Toronto Islands carping
Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 6:15 pm
I worked 12 hours yesterday and working some more today...to the point where I said screw it and I went home grumpy.
It was 4pm and I thought...what the heck...let's go to the Islands for the afternoon.
I grabbed my net, my 9' travel rod, a reel with 8lb Sufix Siege and off I went.
At afternoon crowd at the ferry was much nicer than a mid-day crowd. And lucky enough, there was already a ferry offloading passengers when I got there. Of course, I went to the other end of the ferry right at the gate just so I could get off first when the ferry reach the Islands
Just can't wait to fish 
A short walk and I got to my spot where I saw some carp last weekend. I took a little time to set up my hair rig and put on 5 kernels of corn. People have been feeding the ducks and geese and you could see the carp milling around for food that got past the birds.
I fling my rig just about 15 feet from shore and waited. About 2 minute later my float went down and I was tugging on a decent brown bullhead.
This fish has been feeding on bottom so much that the belly was rubbed pink!
Somehow, after unhooking the fish, my hook went missing. Hm...
So I took some time to set up the rig again...and back it went. Once in a while, I threw out a few kernels of corn to chum the area a bit.
About 30min later, I saw some feeding bubbles around my float...and a few seconds later, my float just shot off! 8O
I let the fish pull out all the slack and then gave it a sweeping hookset. Fish ON!
This fish was HOT! It just kept screaming off line and went around the bay. Just as I was gathering my belonging to chase the fish, I felt a bump and then a thud...a small give...and PING! Gone!
The fish went into some submerged branches and managed to rub my line and snapped off. My 6lb mono leader was no match.
Okay...well, I'm going to fish straight 8lb copolymer then. I set up another hair rig and tossed it out. Another 20min later, my float shot off again! I set the hook and felt weight...but then it came off. My guess was that the fish grabbed the corn and missed the hook. Oh well.
So a fourth time I sent out the rig...and chum some more. Around 8pm, my float shot off once more. I set the hook solid into the fish...and game ON!
This fish also tried to wrap me on a submerged branch...but luck was on my side and the branch was pulled out from the muddy bottom...only now, the branch was wrapped around twice on my line and it was swinging wildly in the air.
As the fish bulldogged around, the branch finally fell off the line. Whew! The fish was not done though...it dug...and dug...and dug...but each time, I was able to gain just a little bit back. Finally, after what felt like 5min (probably only 3min or so), I had the fish jut 5 feet from my net. Of course, the fish gave a few more kicks each time I tried to net it. In the end though, I won that battle!
Beauty shot for my fish list.
And I had quite a crowd around me as soon as I hooked up.
Everyone was happy to see the fish released. The fish didn't even hang around as soon as it felt water.
After the crowd cleared, I checked my rig and sent it out again. I had a few bumps but no real bites. So by 8:45pm, I called it a day.
Next time, I may find a quieter spot though. Throughout my session, I had the same few questions from the passerby.
1) Are there any fish here?
2) Are you allowed to fish here?
3) Can you eat the fish here?
4) Have you caught anything here?
After the 10th replies, I was getting just a little exhausted answering these same questions.
Can't a man just fish in a little peace. I guess I brought it on myself for fishing in a busy area.
After I took the ferry back, I decided to put in another hour of work at the lab since it was on the way home I really don't know why I work so hard
But still...it was an awesome afternoon out
The weather couldn't be better
It was 4pm and I thought...what the heck...let's go to the Islands for the afternoon.
I grabbed my net, my 9' travel rod, a reel with 8lb Sufix Siege and off I went.
At afternoon crowd at the ferry was much nicer than a mid-day crowd. And lucky enough, there was already a ferry offloading passengers when I got there. Of course, I went to the other end of the ferry right at the gate just so I could get off first when the ferry reach the Islands
Just can't wait to fish
A short walk and I got to my spot where I saw some carp last weekend. I took a little time to set up my hair rig and put on 5 kernels of corn. People have been feeding the ducks and geese and you could see the carp milling around for food that got past the birds.
I fling my rig just about 15 feet from shore and waited. About 2 minute later my float went down and I was tugging on a decent brown bullhead.
This fish has been feeding on bottom so much that the belly was rubbed pink!
Somehow, after unhooking the fish, my hook went missing. Hm...
So I took some time to set up the rig again...and back it went. Once in a while, I threw out a few kernels of corn to chum the area a bit.
About 30min later, I saw some feeding bubbles around my float...and a few seconds later, my float just shot off! 8O
I let the fish pull out all the slack and then gave it a sweeping hookset. Fish ON!
This fish was HOT! It just kept screaming off line and went around the bay. Just as I was gathering my belonging to chase the fish, I felt a bump and then a thud...a small give...and PING! Gone!
The fish went into some submerged branches and managed to rub my line and snapped off. My 6lb mono leader was no match.
Okay...well, I'm going to fish straight 8lb copolymer then. I set up another hair rig and tossed it out. Another 20min later, my float shot off again! I set the hook and felt weight...but then it came off. My guess was that the fish grabbed the corn and missed the hook. Oh well.
So a fourth time I sent out the rig...and chum some more. Around 8pm, my float shot off once more. I set the hook solid into the fish...and game ON!
This fish also tried to wrap me on a submerged branch...but luck was on my side and the branch was pulled out from the muddy bottom...only now, the branch was wrapped around twice on my line and it was swinging wildly in the air.
As the fish bulldogged around, the branch finally fell off the line. Whew! The fish was not done though...it dug...and dug...and dug...but each time, I was able to gain just a little bit back. Finally, after what felt like 5min (probably only 3min or so), I had the fish jut 5 feet from my net. Of course, the fish gave a few more kicks each time I tried to net it. In the end though, I won that battle!
Beauty shot for my fish list.
And I had quite a crowd around me as soon as I hooked up.
Everyone was happy to see the fish released. The fish didn't even hang around as soon as it felt water.
After the crowd cleared, I checked my rig and sent it out again. I had a few bumps but no real bites. So by 8:45pm, I called it a day.
Next time, I may find a quieter spot though. Throughout my session, I had the same few questions from the passerby.
1) Are there any fish here?
2) Are you allowed to fish here?
3) Can you eat the fish here?
4) Have you caught anything here?
After the 10th replies, I was getting just a little exhausted answering these same questions.
Can't a man just fish in a little peace. I guess I brought it on myself for fishing in a busy area.
After I took the ferry back, I decided to put in another hour of work at the lab since it was on the way home
I really don't know why I work so hard
But still...it was an awesome afternoon out
The weather couldn't be better 
I was expecting big fish 