This is not a full report, but just meant as a tip for those of you who arrive at a river only to find that it is "blown".
I was out on Sunday at the Ganaraska River in Port Hope. The water was high,fast and very dirty due to the flooding from recent rain and run-off from the spring snow-melt. Because of these conditions, the fishing was extremely slow. For the 3 hours I was there, I saw one Steelhead and one Sucker caught. That's 2 fish for about 150 people that were fishing!
I did manage to go 1 for 2 myself, getting snapped off once and landing a small fresh hen. I also missed a few hits as well.
The key to my (relative) success was 2 factors.
1)Use LARGE brightly coloured roe bags. I was using huge roe bags (larger than a quarter) of fresh rainbow trout roe, tied in hot-pink mesh.
2) Find the sloooowwwwerrrrr drifts. In the high fast water of "blown" tributaries , holding steelhead will generally be found in areas of the river where the current is slower. If not, they are usually just passing through as they head up river, not stopping and will usually not bite.
In blown conditions, look for spots like these:
Here is the small fresh female Steelhead I caught. (Gulp package included in the picture for size perspective)
I hope that little tip helps.
I was out on Sunday at the Ganaraska River in Port Hope. The water was high,fast and very dirty due to the flooding from recent rain and run-off from the spring snow-melt. Because of these conditions, the fishing was extremely slow. For the 3 hours I was there, I saw one Steelhead and one Sucker caught. That's 2 fish for about 150 people that were fishing!
I did manage to go 1 for 2 myself, getting snapped off once and landing a small fresh hen. I also missed a few hits as well.
The key to my (relative) success was 2 factors.
1)Use LARGE brightly coloured roe bags. I was using huge roe bags (larger than a quarter) of fresh rainbow trout roe, tied in hot-pink mesh.
2) Find the sloooowwwwerrrrr drifts. In the high fast water of "blown" tributaries , holding steelhead will generally be found in areas of the river where the current is slower. If not, they are usually just passing through as they head up river, not stopping and will usually not bite.
In blown conditions, look for spots like these:
Here is the small fresh female Steelhead I caught. (Gulp package included in the picture for size perspective)
I hope that little tip helps.
