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.

Accomplishing a Long Standing Fishing Goal

For me, one of the most appealing aspects of fishing is the fact that there is really no end to what you can learn, attempt or achieve. There is always a new technique to try or spot to fish. There are species of fish you've never caught or size class accomplishments to pursue.

My list of fishing goals is substantial and every time I think about it, something new seems to be added to it.

I haven't really had a chance to catch my first musky, arctic char or inconnu; fish species at the top of my North American freshwater bucket list. Just recently I boated my first lake trout. Even though it was just pan-sized by laker standards, finally striking the species off my list felt pretty good.

My fishing bucket list also has many size targets for fish I'm familiar with catching. I would love an opportunity to land a northern pike over 20 pounds or a walleye over 10. Hell, how awesome would it be to haul a 2 pound perch out of the water?

Sometimes, my fishing goals are very personal and related directly to things that only I seem to have trouble doing or are specific goals for specific places. 

My very first Bow River brown trout. Reached two goals that day!

One such goal was catching a walleye, of any size, on the lake where my wife's family cottage is located. This lake is supposed to have a decent walleye population but I have never been able to catch one.

And believe me, it's not because I didn't try. Over the past 7 years I had tried everything from bottom bouncing spinner and crawler rigs, trolling crank baits, casting swim baits, slow death rolled worms to jigging weed edges and even drop shotting minnow imitators and swimming buck tail jigs in likely looking spots. You name it, I tried it. The only reason I was sure there were actually walleye in the lake was a dead walleye fry I found while swimming one afternoon and a walleye skull a bird had left on a rock near the cottage.

Well guess what. Last week I finally caught not one but two walleye and one was of pretty decent size! 

I wish I could say I was out targeting them but my friend and I were drop shotting plastic minnows around a mid-lake weed hump that often gives up big bass. A big group of fish showed up on my fish finder so I dropped the rig down vertically on a prayer and immediately got bit. I readied myself to land a big bass but I damn near jumped out of the boat when I caught a glimpse of a big walleye before it barrelled straight back toward the bottom. A couple minutes later I was giddily holding my first walleye out of our little cottage lake.

My first cottage lake walleye

My second ever cottage lake walleye. Not a trophy but
more memorable than the big bass we were catching!

We managed to catch a bunch of decent bass that afternoon, but I really can't remember much about any of them, my memory blurred by the excitement of achieving one of my longest standing personal fishing goals.

A nice largemouth...that I almost forgot about

Thanks for all the Fish, Alberta

Six years ago, almost to the month, my wife and I loaded up our little Toyota and moved from Richmond Hill, Ontario to Calgary, Alberta to begin our careers in public education.

We originally only planned to stay out there a couple of years to gain some experience while the teaching job market cooled down back in Ontario.

Well you know how things go. Two years turned to three and three years quickly turned to six. It was during our time in Alberta that my passion for fishing was truly reinvigorated. I had enjoyed fishing since I was a little kid but Alberta helped turn my interest in fishing into a full blown obsession.

Jessica and I during our first summer out west

There's many possible reasons I rediscovered my love for fishing while living in Wild Rose Country. Maybe it was my first big Bow River brown or it could've been smashing my personal bests for pike and walleye in Northern Alberta. Being able to have local Albertans tour me around their favourite mountain streams definitely had something to do with it. Regardless of the reason, Alberta had a lot to do with my current love for fishing.

My first fish on fly gear

Can't get these in Ontario! A Highwood River bull trout.

Despite our love for life out West, six years was a long time to be away from our family and friends. So last week, we jammed what was left of our belongings into a U-Haul trailer and began the long journey back to Southern Ontario. Getting ready for the big move didn't leave much time for fishing this past June.

Still, I clearly had to get out for a last hurrah so my friend Adam and I rented a canoe and fished Two Jack Lake in Banff for one last day of fishing in the Canadian Rockies.

The sun was shining and we weren't disappointed with our decision to forego guaranteed fish for a final chance to fish in some of Canada's most beautiful country. If we had gotten skunked it almost would've been okay just to get out there.

I'm definitely going to miss fishing places like this

Adam started off with a chironomid below his strike indicator and I tied on a balanced leech below mine. It took us some time to figure out at what depth we could expect strikes but once we did, it became clear olive leeches were the way to go.

As we rowed around the clear mountain lake, we both got a few whitefish (Adam seems to only catch whitefish). We were having trouble staying at the right depth as the wind was blowing quite strongly across the lake so we decided to try a quieter bay we spotted on the far shore. Once we got there we both landed a couple more whitefish and much to our surprise I caught my first lake trout. Not a big one but I could finally scratch lakers off my fishing bucket list.

Adam and a nice Rocky Mountain whitefish

My first lake trout

As Jessica and I drove east last week I felt a little melancholy to be leaving the beautiful trout streams and my fishing companions behind. But, as we got into Canadian Shield country and passed countless lakes, rivers and fishing lodges, any sadness I felt quickly turned into feeling excited to finally be home.

The Bow River: A Tough River That's Hard Not to Love

Depending on the weather, late fall in Alberta can be a bit of a down season for anglers. Most of the streams close on the last day of October and early snow and cold weather, along with depleted fish populations in the numerous put-and-take ponds, tends to keep us off of the spots we fish in the spring and summer. Also, it may look like winter outside but I am certainly not ready to trust any of the early season ice that has formed on some of the higher-elevation lakes.

Still, hope is not lost. In my experience, cold dreary weather can mean successful days on one of Alberta's most famous fisheries, the legendary Bow River.

The Bow River WITHIN Calgary

The Blue Ribbon rated Bow is a phenomenal trout river with most of the best fishing either directly in, or right below the city of Calgary. The river has self-sustaining populations of rainbow and brown trout with fish into the 10 pound range. There are also some large pike and bull trout lurking in the deeper holes. Best of all, warm water expelled from Calgary's water treatment facilities keep lower stretches of the Bow fishable all year long.

Amazing as it is, the Bow is a hard river to fish. It's a large river so it can be difficult to find fish-holding water and even if you know where the spots are, it can be hard to reach them without a lot of walking or by drift-boat. Adding to the challenge, the fish in the Bow are also quite big and therefore experienced, making them wise and weary of the thousands of artificial baits they see day after day.

My personal relationship with the Bow is a tumultuous one. Relatively speaking, I haven't been fishing the river for long as I only moved to Calgary 6 years ago and I have been skunked many times on the Bow. In fact, I wouldn't even bother fishing this river if it didn't offer me a decent trout once or twice a year. If you caught me in a worse mood I may even tell you that the Bow is a grumpy old bag, who makes you want to hate her and when you're almost ready to give up on her, she gives you a fish to remind you who gets to have the last word.

And these fish are almost always beauties. 

My first Bow River Brown. This one had no spots!

Like I mentioned above, the Bow has offered most of these fish to me on dark, dreary, cold days. When it's dark and grey I typically tie on a dark coloured lure, such as a Mepps Black Fury spinner or a split-shot rigged black Wooly Bugger streamer. Also, even though I still haven't bit the bullet and bought a fly rod, I like to dead drift nymphs under floats with my spinning gear.

A typical Bow River brown

A Bow rainbow that fell for a wooly bugger

A Bow brown I caught when I should've been writing report cards

A big brown I caught when everyone else was watching the Super Bowl

A better picture of the Super Bowl brown

Not all of the fish are huge but they are pretty!

With no other angling options until the lakes freeze solid, it may be time to see if the Bow is ready to reaffirm my love for her by giving up another hog.

Well, not all the fish are pretty. A Bow River burbot.

One Last Day Before Winter Arrived

Winter in Calgary is long. It's not unusual to begin November with a blizzard and then have Old Man Winter stubbornly leave with one last snowstorm in April.

This year seems to be following that pattern.

A couple weeks ago my friends Ivan, Adam and I went fishing for rainbow trout on a small private lake near Calgary.

The fishing was super fun. We managed to get a bunch of fish in the boat including a couple big ones.

Ice breaker rainbow

Another rainbow on a beauty fall day

Ivan and a nice rainbow

We spent the day rowing around the lake in t-shirts or hoodies, soaking in the sun, waiting for the trout to fall for our jigs. It was a perfect fall day for fishing in Southern Alberta. 

Adam and a decent rainbow

Not a bad way to end the season...literally

The next morning we awoke to 10cm of snow.

My dog, Oscar, wondering what the heck happened?!

Thanksgiving Bass Fishing on Fifth Depot Lake, Ontario

It's been a few years since my wife and I were able to make it back to spend Thanksgiving at her family cottage on Fifth Depot Lake in the Land O'Lakes region of Southern Ontario. This year, our schedule and the availability of relatively affordable flights made it possible to make the pilgrimage once again.

Alberta is a beautiful province but it is hard to beat the stunning colours and the near perfect weather Ontario offers in the fall. Obviously, the chance to catch big bass that are fattening themselves up for winter is an added bonus.

It's hard to beat Ontario in the fall

When we arrived at the cottage late Saturday afternoon, the weather was unseasonably warm and the lake was glass calm. After hurriedly unpacking and helping with the opening of the cottage, I couldn't wait to set the boat up so I pulled the paddle boat down to the lake and paddled a few hundred feet down to where Skewgaw Creek enters Fifth Depot Lake.

The sun was setting so I tied on a black Hula Popper topwater lure and started casting toward the creek mouth. Immediately, the water boiled around the lure. I was so stunned I failed to set the hook. Usually, this little inlet will yield one or two bass tops so I was pretty choked that I'd missed the first strike. To my surprise, a fat little largemouth inhaled the popper on my second cast and I was able to swing it into the paddle boat. These two first hits were no fluke. Over the next half hour I landed 4 more largemouth, two of which were around 15 inches (after bringing a scale on a recent trip I realized I'm better at exaggerating weight than I am at estimating).

The weekend's ice breaker bass

A decent largemouth that slammed the Hula Popper

Another topwater largemouth

The next day the wind had picked up so I decided to try drop shotting a X-Zone Slammer around some of the mid-lake weed humps I could find by looking for flat spots in the otherwise choppy water. I also tossed my rig toward rocky points and at a submerged tree that scared the bejeezus out of me when I nearly backed the boat into it while working along the deep edge of a weed bed. This is the pattern I fished for most of the remainder of the weekend. When the drop shot slowed down I did manage to catch a few fish on a wacky rigged pumpkin Senko and I caught a small pike on a jerk bait I tied on mainly because I had bought it specifically for the trip. Faster presentations that often work on Fifth Depot, like crankbaits and inline spinners, were not producing this weekend.

A decent smallmouth caught on an X-Zone Slammer

A largemouth from a mid-lake weed hump

A largemouth that lived in a scary looking sunken tree

Another timber-dwelling largemouth

A largemouth that fell for a wacky rigged Senko

Get off my line pike! I'm here for the bass!

Another incidental pike

After the boat was pulled ashore and the cottage was closed for the season I had managed to land around 20 fish including 6 fat largemouth and 1 smallmouth in the 15-17 inch range. Along the way I also landed 2 small pike and I lost 3 big bass that I'll have to try again for next year.

Run and Gun Spinner Fishing in the Southern Alberta Foothills

Even when the fish aren't biting, people who fish are generally luckier than many who don't. We're lucky because the sport that we love happens to take place in some of the most beautiful places in the world. This is especially true for anglers who are logistically and physically able to walk and wade the Eastern Slope foothill streams in Southwestern Alberta.

Last Saturday my friend Terry R. and I decided to try the canyon stretch of the Highwood River a few kilometers west from the town of Longview. Despite paralleling Highway 40, with river access gates right off the road, the steep climb down to the river keeps the fishing pressure on this stretch of the river relatively light, allowing anglers to fish the numerous deep pools and productive runs undisturbed. 

We scrambled precariously down the steep cliff, aided for some of the way by a rope someone left tied to a tree. We both tied on #1 red and white Mepps Aglia Spinners with a couple split shot about a foot above to help the lures stay down in fast water and sink deep down into the deeper pools.

The Highwood River

We fished for about an hour with limited success. The water temperature was quite cold and the fish were docile. I did manage to catch a medium cutthroat trout and a slightly smaller rainbow.

A pretty little Highwood River rainbow

A Highwood Cutthroat

Terry was wet wading (Terry's an old maniac who grew up in the area. After so many years wading mountain streams, I don't think he feels temperature in his legs the same way as most people) and when we came to a point in the river where we'd have to cross, we considered our options and decided it just wasn't worth it.

We decided to get back in the car and try Trap Creek. Trap Creek is a Highwood tributary that enters the Highwood just east of the Kananaskis Country Gate off Highway 40.

As soon as we got to the small stream, I cast my spinner into a tiny little pool near where we parked. A small cutthroat darted out and hit it immediately. This was proof that you can catch trout "no matter how fickle the trickle."

Trap Creek

Trap Creek

Trap Creek is a small stream with a few rapids and decent pools. Perfect for run and gun fishing. With the abrasive and fast moving presentation of a spinner, we were generally able to get one fish out of each hole before having to reel in and move on.

Terry and I spent the next 2 hours leap-frogging up the creek. I hooked and landed 3 cutthroat trout. I lost a couple as well. Terry caught the nicest fish of the day when he pulled a chunky 15 inch cutthroat out of one of the deeper pools in the little stream.

Terry's nice cutthroat. It was bigger than it looks.

A Trap Creek cutthroat

Another Trap Creek cutthroat

With the season drawing to a close I'm glad I got out for at least one last reminder of how lucky we are to be anglers in a country with as much opportunity and beauty.

Post-Flood Highwood River Report, August 24, 2013

We went back to Alberta's Highwood River, between Hogg Park and Longview, on Saturday for a second attempt to fish the river since the flood. The water has lowered quite a bit from the last time we were there and it has cleared considerably. Despite still being a little higher than normal, we were able to cross the river in several spots.

The fishing was pretty good. I cast small inline spinners and managed to catch 8 fish; three rainbows, one bull trout and four Rocky Mountain whitefish. White and red was the colour of the day. I lost a few fish as well. My friend Terry managed to catch two decent whitefish in the 18-20 inch range. He got them both in a single long pool that had been significantly lengthened by the flood.

We saw many other incredible changes to the river brought on by the flood. Debris was found wrapped 10-15 feet up tree trunks a good distance from the river. A cliff with a large undercut that we used to fish is now just a large rock in the middle of a rubble field as the river cut the cliff away from the bank and then moved itself 100 feet north. (see pictures below)

Also, the deep pool that used to be where Pekisko Creek enters the Highwood is much smaller with a much larger rapid going into it.

It was a great day exploring a familiar, yet different river. There is lots of new fish-holding structure and the presence of fish of every size leads me to believe that there's a good chance the river will be fishing well for a while longer. 

Enjoy the pictures below.

A 13" rainbow.

A Rocky Mountain whitefish.

A flattened tree on a new beach.

Flood debris wrapped around a tree.

A trailer.

Another Rocky.

That line of dirt in the bottom left is the high water mark.

The hole where Pekisko Creek enters the Highwood.

A 14" bull trout.

We used to cast into this undercut. This used to be a large deep pool.

The grassy shore used to continue to that large rock in the upper right (the old cliff/undercut).

A little rainbow.

Looking back to normal...but different.