Bone Chilling Temperatures, Wind Burned Skin, and Light Flurries - what more could one ask for?

This past weekend was a typical one for me - lots of life's engagements, and very little left for fishing. But as I have said before, if there is a will to fish, with some creativity, there is always a way.

2 days after 2 days of heavy rain, Jeff and I found ourselves at the mouth of an Eastern tributary. It was mid-morning on Sunday, and parked cars were strewn all about the access point. I wasn't surprised considering this was one of the only fishable systems in the area. Contrary to better judgement, we robotically got out of the car and pulled on our gear.

Fishermen lined the banks with their weapons pointing into the sky at 45 degrees, and in unison, they batted their reels and cast again upstream. There are few activities where you'll find grown men work in such synchronicity. Contrary to better judgement, Jeff and I robotically stepped in line and joined in on this ballet. On a good day, this synchronicity would be interrupted by thrashing head-shakes and aerials of the leaping bars of chrome, but it was not to happen this Sunday. The bitter, unrelenting breath of Lake Ontario billowed on our faces, and the river's glass surface remained unbroken.

We finally came to our senses and made our way upstream, where the river meanders through a valley and is canopied with trees on both sides. As expected, we arrived to find more cars and their correponding fishermen. Each conspicuous spot was already occupied and flogged by 1-3 fishermen; but as always, the further we walked from an access point, the thinner the crowds became. Knowing that all of the pools had been previously fished, I concentrated on the fast riffles and pocket water where fish would inevitably seek shelter from the trampling, flogging, and splashing of the unstealthy. Fish were very aggressive in this inconspicuous holding water, usually striking on the first drift; whereas fish holding in slow deep pools, although plentiful, would not touch the most delicate presentation.















Despite the cold water temperature, and even colder air temperature, the fish were energetic and spirited, and full of colour. It's always rewarding to find fish in areas overlooked.

With bone chilling temperatures, wind burned skin, and light flurries, there was only one more thing we could have asked for - Hungry fish. . .and we got that too.