Casting for Cold Chrome on the Mighty Niagara

This Christmas season I finally found a chance to fish the Lower Niagara River. I had been to Niagara Falls many times in the past, as a tourist and while passing through on my way to the US, but I had never given fishing it much thought until I moved back to Ontario a year and a half ago. I must admit I've always viewed the Niagara as a case study of how commercial tourism and greedy mismanagement can fully ruin the appeal of an amazing natural wonder.

This winter has been record-breakingly warm here in Southern Ontario. With no safe ice around I finally jumped on an opportunity to get down to the Lower Niagara River for some of the big trout I had read about year after year on lists of hot-spots in fishing magazines.

After spending a few hours online researching safe shore access points we decided to try a spot we had heard about near the Queenston jet boat docks. When we finally climbed down the steep gorge to the edge of the river it became clear that I had never fished water like this before.

Just feet from the rocky shore, the river bottom dropped straight down into seemingly bottomless darkness. The river churned and rushed in front of us with whirpools forming out of nowhere at the edge of eddies and the seam of the main river current. At the end of a long cast the current pulled our lines downstream but closer to shore the current of the eddies pulled our lures hard upstream. I had never been this close to such powerful water and in my head I repeated the words, "don't fall in."

I had recently spent a few mornings drifting roe and beads in the lower Credit River with minimal success so I was in no mood to float fish on this day. I was jonesing to cast hardware. With a river as huge as the Niagara I could two-hand my 10 foot steelhead rod and fire my lures as hard and far as I could.

I started casting 2/5 oz. Little Cleo spoons. The water was slightly cloudy so I decided to try a #4 Blue Fox Vibrax spinner to try to draw some fish to my bait with the spinning blade's aggressive vibration. After my friend Alfie lost a fish on a silver Kastmaster spoon, I tied my blue and silver Cleo back on.

And good thing I did. A few casts later, while I was watching the gulls kamikaze diving into the river for baitfish, I nearly had my rod pulled out of my hands by a chunky female steelhead. The fish was fresh; bright silver with a light greenish grey back and she fought hard, making my drag scream 3 or 4 times before Adam was able to get her in the net. A powerful fish from a powerful river.

A Niagara River Steelhead

Shortly after that fish, the first flakes from the winter storm that was forecast for the afternoon started falling and we made the climb out of the gorge. Fishing not only gave me a chance to fight a beautiful Lake Ontario rainbow trout but it also gave me a chance to see and feel what the Niagara River is really all about. Hidden behind all the kitchy tourist crap and the lineups to get on the Maid of the Mist is a powerhouse river that should be respected and experienced up close.

Landed a Real Keeper!

Before June 30, 2015 all my spare time was pretty much taken up with fishing. You know how it is. Thinking about fishing, researching fishing, fixing stuff for fishing, buying stuff for fishing, trying to write about fishing and sometimes even actually going fishing.

Oh how things have changed. I guess I still spend all of my free time doing stuff that's related to fishing. I just don't have that much free time anymore. But it's all good. You see, I don't have as much time to spend on fishing these days because I'm busy spending it with our 5 month old son, Nolan. Since the last time I wrote for this blog, we landed a real keeper.

Watching Saturday morning fishing shows with Baby Nolan John

Life ain't all baby and being a dad though. The funny thing is, Nolan has become as much an excuse for me to buy new fishing stuff as he is something to focus on besides fishing. I mean, I really didn't need to buy a fishing kayak, but sooner or later Nolan is going to need something to take out onto the water, right? Hell, my wife even suggested buying a new pop-up ice fishing shelter last season because the baby "will need something to keep him out of the cold."

 

Smallmouth bass fishing in my, I mean Nolan's, new kayak

Also, since everyone wants to meet the new little guy, we've taken some trips that we definitely wouldn't have gone on if it weren't for the baby. It was just an added bonus that our recent trip back to Alberta to introduce Nolan to our friends from Calgary brought us to a province with some safe, early season ice fishing. If the current weather here in Ontario is any indication, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the only ice fishing I get into all season. Thanks Nolan!

There's safe ice in Alberta!

Of course I dream that Nolan will one day love fishing as much as I do. I am fully aware of the life lessons that fishing has taught me and the respect and love for nature that I gained while enjoying my favourite hobby. But I also know that Nolan may just as well find his own pastimes and interests and I can only hope that he finds something that he is as passionate about as I am about fishing. In the meantime, I'll keep justifying my borderline irresponsible purchases with the idea that my boy may want to use my stuff some day (I'm pretty sure he's going to need an ice fishing flasher pretty soon).

Fly-In Fishing Trip Tips...For Noobs Like Me.

I wish I could say I regularly go on remote, fly-in, fishing trips. If I had the financial resources, that would certainly be the truth. The reality is, the cost and logistics of these trips makes them a rare treat in an otherwise local, drive-to, fishing world. But, who better to create a list of things to remember and bring than someone like me who's in no position to take trips like this for granted?

Two years ago a couple of my friends and I embarked on our first, highly anticipated, fly-in fishing trip to a housekeeping-only lodge in Northern Alberta. Seeing as it was our first time on such a trip, we quickly realized there were some essential items that we were glad we brought and a bunch of things that we wished we had thought to pack. In case you're planning your first trip to a remote camp, here's a list off the top of my head of tips and items that you may find helpful. Please add anything that I've forgotten to the comments.

I'd choose a place like this over a tropical destination any day of the week

1. Most obviously, appropriate tackle and, more importantly, equipment suitable to handle the fish you'll be targeting is essential. My friend spent most of his prep budget on new lures so he ended up bringing a couple of not-so-good reels that weren't really suitable for the size of fish we got into. By the third day we had nicknamed his one reel 'old-clickey' and his other one 'old-screechy'.

2. Listen to tackle advice from the lodge proprietors. Seems obvious but even though we all spent around 300-400 dollars on tackle for the trip, most of our best fish were caught on Len Thompson's five of diamonds spoons...which the lodge owners kept telling us would be the only lures we needed for the week.

3. If you drink, BRING LOTS OF BOOZE. You don't want to run out. Liquor, opposed to beer, is a good option if you have weight limits on your flight. Luckily, I'm not a big guy so we could bring lots of beer.

4. Don't rely solely on eating only the fish you catch. After a long day on the water, cleaning fish can be a hassle...especially if you have to travel a considerable distance to a cleaning station to keep bears away from the lodge.

You may have to travel a bit to clean your fish safely

5. Bring a first aid kit. I didn't have one in the boat I was in so I had to wrap my finger in my sock after I got cut up by a big pike. Luckily, one of the lodge owners was a former military field medic so he nipped my infection in the bud when we got back to the lodge before things got ugly.

6. Bring food that's easy to cook. I'm talking cans of beans, chips and hotdogs type stuff. My friend kept saying he can cook like a chef but as tired/drunk as we were at the end of each day, he didn't get much of a chance to prove it on the trip.

7. Brush up on your bear safety and follow the guidelines established by the lodge staff.

If a bear can do this to a doorknob, imagine what it can do to your face

8. Ask if there's anyone staying at the lodge who's fishing single and would like to shares boats with you. We were grouped up with this American guy who had been coming to the lodge for like 20 years and he basically turned into a free guide.

9. Make your group an even number. The lodge people may tell you 3 to a boat is fine but 2 is always better.

10. Bring headlamps/flashlights. The lodge may turn the generator off earlier than you think or you may find yourself out on the water later than you planned.

Our cabin shortly before the generator was turned off for the evening

11. BRING BUG SPRAY.

12. Don't tell your friends and family back home that the lodge probably has a satellite phone. Chances are, you're going on a trip into the middle of nowhere to get off the grid...so get off the grid!

These trips are super expensive and pretty short compared to the amount of time you spend waiting for them so finding ways to make them as enjoyable as possible is a good idea. Anyone else have any other tips for wilderness adventures?

Piecing Together My First Ice Fishing Trip of the Season

Fishing this fall has been tough. I've been on a quest to catch my first Great Lakes steelhead which has been unsuccessful thus far, hence the lack of recent blog posts. Around December, as the weather cooled and the chaos of the holiday season started to ramp up, my mind started drifting (no pun intended) away from trying for a tributary steelhead to ice fishing.

It's hard to catch steelhead when people can just Google fishing spots

Getting ready for a fishing trip is like a puzzle in that it's best when you have all the pieces and you take the time to put them together properly. As Christmas neared I decided it was time to start finding the pieces to the puzzle that was my first ice fishing trip of the season. The first piece, the one that I feel I have the most control over, is gear. I began my preparations by scouring the internet for a new portable shelter as I had left my old pop-up with a friend back in Calgary. After I found a used shelter I could afford, I found myself driving out to different tackle shops more often then usual to stock up on an assortment of new lures and line to ensure I wouldn't run out of anything while out fishing.

Piece number 1

As I became more and more well equipped the next puzzle piece I needed was a suitable day to go. The Christmas season in Southern Ontario was unusually warm which just made the waiting longer and more difficult. At great strain to my marriage I spent hours on various message boards looking for updates on local ice conditions.

Close to the beginning of January the forecasts called for a week-long cold snap and the message boards started to fill with news of thickening ice and questions about parking spots and places to buy minnows. Needless to say, my preparations started to become more frantic as I was finally able to put my finger on a date for my first trip onto the hardwater this winter.

The weekend neared and my anticipation grew. Now the next piece of the puzzle I began to search for is one that is nice to have but not totally necessary: a partner. I started sending messages to all my friends who I thought may be at least slightly interested in joining me and what do you know, I even found someone who was able to make the trip. All the pieces, except one, were coming together nicely.

The night before our planned trip, my friend Jared came over and we went over all of our stuff. We even found a local shop that sold live minnows. The last piece of the puzzle we needed was the weather which, as we all know, is often the hardest piece to find.

As Jared and I sat chatting over beers, I surfed over to The Weather Network's website and was absolutely mortified at what I saw. The forecast called for -13 degrees Celsius which is not a huge deal but below that was written, "wind gusts up to 50km/h making it feel more like -27". Now some hardcore ice fishermen may venture out on days like that but the prospect of walking two thirds of a kilometer out to the middle of Lake Simcoe's Cook's Bay in 50 km/h winds was a little much for us.

Frantically I searched the internet for an alternative with at least a slightly friendlier forecast. I decided to check the Grand River Conservation Authority website on a prayer to see if Belwood Lake would have safe ice and much to my surprise I found that another conservation area, that was actually closer to me, was ready for ice fishing. I checked the forecast for the area and saw that I had finally found the last piece. The weather would be perfect as long as I was willing to wait one extra day. Unfortunately, Jared had to work that day but like I said, not having a fishing partner isn't really a huge deal (with friends like me, who needs enemies, eh?).

The morning of the trip, with everything I needed in place, I woke up early and drove out to the lake. The puzzle was complete and the day went exactly as I'd hoped.

A pike I landed after a sketchy fight on 3lb. test and no leader

I remembered all my gear, the fish were biting and the weather held up. The only wildcard of the day, my dull hand-auger, even managed to get through the ice without too much trouble. I aggressively jigged a minnow-tipped Northland Buckshot spoon to draw fish toward me and then a small minnow on a drop shot rig proved to be the fish catching pattern of the day. The perch action was steady except for the few times a pike cruised by under the ice. I ended up with over a dozen perch and a little pike which, on 3 lb. test line and an inline reel with a 1:1 gear ratio, felt more like a 30 pound trophy. I don't often bring fish home but who can pass up cold water perch? Also, I really can't think of a better way to celebrate a month of puzzle building than a meal of fried, freshly caught perch.

Perch feed