Float down

And some more mug shots of a much uglier specimen



little weird chinook, pinook... I don't know, faint black stripe up the side of him, little pigmy head, couldn't have weighed more then 2 pounds. I assume just a weird jack

Save the best for last, first steel of the season last weekend! Getting into them now.

Don't you just hate when you have to take the day off work to go to traffic court right in your favorite area to fish??? Got 2 hours in this aft and smashed um up good. Couldn't believe how many fish were sitting in one small area.

So shiny it's blinding.

Colored up buck from an absolutely insane day yesterday.

This seems messed up... You guys were literally just talking about how little fish are in our eastern ditches, and how the big fall runs blew through... Also, fishing pressured water is a lot of fun, switch up to flys. Plastics, jigs, 6mm beads... Find what fish are hitting!!!

Are you guys worried about how many fish got killed or caught and or spooked?

Says you...

Lol, it's not that early for them! Got my first two on Saturday.

I want to start doing my setup without any shots on the leader.. my only concern is.. this leaves a long leader with no shots, at least 12" without shots.. I'm worried my bait won't sink fast enough

A little bit of science comes to play here, almost no matter what your bait is going to have some degree of weight to it, keeping it lower then your shot, even when you're running a "floating" berkely worm, your hook will almost be enough to keep it below your swivel.

I believe the curent plays a factor in where your bait ends up as well, making it swirl and roll where ever mother nature decides it wants to put it.

Another key factor to consider is that fish almost always feed upwards, As long as your bait is infront of your shot (which it should be with a proper shot pattern) then you should have no problems. If you bulk your shot right above your swivel, your bait will almost always be infront (downstream) of the rest of your set up.

A lot of guys like to pretty much trickle the bottom, I like to keep my bait roughly 1 or 2 feet off bottom. And in really deep pools, I'll start close to the bottom and make my way up the water column, because sometimes the bastards hang out in the middle of the water column.

Just a few

Everyone calm down. Great fish, congrats!

Hahahaha! I was thinking the same thing. People are funny. These posts are comical!!!
Listen here you conservation preaching gents! Lol,
We go fishing. We like to fish. That guy does things different then you, but that's okay, cause your righteous in your own mind.
To each his own no matter what.

The funny part about all this, "don't hurt the fish, by means of over exauation, handling, Gil raking, or putting them on the bank" is that we literally torture them for the sake of our own entertainment. Driving a sharp hook into the side of there mouth and dragging them in by putting extreme tension on an open wound we created. Imagin having your lip pierced and someone tying a rope to it and pulling you all over the place.
And the over exhaustion thing. Landing a steelhead is difficult enough... Landing a 12+ is just hard, especially when they're full of energy. We're exhausting them no matter what.

Anyways! You're all right in your own mind like I've said before, just get the f... Along, we're all brothers!!! Teach people, if they choose to absorb your teachings, then wicked, if not... You tried

Living in muskoka has it's benefits, gorgeous scenery, tons of lakes loaded with bass pike and lake trout, but we sure as hell don't have any steel.
Which is a problem, because I spend probably thousands of dollars a year in fuel just to get to the river, thankfully the company i work for in Barrie has more work up here then there :s

Managed to sneak away from house hold chores and my better half to attempt another successful outting. Wasn't as good as last weekend (I lost count of how many fish I hit!!! Lol!!) but still managed a very good number today

I also broke my lure virginity in the river, hit a couple on a blue fox pink and silver spinner. It was kind of a cool feeling, the initial strike and fighting them on a stronger shorter rod.

Some fish porn for you gents.



First steely on a spinner in the river





Cute little guy, caught several this size and slightly bigger today.



GB Tank of the day.



Prior to this fish I lost a big fresh chinny, threw in the same roe bag and instantly this young fellow was on!

Had a riot tonight, got 3 chinny's and my first GB steely of the season, anyways, here's some pics!







And this was my last fish, as soon as I landed it, I rapped it up on a high note.

Thanks for re-establishing this CC, I tried, maybe they'll listen to the master! Haha. See you then.

Question for Float down... (as you are leading this trip, which was an excellent suggestion )

Is this going to be (as the title suggests) a trip for the members who provide (or have provided) site content.. ie: Fishing experiences, pictures, general FAQ's..
Or
Is this an open "casting" (pun) call for all board members?


Ninja Edit: Great post Notta

Hey brother, well inittially that's what I was aiming for is the major contributors, educators and decent members, bit I got a bunch of PM's and posts from newer member and novices, so I got to thinking, hey, why not get some more dudes hooked on this sport we love so much.

Education through demonstration.

We all (for the most part) don't nesicarily see eye to eye, but I am going to make the safe conclusion that we all have a general idea of right and wrong. Through teachings of wizards like Notta. CC and Blair, (among many others) we can teach efficient and proper handling of fish, how to properly use tools of our trade, how to make outings successful as well as enjoyable, outstanding river etiquette, and hopefully get them addicted, so when the first whispers of salmon, chrome and browns comes trickling through media and word of mouth, they'll be like myself, and have everything prepared and ready to roll.

We all know, the better educated our fisherman are, the more enjoyable and tolerable a day on the river can be.

Hands on experiences are key!!! And word of mouth of proper river angling is omnipotent.

And btw. No more squabbling on my post, or I'll come find you and break your rods in half! Lol. We all fish differently, and that's why our day is going to be a great one, full of NO judgment, and ALL learning!

And for those of you who PM'd me, I'll get back to you as soon as possible!

With all of this talk about how poor opener is going to be, and even though I know alot of us are kidding, it still got me wondering. Anyways! Last week we took a short trip to that big northern river for the morning, ended up with close to 20 fish between the two of us with more then our share being lost to the river gods.
So this week we decided to go for a couple of days. We left Muskoka around 3:00 and got to the river around 6:30. When I first walk up to where I'm fishing for the day, I take a good look at the water and the conditions. Clear fast water, heavy gram float, light long leader, bulked shot, small hook, dime and nickle sized bags, bright colors for early light and more natural as the day progresses.
First drift for both of us equaled fish, good start to the day!! I still am thinking about how hard those fish were fighting, I had a buck take me almost half a kilometer down stream. And Garfieldthecat saw me lose two fish I was fighting for 10 minutes plus, even with 5.6 lbs lead these fish were kicking my ass!!!
We got 16 between the two of us on Tuesday, with lots of losses and 6 fish before 11:00 on Wednesday. A killer couple of days on the big river.
On a side note... A lot of things upset me.. The garbage at the spot we parked at was gross, garfield saw 2 guys snagging and milking roe, we found a dead king fisher strung from a tree by a mess of fishing line an angler decided to leave behind. I can't stress this enough, pick up your fishing line!!! I made a basketball sized mess from all the line i picked up.

Here's some pics!



That one was taken through a Ziplock bag I put my phone in, I did a lot of wading and didn't want to take it out. Misses out on a lot of good pics.


Small little spawned out buck


Dead king fisher...




Beat up old hen


Her hubby!!!








And another nasty old buck!!!!

Hope you enjoy!

My friend Blair, I hate how this topic has gone south already and am sure it is going to get locked. Like I said prior, in no way am I trying to upset anyone, there is no trout mafia in my behalf, just a conservationist. I have seen some of the damage people have caused to our fishery, I have seen slit browns in sanctuaries, I have seen people snag chinooks, I have seen people keep 5 brook trout that were 5 inches long, and I have seen people take bass off theres nests. None of it seems right.
My point being, some people are ignorant like myself and didn't even think that fishing for a sub-species in heavily populated steel territory was even an option. Lurkers and "loogans" alike, people WILL take advantage of this loop hole, I, like others, will strongly protest.
It really has nothing to do with just steelhead, if I saw someone fishing for bass in the fall in a known lake trout spawning location, my reaction would be the same, as would it be to people fishing pike in the spring on gravel beds.

My fellow anglers, let's not be to harsh on our associates, just informative. I am all ears if someone can justify this to me. I know fishing suckers is fun and there is just so many places to get them year round it doesn't seem right to target them in closed sections.

Like previously mentioned, do work! Talk to guys, study waters, take notes, look for holding areas, match the hatch, learn how to set up properly. My advice is keep your eyes open at all times. If a guy beside you is smashing them and you're getting nothing, ask him what he's doing, and if he is reluctant, study his set up. Keep reading these forums, you'll learn more by reading in-between the lines then all the bickering. Lol.
Also, try hooking up with some of the legends on this site, chase chrome, notta steeler, liscensetopin are just a few, these guys seem to do better then most, and are all decent dudes. Even if you meet someone on the river and get to know them well enough, ask them if you can tag along for the day.
You're going to run into guys who won't like you, and guys who will tell you all there secrets. Take it all with a grain of salt, you'll find your way!