Year-End Fishing Story Contest

[niagarangler89]

I think I speak for all NFN staff when I say that our monthly story contests were more successful than we could have ever imagined! The stories and memories that have been shared by our members throughout the year have truly been a joy to read.

Luckily, the contest isn't over just yet! I am excited to announce the start of our final contest of the year, "The Year-end Fishing Story Contest".

There are 10 eligible members to cast votes for in this contest (each of the monthly contest winners). There are 2 spots missing because Seanook won two times and there wasn't a contest held for the month of September.

The grand prize for this contest is a custom St Croix 2 PS56ULF2 fast action 2 piece Ultra Lite rated 2-6 lb with spin rings tied by cplummer.

The contest will close next Monday (Jan 21) at 8:00pm.

We'd love to see as many members cast votes as possible, so please start re-reading those amazing stories and casting votes now!

Thanks again to everybody who participated throughout the year--this contest wouldn't have been possible without you!

Without further ado, here are the monthly winning stories:

January Winner: niagarangler

Confidence: Undefinable, yet unparalleled

Confidence is a funny thing when it comes to fishing. One of the hardest things to explain to someone is how the feeling of confidence often equates to catching more fish, but more times than not, a confident angler will out produce a nonconfident one.

As I've mentioned in a couple of posts a while back, my passion for fishing developed last May. As my interest in this amazing new hobby began to increase, I became ever so aware of the seemingly infinite techniques and tools used to catch fish. The only way I had ever managed to catch anything before was by using a hook and worm, which is a proven technique, but one (I quickly learned) was 'looked down on' by most avid anglers. Slightly overwhelmed, I took it upon myself to begin researching different lures specific to the fish I was targeting (which at the beginning of the summer were pike and bass). After a fairly expensive trip to the local tackle shop I found myself equipped with various spinners, spinner baits, topwater frogs, soft plastics, and these funny looking things called buzz baits (I figured if they caught my eye, maybe they would receive some much needed attention from the fish I was after). I guess it would be important to note that at this point in my fishing 'life' I had absolutely no confidence in my fish catching abilities, and every time out on the water was an expected skunking. But, oh, how things changed one beautiful summer morning as the month of June drew to a close.

It was a gorgeous summer morning-not a cloud in the sky-when I packed up the car with my sister and her friend and drove to our usual fishing spot along Beaverdams Rd. I was disappointed to see it crowded with people, but what else could be expected on such a nice day. I decided to try a different spot along the same set of ponds (mostly to save myself from any embarrassment I would surely endure while experimenting with my new lures). After close to an hour of no action on anything I was trying, I was quickly becoming discouraged. I walked across the road to take a look at a different spot when something caught my eye. Close to shore was a very large stump protruding from the water. From all the reading I had been doing, I knew this was a perfect haven for a bass seeking 'cover'. I remember thinking, "If there is a bass in there, I want something on the end of my line that will be sure to draw it out!" Frantically scrambling through my tackle box, I came across the big shiny buzz bait that had caught my eye at the store. I figured this was my best shot regardless of the fact that I wasn't sure how to work a top water bait and had NO confidence that a fish would actually come to the surface to strike it. Nevertheless, I tied it onto my line and tossed it out into the water, quickly realizing a fast retrieve was needed to keep the lure skimming across the surface of the water. So now that I had the technique figured out, I needed to work on actually being able to accurately cast to a position close enough to the stump without getting tangled or snagged (whole other feat in itself). FINALLY, a good cast--parallel to shore, well behind the stump--and sure enough, just as the buzzer skimmed past the stump, SMASH! The surface of the water EXPLODED and I instinctively jerked my lure out of the water in sheer fright! I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed...I had actually coerced this fish into blowing up the surface of the water in an attempt to eat my lure! It was at that point, after I took a minute to collect myself, this overwhelming feeling of CONFIDENCE set in. I cast back to the same spot (another perfect cast) and it was if I was watching an instant replay--the fish smashed the lure again, but this time it succeeded in eating it! No mistake about this one, FISH ON! After a short battle, I landed a nice largemouth--not a giant fish by any means, but the pure adrenaline rush elicited from that top water strike is one that won't ever be forgotten.

As for the confidence thing, I learned an invaluable lesson that day: once you get a little bit of it, it's contagious--the confidence spills over into all areas of fishing. And as for the prized buzz bait, it will most likely be one of my top go-to lures during the the summer months as many more fish decided to break surface in pursuit of the skimming stalker...

February Winner: dr_feelgood

I lost my fishing shadow 4 years ago. Funny how divorces can do that. My youngest (Angel) would go with me as long as it was not in a boat or raining. She loved fishing derbies (she won a couple) . So, the other day we are in the truck killing time before my appointment to get my cast removed and a new one put on and she starts asking me about fishing spots. I start driving to Port and showing her some of our "secret" spots. She asks about the "secret" spot with the gate and the hill, now my mind is wandering. HMMMM, where could that be? The light finally comes and off to another "secret" spot. We drive past slowly and she looks right at me and says " I really miss fishing with you ", I ended up have to pull over to wipe the tears from my eyes. I can't wait to get the cast off and the hand rehabed so I can have my fishing shadow back.
This is a collage of pics ( I think it is still hanging at a local tackle shop) taken when she was 6ish

March Winner: Seanook

About five years ago my cousin and I were working in Thorold. Being aware that I always keep my fishing gear in the trunk of my car he suggests that we check out the Niagara River. I was skeptical. I clearly remember saying "Niagara...where and is the fishing even any good?". He looks at me like I'm nuts and says "You have never fished in Niagara?". Now generally as far as fishing is concerned I have been just about everywhere in our vicinity (GTA/Hamilton area) and tried just about everything at least once so it came as a surprise to him that I was unaware of the quality angling available in the Niagara River. We managed to get some local advice and were given directions to the Queenston Docks. Upon arrival I observed only one angler standing on the rocks next to the launch. Immediately I began to ask him about the spot and general fishing info. As I was about to walk away and gear up I heard the unmistakable sound of his drag screech. I watched him haul in a nice steelhead. Well cue the Benny hill theme music because we went into high gear equiping our rods and tackle and running to beat each other to our respective spots. For the first hour we hauled in a few S/M Bass and not much else, not a total loss but I was hoping for more. The urge to explore a little got me thinking about some possibilllities. So off came my socks and I waded into the shallows just left of the launch to see if I could see what was around the bend. Obviously the current even in the shallows was quite strong and I found myself hugging the shore/cliff face for dear life. Just as I was beginning to curse my stupidity I notcied a lone Gausling (baby Goose) about 10 feet further up stream from me, caught in a small rapid along the Gorge wall. The poor little guy was having a really hard time and didn't look like he had much energy left. It was constantly calling out for what I suppose was it's mother. I felt awful. The 10 feet inbetween us was not an easy trek and I stood there for a few minutes debating whether I was going to risk my life for a Gausling that without it's mother alone, had little chance to survive. I decided to go for it. Inching towards the little bird I half expected it to just give up at the sight of me coming towards it but it didn't, in fact it seemed to be trying to swim towards me, although the current was too strong. I managed to get over to it and scoop the little guy up. I put the shiverring little guy in the pouch pocket on my cargo shorts and slowly made my way back to safety. Looking back at my actions that day I must they they were wreckless and plain stupid but what happened next made me feel like my good deed was being rewarded. My cousin came over to see what all the Ruckus was about. As he was scolding me he casted his little Blue Fox Spinnerbait in the direction I had just come from.......WHAMMO! His rod bent at an angle I've only seen a few times while fishing (other than reefing to free a particularily nasty snag). His drag was screaming. He was backpedalling along the slippery bank like a cartoon character who's legs spin just before catching and taking off. He had hooked into a very large Musky only feet if not directly where I had waded in and possibly stood momentarily only a minute or two before. The fish fought hard for almost an hour. Numerous times it seemed to tire and give up although every time we got the Monster within inches of shore it would take off again. The one piece of equipment I had not brought was a net......"Crap". Well I've already done some incredibly stupid things on this day, why not do another. I volounteered to get in the water again!. No sooner had I got into the water past my ankles than the Musky decided that I was getting out. It torpedoed towards me. Mouth wide open. I leaped clean out of the water. One hop. Seeing the commotion upstream another Angler came to investigate. "Oh you got a Whopper on there" he said. "Yeah but we can't land it" my cousin says. "You wouldn't happen to have a net would ya?". Of course he did. He went back to his car and got his net. We landed the exhausted Musky. It was one of the roughest looking fish I had ever seen. Almost toothless and scarred from years of battling the rocks and rapids in that mighty river had taken a toll on this beheamouth. @ 3'8" and 42 pounds it was quite a haul. We weighed it and took pics(Which I tried to get for this post but my cousin is a computer retard and has no idea how to scan) as fast as possible and released it. Before heading home I left the Gausling with a local woman who assured me she would turn it in to the spca. I will not only remember that day for the rest of my life because of the Muskie,Gausling and my trek. I remember it as the day that I discovered the the place I would return to hopefully for the rest of my days.

April Winner: cdnfishguy11

Recently I have been talking to other members and people on the shore about when they started fishing ....

For me, Im not to sure, one thing is for sure... I was to young to remember
This week will be 10 months since my grandfather passed away, I wanted to share with some of my memories I had fishing with him.... some I remember clear as day, others I only see smiles in a picture and try and remember but seem to fall short!

First Off, meet Kurt Chemnitz

The things I remember most about are his smile and his hands. His hands were visual evidence of the life he had lived. Opa (German for grandfather) was born in 1927 in Germany, during the depression he helped feed his family with fish he caught locally, he told me stories of going to jail and getting beatin by the police for skipping the Hitler youth meetings in order to go fishing or about how he would get the fish home on a street car and he would get kicked off of it because of the smell!

From a young age he loved fishing...

Fast forward to the late 60's weekly fishing trips to Lake Simcoe and Vacationing at 'Done Workin' on Ahmic Lake...
One night in 1974 Opa was trolling the shoreline and seen a for sale sign, this place is now our family cottage and where I consider home !

Just like Neil Youngs famous song helpless; Verse one:

There is a town in north Ontario,
With dream comfort memory to spare,
And in my mind
I still need a place to go,
All my changes were there.

Here is a shot of him in the mid 70`s:

My first photo (with me in it ) is one I dont remember although Im sure it was the only time we ice fished up north together:

The date on the back of the next photo is 1997 making me 5 years old 5 lb bass at 5 years old ... right on !

Another smallie

The next one is one of my favourites
We trolled everynight together... except for nights when wrestling was on tv!
I started driving the boat at the age of 7 and trolled the same route with him every night, this year tolling with an empty seat in the boat was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do !

We often trolled late into the night as the big pickrel on our lake seem to come out a night, although we would be back before midnight because Opa told me he wanted to be home by the start of a new day !

I will be forever thankful for all the fond summer memories and will always keep fishing and will never forget him !

Rest in Peace Opa, your memory will live on forever !

May Winner: Seanook

A couple buddies and myself headed down to the Whirpool in March of this year. It was one of those miraculously beautiful days that were uncharacteristic of the season. Upon arrival we geared up out of the trunk of my car and began discussing which set of stairs to decend into the Glen. Shiggs, as we call him remarked that he might just try heading down the rivine directly in front of the parking lot. I took one look at where he was suggesting to make his pathway down and told him he was nuts. He says " It leads right to where we are heading anyway". I repeated myself " You're nuts".

Shiggs is a Big boy. I mean a really big boy. 6'2" AND 340lbs. He has a Rod that his Dad left to him after he passed away. An old Fenwick with an ancient Abu Garcia spiining reel. He loves this rod. I have had to listen to his speach about how many Big time fish have been caught on that Rod combo so many times I cannot even count.

Anyhow....The Big guy was serious. He was going to decend into the Glen the old fashioned way. No stairs, gripping tree branches and on his butt if he had too. We stood and watched him until he dissapeared down behind a hill and some bush. For a big Dude he's actually pretty nimble. My other buddy Al and I trotted down the path to the stairs and made our way down.

When we reached the bottom and looked in the direction he should have been exiting the bush, he wasn't there yet. We hurried over to the spot and looked up the hill (almost more like a cliff than a hill) and no Shiggs?.....I gave a yell out to him. His response came in the form of a booming expletive. "F%$*K". I spotted him further down the shoreline. Covered in dirt, and seemed to be looking for something along the ground. As we approached him I asked "What's the matter Bro. You alright?". "F!#@" Was his only response. Shaking his head he holds up his rod and says "Broke the damn arm off Dads reel".

Now I know how much this rod means to him, so I am half expecting him to claim the day to be over and demand to be taken home. Instead he plunks himself down on a large rock and begins to inspect the damage further. Al and I begin to fish, weary of our buddies ever increasing foul mood.

I move farther down the beach. "S*#!". I hear from his direction. An hour or so goes by and now he is no longer cursing. Instead he is pacing around and picking various items up off the ground. I still keep my distance. a while later I notice that he is sitting down again and seems to be working dilligently at repairing the broken reel. The cursing begins again.... I move farther down the beach.

All of a sudden I hear a Booming "F!#@ YEAH!" I turn to look at him standing now and holdiing the rod over his head while doing a victory dance. I decide It's safe enough to approach him now. "You fixed it" I said as I get closer. "Sorta" he says holding the rod out so I can see his bush engineering skills. It takes a moment before it comes in to focus enough for me to see what he has done. Where there used to be a reel arm there is an oblong rough looking rock and some string!?. I reach out to take it and he jerks it back defensively and says "No no no no. Don't touch". He gently cupps the opposite side of the reel and shows me his handiwork. He says "I found an old deflated balloon with the ribbon still tied to it. I tied the ribbon to this rock here. Had to remove the entire Reel Arm Mechanism and stuffed the wound up balloon into it". I looked at him with one raised eyebrow and said "Does it work though?". With that he raises up the rod and casted out his lure, flipped the bail closed and with one finger began rotating the rock. Miraculously it was working! "I'll be damned" I mumbled with slack jawed amazement.

While his bush rigging wan't perfect and did need some maintenace from time to time, He fished the entire day like that. And a decent day for what one could expect.

June Winner: Gerritt

As some of you know I have taken the responsibility of caring for my elderly grandparents...(Oma and Opa) and in doing so turned my life upside down.... moving from Hamilton to the sleepy little town of Brighton. Needless to say it was a change from the city... such as finding out pretty much NOTHING is open on Mondays.... (I find that very odd.... moving on....)

Shortly after arriving here my Opa was placed into hospital... (Dementia is the devil) and could no longer safely live at home due to the multiple assaults against my Oma.... It is then I learned about the multiple levels of bureaucracy required to place someone into a long term care home..... what a nightmare. I will spare you all the details but suffice it to say he is now getting the care and stimulation he needs.... and while he has no clue what I went through to get this done.... nor does he even remember what my name is anymore... when I see him I see the sparkle in his eyes and a smile on his face... that is enough for me, knowing he is well taken care of.

As for my Oma... well that is is a different story... she too has failing health.... my Opa lost his mind... She is losing her body.... everyday is a struggle... some days are worse then others, Sure I have help for an hour in the morning from a Personal Support Worker... but that is doesn't cover the other 23 hours of the day.... that is where I step in.

I am the cook, the cleaner, the pharmacist, the confidant, the banker, the errand boy, the gardener, the chauffeur and the muscle.... I am her beloved grandson... the one that could do no wrong as I was growing up..(Even though I did do wrong)....

I used to spend summers with my Oma and Opa and they helped raise me... now I felt as though karma needed to be repaid... so here I am... Taking care of our 88 year old Matriarch... as well as my 90 year Patriarch (at least I have 24 hour help him even though he is in a home there is ALOT to be done) Anyone that has to exercise Power of Attorney for property and care while they are still alive can attest to this.... (I have it for both of them.....)

So finding time for myself these past 3 months has been very difficult.... and with my family all over Canada and Europe.... finding help has been somewhat difficult.... as I do need time for myself from time to time too...

Well I finally found that time, I have been in close contact with my son... for the most part almost daily... to see how his day to day life has been... @ 6 years old it is hard to keep his attention for very long with todays modern distractions... I compete with TV Nintendo DS, Pokemon, Leap Pads and the computer.... not to mention homework.... so our conversations are usually brief... but they mean the world to me...

We miss each other dearly.

So my ex wife and I worked out a plan that worked for both of us, (Im supposed to have every other weekend but given my responsibilities and the distance it is a work in progress) I worked on setting up care for Oma...

Uncle Jac stepped up.

Ok with out of the way, I was extremely excited to spend some quality time together! so I had it planned out that we would go to my other uncles farm... (who just happens to have a 24 foot trailer.... Perfect! CAMPING!!!)

Liam was very excited about this idea, not to mention the fact Uncle Marc has a private pond that has never seen a lure... needless to say Liam wasn't bored for a second! one cast.... one fish! it was awesome to spend this time together and reconnect, and he cannot wait for two weeks to pass to do it again!

Anyways I have bored you all enough with my ramblings.... I think it is time for some pictures!

I hope you enjoy them.

Liam inspecting our fishing spot,








Lets see how long it takes me to run around it dad....




The barn..... Liam loved it... circa 1897







The House..... welcome to Deerfield Farms..


The Flora...



Getting prepared.....




Got one.... and another! and another.... Dad this one is huge! (They were all huge to him lol)



















and some fun other then fishing














Pokemon...... no clue how to play this....






So that was our weekend.... this is only a small amount of pictures... but to me they are priceless..... I wouldnt have traded this weekend with my son for 50 million.... it was time well spent reconnecting, especially for me after so many weeks of negativity... Just to be a dad again... meant the world to me... and hopefully we can do it again soon..

One last picture...

Goodnight Liam.


It was nice to just be a dad...... and nothing else for one weekend.

G.

July Winner: Perch-fry-guy

I'll get this one in under the wire ... Didn't happen this month or even this year, but a couple winters ago... My best friend and I were lucky enough to catch several female brown trout that were pre-spawn. We kept 2 for the table, and stripped then preserved the roe. A couple weeks later we decided to go steeheading. Him and his wife came over for pizza and wings the night before. The wings were amazing and he couldn't stop eating them, (He polished off half the wings single-handedly). After supper, while the women chatted we tied roe bags, and he was telling me abut this "Secret Weapon" he got, that was going to help him kick my butt the following morning. I said "You always kick my butt steel-heading anyway, so what else is new.". The following morning he picked me up at 4:30 and we went to McD's for coffee, then proceeded on to the river for a little pre-dawn fishing... When we got there, It was pretty chilly. He told me to go on ahead and get set up, he had to get out his "Secret Weapon" . I had forgotten about it, and was starting to get curious as to what it was... Anyway I got set up, and started making a few drifts, when I hear some rustling behind me. I turned on my headlamp and turned around to see him coming down the bank in a blaze orange survival suit. I lost it ... I said :Hey Krusty, where'd you get that clown suit?", and:"Don't you think you're gonna scare the fish away with that thing on?" and "Geez, does that suit come with a dimmer switch?" I bugged him mercilessly for about three and a half hours, and every time I said something, he said: "Well at least I'm not freezing my a$$ off" then I said : "That's great, 'cause if it were me, I wouldn't want to freeze to death and have people find me in that circus costume." Anyway, he was getting pretty peeved at me, and I was slowly running out of snide comments. To make matters worse, the score was 4 steelhead and 2 browns for me, and 3 steelhead and 2 browns for him. (He also caught a couple lakers, but because they weren't in season, we both In decided to only count "fair fish". Getting close to 9:00, he looks at me, and says : "Boy I wish I would have taken it easy on those wings last night" ... " Stomach bothering you?" I asked. "Yep," he said, "I think I have to go to the bathroom". So I asked him if he wanted to call it a day. He said "Are you NUTS? not while you're one fish up on me !!!, and besides I don't think I'll make it anywhere" So I asked what he was going to do, and he said he was going into the bushes ... I said, "Well you gotta do what you gotta do, just be careful, it's rough in there." I continued fishing for a while, with not much happening, Finally I hear him coming out of the bushes, just as I hooked into another steelhead. I fought it for a couple minutes while he was slinging epithets at me, then it spit the hook and my line went limp. I looked over at him and he had this "Looks good on you, payback's a biatch, can you say Karma?" look on his face. I shook it of and thought :"OK, I guess I had that coming... So he turned and started towards his rod.... AND THEN I SEEN IT !! I said : "Wait a minute!!!" "Buddy you got tissue hanging from the hood of your suit" He unzipped it, and here, sure enough, he had POOPED neatly in the hood of his survival suit !!!! Well the suit came off, went right back in the bag it rode down in, the gear (his) was fired into the back of the truck, and we drove straight home in silence. It was two weeks before he would talk to me, but MAN WHAT A LAUGH WE HAD !!! (Never seen that suit again.) And that was the only time I EVER out-fished him steelheading....


RIP buddy, you are missed

August Winner: The Ketichan Kid

It was a beautiful August morning and I couldn’t be happier than to be going fishing with my good buddy Max. Younger than me and not as experienced, I was looking to get this up and coming fisherman his first “big” fish. The first few hours were slow, with me only managing one small bowfin and Max with a break off. We switched locations after Max’s line got tangled into the biggest birds nest imaginable. The sun was now covering the whole river (only about 15 feet wide) and I could see a lot fish activity near the bank, a sign that the fish were feeding. After 5 minutes and a few twitches of the 6 pound line I set the hook and gave the rod to Max who showed little hesitation as he swiftly brought in the roughly 4 pound carp to the bank. He was shaking after the fight and told me that he was really excited to have caught such a “big fish”. I was excited for him even though I knew a 4 pound carp is quite small. I wanted him to land something bigger. This was his biggest fish to date but he truly fought it like he’d been catching fish that size for years. He also told me he hardly slept the night before because he was so excited for fishing the next day. I was impressed. The next fish was mine, a small catfish that swallowed the hook, not great, but still a fish. Time was running out and by this time my mom had arrived to watch us boys try to catch a fish. I had to get a haircut at the other end of town in 45 minutes so we only had 10 minutes to get another fish, and it was my friends turn. I threw out my rig of strawberry kool -aid corn on a small hook and single split shot towards the other bank and not a minute went by after returning my line to the water, when my rod starts taking off again, a sure sign that this fish is a carp. I set the hook and immediately the fish started running downstream, screaming drag off my reel. I handed the rod to Max and said “Hold on”! After gaining a bit of line on him, the fish started peeling upstream, and now we were in trouble because the fish was clearly trying to go between a mud island littered with jagged sticks and the far shore. I realized that we were in tough when indeed the line got all caught up on one of those jagged branches. At this point I still didn’t know just how big the carp was and how I was going to land it for Max. I knew that standing around wasn’t helping anything so I had to figure out how to get from the shore I was on to the island of mud that the fish was hooked on. I looked around hoping to see a sheet of plywood or something that I could easily walk across to the island on but the only thing that would have a chance to get me across was a 3 inch wide Y- branch from a dead tree. It would have to do. I took the rod from Max’s hand to hold the fish while I instructed my Mom and Max to pick up the big branch and throw it so it would span across the water to the island. Luckily the branch landed perfectly because there would have been no second chances with picking it up and trying to throw it as it would have been impossible to get the branch out of the stinky, ultra spongy mud. I start gingerly crossing the branch while keeping tension on the line when I hear a loud snap- the branch has broken. The branch had broken but I was on the island now, sinking in quickly, and I could see that the fish has come free from the jagged stick. I beached the fish and “folded” it into my rubberized bass net. As I start heading over the now broken Y branch back to my Mom and Max, I looked down and realized that this carp is the biggest fish I have ever caught and will by far surpass what Max was expecting as a “big fish”. As I stepped off the broken make-shift bridge, I layed the fish down in front of Max, he was so excited that he was shaking and couldn’t lift the fish on his own so I helped him hold it for a picture. After a few shots I carefully walked back onto the island to release the beast back to the river, but there was one problem. The fish was deeper than the water, and I knew what I had to do. I dragged my size 13s through the thick, squishy mud until I had the whole fish underwater; a perfect release. On our way back to the truck I looked at Max and saw that he was covered in mud from head to toe, but still had a beaming smile that I knew neither he nor I would ever forget. I was so covered in the dreadful mud that I had to ride home in only my boxer shorts and my lucky fishing hat in order to keep the truck as clean as possible. It was an incredible day in which I completed my goal of getting Max his first big fish and in turn surely got him hooked on fishing. Days like that one make you feel like someone was out there guiding you through everything you did and made it work for you, because there were so many things that could have gone wrong. It was an extremely satisfying day knowing that I got Max hooked on fishing and caught a personal best fish.

September Winner: NO CONTEST HELD

October Winner: Snagged

So this past weekend we decided to head out to the pools in front of the Nicol's Marine in Fort Erie in search of some Walleye and Smallies. Knowing this it had been raining for the past few days we expected a tough fish as the water would have been churned up. While we didn't manage to boat a single fish I and my two friends were witness to a fishing miracle. While the following story may be hard to believe I am amazed as to what happened.

So at one point of the day we decided to leave the pools and the Niagara River and head out past the Peace Bridge into Lake Erie and try our luck on the flats. Because the wind was up and the current seemed faster than normal we had a super difficult time maintaining control of the boat. Because of this my friend (the boat owner) decided to put his rod down while it was still casted out into the water to pull the trolling motor and wham!!!! I was in the middle of the boat and just happened to turn around and to see all of a sudden the rod ( Including a new Shimano Calcutta reel) fly out off the boat and disappear in the current of the river.....All three of us looked at each other in disbelief. We couldn't believe it. He was pissed....it seems like 20-30 seconds had passed when my other friend felt a dead weight on his line. Thinking he had a snag he pulled and the weight began to come toward the boat as he reeled. We joked that it might be the rod. To our amazement as his lure emerged from the water, one of the trebles was attached to the last guide eye on my other friends rod! We all cheered like we had just won the Stanley Cup. It was a one in a million shot that none of us could believe given the conditions and location. Despite the fishing being off, it totally made our day that that happened to us.....

So as unbelievable as this story sounds it does beg the question....how many of us on this board have had something strange or amazing happen to them while they were out fishing?

So here goes. Lets share those stories that maybe we havent wanted to thus far becuase we think maybe no one would believe us.

Cheers,

S

November Winner: kevin

Well, armed with his 18" spiderman fishing rod and a container of minnows, my little guy decided it was time for him to come fishing with daddy. Just turned 3 a week ago.

Hook on a lively shiner and he hits the bail release. About 30 seconds later the rod is bouncing and he's cranking. Up comes his first ever fish.


After jumping around in excitement and diving back into the minnow pail, we get his line back in the water. This time, the rod really pumps. Epic battle on the 18" rod, had to hold the rear strap on his life jacket so he didn't go for a ride. Cranked him all the way in, and daddy lipped him.


He wasn't a happy camper when it was time to leave, he said he wanted to catch more fish.

December Winner: snakeman4

Josh (cndfishguy) and i headed to the glen for first light this morning, Both of us running a little late, and arrived at the parking lot a little behind our anticipated schedule. Either way, our schedules were finally on track as we have been trying to meet up to fish for a few days now. So we head down to the glen, i wanted to fish a certain pool with him that i have had very good success in the last few days. get down to the river side path, i look down at my beloved golden goose of a honey hole, and there are 3 ppl that we later talk to from out of town fishing down there. No big deal, we head to the next pool i pulled a few fish from the day before. i let josh know this pool is a little tricky to fish, big rocks on either side, have to drift it "just right".

So i set my rod up, lucky colour streamer on there from earlier in the week, being a little cheeky, i yell out to josh, hey man wanna come tail my first fish i usually get one first drift through here. he says yea sure man. well sure enough same spot same run, same bait, float goes under, fish on! josh looks over in disbelief, comes over to help me tail it. was a rainbow, gave a few acrobatic leaps and off my line. disappointed i check over my leader, and get ready to toss it back out. As josh is walking away i yell back to him, where u goin im gonna catch that fish again, he replies with the yea sure what ever reply, and sure enough second drift through the pool, FISH ON again! Again in disbelief he returns to help me tail my fish, i get this one in and snap a few pics. Had a good laugh about the mornings events, and i let him have my spot and try his luck.


I explain to josh where the underwater boulders and such are, what to look for to avoid the snag in this drift and he begins to fish. i moved up to the top of the pool, and fish a little farther out. i recommended he throw his float a little farther up, so his line would line up and he could fish the top boulder at the head of the flow, and i kid you not, i commented on his nice float placement and said, ur gonna get a fish. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, float went under, and fish on! We both could not believe that just happened. Josh brought it in i tailed it for him, and snapped a few pics and on it went.

as the day went on, we just kept hammering fish, and another quite comical incident , when josh tossed his float upstream to the top of his pool, but he didnt realize my float was just about right there, he gave a quick sorry sorry didnt see ur float, i assured him it was fine, because his float, wasnt going under, mine was gonna. just as i said this, BAM my float went under, FISH ON. At this point we are both hysterically laughing at the events that just transpired. Josh inquired if i could see the fish underwater or something. I guess we just had the fish dialled in really well today, we could tell exactly where we were getting hits, how far down and behind which rocks in the drift. So i landed my fish, josh tailed it, and we snapped a few pics and quick release.

All in all, it was a great day, so many fish hooked, quite a few of them landed, lost a few to a certain rock that my line got wrapped around, but with today's results, a few fish lost is worth a few fish landed. had to really put the boots to the fish when hooked as to not take off to America. We completed the whole "niagara trifecta" of fish today between the two of us. Bow, brown and lakers. heres a few more pics from today, we had a really good time, and we now have another go-to spot in the glen.


What a B-E-A-U-tifull brown Josh.

And the icing on the cake for the day was all fish were caught on our own hand tied flies! Tight lines and bent rods to all! happy Holidays and safe fishing.

[Seanook]

Toss up between Cdnfishguy11 with a real nice piece complete with some history and Snakeman's no nonsense real fish'n story. Not sayin who I am voting for, just those are the ones that stick out the most. All good stories.

[niagarangler89]

Just a reminder that the contest closes at 8:00pm tonight, so get those votes in!

Thanks to those who have already voted!