Guiding made easy.

Today I guided my friend Alan in hopes of landing a Chinook salmon. We had fly fished together several years back for brown trout. But today would be different.

This morning was very cold when we entered the stream around 8:00 am. But there were no signs of fish to be had. The latest run had to have moved upstream. After seeing someone coming downstream we got the clue that there were only a few up ahead of us. We turned back to the truck and traveled 2 or 3 miles upstream.

(The first lesson: Set the hook hard.)

About 9:00 we spotted our first fish. A nice looking female. I gave some tips to Alan and he tempted the fish until it moved into faster water. He then hooked it, the King then left him as the fly popped out.

Brian, whom we met in the stream, hooked up with a male right quick and headed downstream.

He came back and helped teach where to cast to a holding fish.

We soon found a few more fish moving upstream.

(Lesson two:)

(Don't let your friends tie on the leader you fish with)

Alan hooked up 7 or 8 more times. He broke off two leaders after fighting salmon for a while.

He finally landed a female at 33 inches.

He later landed a male at 39 inches, 21 girth, 22 pounds. Allen landed it on 10 pound test

with a #8 pom pom after about 20 minutes.

He said it was the biggest fish he'd ever caught.

He was pleased as punch!

I had a great time guiding him.

(Lesson three: leave your cell phone at home.)

I had my turn.

I just hooked up with a King, when the phone rang. When I finally got it out of my pocket to answer it, the fish began to take line upstream. I'm glad I landed it.

All in all, I successfully guided Alan into a world of unforgettable fly fishing for huge Lake Ontario Chinook Salmon.

What a great day!

Boy, was it ever raining this morning. The roads were wet all the way to where we would fish. Kim was thinking we would be fishing in the rain. By the time we reached our fishing spot, the wind and rain stopped and the sun came out. There was little time to waste, so into the river we stumbled. Kim spotted the first Salmon running up behind us. We were just getting our feet wet as the last globug was tied on. I ignored the commotion Kim was watching and got us both into an area upstream that would yield fish. We waited for the migrating fish to swim into our ambush. The salmon quickly pasted by Kim and entered the pool in front of me. I splitshot slapped the water a few times and foul hooked a nice King. The fight took a good while but I managed to give the fly rod to Kim. With Kim managing the fish, we landed it successfully.

I took a quick video of some of the fun and as you can hear I'm quite winded.




The rest of the day was beautiful. We only saw one more fish come up through. But there were many other fisherman taking fish today. I was just glad to be out with my honey on a sunny October day.

We also saw one Salmon at Linear Park. What a great day!

First Salmon of the Fall season

I took off work today and went to Sandy Creek at Rt 19 bridge. I got there about 7:30 and right away I saw four salmon moving upstream. I followed them to a slow section, where they seamed to settle in to rest. I cast to one of them and hooked up right away but I was using 6 pound test and broke off. This happen seven times before I changed my leader to 12 pound test. By this time they had moved upstream.

I only saw one fisherman leaving the stream around 8:00. I was the only one on the stream all day. Maybe because it was windy and raining.

I finally hooked one and fought it for a good 15 minutes. It was 34 inches long. I put it on a rope and right after that I caught another one at 33 inches. I did not weigh these two fresh females full of eggs. I decided to leave at noon. On my way downstream, I landed another female at 35 inches. It was foul hooked on the front fin so I let it go. I saw small males and one monster male.

By 1:00, I had seen two pods of four salmon each and about 6 other fish, plus two still coming up as I was leaving, totaling 16 in all . I hooked up a dozen times or more with 8 or 9 really good fights. I landed three and released one. and I even hooked a small brown about 6 inches.
My legs are tired. and I hope to go again Saturday with Kim.

When I got home, I took pictures on my tailgate. I cleaned and froze the two salmon. I grilled some for dinner.