about it. Many of the reports in the GTA section are little known. In fact, some of the spots in the GTA reports section were never fished before we discovered them! That's how secret they are.

Here's the thing though... If you post a report in the GTA reports section, you would only be giving your spots away to a very small number of people. The reports sections are off-limits to lurkers and only people who have themselves given up their spots have access. So, in exchange for disclosing your spots, you'll be getting to see our spots also. It's give and take.

I can assure you that your spots are definitely safe in the GTA reports section AND you'll be learning about some spots that you never knew about! That's the beauty of our system here.

You're into pike, right? Most of the spots you fish are probably already covered in the GTA reports section. For example, the islands, harbourfront, Leslie spit, ash bridges, etc... So it's not as though if you post a GTA pike report you'll have 20 new guys at your spot tomorrow. Actually pike season is closed right now anyway.

Give it a try, it's perfectly safe! See for yourself and try clicking on GTA reports!

openfire said:

urbanangler said:

OK question, what if people dont wanna give away their spots, if its more unknown and not out there as ganaraska?

Click to expand...

The short answer is that they would be losing out. I understand your concern, but to honest, you have nothing to worry about. Here's why:

I put this report out here because it is Ganaraska and everyone knows about it. Many of the reports in the GTA section are little known. In fact, some of the spots in the GTA reports section were never fished before we discovered them! That's how secret they are.

Here's the thing though... If you post a report in the GTA reports section, you would only be giving your spots away to a very small number of people. The reports sections are off-limits to lurkers and only people who have themselves given up their spots have access. So, in exchange for disclosing your spots, you'll be getting to see our spots also. It's give and take.

I can assure you that your spots are definitely safe in the GTA reports section AND you'll be learning about some spots that you never knew about! That's the beauty of our system here.

You're into pike, right? Most of the spots you fish are probably already covered in the GTA reports section. For example, the islands, harbourfront, Leslie spit, ash bridges, etc... So it's not as though if you post a GTA pike report you'll have 20 new guys at your spot tomorrow. Actually pike season is closed right now anyway.

Give it a try, it's perfectly safe! See for yourself and try clicking on GTA reports!

Click to expand...

thanks for taking the time to explain, seems like its legit, no lurkers u say? how bout the ones that just sign up but dont post, im not argueing with u, just having a reasonable discussion, if i find a new spot, like a reeal treasue, honey hole id only let a few ppl know, other than that i post how i decide will be proper

Nope no lurkers. Even people who sign up, whether they post or not, can't get access to the reports until I personally grant them access manually. I only give access to people that first post a fishing report in the "your first fishing report" section. I then review their report, and if it meets our standards, I move the report to the reports section and grant them access. Again, there are only a small handful of people who have access. :wink:

ok, i just tried checking the GTA section , wont let me in though? did i not meet the standards?

MikeyMikey said:

WOW KICK ASS REPORT ! ! !

Just wondering... how long is the handle on your net ?

Those nets by the fence are the typical nets you see at that location. (piers)
Too bad it won't fit in the car.

You see frozenfire... you need a monsterous net like that ! Our bass net aren't even do'able there.

Click to expand...

It was a modified net. My buddy used a painting pole and attached a net to the end.

Bvillefish2 said:

Nice report! Those are some nice fish too boot.. What time of day is the best time to head down there?

Click to expand...

The best time of day is probably right at first light, but it depends... I heard that the fishing was good at 3:00 PM the day before we were there... so it's hard to say.

nice reports dude those fish are just awesome.

what size rod do you use and whats your setup like?

urbanangler said:

ok, i just tried checking the GTA section , wont let me in though? did i not meet the standards?

Click to expand...

You mean with this report?

http://www.ontariofishingforums.com/forum/t-o-school-skipping-pike-t428.html

If you are submitting a report for access to the GTA reports section, you need to submit it in the "your first report" section. It will be hidden from public view at that point.

Once the report is reviewed and approved, it will be moved to the GTA reports section and you will be given access!

The pictures must not be blurred, and you must provide a map of where you were fishing! So, if you submitted that report the way it is now, no, it would not meet the minimum standard unfortunately.

ght said:

nice reports dude those fish are just awesome.

what size rod do you use and whats your setup like?

Click to expand...

11'6" river rod, spinning reel, drifting bait under a float.

openfire said:

urbanangler said:

ok, i just tried checking the GTA section , wont let me in though? did i not meet the standards?

Click to expand...

You mean with this report?

http://www.ontariofishingforums.com/forum/t-o-school-skipping-pike-t428.html

If you are submitting a report for access to the GTA reports section, you need to submit it in the "your first report" section. It will be hidden from public view at that point.

Once the report is reviewed and approved, it will be moved to the GTA reports section and you will be given access!

The pictures must not be blurred, and you must provide a map of where you were fishing! So, if you submitted that report the way it is now, no, it would not meet the minimum standard unfortunately.

Click to expand...

so this is quite interested, why isnt it up to the person to post anyway they want, if they want to show background and GPS coordinates or not?

You can post a report the way you want in the public General Fishing Discussion section, just like you did do.

However, for those who want to share their spots, those reports go into the restricted access Reports section so that they are protected from public viewing.

In other words, those who are willing to share the location of their own spots get to see the reports of others who have done the same. Those who don't want to share the location of their spots don't get to see the reports of those who do share the location of their spots.

It is your choice whether you want access to the reports section or not. I totally understand if you don't want to give up your spots.

openfire said:

You can post a report the way you want in the public General Fishing Discussion section, just like you did do.

However, for those who want to share their spots, those reports go into the restricted access Reports section so that they are protected from public viewing.

In other words, those who are willing to share the location of their own spots get to see the reports of others who have done the same. Those who don't want to share the location of their spots don't get to see the reports of those who do share the location of their spots.

It is your choice whether you want access to the reports section or not. I totally understand if you don't want to give up your spots.

Click to expand...

ok, thnx for the clarification

Great report, especially in taking the pictures and all the details.

Spinninreel said:

Great report, especially in taking the pictures and all the details.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words. Just so you know, that's the way the reports are in the reports sections. :mrgreen:

i hope one day i can catch bows and steelies that big. Ive never been and for me it is somewhat intimidating. ive heard ppl say you need 11, 12, 15 ft rods to even stand a chance. maybe thats why ..but what do you guys say about equipment??

I still have a lot to learn about steelhead fishing, but I do know that you don't need an 11, 12 or 15 ft rod to stand a chance... I remember watching a guy casting spoons for salmon with his bass baitcasting setup. I told him he wasn't going to land a salmon even if he did hook-up. Well, he proved me wrong. So, right off the bat, you have spoon-chucking at the river mouths as an option for catching steelhead with your bass gear.

Having said that, it definitely helps to have the proper gear. It would be a little difficult to cast a float with the bass baitcasting set-up, but where there is a will, there is a way. You could use a bigger float with more weight and add lots of split shots to make it cast-able.The other problem is that you typically need to use a very light leader in clear water. A short rod can't absorb shock the way that a long rod can, so you would likely get snapped off using a 2 - 4 pound leader with the bass rod in that scenario. However, in less clear water, you can get away with a heavier leader and thus could land more fish with a shorter rod.

This discussion could be a whole thread of it's own. Feel free to start a new topic if you would like to get into an in-depth discussion about steelhead gear.

Cheers.