Winter trout action

Fall trout started off slow in early November because of warm water temps, steelhead runs pushed past most of the slow Canadian drifts and headed up to the fast water where shore fisherman were reporting great catches. Thank god the brown trout showed up in great numbers to keep us busy until water temps finally cooled enough to get the steelies to hang around.



The browns are like the smallmouth bass of the trout world, their aggressive nature allows for fisherman to use all kinds of presentations to catch them. When the water got dirty from the rain and wind, kwik fish really did a number on them as did dropshotted soft jerk baits. Roe and egg imitations worked well when the water cleared.



Now that water temps have reached the low forties, the steelhead action is heating up. With weather being as mild as it has been, I suspect we will be having problems with water clarity. Usually warm weather this time of year is accompanied with big winds and heavy rains. Don't put those kwikies away yet.

Recap fall smallmouth

Wow, it's been a while since I posted, the rest of the summer was great as usual, lake Erie did not disappoint. Lots of dropshot action as well as jerk bait action in the fall. My good friend Lonnie king was down from Ottawa, he was working on an article for Ontario Out of Doors on the best trophy smallmouth spots in southern Ontario. We had a great day, Erie layed down flat for us and I put on a drop shot clinic for him.



We caught fish at will, however finding big fish is always a chore with so many rock piles and rocky flats on the Canadian side to scan. Lake held its own with such fisheries as the St Lawrence and Simcoe and we boat several big fish with the biggest topping out at 6 lbs. Lonnie also added a beautiful 8lb walleye on a jigging spoon.





It won't be long until I find my way back onto the lake again to fish the NY trophy season.

Ontario opener

Wow, what an opener its been, I had a feeling with the late spring that the opener was going to be terrific, and it has been. I have never seen so many fish shallow before. Its a great time to get away from the usual dropshotting and tube dragging and start fishing some really fun baits like topwater, spinnerbaits and rattle traps. Tubes and grubs still account for alot of fish. We have been getting fish as shallow as I can possible get the boat, your probably better off fishing from shore. I did start looking for post spawn females and have located a good bunch in that 15-22 feet of water just off spawning sites. I suspect alot of fish will remain shallow this year due to the late spring. This happened a few years ago and there were alot of big fish shallow all season.
I dont know if anyone has noticed this, but the water offshore looks really dark blue. It may be due to the colder water down below. Very strange. Here are some pictures of fish that we have caught in the last few weeks.

More Lake Erie trophy smallmouth

What a great week of fishing, finished it off with Steve, Mike and Bob from West Virginia. I never laughed so hard in my life. Those guys are a blast to fish with. Steve knows every line of every funny movie ever made, he kept us laughing the whole two days.
Steve was up with his dad a few weeks ago because I told him how good April was last year but unfortunately, mother nature had something to say about it and we had the worst spring that I could ever imagine. Steve was looking for redemption and he got it, two glorious days on Erie with very little to no wind. We caught a rediculous number of fish on jerkbaits, tubes, Poor Boys Erie darters and dropshot rigged emerald shiners.
Both Steve and Bob broke 6 lbs, with Steve's fish coming on a jerkbait, very cool. Here are a few pictures to recap their trip. Thanks alot guys for making the trip.

Weather finally coming around on Erie

Had a real great week, weather finally started to co operate and the smallies really came around. There is still dirty water moving around the lake, I think its from all the creek run offs on the south shore. One days its starting to clear, the next its brown and cloudy. The fish dont seem to mind to bad and really hammer the blade baits in the off color water. However, if you can finds some nice clear water, the bite is very good.
I had one of my best days last week with a couple from Oklahoma. They flew up to fish Erie because they had heard so much about it. Well, she didnt disapoint and made them feel right at home. Julie counted every fish they landed, up to 85! They probably lost a good 20 or 30 as well. All came on plastics dragged on the bottom and blade baits. We had a real stiff west wind up to 15 mph. There were small white caps but it didnt seem to bother Julie or John and fishing out of the Ranger was a real pleasure, they absolutely hammered them. I was really impressed with Julie, she didnt complain about the wind or waves or cold all day...I guess when you are too busy catching fish you dont rally notice the nastiness!
They did well the next day too, however they seemed a bit disapointed they only caught 55 or so. The bar was raised too high, we didnt get the wind the next day and they had to work for bites with dropshot rigs.
Here are some pics from the last weeks trips with some great clients, some real slobs in there.

Lake Erie smallmouth

Weather was tolerable for the last few days and finally got some charters done. Wate was about two feet on Monday and the tube bite was there but we mostly got smaller fish. I couldnt fish the water I normally fish because it was too dirty. I fished with Ian and Chris and we gave it til noon or so and went back and it was abit cleaner, at least it was green instead of brown. We managed some nice fish to 5lbs. What was really cool was the jerkbait bite that we got going in shallow water. We hit a few tanks up as shallow as 6 feet. Pretty cool.



Today I fished with Wayne from LeBarons in Mississauga, What a miserable day, cold, wet and windy....I am sick of this crap. I cant wait til summer. We had a good jerkbait bite early and then got on them pretty good with blade baits and tubes. We even got a bonus catfish that went 14lbs on a blade bait!

Spring smallmouth

Wow, I cant remember a spring this bad as far as weather and wind goes. When I finally did have a chance to get out, I had to run past Sturgeon point to find relatively clear water. We got some fish, but nothing really big. The water off Hamburg is just starting to clear, it should be ripe in a day or so. I imagine it will be polluted with fish. Usually, big winds always bring in alot of fish. I hope these winds finally die down, I am jonesing for some big spring smallies. I will post when I have some decent fish to show off.

Falcon Lake trip mid march

I love largemouth fishing, thats what I do mostly on my days off during the summer months. I have made several trips to the states, Florida and Texas. I fished the famous stick marsh way back in the early nineties and fished Lake Fork two years ago. Both trips were fun with many fish, but nothing big, realatively speaking. Big for down there is 8 plus.
This year I decided to try Falcon Lake in south Texas on the Mexican border. Its a reservoir on the Rio Grande river. It was made famous in 2008 when Paul Elias, a BASS elite angler, broke the all time 4 day weight record at over 132 lbs. Thats a 7 lb average. I decided to do after reading about the lake record being broken by Texas guide Tommy Law, his fish weighed 15.6 lbs. I called him and my brother and I booked a three day trip for mid March.
There are no direct flights into Laredo Texas, the closest city with an airport to Zapata TX, which is the only city on Lake Falcon. We had to board three different planes then rent a car and drive an hour to Falcon. It was all worth it. My first fish went 6 lbs and I followed that with a 10.11 lb giant in the first half hour of our trip.



The winds kicked up and it blew for the next three days. I am quite familiar with wind fishing on Erie, but largemouth fishing is way more spot oriented and it was very difficult fishing the main lake spots that Tommy wanted to target. We ended up fishing in coves trying to get out of the heavy winds. We caught alot of fish, 20-30fish a day with many pushing 8 lbs. One day we got on an amazing crankbait bite hooking about a ten fish to 8 lbs.



On our last day, Tommy took us into the Rio Grande river, we fished some of the protected coves trying to hide from the forecast 20-30 mph winds. The fishing was slow, he took us to many of his best spots with only 2-4 lb fish caught. The coves were starting to develop an algae bloom and soon the lines on our reels were turning green. He had me crank this one spot that he had done well on a few days earlier. I lost three crankbaits in a row on it. I felt like a moron, but I swear I know how to fish crankbaits, the lures would snag instantly before I even touch bottom. I asked him if there was a tree on the spot and he said no, only rocks. He laughed at me and threw one up there himself only to have it snagged. We left the spot only hooking one fish about 3 lbs. We came back later, I tried to redeem myself and lost another crankbait. My brother also snagged his texas rigged fluke. I asked Tommy to go up on the spot to get our baits back and sure enough, the Mexican fisherman had strung a gill neck right across the mouth of the small cove. I only got one crankbait back and we high tailed it out of there before someone saw us messing with the net. I dont know if any of you know about Falcon lake, but there has been some negative news surrounding it for the last few years. That part of Mexico is pretty much run by drug lords and they have been known to pirate the odd bass fisherman as well as murder a jet skier last year. Things have been quiet there after President Obama sent 1200 national guard troops to help patrol the border. However, once you enter into Mexican waters, you are on your own. Tommy has been fishing it since 71 and has never had any problems. We didnt the whole time we were there.
The last day was pretty slow so he kept us out a bit longer, trying to get my brother a big bite. I asked if he had a hail Mary spot, he said he did and took us there. My brother hooked a big fish on a t-rigged Zoom Speed worm but it jumped a good foot or so out of the water and spit the hook. We probably caught 9 fish out of that spot up to 6 lbs.

Before we went in, we stoped at a shallow ridge with small gravel and trees on it. He said it was a trememdous spawning spot. I hooked a 4 lber right away and my brother lost another. I then hooked a really big fish which boiled the surface and shook off. Tommy said it was huge...I wasnt so sure. I threw right back in there and hooked another fish with tremendous strength. Thank god I have musky fishing background because I knew I had to be careful with this one. I free spooled when she wanted to run, my drag was clamped all the way shut and she would have either broken my 25 lb fluoro or straightened my 6/0 superline Gammy. After a lengthy battle of back and forth, Tommy lipped my new personal best, an huge 11.8 lber!


What a way to end a trip. I cant wait to go back, he says April and May are his favourite times because most fish are post spawn and on main lake structure. Cranking and carolina rigging usually end up with big numbers and big average sizes. I plan on going back bi annually. This place is heaven on earth for largemouth fisherman. Its definately on its way up to peak, Tommy says once the reservoir receeds 12 or 15 feet, the fishing is going to be out of this world. I think it is already there.
If you plan on going, give Tommy a call, his guides service is called OutLaw Guide service on Falcon Lake, 325-439-6045. Bring extra heavy gear, these fish are nothing like our northern fish, they are big and mean.

Spring Steelheading

Its been awhile since I posted. Things have been pretty steady this winter, many double digit days and the weather was way more co operative than last season. Fishing has been good, but not as good as in the past especially for steelhead. They have been abit scarce. There are however a ton of browns in the river. The bite on roe has seemed to switch over to more of a minnow or streamer bite. Yarn is still catching fish as well. This season seems to be different from the past. I have been guiding for 16 years now and cant remember a season like this with more browns in the river than steelhead. I'm not complaining, its nice to see all those browns around. I guess like everything else, things change. Most days we are getting close to 12 or more bites. The picture below was a double header of fish around 10 lbs. Earl is holding a beauty, it was his first time on the Niagara and he was quite impressed with the fishery. Last picture is of Natalie, myself and her 11 lb brown. Her and her boyfriend did well on the river hooking over a dozen fish.