Saint Catherines Fishing Report

[fuillihc]

I guess all the yuppies in Toronto who are installing penny floors should be locked up.

[smerchly]

Wow ....someone has a lot time on their hands , probably a few hundred dollars there ( a nice rod & reel) . Gotta watch the copper thieves don't see it lol

[Lundtastic]

Cheaper than a hardwood floor. Throw some epoxy on top of it and voila!

[gtgf]

I got a beauty female brown on sun first of the year about 8-10 lbs didn't milk her let her go full and healthy and any tips from telling bite from bottom first year drifting

[salmonman]

I was down last week one day and got two male browns drifting roe. One was around 6 pounds and the other was a little fellow around 2 or 3 pounds but the beauty color on him made up for the size.

As far as tips go, experiment with weight and try to get a drift where youre just tapping the bottom and not getting held up too much. If you can get the right weight down and the feel of a drift versus a fish you should be good. I will probably be down there this weekend for a bit if the wind/weather permits it.

Tightlines

Salmonman

[gtgf]

Ya I use 3/4 oz and I drift the whole pass but I just can't tell bite from bottom and I'll b down there again on sat

[gtgf]

O i see so drift just sinker for a few passes to really know the bottom

[fishfight]

Do you find the coins mess up the action of the spoon much?

Somewhat changes the action a bit, It is totally a different lure on its own after tweaking it. It is not exactly just the action of a regular spoon that catches the fish on fast moving current. The right weight applying slow retrieve resulting in the spoon lure staying lower and longer under water are equally important reason for fish to see and chase after my tweaked lure. I was also using the same lure catching salmon just in september with success.

The drawback of heavy spoon, potential of snagging and losing them, but my success rate was much higher after the tweaked lure. Peter tackle sells heavy spoon for $4. Mine cost $1. Got them on line, weighs 22 grams without any weight.

[fishfight]

So your the one with coins tacked to the spoons I caught one of your spoons with two nickels on it in the gorge thought it was pretty ingenious. Nice fish to boot..

Lost it last year, either mine or my buddy's lure , i used pennies and have glitter tape on them, while my friend uses nickle. I just start using other countries' currency this year since it cost even less. How badly corroded were they? ........... just curious. My buddy lost an average of two spoon per trip, and we went almost 10 times last fall, while I lost at least 6, there should be 25+ lure from us with coins. we hardly got skunk was the strength of using heavy spoon. There got to be 10,000 spoon down there, from years of snagging.

[fishfight]

Before I posted my secret. I suspected some will criticized my practice. I post my tactics because I was hoping less female fish will be killed for its roe, Hoping others will start using artificial such as beads, streamers, other lures, etc..... A practice of harvesting roe to catch more trout or salmon were being promoted on most fishing board in years. I can't change that when it has been the norm, but I can do a small part to those anglers who believe in other options.

Which is a lesser evil? Using coins as added weight to a spoon to catch fish or............ harvesting roe from salmon or trout with the possibility of not even consuming the meat? How many potential fish were not allowed to spawn for future regeneration? Can our fishing system sustain in the future if every angler kill just one fish for its roe?

I notice some anglers who harvested salmon roe this season did not even know how to properly cure them and end up throwing them away.

I was using the same technique in catching salmon few years now, yet I have not killed a female fish of any species in more than 10 years of fishing for salmon and trout.

With my determination to not kill a female fish for its egg, I found an alternative efficient solution, that I would not hesitate to share to the world, to help others catch fish, the old school way. To save them some money from losing expensive lures.

I also posted the area on purpose, so when someone google "St catherines" keywords. they would bring traffic to this fishing board.

[DaveC]

Fishfight...you always explain yourself and your day of fishing. Water temps, condition of the water a d your findings and results and your tactics for the day. I would say that the majority here appreciate that. Fishing is not all top secret....yes we all have places that we hold tight....but PortD and Niagara are far from being a secret honey hole. If not for people willing to share thier experiences and technigues and thier pics what would be the point of a fishing site? If you want to take a picture and block the background...great. nothing wrong with that. We can all learn something from each other when we pool our knowledge...sharing and learning from each other. There is some people who would rather openly condem someone for improperly holding a fish, rather than a polite pm.....those people are only here to leech from others and never have anything usefull to share. A compliment goes a long way...or a pm to a member of something you dont agree with is much better taste. Thanks fishfight...dont worry about what others think. The majority here see it as usefull....disregard the other stuff.

[dewy]

Hey fishfight, thanks for the report, and for sharing that picture of the beauty brown. I have been reading your reports on here for a little bit, and would have to say they are the best! Thanks again.

[kwikfish]

Second those last two replies! No need to justify or articulate your excellent report! As Dave said, always a bird or two that wishes to say or do something negative.... Keep reports coming!

[spiro]

Thank you fishfight. Your point is well received and your ideology is greatly needed in this sport!!!

Best regards and tight lines

Mike

[Dutchie]

i have my coins attached to my lures, can't wait to try them out this weekend thanks for the tip fishfight.

[fishfight]

Thanks for the support and encouraging words from most of you guys, Most of us are not sure how to react on a fishing board these days without creating unintended controversy.

I have benefited from many past fishing and water clarity condition reports by being part of this fishing board. Existing reports saved me not just tons of gas money from knowing when to explore the area or when to stay home and twiddle my thumb. I am sure many can successfully venture to other unfamiliar fishing territories based on fishing reports found on line.

Conditions kept on changing regardless of our past experience, by adapting and willing to experiment help makes fishing even more exciting. Our goal is to learn to work together in finding ways on how to master in bluffing the fish into striking our presentation. We are bombarded with so many newer technology and so much more information, our generation have forgotten to think outside of the box at times.

[fishfight]

i have my coins attached to my lures, can't wait to try them out this weekend thanks for the tip fishfight.

Ensure you use the proper glue and bend the coin to the right curvature of the spoon, Do not use epoxy or super glue, the coin will come off from cold water moisture. I used Goop or shoe goo to glue many things, from hole on my waders to adding traction on my tennis shoe, try rubber cement as well sold at dollar store, the glue somewhat stretches and flex, My friend uses Gorrilla glue.

Hook needs to be sharp is another important reminder to not potentially lose our trophy catch.

The glitter tape use were also important feature of my tweak lure, the lure will shine way more than any lure sold at the fishing store counter. I thought of it since they resembles fish scale when under water.

Make some fluro pink or chartreuse colored lure, as back up lures to be used on murky water condition. I add glitter nail polish on the coins to not make them obvious, more of a psychological factor for me, I don't think fish are that smart to know the difference.

I was also using very bright red Raven line last time, very visible to the fish, but are they intelligent enough to know the red line was part of a bobi- trap? Since the fish get hypnotize by the lure visibility and action, and the length of time it stays longer and deeper under water, Not using invisible fluorocarbon line never worries me. I cannot use braided line due to water accumulation eventually freezing and clogging the guide.

Add vaseline to the Guide the night before , will minimize on guide freezing often during winter months.

[Dutchie]

fishfight your tips are awesome and greatly appreciated.

[Dutchie]

Just wondering where you buy the Glitter Tape from? thanks

[smerchly]

Dollar stores have glitter glue & sometimes glitter stuff like tiny confetti pieces that can be mixed with other glue like fishfight mentioned . Maybe nail polish will work .

I have sprayed some lures with clear coat to make them look new ......will have to try it to seal the glitter stuff........

[fishfight]

Just wondering where you buy the Glitter Tape from? thanks

These holographic 3-D Fishscale-like Glitter tape are available at most fishing store , a common item, however they do come off, so I add urethane or clear nail polish , especially on the edge to prevent water moisture from entering at the side of the tape. To ensure tape is flash mount, to the curvature of the spoon , I have to slit the middle section on the tape then overlap together the inner side. By force taping it down without cutting some section, it will not sit properly especially when subjected to under water pressure and cold temp, resulting in some gap and water entering inside . No need to cover the spoon entirely to perfection , fish are not that smart.

During a bright sunny day or somewhat murky waters, due to the glitter sticker, you can spot your tweak lure deep underwater where no other lure would even come close to its visibility.

I also added glitter nail polish to the coins or other less shiny part of a spoon, regardless of the color of the spoon, the glitter seems to make an existing spoon stand out better underwater, especially added on any colored spoon.

All my ideas came about when I tried to imagine if I were a bait fish or a predatory trout, if I were an ailing injured bait fish, How would I look like or be acting underwater? And if I were a trout, what would attract me and entice my curiosity even if I were not that hungry?

There are also many bait fish around in the area at this time of the year, they already attract the curiosity of the fish, so bigger fish are just not too far away, however many bait fish can be either too small at times, or can swim too fast to elude the trout. By slowing and controlling the spoon action to mimic an ailing fish, the fish will be able to aim at its prey, even at a distance. It is important to give fish a chance to reach our lure, many fish I landed were always close to the shore, but I believe my lure was already spotted from a distance. I saw many episode of predatory animal attacking its prey at discovery Chanel. They stalk first, until they decide to focus on a catch-able prey, eventually going for it.

[robbyc]

very nice fish, congrats

[Dutchie]

fishfight you are like the fish Whisperer lol, awesome ideas thanks again

[ChefMick]

I wonder what a spoon would look like with some crystal flash glued so it hangs out the back like scales falling off.

[Dutchie]

Fishfight I tried the spoons I made with the coins on them, I even found some Glitter Tape to add to them. I was in Port Dalhousie and gave them a good honest effort about an hour for each of the 2 spoons I made. Unfortunalty I did not have any luck with either of them, so I switched to row bags. It ended up being fun anyways I caught a small Brown and a decent Rainbow on the row bags. thanks again for all your information.