Archive for May, 2012

[Gallery not found]Pat Pagano and friends Mike Atkins & Butch Hardaker pre-fished the lower Detroit River, ON in anticipation of us shooting a TV show this coming Saturday.  He fished an 18-25′ channel and bounced worm harnesses along the bottom with the help of a 1 1/2 oz. bottom walking sinker.  As you can see they had excellent success just fishing about 2 hrs.  We are looking forward to shooting a walleye & white bass TV show in addition to covering the annual ICHA Handicapable Fishing Derby on Sunday.  We would love to see you at the event!

Aldo Nava reports. Fishing on Lake Ontario has been excellent so far this spring with the early warm weather the fish have been actively feeding so If you would like to have a chance at this great fishery don’t hesitate to contact me also I have been testing some Rapala product like the all-new Sufix 832 Lead-core line which runs 30% deeper and is 70% stronger than traditional lead-core.  With 250’ of 30 lb. backing you can easily get a full, double-core (20-colors), on the new Rapala RSC11, size 45 trolling reel, and at least 30-colors on the new Rapala RSC11 in size 55.  Sounds crazy, but as you can see by the 22 lb. Spring Chinook, it worked well with the Blue Fox Matrix Spoon.

 

The new Rapala 2012 items will be available in September 2012 in most tackle stores.

 

If you would like to take advantage of the great weather and good fishing, contact me to book a charter at, www.niagarafishingadventures.com .

Our good friend Pat Pagano who runs the ICHA Handicapable Fishing Derby in Windsor, ON just contacted us to let us know the Detroit River is full of white bass.  There are so many bass in the river that it’s making walleye fishing tough.  He plans to scout the walleye fishing in the western-basin of Lake Erie for this weekend’s planned TV shoot down in Windsor, ON.  If you would like to be part of the ICHA Handicapable Fishing Derby, come on down to Windsor, ON at the Ambassador  Bridge this Sunday and join us!!

Noel Gyger reports. This is a great time of year.  Set you GOAL high by targeting Steelhead and Chinook on the same day.  Trout fishing is excellent.

Skeena River: Water is a quite dirty and really not fishable. Apparently the Bulkley River and other tribs are coloured up. The spring run Steelhead are in the river now. Plus Trout and Dolly Varden Char. Early Chinook (King) Salmon are coming in now. Catching Steelhead and Chinook on the same day is possible. Just need some clean water to get at them.

Kalum River: The lower and upper sections are in good shape. The water is coming up slowly. These are the conditions we like. A good run of Steelhead are in the river now. Many of them have spawned and are now kelts heading back to the ocean. These fish should be handled with extra care. Chinook fishing is excellent. We should be able to catch both Steelhead and Chinook in the same day. Wow is this fun or what!

Regarding Chinook, here are some very important regulations:

Upstream of signs below lower canyon:

- Jan 01 – May 24 limits 4 per day, none over 65cm. In other words “catch and release” the big ones.

- May 25 – Dec 31 No fishing for Chinook.

Lakelse River: The water is in good shape and fishing for Steelhead, and Trout is fair.  Chinook will be coming in soon.

Zymoetz (Copper) River: Water is too dirty to fish. Facts: Last year we had a record run of Steelhead, lets hope at least we have another good run this year. The fly rods work extremely well in this river.

Kitimat River: Steelhead are coming in now. Fishing has been excellent.  More and more anglers are hitting the river.  Trout fishing is excellent!  The odd early Chinook have come in also.

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

Wayne Sheridan reports: Warm summer weather has settled over southern Ontario in the past 10 days, changing water conditions. The salmon and trout in the Great Lakes have dropped deeper into the water to find optimal cooler temperatures. River trout will now feed more very early in the morning and near sunset except when there is a big hatch in the river. My friend Dave went up the Algonquin Park fishing this past weekend, but action was slow due to motor problems on his boat. He still was able to land a few nice fish. Lack of significant rainfall this past week also has made many rivers extremely clear, with the fish very spooky. This has also caused an early start to the forest fire season, especially in the North West part of Ontario. .

 

River Flow Rates: moderate/low. Visibility clear 9ft.

 

River Levels: Saugeen River (above Durham) dropping at 1.227M, Saugeen River (Walkerton) at 9.425M, Saugeen at Port Elgin down at 7.597M, Sauble River (Sauble Falls) dropping at 0.814M, Sydenham River (Owen Sound) down at 4.939M, Maitland River (above Wingham) up at 9.889M, French River at Woseley Bay at 186.446M, Bronte Creek near Zimmerman down 5.823M, Credit River at Streetsville down at 4.476M, Credit River at Orangeville down at 11.213M, Grand River (Doon), down at 4.059M (below Shand dam) up at 1.614M, Rideau River at Ottawa down at 2.725M, Ottawa River at Britannia up at 58.115M

 

Prime Fishing Times: Saturday May 26th, 2012: 4:21 pm to 7:17 pm (moon overhead) and 3:53 am to 6:59 am (moon underneath). Moon rise 10:58 am, moon set midnight

 

Flyfishing: BWO, Hendrickson, Grey Fox, Sulfur Dun, Caddis, red blood worm, crayfish and minnow.

 

Great Lakes Fishing: Trout and salmon are presently in the 60-90 depth. Best bet is Lyman lures, monkey puke and herring colours. Use smaller lures that will imitate the smaller baitfish. Use Lucky Strike lures.

 

Always Fish Safely

 

Wayne Sheridan

 

Don’t forget to check the lunar times and check out our new articles on Flying Squirrels, Cod Stocks, White Nose Syndrome in Bats, and the Asian Carp Debate at www.canadianangling.com .

On our last day at Air Ivanhoe, Foleyet, ON we decided to drive into a walleye back-lake to shoot more exciting TV footage with our guide Joel Theriault.  We arrived on the lake just after noon and again were met with 40-50 mph wind gusts which made for challenging fishing/filming conditions.  Joel did an excellent job of manuvering our boat and keeping us on structure breaks of 18-25′ where we caught numerous eating-size walleye and 1-jumbo perch.

We again fished the Rapala Walleye Team rods matched with Rapala light-action spinning reels loaded with Sufix 832, 10lb. test braided line with Sufix fluorocarbon leaders.  Our presentation was using 1/8-3/8 oz. VMC jigheads with VMC stinger hooks and small live minnows fished on the bottom. The Humminbird 160 portable sonar helped us find the structure breaks and stay on the fish.

If you are looking for a wilderness fishing adventures only a 7 1/2 hr. drive north of Toronto where you can enjoy unspoiled wilderness fishing for walleye, pike, smallmouth bass, lake trout and brook trout, make sure to check-out, www.airivanhoe.com .

High winds kept us from flying to a remote Pike and Smallmouth Bass lake, so we decided to load the boats, motors and gear and head to one of Air Ivanhoe’s many drive-to wilderness lakes for the same species of fish.

The drive took about :45 min., and as soon as we hit the water we started catching one pike after another. The hot lures were the Rapala Jusky Jerk in sizes #12 & #14, the Rapala Clackin Minnow in #12, the Rapala Max Rap in #13, and pink jigheads with 3” twister-tail grubs tipped with a piece of worm.

Barb & I used the Rapala Shift Series Rod & Reels loaded with Sufix 832, 10 lb. test braid and Sufix fluorocarbon leaders. We had the best pike fishing concentrating on casting to shorelines that had steep-dropping breaks. Barb caught a couple of really nice-size smallmouth bass. The biggest was 19” in length.

 If you are looking for an excellent wilderness fishing adventure, make sure to check out, www.airivanhoe.com .

Now that Mulligan is a seasoned “float-plane” dog, we flew to Nemegosenda Lodge and caught a nice Lake Trout and lot’s of walleye fishing the river that flows out of the lake.  We met several guests that caught all the walleye they wanted fishing the river, and also the rapids right next to the lodge.

Joel Theriault started things off by hooking a trophy Lake Trout using a 1/8 oz. jighead/live minnow presentation fishing in 35′ of water rigth in front of the lodge.  Next we headed to the river and fished the deeper pools down to 45′ and caugth nice eating-size walleye between 17-18″.

Barb & I again used the Rapala Walleye Team light-action spinning rods equipped with Rapala spinning reels and loaded with Sufix 83, 10 lb. Test braid line. We used VMC jigheads and stingers with our live minnows to catch our fish.

 We spoke to many satisfied guests who caught all the walleye they wanted fishing the river and in front of the rapids right next to the lodge. A couple of anglers also fished further up-stream and caugth nice 1 lb. wild Brook Trout.

We are really enjoying fishing with our pup, Mulligan every day.  We think she enjoys the float plane flights and fishing every day as much as we do!!  Her favorite time is shorelunch….she loves fresh walleye!!

 If you are looking for an excellent wilderness fishing adventure, make sure to check out, www.airivanhoe.com .

Today we had great flying conditions and departed around 9am from the main Air Ivanhoe, Foleyet, ON to one of their many walleye lakes to experience wilderness walleye fishing at it’s best.  This was our pup Mulligan’s first float plane ride and she loved it!!  Upon arrival to the lake we found a very comfortable outpost cabin, and boats.  We immediately loaded out fishing gear and equipment in our boats and were off.  Joel Theriault, our pilot and guide again packed the Minn Kota electric motor and portable Humminbird 130.  As soon as we arrived at our first fishing spot I hooked up on a 23″ walleye on my second cast using a Triggerx 3″ Paddle Tail minnow rigged on a 1/4 oz. VMC jig. 

For the next 3-hours we experienced non-stop walleye action with most of our walleye averaging 17-24″ in size.  We fished the Rapala Walleye Team rods equipped with R-Type & Rapala spinning reels, Sufix 832, 10 lb. test braid adn Sufix fluorocarbon leaders with a variety of VMC jigs rigged with TriggerX plastic grubs and minnows.

Our two highlights was having a 46-48″ pike grab several 23″ walleye we were fighting, in addition to having it attack our walleye on our stringer.  Joel ended up hooking the trophy pike on a 9″ Storm Wild Eye Living Shad, but as soon as the fish was hooked on 6lb. test, it snapped his line.  Our second highlight was the special fresh shorelunch Joel prepared and the great TV tip he delivered on how he removes “Y” bones from a northern pike.

Make sure to watch this TV show once it airs in our new Canadian Sportfishing TV series primiering this coming fall across Canada.  If you would like to enjoy some of the best wilderness walleye fishing Canada has to offer, make sure to contact, www.airivanhoe.com .