Lower River Report March 31

Water quality remains good even with the rain the last few days, visibility was beyond three feet. Fishing was slow today, my client and I managed 5/6 rainbows in the 5 1/2 hours we fished. Conditions weren't great with temps slightly above freezing and very breezy out of the west, reminded me of a Dec day. Small pink bags and pink power worms getting the bites. There seems to be alot of dead smelt floating around, alot more than I have noticed in the past. I would imagine the trout are well fed.

New Lowrance HDS units

I worked the Toronto Sportsman show for the last five days in the Lowrance booth. I had alot of time to play with the new High Definition units that came out this spring. All I can say is WOW. The picture, clarity is phenomanal. The new Solar Max screen makes viewing the screen from any angle crystal clear. The new units come with a two year warranty that should make consumers feel alot more secure about dolling out the big dollars for some of the bigger units. This year all the HDS units come with a built in broadband sounder. I had alot of people ask questions about the broad band, seems it wasnt out long enough for people to fully understand what it really did. It was designed for saltwater deep sea fishing where anglers where searching for fish on structure hundreds of feet deep. It does have alot to offer us shallow fresh water anglers as well.
I had added a broad band to my unit last year and loved it. Makes finding smallmouth on Erie alot easier on bottom among rocks. They call this ability target seperation. For trollers, it will show individual hooks more clearly from pods of bait. It also keeps its bottom lock better when traveling at higher speeds. I can be cruising at 40 and still be able to detect bottom hardness that may hold fish.
Another great feature the new HDS units have is the ability to read the new Navionics Platinum Plus chips. When installed in an HDS unit, not only does it show contour lines, it also shows what looks like satellite images of bottom contours. Alot like looking at google earth but much more pronounced. For example, a well known point in lake Erie shows multiple rock piles and humps strewn around its outer edges. The only way anglers would have found any of these humps would have been to drift or drive over them and mark them on their gps. Now, you can see each of the humps and how far out they actually are. Many people where very impressed and I can see how it will make a difference when looking for isolated pieces of structure that may have never been fished.
I am looking forward to trying out one of these units on my boat this spring. If you ever get a chance to spend a day on the water with me, I can point out all of these amazing new features on the new HDS units.

March Steelhead

Fished the Niagara River for the last three days, pretty tough considering the nice weather. Water is stuck in a silty 1-2 foot visibility. Seem the Canadian powerdams keep pumping out muddy water, must be reminance from the rain and melt we had last week. We fished for three hours on Friday and landed three and lost one, kwikfish seemed to be the ticket in the stained water. Sat was no better, my brother and I started at noon and fished til 4:30, I think we only landed three fish. Today I had a charter and we landed 7, it was a long day. Got a couple of really nice fish in the 8-9 lb range. Roe bags in pink and yarn flies seemed to work ok, even got one on a plastic minnow. Didnt get a chance to really fish the kwikfish due to the northeast wind. Boy, there were alot of boats on the water today, most of the drifts were packed. Those steelhead must have bumps on their heads with all the lead coming down at them.
I wont be on the water for at least a week, I will be at the Toronto Sportsmans show all next week, stop in at the Lowrance booth and check out the new HDS Lowrance units...way too cool!

my first blog

Hi, my name is Frank DiMarcantonio and I would like to welcome you to the Niagara Sportfishing blog. I hope to share with readers stories, tips and techniques to help make your trip to the Niagara Region fun and safe. I have been fishing these waters since I was a young boy and have always been amazed at the quantity and quality that Niagara's lakes and rivers produce. I have been guiding since 1995 and have ejoyed ever minute of it, tons of great memories, great catches and friendships have been made along the way. I have always prided myself on my results and the reputation that I have upheld since I started guiding. I believe a good guide should not only be able to put his clients on fish, but also leave them with the memories of a fun filled day on the water.


A good guide should also supply his guests with the best tackle he can afford. I have been lucky to have created good relationships with people in the fishing industry such as Adrian Flemming, owner of Grimsby Tackle, probably one of the most respected men in the tackle business. Adrian has been at it for over 20 years. If you are ever in the Grimsby area, make sure you stop in and check out his Tackle shop on Highway 8 in Grimsby, its worth the drive. The guys there know their stuff and are the friendliest people you will ever meet. Through him, I have been able to supply my guests with what I think is the best tackle available today. G Loomis rods and Shimano reels make any day on the water alot more fun! If you have never experienced what a quality rod and reel feel like, then spending a day on the water with me will indeed open your eyes to what I am talking about.


I also try to stay on top of tends and tactics that make fishing more fun and productable. From dropshotting to shaky heads to new Japanese baits that will blow your mind! I am not afraid to try new things. Since guiding is a hobby for me, which probably is the reason I still love it to this day, I put all my effort, and most of my money, into new products and tackle. I am also one of the few guides to run a Ranger 620VS multi species boat. All I can say is get in one and you will understand why Ranger is the best built boat in the world.


I hope you visit my blog often and learn a few things from my experiences. Hopefully we may even share a day on the water. To learn more about my guide service, please check out http://www.niagarasportfishing.ca/ for more info and pictures. Take care and fish everyday like its your last.