Caledon, Ontario

Let them go so they could grow

I slayed them yesterday and I hope my bass thumb doesn’t go away 😁😁

My granddaughters first bass 😁

First few catches from the kayak. All caught on inline spinner,

PB again!! With a drizzle still pitter pattering on my soaked hat, I settled in on the bank, recouping for my hike back to the car. There are always some small brookies to be caught here, so I threw my nymph in to kill some time as I recharged. With the thunderstorm, water already started running a bit high, so increasing my indicator height quite a bit, I intended to dredge deep. Not many casts later, I hooked something... Big... The 12" brookie last year put a serious bend in the tenkara rod, but this was different. It held itself to the bottom with authority, and would give me a good wallop when I tried lifting its head. Seeing the big silvery body, I wondered to myself if somehow some big rainbows were tossed in here. Jumping down to the waters edge, I struggled to net this fish, confirming it to be a ridiculously large brookie for this river! This day has been a VERY fun experience, and while I didn't get to fish the final stretch before the waterfall, I landed 3 superb fish! The wet drive back home was totally worth it!

After making my way up to the pocket pools/rapids, I started to get the hang of fishing shallower runs with my indy rig. I ended up fishing this quite similar to tenkara and had lots of takes from smaller fish. At a big boulder, I hooked into this hog right at the top of the run. She pulled me around and beat my ass with the strong currents. The long fight gave my arm a very hard workout, straining and shaking while trying to drag her into my nearly-too-small net. I've heard of big browns in the credit but catching one of this size in the pocket water section was NOT in my expectations. Now realizing I'm in the presence of possibly multiple big fish, my mind's eye drifted forward, to the next known deep point, from which I've had a big strike prior, but never landed a fish... This deep straight pocket is well covered by a fly gobbling evergreen, and lined with line cutting rocks, however with some skill and careful angles, I started launching my fly in over and over. After setting the depth to nearly 3ft, it happened. A connection was made with a biggun... It was so heavy that I thought it was another snag. A few SLOW head shakes were felt and I understood how outgunned I was with a mere 4wt with 6x. I tried lifting this beast and it would NOT budge. Only a few seconds was I connected with this monster, and it decided a fight with me was not worth its time, and out came the hook... Normally I'd keep hammering the same spot right away, but deciding to do things more strategically, I stopped casting and set a timer for 20min. I took the time to re-tie with 5x, heavier nymph and position myself better for a potential round 2. Unfortunately a wise lunker of this size knew better than I, and unsuccessful casts were thrown over and over again in vain, only fooling a small rainbow form the back of the pool. After all this time used to try and fool 1 fish, I realized something dreadful. The sky had gotten increasingly darker. A quick check of my phone revealed the forecast had changed, and rain was expected...now... Mere minutes after this revelation, the rain gods hammered down on me with thunder, drenching me faster than if I stepped into a running shower. Uh oh... I'm in a really bad position now... I have just reached the big stretch of sketchy rapids before the waterfall, where my only known exit from the canyon exists. I'm barely comfortable with navigating this stretch on a dry day with normal flows, and now it's downpouring with noticeable increase in turbidity and flow. My other option was to wade all the way back to my starting point, which would have been dreadful with the torrent. Standing under a tree in vain, I remembered a small access to the water nearby which seemingly had no trail leading to it. I decided to give it a go seeing as both other choices were not ideal. The gravel access lead to a near vertical climb up the valley, furnished with steel ropes for support. This was not a fun time with a 9ft rod in hand! Eventually making my way to a trail, I was left with a bittersweet feeling as I walked high above past the remaining pockets and runs. While I had caught 2 and lost 1 very good fish, my greedy human mind couldn't help but think of the potential monsters of the runs I had skipped. Cursing the weather, I tried to be satisfied with my haul, thinking I'd end the day by pulling a few small brookies as I pass the bridge above the falls before I start the hike back. Little did I know I would be in for another surprise.