How about a complete set of premium fishing weights from Water Gremlin! All you have to do is register for our forums and post a member introduction before 2012!

Maybe forums aren’t you’re thing but you love those ‘guess how many’ contests. Well check out our final Christmas contest where you could win some sweet lures by guessing how many fishing lures Clive used to decorated his Christmas tree.

And just in case that wasn’t enough I’m already planning the first contest of 2012 where you could win a prize pack of Kiwi Camp Dry products like the Performance Fabric Protector that I reviewed earlier this year.

All you’ve got to do is join our forums and post a member introduction. That’s it! Two lucky winners will be chosen by a random number generator.

Already a member of the forums? As long as you’ve posted a member introduction you’re eligible. If not, go post an introduction now!

There are moments where blogs seem to write themselves in my mind while an experience is taking place. The sun shines a little brighter, the cool water swirls around my wading boots.. ducks taking off just downstream and flying feet overhead. It sounds to be straight from a book, but no – it’s fly fishing. This weekend was truly one of those times, and as I am writing this I am smiling while reliving it all over again.

Usually my blogs start off as a story and I save the best photo for last… but this time I am going to lay it on you right away. CHECK OUT THIS FISH:

My first ever brown trout caught yesterday here in Ontario, Canada. (Yes, mud on my nose! haha)

Brown trout are officially the most beautiful fish I’ve seen here in Canada. This one was spotted during a steelhead mission on a Lake Ontario tributary with my usual fly fishing partner, Mikey Fitzgerald. We made quite a trek down stream towards the big lake and began fishing when we spotted a couple trout.

Mikey:

“The area we found the two brown trout holding is what I would classify as a classic holding location. It was a deeply cut pool with wood on the steepest bank very close to an undercut bank. Migratory brown trout are literally suckers for areas like these. Two or three fish will stack up under the wood, and spawn at night at the tailout. We struck out with finding a spot like that.”

I stood on a high bank and casted down to the log that the trout were holding under. I was out of sight for the fish, and Mikey stood back enough to see what was going on. I could see my fly, but he had a better view of the fish. They were down low and tucked under a small log sticking out from the bank. The log was at the edge so the current swirled by the log, which was a perfect path for a “Pink Crystal Meth” fly. The fly caught the current and drifted right in their face. A few practice casts and tips from Mikey to get in the right spot and I was set. Now cast… cast… cast… and FLASH, SPLASH, FISH ON!

“Ashley, that is a HUGE brown!”

His words made me panic.. in a good way. Never had I been hooked into a brown trout! The battle lasted a few minutes and then the fish freed itself. A good story always has some heartbreak. I was really let down… but somehow I felt it wasn’t over yet. The fish moved into the stream and held beside another brown facing upstream. Mikey suggested letting the fish rest before trying for it again, and trying a different fly.

The next item on the menu - a "Fresh Fly".

This fly was larger and imitates rotting salmon skin… tasty eh? The smaller brown went at the fly first but missed and then after a few more casts…it happened. That big brown inhaled it… and the real battle began! I immediately backed off my drag and jumped in the stream and made my way across to a larger flatter area where it would be easier to land the fish if I had that opportunity.

“The fish generally tried to keep itself buried in the submerged logs, really bulldogging it and staying on bottom. It made a couple of really desperate runs to the back of the pool then back up to the head of the pool. What they love to do is try to wrap around anything they can find first thing and that’s exactly what it was looking to do. If Ashley’s flyrod had of been one weight lighter, she might have been in trouble, but she wrestled him really well.”

(I use a 7 weight G Loomis Eastfork with a Venture reel, by the way). As you will notice in the pictures, there is a walking bridge in the background. As I was fighting the fish, a small group of people that were walking the trail stopped to watch. I noticed a couple at first but I became so focused on landing the fish that I couldn’t hear anything except the fish splashing, the line peeling out and Mikey talking me through it. When the fish finally gave up the group of about 6-8 people were cheering and clapping. I asked if one of them could come down and take our picture. (Thanks hiker-man!) We didn’t have a scale on us, or a tape measure, but I am all about catch-photo-release anyway. It was THIS big!

Mikey, myself and the most beautiful fish I've had the chance to meet.

After a few photos on my iPhone and Mikey's camera, the fish was back in the water to be released.

After this incredible moment, we climbed back up on the bank and just sat there to take the whole experience in. The trout layed low in the stream for awhile, and finally took off which felt really good to see. We stuck around for a bit and Mikey landed the other brown! After that we made our way upstream and searched for steelhead. I definitely smiled the rest of the day.. even after hooking steelhead and losing them!!!! The mission for my first steelhead continues… but the adventure has been worth it so far. Hopefully next time. Thanks Mikey!

This post was written by Ashley Rae of SheLovesToFish.com

I received my small collections of jigs in the mail last week, all individually wrapped in small ziplock bags. Though they came packed nearly flat in the bubble envelope they were shipped in they puffed up very nicely with only a little shake. So far, I’m very impressed with the quality of Big Smallie Tackle’s jigs and I have a feeling these are going to make those Toronto Island spring pike go crazy!

More photos after the break!

You can also find Kype Magazine Volume 3, Issue 1 on our sidebar, just above the recent comments, and you can read the back issues on Issuu.com.

* You like free fishing fury swag? Send me a picture of you holding up your copy of Kype Magazine Volume 3, Issue 2 with your address and you’ll have a surprise in your mailbox 2-6 weeks later!

The day started with extraordinarily high hopes. The boats captain, A.J. Francis of Tuna Adventures had called me late the day before. I could hear the excitement in his voice. He told about the days events, “One of our best days yet!” Seven tuna hooked and four of them brought boat side before being gently released back into the depths. The biggest fish was an estimated 900+ pounds, while the smallest was a measly little 400 pounder. Hardly worth the trouble I’m sure.

My original plan was to make the three-hour drive up to Cape George early in the morning and have a quick nap before the sun came up and our adventure would begin. I was way too excited to sleep. Instead, I climbed the rocks near the marina and sat quietly, watching a bright red sun rise from the sea. A.J. arrived shortly after and greeted me with a big smile and firm handshake. We climbed on board his boat the Fisher’s Grant, a 45 foot fiberglass boat built by Doucette for one purpose, catching big fish. The first mate John Gavin arrived and within minutes we set off.

Continue reading Tuna Fishing Adventures…

The large tube shaped package stood before me, reaching all the way up to my ceiling. In its packaging it looked more like a stripper pole then a fishing rod. The package felt way too light to be a big heavy duty musky rod and for a moment I feared that someone had stolen the rod. I was relieved as I pulled the rod out of the case and saw the Tackle Industries logo starring back at me. It was extraordinarily light weight for its size, weighing in at only 9.4 ounces (268 grams) on my scale. To put that into perspective, a full can of Coke weighs 12 ounces. When you pick it up, its sort of like picking up a carton of milk when you expect it to be full and it isn’t.

I like big butts

Tackle Industry musky rod (top) compared to Shimano Compre musky rod (bottom)

A few specs on this rod:

“Mag Heavy” XH Power Rods: Retail $145.95 (Only $120 during the current summer sale!)
– Rod length is 9′
– Lure weight rated: 3-12oz
– Line weight rated: 60-130lb
– Power: XH or Extra Heavy
– Speed/Action: Medium Fast

- Quality Fuji® components and Fuji® Reel seats
- Number of guides (10); Fuji® Alconite tip top guide and 9 SiC
- 9′ Solid blank rod handle length: 18″
- 1.3″ diameter oversize cork handle with flared end for ultimate comfort all day
- 6″ cork foregrip

This is the fifth rod in my muskie/pike arsenal and despite being more then a foot longer then the others, its the second lightest, just behind my Shimano Compre muskie rod. I cant wait to test this rod out on some big fish!

I made the bacon bowls out of two pieces of bacon, one cut in half to create the bottom, and one full strip around the side. The bacon is weaved over the bottom side of a cupcake tin covered in tin foil, very similar to these bacon cups. After the bacon cups were done cooking and cooled for a few minutes I filled them with some chopped spinach, bell peppers, tomatos, red onion and mushrooms. Then topped them with some Pure Alaska Salmon Think Pink! Pink Salmon and a few drops of olive oil, some fresh rosemary and ground pepper. After that I started experimenting with other flavours until I ran out of salmon and bacon bowls.

The wild pink salmon was absolutely delicious and it’s very healthy, not to mention sustainable, though I realize that I probably negated some of that by eating like eight pieces of bacon. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m very picky about my fish choices at the dinner table and I don’t like canned fish. I’ve never eaten canned salmon before, but I really enjoyed the overall taste and texture of the pink salmon even right out of the can. The full review will be coming in the next few weeks, until then you can enjoy some more photos of other combinations I created.