21 replies to this topic

[efka]

Had a day off on monday so decided to fish some creeks out in the east end, picked up my buddy and headed to wilmot, non stop action for the first 2 hours, had maybe 10 hookups, but managed only few fish, same thing for my buddy. Only few people fishing the popular holes, everyone is friendly and helping each other, giving advice, complete opposite of the weekend crowd. when sun came up everything died with occasional fish caught. Packed up and made our way to the car. On the way there we decided to try out bowmanville for 30 min sharp. when we arrived and were seting up there the only guy fishing that stretch hooked a 11+ lbs monster on a secret lure (i promised him i wont tell). Took him 10 min to land the fish, very complicated procedure since he had logs all around him. Fished there for around 1.5 hour and landed few more fish.
Roe was the ticked in the morning, after that pinkies flies did better. Oh the the guys secret lure was on fire.
My friends first brown on the float

[FrankTheRabbit]

Nice pics! What kind of centre pins are you guys using?

[openfire]

Nice job Efka, looks like you had an awesome day out there.

It's nice to see that the guys on river were civil with eachother... Wish it were always like that.

Hey Efka, I guess you're on your way to BPS right now to pick up a dozen of the guy's secret on-fire lure!

[En4cer]

Thanks for the update... I've been off on parental all year and am going back Thursday, was considering heading east tomorrow... With your update and all this rain, guess I'll be headed east at "first light"!
Thanks again, I'll let you all know how I made out!

[efka]

everything will be blown after tonights rain, go on thursday

[efka]

Nice pics! What kind of centre pins are you guys using?

my buddy used aventa, i use GLoomis

Hey Efka, I guess you're on your way to BPS right now to pick up a dozen of the guy's secret on-fire lure!

will grab a couple for sure next time i'm there, it's only good on clear water

[tangledline]

terrific fish...wilmot creek ....great place to fish but i have not been for 18 years.....
you certainly catch some sweet fish....and always find a way to create some action for yourself....
you must have a great knowledge and skill for reading rivers.
i was reading the hair rig article and i think i can also use it for bowfin....they inhale the bait and do spit oit out if the hook is sensed....many lost this way.
thanks again for sharing your knowledge

[frozenfire]

Wow a lure that can work as well as the silver kwikfish!? Or even better!?

Every lure has it's time and place.

Great job out there Efka.
This rain is gonna push a lot of them up!

[En4cer]

Efka was right, an absolute blow out.... Never seen the willy so high and dirty!!!

[openfire]

Efka was right, an absolute blow out.... Never seen the willy so high and dirty!!!

Well the nice thing about Wilmot is that it clears up fast. Should be prime tomorrow...

[Beatles]

Well the nice thing about Wilmot is that it clears up fast. Should be prime tomorrow...

More rain tomorrow and knowing Willy like I do I'd say at least Friday. Bowmanville was in great shape today.

[openfire]

More rain tomorrow and knowing Willy like I do I'd say at least Friday. Bowmanville was in great shape today.

Didn't check the forecast, good to know.

How did you make out at Bowmanville?

[Beatles]

Didn't check the forecast, good to know.

How did you make out at Bowmanville?

Did well there and at a creek further west. . Wilmot will be a huge challenge for most anglers in the fall as they act like BC winter steelhead, it's the only eastern trib where they behave that way.
Steelhead, much like salmon, do not like to feed once they enter their winter "home" steelhead are trout that do not feed when they return to the river that is why it takes many years of fishing them
to get them to strike. "Many believe steelhead won’t feed at all after entering a river, and this belief extends even to fall-run fish that might be in the river more than four months. This is an erroneous assumption as, even in 33°F water, steelhead do feed. Predominantly, in extremely cold water, they feed opportunistically on small items that drift right into their wheelhouse, which is a small strike zone condensed by conditions to a relatively tiny area right in front of their faces. This becomes the overriding factor determining methodology and presentation." this is much more true of Wilmot than any other local creek. The key thing to remember about winter steelhead is that more than 80 percent of them are fall-run fish, in the Great Lakes region. In a cold winter with no appreciable thaw, that figure jumps to 100 percent. It’s an important distinction because fall-run fish tend to spawn much earlier than spring-run fish.

Like Salmon, Steelhead undergo a change in their internal organs, most importantly the atrophy of the stomach. When Steelhead enter freshwater tributaries, they begin to prepare for the spawn. Their stomachs shrink and they can no longer digest food. Biologists explain that the fish stop feeding and begin to live off of their own body fat. This is not bad news for the fall angler, however. The term “feeding” means the fish stop eating for sustenance, because their bodies cannot process the byproduct of the food. They do however continue to “eat” in the streams, which biologists explain is purely out of habit. So the good news for stream Steelhead fisherman is that while Steelhead are not feeding for nourishment, they are still in the “bad habit” of attacking prey and slurping up drifting food.
Wilmot steelies can be very difficult. I remember 6 years ago 3 of us spent 6 hours floating over the same pool with everything in our boxes and they wouldn't touch anything, there were at least 100 fish in there. I finally figured them out but a Wilmot steelhead can be the most frustrating of Steelhead to catch whereas in other tribs they can be much easier. Some say it's the genetic imprint in them handed down and they may be right but for now it's a mystery.

[openfire]

Did well there and at a creek further west. . Wilmot will be a huge challenge for most anglers in the fall as they act like BC winter steelhead, it's the only eastern trib where they behave that way.
Steelhead, much like salmon, do not like to feed once they enter their winter "home" steelhead are trout that do not feed when they return to the river that is why it takes many years of fishing them
to get them to strike. "Many believe steelhead won’t feed at all after entering a river, and this belief extends even to fall-run fish that might be in the river more than four months. This is an erroneous assumption as, even in 33°F water, steelhead do feed. Predominantly, in extremely cold water, they feed opportunistically on small items that drift right into their wheelhouse, which is a small strike zone condensed by conditions to a relatively tiny area right in front of their faces. This becomes the overriding factor determining methodology and presentation." this is much more true of Wilmot than any other local creek. The key thing to remember about winter steelhead is that more than 80 percent of them are fall-run fish, in the Great Lakes region. In a cold winter with no appreciable thaw, that figure jumps to 100 percent. It’s an important distinction because fall-run fish tend to spawn much earlier than spring-run fish.

Like Salmon, Steelhead undergo a change in their internal organs, most importantly the atrophy of the stomach. When Steelhead enter freshwater tributaries, they begin to prepare for the spawn. Their stomachs shrink and they can no longer digest food. Biologists explain that the fish stop feeding and begin to live off of their own body fat. This is not bad news for the fall angler, however. The term “feeding” means the fish stop eating for sustenance, because their bodies cannot process the byproduct of the food. They do however continue to “eat” in the streams, which biologists explain is purely out of habit. So the good news for stream Steelhead fisherman is that while Steelhead are not feeding for nourishment, they are still in the “bad habit” of attacking prey and slurping up drifting food.
Wilmot steelies can be very difficult. I remember 6 years ago 3 of us spent 6 hours floating over the same pool with everything in our boxes and they wouldn't touch anything, there were at least 100 fish in there. I finally figured them out but a Wilmot steelhead can be the most frustrating of Steelhead to catch whereas in other tribs they can be much easier. Some say it's the genetic imprint in them handed down and they may be right but for now it's a mystery.

Excellent read, great info right there.

I'm sure I (and other members) will have more than a few questions for you in the future... great stuff.

[Beatles]

Excellent read, great info right there.

I'm sure I (and other members) will have more than a few questions for you in the future... great stuff.

Always willing to help but the info I posted has lots of quotes in it. Seasoned steelheaders know this but it's hard to explain to folks new to the hobby.
It's the one freshwater fish you can take the most pride in landing IF you do it as a sportsman. Some people who brag about lining or snagging on this forum
should be glad they haven't met me on a riverbank. If you want to take it to the next level try fishing for them with a barbless hook and NO HOOK SETTING.
Those are the ones I am most proud of because when a steelie hits you hard enough to sink the hook you know your presentation was perfect I see so many
beginners set the hook with such force it either pulls it right out of the fish or they miss it entirely and their whole rig flies into the brush behind them. This is
not sporting fishing. You'll see the old guys either not needing to set the hook or just doing a small nudge.

[openfire]

Always willing to help but the info I posted has lots of quotes in it. Seasoned steelheaders know this but it's hard to explain to folks new to the hobby.
It's the one freshwater fish you can take the most pride in landing IF you do it as a sportsman. Some people who brag about lining or snagging on this forum
should be glad they haven't met me on a riverbank. If you want to take it to the next level try fishing for them with a barbless hook and NO HOOK SETTING.
Those are the ones I am most proud of because when a steelie hits you hard enough to sink the hook you know your presentation was perfect I see so many
beginners set the hook with such force it either pulls it right out of the fish or they miss it entirely and their whole rig flies into the brush behind them. This is
not sporting fishing. You'll see the old guys either not needing to set the hook or just doing a small nudge.

Just to point out to you that 99.99% of our members are dedicated sportsmen who do not subscribe to "lining" fish. There was only one member who bragged of unethical fishing activities, and that member is no longer a member at OFF. The topic of "lining" always seems to crop up around salmon season (on every forum) unfortunately. It's a topic that won't ever go away as long as salmon swim in Ontario waters. Anglers need to be properly educated, as most fisherman don't realize that fishing for salmon with a marshmallow for example, isn't an effective way to get them to "bite". I digress.

I'm fascinated by what you wrote about setting the hook. I'm curious, what brand/size hook do you use when fishing in the manner described above? I would imagine that you would need a small, sticky sharp hook to achieve decent hook penetration if you're not setting the hook.

[Beatles]

Just to point out to you that 99.99% of our members are dedicated sportsmen who do not subscribe to "lining" fish. There was only one member who bragged of unethical fishing activities, and that member is no longer a member at OFF. The topic of "lining" always seems to crop up around salmon season (on every forum) unfortunately. It's a topic that won't ever go away as long as salmon swim in Ontario waters. Anglers need to be properly educated, as most fisherman don't realize that fishing for salmon with a marshmallow for example, isn't an effective way to get them to "bite". I digress.

I'm fascinated by what you wrote about setting the hook. I'm curious, what brand/size hook do you use when fishing in the manner described above? I would imagine that you would need a small, sticky sharp hook to achieve decent hook penetration if you're not setting the hook.

I like Daiichi in 14 and 16 sizes.

[Majstor]

I like Daiichi in 14 and 16 sizes.

very good hooks i just started using them this season, nice and strong.