"Of Carp And Cats"

[Mike Pike]

Finally got a bit of time to file a report on my little session on Holiday Monday last week.  Better late than never, eh?

My cousin Dan and I traveled from Hamilton down the highway early in the morning to the Niagara area to do a little river fishing.  It was my first time at the venue and, on arrival, it looked like a wonderful piece of water.

 

Being my first time there, the boat ramp looked like a nice enough place to start so we set up and chummed the swim with maize, then fired out our rigs( maize on a hair, with one kernel of buoyant corn ).  We also hooked PVA bags packed with additional goodies to our presentations, in the hope that they would help the carp zero in on our presentations.

A few bleeps from liners convinced me we were in the right area, and after about half an hour, I hooked into one of the river's Commons.

 

This lean mid-double gave a good account of itself and the pale colour was probably an indication of the murky water it came from.

My cousin Dan hooked into a fish shortly afterwards, but he was broken off.  The hook link snapped and it was probably our fault.  It was a rig that was on his rod since last year and we really should have checked it for nicks or abrasions before casting it out.  Lesson learned.

We continued fishing there for a while longer but it became apparent the boat ramp was going to be a busy place on this Victoria Day Monday( You'd think we would have foreseen that, eh? ).  So it was time to move our gear and set up at another location further upriver. 

 

By this time, the sun was up and the day was turning into a hot one.  I was well please to have purchased my D-A-M umbrella last year.  There was plenty of room for my cousin Dan and I to sit comfortably in our camping chairs underneath it, shady and cool.

 

Once again, the occasional beeps from liners kept us focused and in the game.  It was my cousin who was rewarded with a run, but not exactly what we expected.  After a fun scrap, I lifted the net on one of the river's other famous residents.

 

The Channel Cat was the last of our catches before we decided it was indeed Miller Time( lol ).  There was a barbecue in our future that afternoon so we packed up and headed for home, knowing that we would be back to see if we could do battle with one of the river's giants next time.

  

[Tyler0420]

Thanks for the report. Sweet set up for sure. N nice fish. 

[Brian_b]

Nice report. Thanks for posting it

[smerchly]

Nice spot , nice carp and nice set up  . I rarely get channels on corn but catch the odd bullhead on it . I hope the ticks were too hot to trot for you guys ....too hot for this old codger to fish lately , may need to look at those big shade umbrellas .....

[Mike Pike]

Thanks Guys.  And yes, Smerch I literally couldn't have survived out there without the cover of an umbrella.  The older I get, the less I am able to tolerate heat and direct sun. 

And regarding ticks, we kept our legs covered and it wasn't too hot over dressing with long pants thanks to the cover of the umbrella.