Fishing Report Weeks of June 5 - 25, 2007

First, I need to get this off my chest.
Three times I have been guiding on the Grand River, a single person, a double and a 3 person corporate deal. I took these people to the Upper River during the week thinking that it would have less pressure, and it did.
All three times I had another person or person's come into the pool I was fishing and without asking or saying anything to me or the clients (other than anyone fish this side?) start fishing directly across from me! Not only that, but no one was fishing up or down stream from us!The sad part is, one of the guy's was a guide, from a local fly shop with a student!! Not the way I would teach etiquette to a new fly fisher. This breads the same behaviour. Completely unacceptable!!
Lets take everybody into account while fishing, if you see someone fishing a pool, move to another spot..simple solution.

Fishing is still good on the Grand, watch for large fish rising. The rise forms have been deceiving as of late. I've hit a couple of fair spinner falls, with few fish on the bugs. Have a mix of spinners Iso's and Foxes have been the ticket for us.

The Saugeen river is now out of the question for any trout, in the head waters the temp are above 75 degrees!! Good Bass and Muskie temps, and this fish are willing and ready.
I've had a few drift boat guides on the Saugeen and managed Muskie and good numbers of bass.
The deer flies are out in full force, so if you are booking or out on your own be ready for some heavy slapping of skin!!
The rocky has been keeping cool and the hatches are great, still an evening fish with Iso's Cahills and olives bring the fish out of hiding. I love that River, it's tight fishing, but well worth the effort.
I plan to fish the Notty soon for smallmouth , this river always fills the bill for good numbers and sizes of smallies and occasional pike.

I've been busy in my area and have not been able to get to the Conestoga or some of the other rivers for a good report.
Be sure to check out "The First Cast" website as they have been able to get on those Rivers with more frequency.

If you have yet to get in the Drift boat, booking dates are filling fast with the smallmouth opener, call soon to book your trip.
Tight lines
please give people space out on the rivers,lets all try to enjoy the sport.
Cheers
Ken

Fishing Report Weeks of May 20-June 5, 2007

As of writing this report the Saugeen water shed has received plenty of rain. The Upper River is no longer fishable. Too Bad, I found this pod of Brookies before the River level climbed to un-fishable. I counted 28 fish from 8"-14" all just hanging around in this pool.

Rain is a good thing, as this will bring water levels and temp back to appropriate levels for this time of year. The Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority reports precipitation levels down 40% from a normal year!! It's too bad the water is up, as the Green Drakes had just started on the Upper Saugeen. The Drakes always brings out the bigger Brookies.The Browns will find their way out of the under-cuts to eat these big meaty flies.

The temperature in the Saugeen and Rocky Saugeen was 5-9 degrees above normal.

The Grand River has had some amazing hatches and spinner falls, with fish still needing to key in on them. I've had clients out for evening fishes, and have had very heavy spinner falls. After waiting in prime areas till dark nothing but small fish had been rising. Caddis was the ticket with the two guy's I had out, We fished below the second line, good old "Caddis Kate" made her presence known to one of the angler I was with. She quickly made short work of that Caddis emerger and wrapped it around a rock.. and so it goes...

I have had a chance to fish once since the last report on the

Grand and managed one fish on Hendrickson spinners.

Muskie season is now open, Did a drift on the Saugeen with a good friend , he managed a nice 38" fish, ten minutes into the drift..and that was it. Looks to be a great year for Smallmouth as we had seen some huge fish close to the banks as we cast to prime areas with the big gear for Muskies.

The Conestoga is picking up, Take Caddis and find a riffle,that's all it seems to take on that river.

I"ve heard(not had a chance to fish it) that the Credit Is fishing good, Now that everybody is on the Grand River, It may not have the best hatches right now but lots of river to fish and less people.

With this current cold front your guess is as good as mine as to what is in store for us.

The Grand has not changed the flow rates still around 3.5 and should be clear,it will all depend on in-flow.

Feel free to add a comment if you have been out and had some good luck.

Cheers,and Tight lines !!

Ken

FISHING REPORT WEEKS OF MAY,06-20,2007

WOW!!

What a Crazy couple of weeks!!

I've been spending my spare minutes concentrating on my local streams,so lets start with The Saugeen systems.

The Hendrickson spinners have been so thick, Val and I spent a few hours casting #16 Hendickson spinners to Brookies, very selective Brookies. These are not big fish but can you pass up on a beautiful natural Brook Trout from an area like the photo?

The Grand River Tailwater has had the best Hendrickson Hatch I've seen in years!

Too bad the fish can't recognize these bugs as food, We've seen blanket hatches with few or no fish rising. With these warmer temperatures the fish will start keying in on spinners.

Watch for an evening with some cloud cover to keep the spinners from the trees.

I had a couple of hours after a course and managed to stick a 21" Brown on a reversed spinner

Nice fish,and met a truly nice gentleman in the Can Robert area. Blair is a great guy and fishes the Grand often,he shares his time with his wife who loves the areas B&B's. We stayed late waiting for the spinners to fall, Blair had a couple of shots a big fish in an area that he has never fished. Blair made a great cast, the fish came to his spinner, Blair was a little slow on the hook set stuck the fish for a second...and that was it, we both figured the fish to be over 20" the first big fish Blair has had a shot at with a dry fly..next time Blair ..we'll get him!

The Conastoge River has been good to fly fishers, spend some time in pools below riffles. Caddis seem to be the ticket.

The Credit Fished well early,but is now winding down. Some good fishing can be had to the dedicated fly fisher with a good nymphing style.

I'm looking forward to some great days on the Saugeen targeting Muskie and Big Smallmouth,

I'm booking guides for these amazing hard fighting fish. Call to reserve your day soon.

519-820-8506.

Remeber to keep the fight times short, the longer you fight a fish the higher the lactic acid build up, the lower the survival rate. Be sure to revive the fish well, let the fish decide when it's time to swim away. If the fins have a reddish colour to them and the fish is not staying up-right hold the tail gently, keeping the fish in the current and slowly move the fish back and forth in the current. Doing this will slowly allow the acid build up to disapate,allowing the fish to move freely on it's own.

Cheers

Ken

Fishing Report Week Of 28-05th

Fishing on the Grand River tail water has been tough, with the clear water and cool temps the Browns have been fairly difficult to come to a fly. Nymphs and big rabbit strip streamers seem to be getting most of the fish. Isopod and Hendrickson nymphs are getting Browns in the Upper river, fish deep and slow covering the water well,did I say Patience in the rule?
Steelheading opening week was also a low catch scenario. Water levels are very low in the Maitland,with the Saugeen dropping fast and the Lower Grand almost at summer levels and Clear as gin. The water levels are good in the Notty,with drop back steelhead starting to leave the system. Watch the water temps,with the sun as intense as it is these fish will find the way back to the colder water of the lake quickly. Morning temps in the Steelhead Rivers has been
54-56, by noon the are climbing to 60-65. A low pressure system and some rain is desperately needed as our spring run winds down.
The Brook and Brown trout fishing in the Markdale area has been good, Stone fly and Hendrickson's have been coming off in moderate numbers. Doing some walking is the rule, finding fish in the deeper pools and runs in this clear water is fairly easy. Presenting flies up-stream is a must staying low and quite will get some respectable Trout.
Tight lines
Ken

fishing report week of 20-27th

I've stayed away from the rivers cause i can't handle the crowds of opening weekend.
that being said,I drifted the Maitland on Sunday with a friend,saw very few fish and hooked even less.
Water levels were starting to drop,and the high pressure system, gin clear water
and the huge amount of anglers fish were in shock.
The Saugeen was a zoo, like most rivers this weekend. I'll have more information on the Trout Rivers for the next report.
Tight lines
Ken

Fishing Report Week Of April 15-20

Once again the weather is playing a major role with conditions. We had another 4-5 inches of Rain and Snow, last week.The Rivers sky-rocketed and are close to being back to "normal" for this time of year.

The Saugeen River; lots of water, good flow temps are up and down like a yo-yo.They have started lifting fish, at Denny's.

Maitland River; Again was too high to fish mid-week but back down to high but fish able.
Temps are up and down but between 36-42 degrees. Fishing is slow, it can only get better.

The Notty; Man, did this River get ugly, It's dropping, but dirty...big surprise. No fishing data for the Notty, sorry just not worth the trip.

The Grand river; I'm going on what I've heard on this one, which isn't much. Still cold but the levels are good.

Should be a great spring for Drop backs, all this water is a great thing lets hope we don't drop the levels too fast.
Good luck, just a couple of weeks away before Rivers open up again.
Cheers
Ken