Growing up in the inner city Salmon were the end of it all and being a great fighting fish for us. The Humber River was the first place we discovered them. We used to take the subway there every day after school when the salmon ran. We used to use marshmallows thinking they loved eating them, I soon realized that the marshmallows just floated to the bottom long enough for the fish to breathe in the bait instead of eating most of the time. Once I realized this sad fact, salmon fishing became a bit boring for me. Until one day in high school I started dumping an old Mepps in the lower Humber River hoping to hook up with a Pike. On this day I took a giant hit and thought I had the pike of my life until I saw a 20+ pound salmon with the spinning wheel hanging out of the side of its mouth. I was so excited that the fish hit the hook. It was this fish that ignited that old love for “The King of the City”. I have since found that they hit all kinds of baits if you do it right.
There is a time every year when salmon come from all over Lake Ontario and aggregate at the mouths of the rivers in the cities of southern Ontario. I never miss this magical moment when the giants of Lake Ontario are ready to hit the baits with some weird kind of instinctive rage, haha! You know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever felt a salmon destroy your bait on a retrieve, if you’ve never experienced this you’re really missing out. And yes, these fish can and do destroy your baits often enough. I’ve had fish bend my split rings straight, bend my hooks straight, and pull wiring straight out of balsa crankbaits, it’s awesome and I love it lol!
The key to catching these thugs is the temperature of the water. If your water is in the mid-60s or lower, you have an excellent chance of hooking up with a real “cow sow.” When the water is in the 60s or higher, you may see fish everywhere, but getting one to bite is another story.
Another factor to consider is the clarity of the water. If the water is like chocolate milk you can forget about hooking one legally with a lure. The clearer the water, the better it is for the most part, but there have been times in stained water where we’ve hit them.
As for equipment, I like heavy equipment. I like to use flippin’ sticks St. 7′6″ Croix Tournament Legend MH for throwing giant spoons, swimbaits and cranks. These rods are great because the tip is softer than most sticks on the market. This softness allows the crankbaits to wobble well and also allows you to fish with muscles without breaking. Despite its soft tip, the rod has a ton of backbone that allows you to propel them in and out before they reel you in. The reels I am using are from Cacutta, Chronarch and Curado. I have been reeling the reels with Berkley XT from 17 to 20lbs for Crankbaits and Swimbaits. When spoon fishing, 20 lb Power has been the number one performer.
When the water has been at the warmer end of the preferred temperature spectrum, the spoons have produced Cranks for the most part. The most successful retriever that has been working with spoons has been the slow and steady retriever. However, the jig and the flutter retriever have seen their days, so don’t be afraid to experiment. Any spoon on the market can work, but the ones that have worked best for me are Williams Trophy Takers, Glow Cleos, Big “no name” Five of Diamonds Glow Spoons, and Northern Kings (great for jig and flutter).
Crankbaits have also performed better on a slow and steady retrieve. But there have been times with Husky Jerks and Rogues where the idiot, idiot, pause has killed them! We’ve caught them on just about every type of Crank you can imagine. Here is a list of some of the baits I have caught them on: Rapala Taildancers, Rapala J13’s, Rapala Risto Raps, Rapala Shad Raps (one of my best days was with this bait in a fire tiger pattern), Rattlin’ Raps, Bill Norman Bass Lures, Rattlin’ Spots, Bomber long A’s in deep and shallow diving, Husky Jerks, Rattlin’ Rogues, Wally Diver’s, Wally Minnow’s, Fat Free Shad’s, Reef Runner’s, Fast Trac Minnow’s and the list goes on lol ! Oh yeah, I even caught one on a spinnerbait near the Toronto Islands! Some days I keep changing lures, sometimes you catch one and then nothing until you change lures. Changing baits often can pay off sometimes, but make sure you have a quality plug that won’t bend. In general, I like salmon fishing with Crankbait better than spoon fishing because they tend to crush Cranks harder. When night comes, I use glow tape on my Cranks so the fish can see my bait better. I recharge the tape with the flash of my camera from time to time. I do the same with the glowing spoons.
I’ll be there tonight because the water is getting cold right now and I have a feeling the Cranks will have the block on fire! I hope to see you there.
Peace T
Posted by Taro in Fishing. No comment
