UPSmallie

Took over a month and a half to edit and countless hours spent on the smallest of details, but I feel it was all worth it. Don't Let Your Dreams Be Dreams

If it shoots out milt then it's not a hen.

Long leaders, splitshot, and double fly rigs...lol! Spawn, skein, glow in the dark spoons, and deep diving jr. firesticks all work well, jokes aside. Wouldn't use anything less than 15 lb test if you're going for kings. All other salmon and steelhead you could probably get away with 10-12 lb.

That's pretty sweet!

Alligator nuggets are where it's at! Haven't had those in years, but agree that there should be increased harvesting on them. So many in that region it'd be nice if there was a way to do a massive amount somehow.

Looking forward to seeing the final outcome!

Taking a gap year in Finland at the moment working at a National Park Research Station. Up near the Arctic Circle and 4 miles from the Russian Border! See probably on average 10-15 reindeer a day, but have seen as many as 30. The only downside is that they leave behind turd minefields haha. Just have to watch where you step. This sign is posted at my work.

The pike fishing here has been fairly easy for the most part. It's just hiking to the fishing spots that can be the challenging part. Explored a small lake from the shoreline and found some success casting across some of the back bays. Nailed a 25 inch right away on the X-Rap in olive green. Worked my way to the next bay and got crushed by this fat 29 incher. Few days later I went back to my frog spot at around 7 PM and realized how special of a spot it really is. I think I've figured it out. So basically the river flows through the area but it reaches a spot where it widens quite a bit. Off to the side on one of the wide areas is a flat full of lilly pads that is on a ledge right next to a deep portion of the river. I've fished it in broad daylight and just never have had success on it. But fish it from 7-9 PM and hold on! When the evening comes and the day cools off, the pike must come from the deeper water and sit in the lilly pads. Anywho I got to the spot and in an additional two days straight of fishing it on top of when I went the first time, I got something crazy like 25 pike blowups on the frog! Insane! My landing percentage was crappy as I only got three to shore but was heck of a lot of fun. The first night I got these two big girls and the second night was just a 22 inch dink. The first one went 30.5 inches and the 2nd one went 29 inches. I kid you not I was packing up and starting to leave the area when I decided to pitch out one more final cast and that's when the 29 inch smoked the pad crasher. Love the fishing here, just wish there'd be more trout/salmon. Oh also a crap ton of reindeer running around.

Thanks! What was crazy was catching an 11.5 and 12 inch on a Rapala X-Rap and Storm Thunderstick! Jerkbait perch!

Thanks guys! Helps that the St. Marys receives such heavy stocking on a yearly basis. What's neat is by looking at the fin clips on the fish you catch, you can determine what year they were planted into the river. I'd been mostly catching 2012's but the one in the video was a fresh lake-run 2013. 5 years in the wild on top of the probably 2-3 years in the hatchery. Have volunteered at the hatchery before but will try and get a seasonal fall semester job there when I get back. Love that river! @Mr. Aquarium I'm not sure where you're at, but one day in July sometime come up to the Sault and hire a guide. Those guys usually can get their clients on 5-10 fish/day. That's awesome @J Francho! They seem to be making their rounds anywhere touching the Great Lakes. I'd just keep plugging away where you've seen them caught and I'm sure you could get one. Mostly a fly-only kind of fish, but when aggressive can be caught on little cleos, thundersticks, rapalas, spinners, etc.

Well Said! That's really cool too! Need to find a Chinese Restaurant that will accept my fish for their food. Ok here is what everyone needs to do at least once if they plan on eating pike/pickerel. It's my favorite recipe that I call 'pike wings.' First catch a legal fish. Next fillet it using the boneless 5 fillet method found on youtube. I like this video After that, cut the meat into about 1-1.5 inch chunks. Roll them thoroughly in flour. Next get your frying pan ready and dump some canola oil into it. Place the flour coated chunks into the pan and sprinkle lemon pepper and, I like Uncle Tony's Creole Seasoning, but really any kind of your favorite seasoning will do; onto the meat. Fry the meat on high if you plan on attending the burner the whole time. Once dark brown on one side, flip, and once dark brown on the other, you are done. May need to flip a couple of times. Let it cool and then enjoy! I love to dip them in ketchup or ranch. Nice and crispy and great eating. One of the best methods of cooking these fish in my opinion

Have done fairly well right off the bat at one of the river's where I'm working at. With good portions of river in manageable walking distance, I've been constantly hunting for spots that will harbor some sizable fish. The one thing that I'm realizing, is that everything, and I mean everything, is in my opinion, so much more aggressive here than back in the States. No bass, but plenty of pike and perch. While exploring the river after work yesterday, I found a back-bay just off the main channel that was loaded with lilly pads. Right away, I realized that I needed to throw the pad-crasher that I had packed. As soon as it hit the water it got blown-up. Had probably 10+ hits on it, but struggled to get any hooked. This was after waiting to feel the weight too. Then managed to get one and it turned out to be a 10.5 inch European Perch! Crazy! Kept fishing and then as my frog was probably 10 feet from shore in only 2 feet of water, I saw what looked like a missile streaking right towards the frog. I got ready and once the pike hit, I waited a second, set the hook, and was surprised to see that the fish was actually on! Nice 4.25 lber to end the day.

Thanks man!

Taking off for a year abroad, but wanted to fish hard my last week stateside so I did. Ended up with some pretty sweet results that I threw together into a youtube video. Fish On!

Biggin!

Eh fishing buddies always make it more enjoyable but I'd say I probably fish 98% of the time by myself. The one advantage is you can stay as out as long as you want and if you lose a fish or are having a rough day you can let out a few choice words without having to mutter them.

Hit the stream early yesterday morning for some Independence Day brookies. The area I was fishing was mustly just mud and clay with hardly any riffles so was surprised to do quite well. Panther martin struck gold at one spot with a nice 12.5 incher coming from this open muddy stretch.

Took the boat out to one of the local bays to try and get some pike and at first it really was a struggle. After a solid hour and a half of covering all of my waypoints I could only manage a 20-22 inch to follow. Then as I moved along the shoreline of the other side of the bay I started seeing signs of life. Forage, and plenty of it. Probably 1-2 inches long. Some little perch were darting up and grabbing the minnows. Little perch = big pike close by. I started working the shoreline that was stacked with bait and out of nowhere something big slams my golden little cleo. It looks like a muskie just at first glance, but turns out to be just one of the biggest pike in the bay! A fat 5 lber. I slide her back in the water and then get a large pike that charges my olive x-rap back to the boat. I mark the spot and keep fishing around it, working the deeper edge. Takes like 30 minutes, but then I get one to commit. Solid 3.5 lber. Great morning all around.

I've been told you can lip them like bass, but not sure if I'd want to try. Their teeth are made for grinding up things like crayfish so not really sure but still a fun catch.

Biggest smalljaw of the year so far for me. Was banging flats with a Rapala X-Rap in olive color when this tank decided he was hungry. Hit like a sack of bricks and made me think I had a 30+ inch pike on the line.

Had some more success on the stream after work this past Friday. Here's a quick snipnet. I get to the spot where I last caught a brook trout. It's really shallow and I wonder how on earth I caught a fish from here. I pitch out my spinner a few times and nothing hits. Alright time to move a little further downstream. I round a bend and my eyes light up like it's Christmas. Right in front of me is about a 25 foot long cleared off stretch of stream that is perfect for casting into and the stream runs tight across an undercut bank with a tree bulging out of the water. It looks like the deeper portion will be at least 4.5-5 feet deep. This should house a couple big brook trout. I wade into a position where I can cast from and wait for the mud clouds to settle. After a little bit, I fire off a cast and watch as a big brook trout comes up from under the bank, slaps my spinner and darts back under the bank! I throw the spinner right back and then something truly remarkable happens. I got it all on GoPro so I'm hoping the footage turns out. The big brook trout comes up to the spinner and slams it but somehow is barely hooked so he pops off right away and as he pops off he jumps out of the water and lunges for the spinner! He misses it so I reel it back in and know what cast number three will yield FISH ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's the brute!!!! He's going crazy and is barely lip hooked! I get him in close and flip him onto the bank. Yes! My new Personal Best Brook Trout at 12.5 inches long (at the time haha) Alright!! That undercut turned out to have 5 brook trout stacked under it. Craziness!

Dude! Spot on advice! I went back out today and got even bigger ones all the way up to 13 inches casting mostly upstream. Gotta get the pictures and story together but limited out in under an hour pretty much all from a 4 by 4 foot hole. Was insane.

Thanks man! This is in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Thanks man! Yeah it was a great time and the nature was amazing too