Christopheraaron
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2012
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- 995
Well I'll see what I can scratch together for Sunday for you guys, but I'll be charging for 'em!
Conestoga River
- Thread starter Kit
- Start date
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Kit
Canadian River Angler
Here's the address. If your coming here's where it is and head up stream. Towards the dam. And we will surely have to spread out lol. Well more so with the fly rods. I do have a ton of worms I picked that have to get used up. Big juicey ones lol.
7786 Wellington Road 45
Mapleton, ON N0B
http://goo.gl/maps/jr8RJ
7786 Wellington Road 45
Mapleton, ON N0B
http://goo.gl/maps/jr8RJ
salmotrutta
Well-Known Member
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- Aug 24, 2010
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Too tired to read the whole thread right now..but if you are planning an outing on Sunday..fyi I saw the river today and it was swollen. The bridge by the St. Jacob's dam was closed yet again, due to high water. Nith looked even worse, and Thames in London also looked high and muddy.
Depending on how fast it drops, could be tough fishing this weekend.
Depending on how fast it drops, could be tough fishing this weekend.
Christopheraaron
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2012
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- 995
That's too bad, well in that case ill play it by ear, if it doesn't look fish able tonight I might hit a smaller creek closer to home.
Kit
Canadian River Angler
Fack yeah its getting up there pretty high.. 20 m/3s.
Maybe we can get right up to the dam and fish there from shore? They don't update the graph on a hourly basis just daily.
We can play it by ear. Since this place is close to the dam flow can change pretty quickly. Where we are going is the red line on the graph.
http://www.grandriver.ca/index/document.cfm?Sec=2&Sub1=6&Sub2=6
Maybe we can get right up to the dam and fish there from shore? They don't update the graph on a hourly basis just daily.
We can play it by ear. Since this place is close to the dam flow can change pretty quickly. Where we are going is the red line on the graph.
http://www.grandriver.ca/index/document.cfm?Sec=2&Sub1=6&Sub2=6
Kit
Canadian River Angler
Option 2 is the Eramosa River. That's in Guelph. Not as far for some coming from TO Area compared to the Conestoga.
That river offers brookies, browns and pike.
we can enter here. https://goo.gl/maps/nF1sb
Or here: https://goo.gl/maps/MHmCT
the second area looks better do to the fact that its closer to the lake up stream and there's a trail that runs along the river as well.
Anyone down for this? This place is lightly fished to do the fact 90% of it is ran though private land and only a few access points up the river. The flow right now is at 6.3 normal is 0.9 so it will be a tad high. Thing is we would have to spread out pretty good cause the river is not very wide in some spots.
There's also a walking trail that runs down along the river. Access for that is a little further down the road.
Just come down to what you guys want to do now.. I don't want to cancel. Lol.
That river offers brookies, browns and pike.
we can enter here. https://goo.gl/maps/nF1sb
Or here: https://goo.gl/maps/MHmCT
the second area looks better do to the fact that its closer to the lake up stream and there's a trail that runs along the river as well.
Anyone down for this? This place is lightly fished to do the fact 90% of it is ran though private land and only a few access points up the river. The flow right now is at 6.3 normal is 0.9 so it will be a tad high. Thing is we would have to spread out pretty good cause the river is not very wide in some spots.
There's also a walking trail that runs down along the river. Access for that is a little further down the road.
Just come down to what you guys want to do now.. I don't want to cancel. Lol.
Bolcheck
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2007
- Messages
- 74
Hey Kit have you fished the Eramosa in this section before? It's not the easiest to fish from shore with the overhanging cedars and the substrate is silty organic for the most part not fun for walking, there is a ponded area where the dam is just up from your trail you marked.
I used to canoe this river from Rockwood to Guelph back in the day and we used to get pike and bass never caught a trout, but that being said its been years since I've fished it and who knows now. I only mountain bike in the area nowadays.
I used to canoe this river from Rockwood to Guelph back in the day and we used to get pike and bass never caught a trout, but that being said its been years since I've fished it and who knows now. I only mountain bike in the area nowadays.
Kit
Canadian River Angler
And no never have this far.. Just a little ways up where it meets the speed. So most of it is no good for wading? Even area 2 I put up closer to the lake? I just hope the Conestoga goes down enough to make it decent enough to fish. With the dam being so close it can change pretty quickly.
Bolcheck
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- Apr 25, 2007
- Messages
- 74
Yeah the section you have for number #2 is easy to wade gravel cobble, and there's a couple of nice places for pike and bass but the parking is limited and all private property not sure about access anymore its been years since I've fished this area. If you follow the river upstream and where it turns left is about as far as you can go on foot wading because when it turns back right its a fairly deep channel and the banks are covered in lily pads, maybe not yet but very difficult wading, good in a canoe.Kit said:
Kit
Canadian River Angler
Thanks for the info man.
I called the hotline for river info, compared to last night the river has gone down a little bit. Ill see how it is around dinner again. hopefully everyone gives feed back on what they want to do.
I called the hotline for river info, compared to last night the river has gone down a little bit. Ill see how it is around dinner again. hopefully everyone gives feed back on what they want to do.
Doorhandle
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- Aug 21, 2013
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Im good with wherever gives me the best shot at a fish lol, I dont mind the drive too much. I rely on your judgement. Just make sure you post what the final call is before heading out tomorrow so I know where to go!
Kit
Canadian River Angler
K so whoever is still going to come. we are meeting at shand dam in Fergus. It will probably be a spin fishing day. unless you wanna use fly from shore.
Remember theres heavy regs down most of the water here. No Organic Bait, Single Barbless Hook, Release all Trout. The dam is open for everything. But as soon as you hit 2nd Line Road heavy regs start and they stop at Scotland Street.
you can review here. Pink line is heavy reg. http://www.grandrivertroutfitters.com/river/ I got tons of worms. we can use near the dam.
https://goo.gl/maps/OHt1y
Hope to see everyone there..
Remember theres heavy regs down most of the water here. No Organic Bait, Single Barbless Hook, Release all Trout. The dam is open for everything. But as soon as you hit 2nd Line Road heavy regs start and they stop at Scotland Street.
you can review here. Pink line is heavy reg. http://www.grandrivertroutfitters.com/river/ I got tons of worms. we can use near the dam.
https://goo.gl/maps/OHt1y
Hope to see everyone there..
Kit
Canadian River Angler
K so whoever is still going to come. we are meeting at shand dam in Fergus. It will probably be a spin fishing day. unless you wanna use fly from shore.
Remember theres heavy regs down most of the water here. No Organic Bait, Single Barbless Hook, Release all Trout. The dam is open for everything. But as soon as you hit 2nd Line Road heavy regs start and they stop at Scotland Street.
you can review here. Pink line is heavy reg. http://www.grandrivertroutfitters.com/river/ I got tons of worms. we can use near the dam.
https://goo.gl/maps/OHt1y
Hope to see everyone there..
Remember theres heavy regs down most of the water here. No Organic Bait, Single Barbless Hook, Release all Trout. The dam is open for everything. But as soon as you hit 2nd Line Road heavy regs start and they stop at Scotland Street.
you can review here. Pink line is heavy reg. http://www.grandrivertroutfitters.com/river/ I got tons of worms. we can use near the dam.
https://goo.gl/maps/OHt1y
Hope to see everyone there..
hamiltonangler94
Smallmouth Fanatic
So how many people are still interested in coming?
Doorhandle
Well-Known Member
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- Aug 21, 2013
- Messages
- 52
That spot looks good for me, not too far away. Unfortunately I dont own any waders and I dont have any barbless hooks on my lures or anything. Should I still come? I mean I want to but if I need waders badly and my hook situation can't be resolved I dont want to be a burden.
Doorhandle
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2013
- Messages
- 52
Welp, I got lost. Couldnt find the place.
Kit
Canadian River Angler
Okay. Shmoge got a 2 small pike and a brown, and rough square got a brown and a super nice pike. had to be over 30" for sure. No pics sadly. It was hooked so weird that it broke off with a good head shake. Ill make a thread with pics and such.
roughsquare
Well-Known Member
I can't really speak for anyone else but here is my account of the day's fishing:
Woke up late, missed my alarms by 35 minutes. With a few choice curse words I put my jeans on in the dark, grabbed a couple granola bars and ran like the wind. I texted Kit as I pulled out of the driveway saying I'd be (great first impression). Drove as fast as I dare on the 401 to his place and met up with him and his buddy (didn't catch his username, might be hamiltonangler94). We plugged the destination in to the GPS and made the drive up to the dam. $20 to get in and park?! I don't think so! We parked at the bridge below the damn, threw on our gear and organized and set off in to the river. A quick chat with a couple guys right below the bridge wasn't a good sign, no nibbles at all. We waded up the river a bit and found a nice mix of pools, riffles and seams. Kit broke out his fly rod while myself and his buddy broke out the spinning gear. I threw on a no-name rainbow coloured (the fish not the natural phenomenon) spinner. We casted for a few minutes and without a nibble decided to make for the dam.
Now, I've fished a little in my past life, but never have I waded a river. Holy shnikes is that tough work (or maybe I am just not doing it right)! Took us a while (and a couple spills - two soaked waders) to get up to the dam. Along the way we met up with shmogley who was coming down stream. After a quick discussion and a few more casts we made it the rest of the way to the dam. I had switched to a soft bait minnow on a small jig head along the way and decided to switch back to the spinner. First cast in to the pool below the dam I thought I was snagging a few weeds, I gave the rod a jerk just to break it free and I felt it fight back; game on! Sadly though it was a quick fight, a little brown had taken my spinner about ten feet in front of me; he was hooked, and not in a nice way, right up through the top of his mouth and just under his eye. With Hamilton's quick work he got the hook out (thankfully I had bent the barbs back). We took a quick couple pics and got him back in the water. The poor guy was so tired he just hid amongst a couple rocks for a few minutes a couple feet to my left. To my relief as shmogley came over to check it the fish scooted off back to the deeper water; recovered enough to fight another day.
With the great start to the pool behind us we spread out a little and continued casting for pike, trout and whatever else may be in that pool. This is where the mid morning blues started setting in; first I lost my spinner out in the middle of the river and shmogley lost a rapala in the same area. Shortly after that both shmogley and I lost fish on hard baits right in front of us! We continued casting for a few hours- I lost another hard bait- before deciding to head up and over the dam to the other side of the pool where a fellow fisher was having a lot of luck.
Using the same hard bait (a Rapala original floating minnow F11) I kept casting on the other side of the pool. About a half hour later I had a strike, a big strike. I set the hook with a quick jerk (as "quick a jerk can get on a 12' noodle rod with 6lb line). With a flash and splash a pike broke the surface about 20 feet in front of me. Shmogley noticed and came to give me a hand. The pike took a couple short runs and I managed to get it about 6 feet in front of me but with one last flurry he made a short run down stream where he resigned himself to wait. With all the commotion Kit and Hamilton came down as shmogley was trying to net the guy; his trout net was far to small! I called for Hamilton to bring his bigger net over. Unfortunately at this point I was to far to get a good sight of the pike (he had gone to the other side of some rocks about 20 feet away down stream) and as Hamilton tried to net him we noticed the lure was sideways in his mouth. I let up on the line and with a quick shake it flung the lure out of it's mouth and dashed away from Hamilton's net. Damn! Hamilton figured it was about 8lbs and 30"+. A decent one for sure!
I spent the rest of the afternoon casting away, hoping to find that bugger's brothers and sister (which it most likely ate to get that big). Shmogley managed to land a good pike as well. We called it a couple hours later and trudged up the dam to head back (but not before casting a few spoons in to the lake side of course).
All in all I had a great time with those guys and would love to do it again. It's a great spot (though it got a bit busy as the afternoon wore on). I'll let the other guys fill in any other details.
Woke up late, missed my alarms by 35 minutes. With a few choice curse words I put my jeans on in the dark, grabbed a couple granola bars and ran like the wind. I texted Kit as I pulled out of the driveway saying I'd be (great first impression). Drove as fast as I dare on the 401 to his place and met up with him and his buddy (didn't catch his username, might be hamiltonangler94). We plugged the destination in to the GPS and made the drive up to the dam. $20 to get in and park?! I don't think so! We parked at the bridge below the damn, threw on our gear and organized and set off in to the river. A quick chat with a couple guys right below the bridge wasn't a good sign, no nibbles at all. We waded up the river a bit and found a nice mix of pools, riffles and seams. Kit broke out his fly rod while myself and his buddy broke out the spinning gear. I threw on a no-name rainbow coloured (the fish not the natural phenomenon) spinner. We casted for a few minutes and without a nibble decided to make for the dam.
Now, I've fished a little in my past life, but never have I waded a river. Holy shnikes is that tough work (or maybe I am just not doing it right)! Took us a while (and a couple spills - two soaked waders) to get up to the dam. Along the way we met up with shmogley who was coming down stream. After a quick discussion and a few more casts we made it the rest of the way to the dam. I had switched to a soft bait minnow on a small jig head along the way and decided to switch back to the spinner. First cast in to the pool below the dam I thought I was snagging a few weeds, I gave the rod a jerk just to break it free and I felt it fight back; game on! Sadly though it was a quick fight, a little brown had taken my spinner about ten feet in front of me; he was hooked, and not in a nice way, right up through the top of his mouth and just under his eye. With Hamilton's quick work he got the hook out (thankfully I had bent the barbs back). We took a quick couple pics and got him back in the water. The poor guy was so tired he just hid amongst a couple rocks for a few minutes a couple feet to my left. To my relief as shmogley came over to check it the fish scooted off back to the deeper water; recovered enough to fight another day.
With the great start to the pool behind us we spread out a little and continued casting for pike, trout and whatever else may be in that pool. This is where the mid morning blues started setting in; first I lost my spinner out in the middle of the river and shmogley lost a rapala in the same area. Shortly after that both shmogley and I lost fish on hard baits right in front of us! We continued casting for a few hours- I lost another hard bait- before deciding to head up and over the dam to the other side of the pool where a fellow fisher was having a lot of luck.
Using the same hard bait (a Rapala original floating minnow F11) I kept casting on the other side of the pool. About a half hour later I had a strike, a big strike. I set the hook with a quick jerk (as "quick a jerk can get on a 12' noodle rod with 6lb line). With a flash and splash a pike broke the surface about 20 feet in front of me. Shmogley noticed and came to give me a hand. The pike took a couple short runs and I managed to get it about 6 feet in front of me but with one last flurry he made a short run down stream where he resigned himself to wait. With all the commotion Kit and Hamilton came down as shmogley was trying to net the guy; his trout net was far to small! I called for Hamilton to bring his bigger net over. Unfortunately at this point I was to far to get a good sight of the pike (he had gone to the other side of some rocks about 20 feet away down stream) and as Hamilton tried to net him we noticed the lure was sideways in his mouth. I let up on the line and with a quick shake it flung the lure out of it's mouth and dashed away from Hamilton's net. Damn! Hamilton figured it was about 8lbs and 30"+. A decent one for sure!
I spent the rest of the afternoon casting away, hoping to find that bugger's brothers and sister (which it most likely ate to get that big). Shmogley managed to land a good pike as well. We called it a couple hours later and trudged up the dam to head back (but not before casting a few spoons in to the lake side of course).
All in all I had a great time with those guys and would love to do it again. It's a great spot (though it got a bit busy as the afternoon wore on). I'll let the other guys fill in any other details.
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