Opener weekend pics....
Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 10:45 am
Well what to say..............Other than if it wasnt for a pair of great lads on the banks this weekend I would have come out with not even a pic 
Our Digi, to which we though was good to go was again gone to the fritz 
So only a few pics but dandy eye candy 
Day 1 A friend of mine who has not missed an opener for the past 15 showed up at my place late thurs with intentions of leaving to prepare for 3am Fri
Why so early??????It doesnt open til Midnight Ohhhh a stop at a different location to where it is open all year, hmmmmmmmmmmm 
Arrival to this place
6am, a coffee, a wader check, and into the water Well weather it was my 1st or 5th drift I wasnt paying attention, my float shot under like a stone Battle ensues to only have the fish graciously offer my hook back Both got a look and a n easy 12+ male My buddy follows with a small brown, and I loose a smalll brown 
This aint startin well for FF
We arrive in town, and start the "Scouting" mission on 5 different river systems.The look was slim for fish, but a few were spotted, and the likes of a 50 fish opener was goin down hill fast.A battle won for the fish
We get set up on our spot by 7pm, camping out laughin with freinds who I havent seen since the fall run Midnight seemed it would never come Well it was round 3:30 am b4 FF locks into his 1st opener fish 
A sweet little jack in the 5lb range.By 4am it was time for a little nap for the old bones up for 7am and a run for breakfast, to where the rest of the crew had locked into a few but were ready to take a nap aswell.Well rested I went lower basin on the creek.It began with approx 15 little bows in the 1 to 1.5lb range, fun and silver, but FF wanted bigguns
A long walk up the river, lots of guys, but not the drags of years past, the weather system obviously made them stay home
Onto a pocket which has always held fish for a few drifts with a "Riverwood" jig.(I will bring the selection up to westmeath to show mainly what I pack in my vest)And yes this jig was pink
My float dissapears in less than 10 drifts Happy I was, then she breached the water colum This was hands down a Steel over the 20lb range!!!!!!!And not a dumb fish by no means!!!A short battle in the pocket, and even trying to hold this freight train back, she went directly to the trees, and snap!!!Lost 
Spirit not broken(Except that was my only pink jig )I moved to another close by pocket.Met a great lad from Caledonia area who after chatting and fishing together, felt like we knew eachother for years.Out of this pocket, we both lost over 10 fish , One thing I have to mention b4 I go on, is that though it is fun to land a fish, the sheer power of these fish is almost as fun to just battle and have a long line release Well Roxy finaly made her way out, and found me in fine spirit even though I had only landed a few smaller fish Now the trotting rivers began.
With a quick stop to Gagnons in Oshawa to replenish the lost jigs, and dew worms, we were off.
Onto a favorite trib of mine to find the area almost a ghost town No one well almost no one on the water!!!!Set-up, and drift!A nice fish on!Pictures Roxy trying to take breaks the spirit, but not the line Landed this nice buck, and back he goes.Battle ensues on a rather large Bugle, "Sucker" And released.A lad I met last year on this trib happened to be walking by, stopped for a fat chewin, and floats gone!!!Fish on!!!!!Long battle, but the fish was subdued, and a few quick shots, and back to the water(Thx for the shots bro!!!)
After this beauty was released, a few more drifts, and onto a different part of the river.A few friends call the cell, and hear me screamin FISH-ON So they showed up soon after Roxy watched in Awe as I lost many, but landed 3 more!!!
After the sun began to set, A call from TheFishStick, from the board, who has only been out floating once b4 with me, and well that was the only time ever.He was pulling into the area, and was anxious to get fishin!!!!I was burnt from little sleep, but took him down to a spot where he could night fish, with no trees to get hung up in.Welllllllllllllllllllllllllllll, This guy 1st drift, bang!!!!Hits a sweet little Brown!!!!!!!Awsome!!!!!He was happy, as was I.Retireing to the sack, Rox comes out to guide him along the river to find spots.A short night and he dicides to wait for 1st light with me.
1st light comes fast, we are off to find a few fish.Eric(Fishstick)Had one goal on this day, "I have never caught a steelhead, and would make my days if I could"Well I can try to get you on fish I say, but cant make em bite We hit a nice pool, 6 drifts, Im into a sweet female, awsome battle, and yes she took a pinkie Eric was intense in his persuit, only for me to drift 5 more times, and no kidding the same fish hit my pinkie again!!!!!!!!!
Well onto a different bait I think Eric ties his own flies and tried a egg sucking leech pattern, 1st in a pink head, and Lost 2 fish back to back, and then 2 more All I wanted was for him to land a fish!!!!Not even 30 seconds after that thought passes my mind "FISH ON KEV,ITS A CHROMER!!!!"No could this be it???????Well lemme tell ya, a battle ensues fit for any fisherman!!!!Or fisherwoman I am right beside him all the way, fish ends up in a nice pool with able landing areas.After about a 10 minute scrap, I hand Eric his 1st ever STEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Also once again a pair of great lads, Mike, and Patrick were thier names, with out thier offer to take a pic, this fish would not have been recorded.Thx a mill goes out to you guys too!!!!!
A beautifly colored spawning male
A few more battles, only one more fish to be had on shore, but what a great time to see old friends, and to see my buddy hook, and land his 1st ever Chromer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sry for the long read, but was a blast, and even though we got fish, the fish won the ultimate battle and big #'s got to spawn, and all fish we hooked or saw hooked were all drop back fish!!!!
T.L F.F
Our Digi, to which we though was good to go was again gone to the fritz So only a few pics but dandy eye candy Day 1 A friend of mine who has not missed an opener for the past 15 showed up at my place late thurs with intentions of leaving to prepare for 3am Fri
Why so early??????It doesnt open til Midnight Ohhhh a stop at a different location to where it is open all year, hmmmmmmmmmmm Arrival to this place
6am, a coffee, a wader check, and into the water Well weather it was my 1st or 5th drift I wasnt paying attention, my float shot under like a stone Battle ensues to only have the fish graciously offer my hook back Both got a look and a n easy 12+ male My buddy follows with a small brown, and I loose a smalll brown This aint startin well for FF We arrive in town, and start the "Scouting" mission on 5 different river systems.The look was slim for fish, but a few were spotted, and the likes of a 50 fish opener was goin down hill fast.A battle won for the fish
We get set up on our spot by 7pm, camping out laughin with freinds who I havent seen since the fall run
Midnight seemed it would never come Well it was round 3:30 am b4 FF locks into his 1st opener fish A sweet little jack in the 5lb range.By 4am it was time for a little nap for the old bones up for 7am and a run for breakfast, to where the rest of the crew had locked into a few but were ready to take a nap aswell.Well rested I went lower basin on the creek.It began with approx 15 little bows in the 1 to 1.5lb range, fun and silver, but FF wanted bigguns A long walk up the river, lots of guys, but not the drags of years past, the weather system obviously made them stay home
Onto a pocket which has always held fish for a few drifts with a "Riverwood" jig.(I will bring the selection up to westmeath to show mainly what I pack in my vest)And yes this jig was pink
My float dissapears in less than 10 drifts
Happy I was, then she breached the water colum This was hands down a Steel over the 20lb range!!!!!!!And not a dumb fish by no means!!!A short battle in the pocket, and even trying to hold this freight train back, she went directly to the trees, and snap!!!Lost Spirit not broken(Except that was my only pink jig
)I moved to another close by pocket.Met a great lad from Caledonia area who after chatting and fishing together, felt like we knew eachother for years.Out of this pocket, we both lost over 10 fish , One thing I have to mention b4 I go on, is that though it is fun to land a fish, the sheer power of these fish is almost as fun to just battle and have a long line release Well Roxy finaly made her way out, and found me in fine spirit even though I had only landed a few smaller fish Now the trotting rivers began.With a quick stop to Gagnons in Oshawa to replenish the lost jigs, and dew worms, we were off.
Onto a favorite trib of mine to find the area almost a ghost town
No one well almost no one on the water!!!!Set-up, and drift!A nice fish on!Pictures Roxy trying to take breaks the spirit, but not the line Landed this nice buck, and back he goes.Battle ensues on a rather large Bugle, "Sucker" And released.A lad I met last year on this trib happened to be walking by, stopped for a fat chewin, and floats gone!!!Fish on!!!!!Long battle, but the fish was subdued, and a few quick shots, and back to the water(Thx for the shots bro!!!)After this beauty was released, a few more drifts, and onto a different part of the river.A few friends call the cell, and hear me screamin FISH-ON
So they showed up soon after Roxy watched in Awe as I lost many, but landed 3 more!!!After the sun began to set, A call from TheFishStick, from the board, who has only been out floating once b4 with me, and well that was the only time ever.He was pulling into the area, and was anxious to get fishin!!!!I was burnt from little sleep, but took him down to a spot where he could night fish, with no trees to get hung up in.Welllllllllllllllllllllllllllll, This guy 1st drift, bang!!!!Hits a sweet little Brown!!!!!!!Awsome!!!!!He was happy, as was I.Retireing to the sack, Rox comes out to guide him along the river to find spots.A short night and he dicides to wait for 1st light with me.
1st light comes fast, we are off to find a few fish.Eric(Fishstick)Had one goal on this day, "I have never caught a steelhead, and would make my days if I could"Well I can try to get you on fish I say, but cant make em bite
We hit a nice pool, 6 drifts, Im into a sweet female, awsome battle, and yes she took a pinkie Eric was intense in his persuit, only for me to drift 5 more times, and no kidding the same fish hit my pinkie again!!!!!!!!!Well onto a different bait I think
Eric ties his own flies and tried a egg sucking leech pattern, 1st in a pink head, and Lost 2 fish back to back, and then 2 more All I wanted was for him to land a fish!!!!Not even 30 seconds after that thought passes my mind "FISH ON KEV,ITS A CHROMER!!!!"No could this be it???????Well lemme tell ya, a battle ensues fit for any fisherman!!!!Or fisherwoman I am right beside him all the way, fish ends up in a nice pool with able landing areas.After about a 10 minute scrap, I hand Eric his 1st ever STEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Also once again a pair of great lads, Mike, and Patrick were thier names, with out thier offer to take a pic, this fish would not have been recorded.Thx a mill goes out to you guys too!!!!!A beautifly colored spawning male
A few more battles, only one more fish to be had on shore, but what a great time to see old friends, and to see my buddy hook, and land his 1st ever Chromer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sry for the long read, but was a blast, and even though we got fish, the fish won the ultimate battle and big #'s got to spawn, and all fish we hooked or saw hooked were all drop back fish!!!!
T.L F.F
