Beauty and the Beast

Shotgun season for deer is in full swing and I had been given a heads up from my buddy that our little trib is in the middle of a war on hoofed creatures. When I envision deer hunters in Southwestern Ontario I picture farmers who hunt once a year and are very excited that their season is in swing. The term Buck Fever comes to mind. Now having to walk a good mile back into the bush I have to say I was a little apprehesive about the whole situation. I really didn't know what to expect out there but my passion for steel pretty much secured the fact that I would be on that river. So to set my nerves at ease I plopped on my $6 Canadian Tire blaze-orange touque and made my way thru the bush. Luckily today the only bucks that were taken within earshot were by myself. Now if Steelhead were on a Boon and Crocket scoring system this guy would be registering big numbers.


The 2006 season has been nothing short of spectacular on our little river and today proved no different. Each outing plays out to be special for it's own unique reasons. Today's was hitting His and Her genetic champions in a large wintering pool that until recent had not been holding fish. This fall we have been gifted with plenty of precipitation and our little trib has been running high scattering fish throughout the system. But today was a low water day so I suspected I would hit a couple of fish from this long deep emerald abyss. To my surprise I managed a monstrous buck pushing well over 10lbs and a beautiful lady in the 7lb class. Both fish were immediately returned to the dephs in which they came after a quick pic. It makes me happy to see such genetic champions in our little river. My day could have finished after these 2 fish but it only continued on with insane pulsating runs and tremendous aerials. Some successes and some defeats but all great memories of another November Great Lakes Steelhead outing.