I had caught a small pike at the same location just minutes before this one smashed my Mepps Aglia #5. I had just made a long distance cast in one of my favorite spots. A small boat was passing by about 50 feet from where my lure hit the water. After a few cranks of the reel everything just stopped. Instinct told me to set the hook, but when I did nothing happened. It was stuck. I knew it wasn’t a snag, because I had fished that area and was familiar with the depths. Suddenly I felt a heavy head shake and I knew it was a big one. She bulldogged down into the weeds and what had felt like a big one now felt like a huge one! I managed to pull her out of the weeds after what felt like an eternity and finally got a good view as she thrashed around on the surface. I got the big pike close to shore and struggled to setup my camera on a picnic table and set the timer. She looked a little beat up, but swam away strong!

My biggest Toronto pike, just shy of 42 inches.

I know a lot of our readers will be out tomorrow, so good luck! I’ll be carrying plenty of Fishing Fury stickers with me, so feel free to come and talk to me if you see me, and I can hook you up. I don’t have a proper pike rod with me, but I’ll be attempting to cast out my very own Rockstar Lures that were specifically designed for Toronto Islands pike. Not only are they larger then your average spinner bait, but they are an ideal weight for shore casting the canals throughout the islands.

Heres a shot of an average Toronto pike I caught back in 2006, the last time I had fished the islands heavily.

“He just had to share this love with someone and so in 1964, he called his friend Louis Rostant (Trinidad) and they met in Grenada with Martin Mathias, owner of a beautiful sports fishing vessel named “Bahari”, to formulate and stage the first ever Grenada Fishing Tournament.

Sadly, no records have been available but we do know that less than 10 boats (Grenada & Trinidad) participated in what was essentially a gentleman’s tournament. No formal rules were in effect at the time.”

Flash forward to the seventies. Short shorts, aviator glasses, bikinis and mustaches were all the rage. I wasn’t even born yet, but my soon to be parents were living the good life down in the Caribbean. My dad was was charter boat captain, specializing in catching big game such as tuna, sailfish and marlin around the island of Grenada.

The year was 1976. A woman by the name of Sue Gallibrand stepped aboard the mighty Bahari a mere mortal, and stepped off a legend, setting the womens world record for yellowfin tuna at 138 lbs (62.5 kg) using 20 lb test.

Sue Gallibrand (center) and Martin Mathias (far right)

While the record has not stood the test of time, I’m certain the story will live forever.

PS. If anyone needs an island fishing guide and has the cash to cover my expenses to get there, I’m all yours!

Bora Bora, French Polynesia

via National Geographic

Well, they get as big as they do anywhere else, some reaching over 40 inches and 20+ pounds. Over the years, re-designs and modifications to our site have caused us to misplace a few photos. We do have backups though, and will be bringing back old photos to share once again. Here’s a prime example of a healthy Toronto pike caught by Jon a couple years ago. While this one was under 40 inches, it was a very solid fish.

If you have fished Center Island, you will probably recognize this spot immediately.

After tossing around several ideas for a website name, we finally decided on a name we both loved immediately. Combining our favorite past time, with our favorite lure, Fishing Fury was born.

fish·ing – the technique, occupation, or diversion of catching fish
fu·ry – unrestrained or violent anger, rage, passion, or the like

With a name chosen, we wasted no time and unleashed our unrestrained passion for fishing to the world. Fishing Fury has been, and always will be about sharing our love of fishing with anyone and everyone.

Jonathan Marshall [sic] and Clive Mathias, creators of the website fishingfury.com, are both experienced anglers who make it their business to fish in the city and tell people where — and how — to do it.

If their website is any indication, not only are there huge fish, particularly pike, to be caught around Toronto, but there is also a thriving angling community here.

Like many Torontonians, Marshall doesn’t own a car and uses the TTC to get to his fishing spots.

“I’m pretty much stuck in the area, but that’s okay,” he said, noting he heads over to Toronto Islands for pike fishing after work.

“The pike opportunities on Toronto Islands during the last week of May is probably the best fishing in Toronto I’ve ever had,” he said, noting the evening hours from 5 to 9 are probably the best times.

His secret? Large inline spinners, like a Mepps Black Fury 5, casted in and around weedbeds with a medium or medium-heavy spinning rod.

“Pretty much anywhere you see a weed bed is the perfect place to go,” he said, noting the centre channel on Centre Island is probably the best spot of all.

Also try the water near the amphitheatre on Centre Island if the boat traffic isn’t too busy.

In addition to pike and bass, anglers can also catch panfish, carp, trout and salmon (seasonally) from the shores of the islands. Marshall said he even once caught a walleye there.

It’s a great article and I’m very happy that I was interviewed! Don’t forget that next weekend is the National Fishing Week, which means you do not need a license to fish that weekend but you must follow the conservation license rules. There are also family fishing activities all over the GTA and across Canada.

Bryn if you’re ever in need of a fishing partner let me know, I’m more than willing to meet you some where on the TTC or even split those extremely high gas prices!

We wasted no time once we arrived at the beach and immediately jumped in our boat, and Dan into his. We had the same guide as before (Cayo), since he seemed to share our intense passion for catching fish. The sea was a little bit calmer this day and we were able to make very good time getting to our destination. Cayo carved his way through the waves and swells with the precision only a person who had spent their entire life on the ocean could do. The sun beat down hard on us as our guide netted bait fish. It was obvious that today was going to be a very hot day on the water, even though clouds had begun to move in. We lathered up with sun screen and headed for deeper water.

The day started slower then our previous trip. We circled the area for a quite a while before we had our first hit. It was certainly worth the wait when line started peeling off my reel. I had decided to stick with the equipment supplied by Fishermen’s Fleet this time instead of my muskie equipment. Now I was using a nice big Shimano reel spooled with forty pound line. While many anglers use a heavier line for fishing saltwater, all the reels here seemed to be spooled with the forty pound line because the main fish we are targeting (Pargo, commonly known as Snapper) have very good eyesight and don’t hit the bait on heavier line. The only drawback to using only forty pound line is that these fish are extremely strong and can reach over one hundred pounds. They immediately pull straight down into the sharp rocks below, cutting your line. The idea is to chase the fish once hooked and bring in as much line as possible. You can only hope that the fish will head toward deeper water, because if they don’t, you will more then likely loose the fish. I of course learned this first hand after battling a good size pargo for almost five minutes before my line got cut. There isn’t a whole lot you can do when these fish start to run. I tried my best to keep the rod tip up and bring in as much line as possible to no avail. When you try to bring in the fish quickly you risk the chance of breaking the line from stress, but when you reel to slow you run the risk of loosing the fish to the rocks. It requires a very precise mixture of finesse and brute strength.

Continue reading Cerralvo Island, March 11th 2005

Every fisherman has been shore bound at one time. After all it is the oldest and most common method. You don’t have a boat, the body of water you’re fishing doesn’t support them, or it’s just not feasible to get your boat in or to the water. Many people think that you cant land big fish from shore, let alone a lot of them. But by using these tactics you will find the best structure and locations quickly getting you one step closer to hooking the big one.

The tactics discussed here are most important when fishing new water and there is only one rule: “cover everything”. You must be very thorough and meticulous in your approach the first few days. Think of it as a reconnaissance mission, you may not be catching fish your first day, but you’re gathering information that will lead to lots of fish later.

Continue reading…