alexthegrrr8 Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Hey Gang: After getting the youngest off to school I decided to go for a drive with my wife with waders and rod in tow. Here is some shots and a report. On the way to Fort Erie, we decided to take the route less travelled. We always enjoy a drive down the Parkway because you never know what you'll see. Wildlike and wtaerfowl abound. First, we saw this lovely raptor. A Young Eagle? So we turned around after taking a pic of that beautiful bird of prey and continued to Fort Erie. Upon arrival below the PB I set up my Spey. Into the river I went. he visibility was unreal. It was more or less gin clear. However, lots of ice and slush made for extremely poor drifts. Darth Wading It wasn't too long before we left here and went downstream. I was wading just above Bowen and had a tug and missed. Oops. After a few more drifts we decided that it was time to go home briefly and run a few errands. Of course I left the waders on. On the way we saw these, I'm no god at identifying waterfowl. ...? We noticed a lot more ice out in the river than I noticed when I posted last time. In Chippawa this was really magnified and there were a couple of tugs or icebreakers working (not too sure what they were... maybe OPG... one was flying American colours) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexthegrrr8 Posted February 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 After running said errands I wanted to head downstream some more. We stopped at the Whirlppol to have a look. The water looks great from a visibility standpoint...ice wasn't such good news. The shoreline is covered and it looked like there were two potential places to have a good drift or two. I couldn't make out the shoreline directly below us. The 'pool This drift I'd love to try. So off to Queenston I went. Upon arrival there were two other guys with one packing it in (the other caught one as mentioned below). They had been there since first light. They never had a hit all day and saw 3 rise. The skinny with Queenston is this. There is 1.5 feet of viz so it isn't bad. It is fishable. If you time out the ice you can get in some decent drifts. I saw one nice Steelhead landed and it sounded like the guys in the Artpark Drift were having a good day.. or they were just making a lot of noise lol. Basically, I'll be giving it a go in the morning at either Queenston or maybe the one or two spots that looked possible in the 'pool. I stood atop Adam Beck and watched the ice flow downstream from the Glen. The ice flow was basically just flowing on down so I'm not too sure how Pebbly or the next bay would be. It'd be a roll of the dice. Maybe a good gamble. So there you have it... the Niagara from FE to Queenston in a nutshell. Darth (Alex) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ultyma316 Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Wow that water recovered fast! Thanks so much for the report Alex. lol, I ended up sending you a pm like 10 seconds before this went up Looks like I'm headin down tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Shayno Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 ICE PIT!!! LOL Thanks Alex!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexthegrrr8 Posted February 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Shayne: NP mate. There is a ton of ingredients in the river for some Slurpees a la 7-11. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesse Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Thanks Alex for the great detailed report of conditions with photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottedGARRR Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 awesome news! thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Shayno Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 Shayne:NP mate. There is a ton of ingredients in the river for some Slurpees a la 7-11. Alex LOL That's Good Alex!!! I'll have a Strawberry-watermelon!!! Thanks again!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 Great post Alex.... Darth Wader rides again ! . Man , you sure get around , never know where you might turn up .....2' ice rod one day , 15 'spey rod the next ! Great to live in these parts eh ,Alex ? . I'm surprised how fast the water is clearing also . That is good news for fishing from Erie To L.Ont until the spring thaw (in late March ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishyWishy Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 Alex...Darth Wader, I don't have a spey rod but how would a 9' 6wt do in them waters (queenston or Peace bridge)? I am very much a novice with a fly rod, and with trout in general...feel free to PM me any advice you could lend a guy. Thanks, FW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexthegrrr8 Posted February 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 LOL That's Good Alex!!! I'll have a Strawberry-watermelon!!!Thanks again!! Hey... I might have to carry flavoured syrups around the Niagara for winter steelheading. Mmmmmmm... refreshing! Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexthegrrr8 Posted February 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 Smerch: Thanks for the compliment. I'm hopeful that I'm helping some people out here. I guess I'm like the old song by "The Beach Boys". i never really realized that I get around like that. But yes... we certainly live in a great area. Those days where I "double dipped" were great. A couple hours at Port D with the Spey and then I turn around and grab the auger and drill a hole or 8. e (Niagara area anglers) are fortunate and to be honest I'm just really starting to realize it. The water I imagine by the morning in the Lower will be that much better from a visibility standpoint. The snow might have an effect but I don't think it'll be that big a factor. I'm actually looking forward to the spring thaw. That'll bring on some hatches... and then the action will be hot hot hot. Alex Fishywishy.... look for a pm from yours truly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexthegrrr8 Posted February 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 Hey Guys: I'm not too sure what the wife took for pics while we were out. I spent a couple of hours casting in Queenston. The colour of the water was real decent with the viz being somewhere between an estimated 1.5 to 2 feet. The colour should improve some overnight but at the same time we don't want too much of a good thing. Fishing with the ever present ice isn't ideal but it can be done.... just have to be patient and think of the flows as moving pilons. Granted, for the float or bottom bouncing guys I would think that it'd be easier than yours truly with a fly line to get picked up by the ice. I did see a couple of nice chromers get landed. I've been in a little slump since fishing Queenston but for my needs I need to have a much longer section of sink tip (T14). Once I do that I feel that my luck will change. But for the mean time just getting out with my wife and casting is very much okay. I can handle winning the proverbial "Miss Congeniality Award". If there are some useful pics from today I will post. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 I've been in a little slump since fishing Queenston but for my needs I need to have a much longer section of sink tip (T14). Once I do that I feel that my luck will change. But for the mean time just getting out with my wife and casting is very much okay. I can handle winning the proverbial "Miss Congeniality Award".Alex Alex, you can try a trick I learned a while back if you haven't tried it already. Get some lead-core trolling line (30 lb is ideal) and attach about 5-6 feet of it by loop-to-loop connection to your fly line. It gives you an instant shooting head and will sink like a stone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexthegrrr8 Posted February 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Coachman: Is the lead core trolling line better than a T14? Because that stuff drops like crazy... I have a 8' and a 10'. I was thinking of grabbing more T14 and make a 15-20' segments. Basically for Port D and Queenston applications. Thanks. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Coachman:Is the lead core trolling line better than a T14? Because that stuff drops like crazy... I have a 8' and a 10'. I was thinking of grabbing more T14 and make a 15-20' segments. Basically for Port D and Queenston applications. Thanks. Alex Probably pretty close to the same. But a lot cheaper I'd bet. I just use a WF8 line with 6 feet of lead core line tied loop-to-loop. It takes some practice to learn to cast it because your line speed goes way up. But it gets the job done, and I can take it off in seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlieD Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 I will verify the visiblility. Went down in the pool wednesday afternoon and the visibility was 1.5-2 feet but green. Tons of floating ice thou. Drfits were very fast also, more than normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ultyma316 Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 I'm on my way down now to the glen:) I will take pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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