Early Spring Update 2012

There is nothing, in my opinion, better then fishing for spring Chinook salmon in shallow water. At times it can be tricky to find them and then make them bite, but it is well worth it when you do. As you may know, the 2011-2012 winter was the warmest on record. Signs are everywhere that the seasonal signs have progress ahead of schedule, and the water temperatures and fish location and behaviours are proving without exception we are seeing an early season In mid March, Brown Trout were being caught in good numbers. Where boats were ready to start the open water fishing, they were rewarded with a good Brown Trout to start the trolling season. I managed to get my boat out on the water for it’s first trip of the season on March 21st, where I was delighted to find the motors start with a quick crank and off we went out of Foran’s in Grimsby. We left the dock at noon after a morning of cleaning and prepping the boat. A quick four hour fish resulted in one Brown Trout weighing 6 lbs. We fished in TShirts and enjoyed the afternoon sun turning our faces red by the end of our day. The following Sunday I joined Mark Penner for a trip down to the Niagara Bar at the mouth of the Niagara River. We drifted the bar for a number of hours and lost one fish and boated this nice 14 lbs Lake Trout on a Jig.

From Photo_Gallery6

The winds started to blow every time I had the chance to get out on the lake for the next two weeks. As well the warmer water temperatures continued it’s upward increase. By Easter weekend consistent reports of Chinook Salmon were coming to the boat for those who like to ply the shallow waters of Ontario’s South Shore of Lake Ontario. Easter for me was also busy without time to afford a trip to experience the spring chromers. But the wait was ended on Thursday evening April 12, 2012. Brian Blainey “Mako” has had his boat in the water at Lakecourt for weeks already. He invited me to join him for a fish in front of Grimsby. A quick trip home from work and to the marina to join Brian for the evening voyage. We left the dock at 5:00 pm, we were greeted with green water in front and an offshore breeze making our shallow targeted fishing area a wonderful place to fish. We rounded the rock pier and noticed a guy on the Pumphouse Pier fighting a fish we watched as we motored out slowly and he landed it. A quality silver fish (likely a king) was in the bag of his landing net and he was excited The following video sums up a great trip of shallow kings with Brian Blainey. Shane Thombs