Oshawa Creek

On a steelhead magnet that I made. Thanks to Riley Leonituk for the photographs and the mad dash for the net.

2nd bow of the day. Could not get a sucker for the life of me. I really need one for my aquarium. On the ultralight, 4lb fluoro.

Went looking for suckers. I saw tons of them but couldn’t keep the bows off of me. On the ultralight, 4lb fluoro leader.

Caught a couple suckers today in the creek!!!

Big, beautiful brown trout in the Oshawa on the 1/16 rooster tail single hook. I love BFS fishing, but I wish it was more accessible in Canada. Also, everyone seems to have steelie-mania right now, they forget about the browns.

Also caught this little baby trout in the Oshawa creek!!!

The salmon run in our rivers is in its final stretch! Countless salmon have journeyed from Lake Ontario, striving to swim upstream to their breeding grounds to lay their eggs. They battle strong currents, navigate through narrow rock crevices, overcome fallen log obstacles, and leap over dams—yet not all of them reach their destination. Many perish during this arduous journey; only the strongest will succeed in reproducing the next generation. I brought along my most robust rod, rigged with a heavy fishing line, eager to hook one of these magnificent creatures. Most of the time, when I cast my bait in front of them, they simply ignore it; all they want to do at that moment is rush to their breeding grounds as quickly as possible. I've heard that many stop feeding once they enter the river. I fished along a long stretch of the river, and today was peculiar—I didn’t encounter a single other angler. The river was relatively quiet, save for the occasional big splashes made by salmon trying to navigate the shallow sections. I watched around 20 salmon pass by me, yet none were willing to take my bait. How frustrating! Then I switched to an egg pattern fly, and suddenly everything changed! Some salmon became interested and began chasing after them as they drifted with the current. Suddenly, my float plunged down—a huge salmon had taken the bait, and the fight was on! It felt like hooking into a massive truck; I had no control over it! The fish kept taking line from my reel and sprinting downstream. I had to hold my rod high, careful not to let it bend too much for fear it might snap at any moment. I followed the fish down the river, navigating carefully to avoid letting it swim under any submerged trees. After a grueling 20 minutes, I thought both the fish and I were exhausted. Finally, I managed to bring the fish to shore and captured some victory photos with this impressive bounty! After our photo session, I successfully released it back into the water so it could continue its journey. P.S.: The revive station setup was inspired by Kevin Høecke . It was such a brilliant idea! Credit goes to him; The longer the fight lasts, the longer it takes for the fish to recover—this particular fish took about 20 minutes to fully regain its strength!

I went trout fishing in the Oshawa River. The river has lots of dead salmon carcasses and emits an unpleasant smell. Despite that, I was able to find a few deep pools and catch some really nice rainbow trout. I was using a spinner and a fly. The first trout I caught was a beauty—its scales glimmered like jewels. As I carefully unhooked it, I couldn’t help but admire its vibrant colors, a stark contrast to the stinky and dull waters around me. I released it back into the pool, watching it dart away with renewed vigor. It reminded me that even in places where life seemed to struggle, there were still moments of beauty and resilience. After a while, I decided to take a break and sat down on a mossy rock by the water's edge. As I munched on my sandwich, I noticed a family of ducks paddling nearby, seemingly unfazed by the unpleasantness surrounding them. They quacked cheerfully, making it a peaceful moment. After the break, I switched to a fly pattern and was able to catch a few more. Today 's count was 5 in about 60 minutes of wading.