Archive for September, 2010

After I returned home on Monday night from pre-fishing the Lower Bay of Quinte, Grant McAllister of www.g2angling.com , remained to fish with our good friends Pat Pagano, Frank DeAngelis, and Mike Atkins who had travelled all the way from the Windsor, ON area to experience the awesome “crankbait” fishing for trophy walleye.  Unfortunately, a severe weather front shut the fish down, but Grant and the boys still hung in there and managed to catch a trophy walleye which Pat landed and was his largest walleye to date, a trophy 13+ lb. fish.  Grant also caught a nice pike cranking weedlines.  Once the weather stabilizes, look for the fish to be on-again.

If you would like to catch trophy walleye, make sure to book a guided fishing trip with either Grant McAllister or Gary Hodge thorugh, www.g2angling.com .

Gabor Horvat reports.  My friend Patryk and I went to the Nith River, ON on Saturday to do some top-water bass fishing.  The water was very clear and shallow, it was windy, but we still managed to land some nice bass.  Sunday was nicer so I my Dad and I loaded up the boat and headed to a nearby reservoir.  Conditions were calm with little wind. We used tube jigs and retrieved them slowly along the rocky bottom.  We landed some nice fish , but as usual lost the big ones.

DICKIES Sportfishing Sweepstakes Youth Qualifiers, Michael Loosemore(left) and Eric Loosemore, along with their father Glenn, dropped by the Canadian Sportfishing Offices in Burlington to pick up a few supplies and fishing tips from some of the experts.  The Loosemore Brothers were excited about their visit and promised to catch more fish this year than they did in 2009.  They wanted to remind everyone that you can enter as many as 10 different fish per year, per person in the DICKIES Sportfishing Sweepstakes http://www.canadian-sportfishing.com/Sweepstakes.aspx The 2010 sweepstakes runs until Dec. 31st, 2010

Good luck Michael and Eric!

Noel Gyger reports.  Weather has been excellent until the rain hit on Thursday. We had a down pour that coloured most of the rivers. Fishing for Steelhead, Coho, Cutthroat Trout, Bull Trout and Dolly Varden Char using fly, spin and conventional gear was excellent until Friday. The Skeena River is very dirty below the Zymoetz (Copper) River. Above the Copper the Skeena is not in bad shape. The Kalum River survived the heavy rain and is not in bad shape. Steelhead and Coho are coming in now big time. I have reports of some outstanding catches. The Kitimat River, during the early part of the week, was exceptionally low and clear with lots of Coho jumping. The most productive time to catch Coho was the early mornings although the lower Kitimat River also produced during the incoming tides. Many anglers reported seeing lots of Coho swimming pastthem in the low, clean water but the difficulty was getting them to bite especially in the afternoons. Anglers who were hoping for a little rain were granted their wish on Thursday. One has to be careful what you wish for and the Kitimat River level rose and as of Friday was high and dirty. The Douglas Channel bottom fishing will continue to be good but the weather will be the determining factor for boaters. Check out the RonWakita report below. Prince Rupert; good Coho catches out of Rupert and Halibut fishing good off river mouths and channels. Some very big Ling Cod off the more remote kelp-beds and rock walls. Kispiox River; locals have never seen the river at a lower level than it is right now. We desperately need some rain. By the weekend we got it! There are lots of fish in the river but fishing has been very tough. Most guides are fishing the Skeena right now because the Kispiox is just too low. Bulkley River; the bones of the river are starting to show. Water is so clear and low that fishing in the last couple days mid week has really slowed down. Jet boating is starting to get a little risky. Fishing had been awesome for a couple weeks, but seems to be slowing down a little in the last couple days. Still lots of fish, both Coho and Steelhead, to be taken. The Morice River is holding a lot of Steelhead and Coho. Fishing has done pretty well for most. River is so low! Most are fishing with dry lines and small flies. The Zymoetz (Copper) River is very dirty on the weekend. Summer-run Steelhead were moving in and outstanding catches mid week were being reported, many with dry flies. This week guide reports came from Ron Wakita, Ariel Kuppers, Tracey Hittel, Wes Owen, Dave Payjack and Gill McKean.

If you would like to gook a guided fishing trip with Noel, you can contact him at, www.noelgyger.ca .

I had traveled down to Belleville, ON Sunday night to pre-fish yesterday in preparation to shoot a couple of TV shows today and tomorrow.  As things turned out, a major cold-front moved in along with rain.  Today’s forecast of 10mm+ of rain resulted in my canceling our two days of shooting (tough to film in the rain).

For the pre-fish I was joined by Mark Armitage, Steve McDonald and Kam Anderson.  We fished in pretty strong winds and light rain for most of the afternoon and managed to land a variety of fish that included pike, largemouth bass and walleye.

Grant McAllister of www.g2angling.com , was helping to prefish in one of the G2 boats and managed to loose a couple of trophy walleye.  All of the fish were caugth on the Rapala Tail Dancer #9 or #11.  If this weather front moves through and we get some consistent weather the fishing should get hot again.

Upcoming on TSN,  join Italo and his guests, Aldo Nava from www.niagarafishingadventures.com, and Kim Rhodes from www.luckystrikebaitworks.com , as they show you how to locate and catch trophy Salmon and Trout using Cannon downriggers, Luhr Jensen diving devices and Lucky Strike lures. To view a portion of this upcoming episode please follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/ItaloLabignan#p/search/1/PV_4UmleqlE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Dad and I were fortunate enough to get out on the Grand River again on Saturday evening above the Caledonia Dam.  We fished using weighted jig heads tipped with live minnows with no luck as well as trolling live minnows upriver.  We travelled around to the mouths of Little Creek and Big Creek.  Using my Humminbird 141C fishfinder, we determined that there just didn’t appear to be any fish in great numbers.  Perhaps it was related to the cold front blowing in.  The Humminbird worked beautifully once again with great detail.

I then begain casting and retrieving a Rapala Jointed Shad Rap in the perch colour.  I had one strike at the top of the water by my boat, however was unable to make a hook set.  My Dad Tim Patterson was casting a Rapala Shad Rap in the perch colour when he landed the nice pike in the photos.  These lures work great with true life like swimming action and movement.

 

Late yesterday I decided to fish the Grand River with my friend Ben Patterson. We saw only one other boat fishing in the area we decided to try above the dam in Caledonia. The fishing was slow, due in part I suspect as a result of the still unseasonably warm water. We trolled and still fished for a couple of hours using both live bait ( minnows ) as well as with a variety of  Rapala lures as well as a Terminator Spinner Bait. We did manage after dark to hook into a decent sized fish ( during the fish fight I had visions of the fish being a nice size Walleye or possibly a Smallmouth Bass ) it wasn’t until my fishing partner landed the fish that we realized the fish was a sheepshead. It sure did put up a good fight. The fish was quickly released after we took a photo. Releasing fish is very easy when using a quality landing net such as the one I have from Lucky Strike. These  nets are virtually snag proof and they greatly reduce the stress on  fish tha you plan on releasing.
Regretfully Haldimand County has removed the boat dock at LaFortune Park due to the dock’s poor condition and when contacted recently they have no plans to replace the dock in the near future which is very regretable indeed from the perspective of the many boaters who access the river from this boat launch! If you would like to add your concerns about this situation I suggest you direct them as follows:

Philip Mete, P. Eng., Manager, Facilities & Parks Operations
Facilities & Parks Operations Division,
Haldimand County,

pmete@HaldimandCounty.on.ca

Wayne Sheridan reports: cooling river temperatures have made the trout much more active the past couple of weeks. Trout reduce their food intake in August due to the warm water, but dramatically increase it in September. Best time is still early in the morning and at sunset. Also focus on the lunar tables for more opportunities. We had a lot of fun trying to catch some big brown trout and rainbows, but they were smarter than we were, for now… Salmon runs are behind their normal schedule by about 2-3 weeks. Brown trout and brook trout have started their long trips back to their spawning grounds. The larger fish are holding in deep pools looking for baitfish to feed on. Use minnow presentations.

River Flow Rates: moderate. Visibility 7ft

Saugeen River (Durham)  dropping at 1.29M, Saugeen River (Walkerton) dropping at 9.2M, Sauble River (Sauble Falls) dropping at .893M, Sydenham River (Owen Sound) at 4.943M, Maitland River (above Wingham) down at 9.959M, French River at Woseley Bay at 186.182M, Bronte Creek near Zimmerman dropping at 5.709M, Credit River at Streetsville steady at 4.44M, Credit River at Orangeville down at 10.5M, Grand River (Doon), down at 4.088M (below Shand dam) at 1.681M, Rideau River at Ottawa at 2.913M, Ottawa River at Britannia steady at 57.767M

Prime Fishing Times: Saturday September 25, 2010: 2:45am to 3:45am (moon overhead), 1:10pm to 4:10pm (moon underneath).

Flyfishing: Hex, iso, caddis, white duns, grasshopper, bloodworms, and minnows

Down rigging for Salmon: Surface lake temperatures are the highest recorded since 1991. Look for areas behind points and islands for cooler pockets of water. Great Lakes: Lake Superior 70 ft down, Lake Michigan 100 ft down, Lake Huron 90 ft down, Lake Ontario 75 to 90 ft down. Best bet Lyman Lures, white, blue and pink.

Always Fish Safely