Couple pics of Brown Trout

[Wulff]

Haven't been around lately as its been a redicoulsy busy spring for me with little time for play. This past weekend I finally found some time for myself. So I loaded up, packed my camping gear and took my daughter with me in pursuit of my "first love" when it comes to fish :lol: . The Brown

[Terri]

:grin: very cool John! Nice to get some RnR and father/daughter time I'm sure.

Let Melissa know that the tree frogs are out in droves here if she'd like another ;-)

[Wulff]

you mean to add to our menagerie. ;)
Cockatiel
Pond
hooded Geco
Jack Russel/Whippet, yay we finally got her :)

I'll let Melissa know. Shed love to come and see the kids and frogs and ponds and dogs......lol its right up her alley :). Thanks will be nice ot see you two again. We have two more weddings in the next two weeks ( 3 of 5 this summer) but we should be able to make a Sat or Sun trip in there.

[Terri]

Congrats on the pup!!! Do tell, her name? How's she settling in? Pic! Would be nice to see you all as well, I'm sure the kids would love to see Melissa again :-)

Ok, back to fish... tell us a fish story. Where did you go? How many browns did you two catch? Who caught the biggest one(and no fibbing! LOL) Oh,.. and did you see any carp? ;-)

[Wulff]

Lol :)

Her name is Pepper. We got her in May for good from a rescue based in Durham, at that time she was about 5 months old. She was found abandoned and tied to a tree at 8 weeks of age in the middle of February. Shes obviously Jack Russel but everyone see's some whippet in her to. Coming along really well and yes, shes as smart as a whip. Doing well in classes ( were up that way in Blackstock every Sat afternoon for them) and hopefully Melissa will continue with them all the way to and through agility.

Fish Stories :)
We caught a bunch, Id guess in the teens. Most were between 8 and 12 inches with the largest (pictured) ringing in at 18 to 19 inches, which for browns is considered just shy of a trophy ( 20 inches). I got it, but Melissa got it all on "film". Other than that she had a blast wading the river with me and learnign how to fly fish.

We went to the Grand River just oustide Fergus Ont and stayed at the Elora Conservation area, which included a swim in the quary ( a big hit with M). Funniest thing would have been Fri night. Chased off the river by lightning, we got back to camp after dark. Cooking up steak and potatoes in the dark with a boomer inc is fun, especially when you eat said meal in the tent..lol, Melissa thought it was a riot :)

[Jackie Ramo]

I can see the whippet in that pup and the Terrorist as well!!

Hope you let all those poor little fish go!!

Terri, how come you give frogs to her and not to me, I'm having a pout now!! :frisbee:

[Dave in Innisfil]

Gawd, aren't browns and specks just the angler's ultimate trophy ?.....Fight like the devil, smart as the day is long, and just about the yummiest thing on Earth. Tina and I drove the Grand on Saturday, and I was envious of the fishermen parked along the river. Catch and release, and fly fishing only, isn't it ?

[Wulff]

Yes, it's a protected fishery, so catch and release, single barbless hooks and no organic bait, essentially "fly-fishing" only. I have to agree, browns and brookies are all that :), especially the larger browns. I'm still pursuing ( some might say fruitlessly) resident browns on streams to the east of TO in the hope of discovering a few spots without the need to drive for 2hrs with little luck :).

One day I'll find them.

The upside is theres lots todo and see along the Grand, so planning a weekend get-away is fairly simple. The tricky part is telling the better half she gets to entertain the kids for 6 hours while I dissapear. :lol:

[Dave in Innisfil]

I know of two local streams with resident brown trout, but they're really hard to catch.

There's a river running behind Durham College. It gets quite a bit of pressure once the season opens, and is plagued by kids and bridge worm-dunkers, but does hold resident browns and specs as far north as Uxbridge. They're descendants of many leaky stocked trout ponds located upstream. I've only caught bow's and specs there, but have it on a reliable authority on the browns.

The other is Shelter Valley Creek near Grafton. North of the 401, the river runs through my friend's trailer park and golf course . In the spring the fish are so thick you can literally walk across their backs to get to the other side. Rainbows mostly, with the odd Great Lakes brown. The local boys fish the many upstream branches and tributaries and tagging along I've caught and seen some nice specs and browns. Nothing large, a foot long is a trophy. Problem is that landowners take a dim view of trespassers. There's "green gold" in them thar hills.......Fantastic deer and turkey hunting too.

[Terri]

OMG Pepper is a doll!
I don't think I've ever been to the Grand River but I'm sure Ian has... he loves to fish.

Jackie if you want a tree frog I'll pop one or two in a box for you ;-) we have loads of toads and a ditch full of tadpoles and toadpoles(is that the term?) which are just now showing little hind legs.
We get a nightly chorus here, toads and frogs, and boy are they loud! I happen to go out to the fry pond last night with a flash light, counted 17 tree frogs and 8 toads all of which were hanging out pond side singing their little hearts out. Went into the fish house to put the koi kids to bed and there was a pretty green tree frog sitting on the floor. Saw two on the veranda... well they are everywhere :grin:

[Jackie Ramo]

I love frogs!! Treefrogs of all kinds are a personal favourite. I keep hoping some will find the pond but none have yet, did the last one... even all the toads I raised from Wayne's toadpoles have disappeared... maybe if we get the new pond in ... in the meantime catch a few for me. I'll give them a good home.

[Ian]

I think If I started naming the places were I have caught Browns within an hours distance we would have to start another board :grin: The amount of traffic that the river/creek systems get now days has changed but I,m sure many pools still hold a few brown's. Some of the small creeks around here it's all in the timing. Have seen them in pools for a few days and then gone, back again for a few days the next year and gone. Small windows of opertunity.
Samuel Wilmont had a fish hatchery in our little village of Newcastle in 1886 and from what I,ve read it was the first of it's kind in North America. Some of the best fishing in the world at our doorstep.

Very cool pic's but your giving me the bug! I keep koi to keep me off the creeks and lakes so my kids call me dad! Ask Terri if she see's me after I have a fishing rod in my hand for more than five minutes :roll:
Better get off this thread quick!

[Wulff]

Lol Ian
I'll try to remember to leave my rod at home next time I come out ;)

[Dave in Innisfil]

Although in year's past, I trudged the banks of Wilmont Creek, I can't profess to ever catching a native brown there......lake browns yes, but not the sporty little stream variety. Last weekend, in returning my son to his mother in Haliburton, we "dog walked/kid played/dad fished" our way up and back. Wrong time of year for exploring new trout streams, but it was Father's Day and I felt lucky. Lucky to get out alive, since the mosquito's acted like they'd never seen a warm-blooded person before. Three casts, thirty bites later I retreated. Even the dogs sought shelter in our truck.

But the highlight was watching a family trying to fill a bucket with whatever swims, mostly rock bass. After a few minutes, I returned to the truck, put on a fat worm, flipped it between their baits, and pulled out a nice 3lb largemouth bass. You should have seen the look on their faces as I explained bass season doesn't open for another 6 days and released it back into the Gull River. I have access to a stocked bass pond (up to 8 lb), so bass is no big deal to me. But come this Saturday morning, me and my canoe have a date with some smallmouth on the shores of Lake Simcoe.

[Busy B]

Used to fish alot when I was a kid...local small river had only pike tho. Now that I live where I do, there's lots of places to fish but not alot of time. Hubby makes up for it...he lives on the river in the fall, looking for the elusive record rainbow:wink: . My boys I couldn't keep off the river. They rode their bikes and took their poles in a backpack. Didn't help that we live only a couple miles from it:grin: Oldest daughter also caught the bug.

Here's the hubby on the Kenai late in the fall...by the expression on his face, you can tell he had a good time!dude

[Wulff]

I can sympathise Busy-B.

Once the "bug" for chasing rainbows bites someone they are lost.
I stil chase them myself occasionally but for a few years I went over the top. Id fish for them from late October, right through to May. Many was the night ( sometimes used to go out after dark) Id crawl into bed with half frozen and blue feet. Id stand in some river and have to chip the ice off that was forming around my kness :)..lol even went out early one Christmas morning before kids came along.


Dave.
that hurts.
Access to a pond and canoeing the shores? Lucky you.I used to canoe through the pigeon river for shallow/top water Large mouth. Long trip these days though, especially if the wind comes up and puts an end to the day 45 minutes after starting :).

Im looking at heavier fly gear this year to use for bass and steelhead come fall. Might even try floattubing for them on Simcoe..weeeee

[Jackie Ramo]

Certainly looks like a happy camper or perhaps that gleam in his eye is for his companion taking the photo.

[Busy B]

Oldest son went fishing for reds and king salmon and came home with a 24 inch rainbow...needs a bumper sticker that says "I'd rather be fishing!" :grin:

Jackie..he wasn't looking with adoration at me :grin: He goes with his best buddy, Hooter. Two partner's in crime...no fish is safe, if they are on the river together.

[Jackie Ramo]

Maybe its just me, but I'd worry if my guy spent a lot of time with some one called "hooter" :lol:

[Dave in Innisfil]

Canoes don't command much respect on Simcoe, so by 9 am the jet skiers, tubers and cigarette boats had me pretty well scared chitless....LOL Sure wasn't risking drowning for a few perch. My fish finder crapped out on me, so I was blind as to what bottom structure or depth I was in, and basically just drowning worms, working on my tan, and avoiding household chores.

Our west side of Simcoe is the swimmer's side, the east (Keswick) being the fisherman's, and I wasn't crossing over in a 12ft fiberglass. On our side we can wade out hundreds of yards and it's only waist deep. Our problem is Zebra mussels. I now have two sets of water shoes . One I wear in the lake, and another in the pond so there's no chance of contaminating my pond with them....LOL

[Jackie Ramo]

Well Dave the fish are napping after 9 am anyway. Yes, the boaters are getting worse on all the lakes. Used to be they knew the rules of the water but now they dont' seem to care. Spent my summers at WillowBeach as a child.