Had never fished an actual trout opener weekend I don’t think. Probably because of past place and time? And certainly can’t recall being excited to do so either… but, this year was a little different.
After an invite and last minute decision to join Len and our friend Luke, not one of us got much sleep upon leaving the Ottawa area shortly after midnight for our overnight drive to the Saugeen River. Ten years had passed since I did any float fishing in Ontario, (never for rainbows) and the thought of trying my luck for steelies did make me feel rather young and restless.
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The boys having drifted this Georgian Bay crick a few years now, over time I had heard a number of stories about their rainbow trout fishing through one long and quiet stretch of the river.
It intrigued me for sure. To see some place new, breaking away from any rumored steelheading crowds and to do it from a raft seemed perfect. Over twenty years I’ve quite enjoyed days on the water floating other rivers and lakes from a belly boat, this Saugeen with it’s quick current but easy rapids appeared it would provide a great stage to kick the flips and try the fishing luck.
Once on the Geen I quickly realized what a treat this would be. Passing by anglers while leaving town it was made evident by some looks and comments that we were quite envied. Within a quick half hour or so we would be on our own, and other than one drift boat and one canoe passing us by, it would remain that way for the rest of our trip downstream.
The river itself was absolutely beautiful. Water levels were about a foot below seasonal although there was not one stretch I considered hazardous in the least. In fact, it was mentioned to Len and Luke several times over that the WarCanoe could have handled much, if not all of this length, and especially not a problem had the season’s levels provided their usual depth. It certainly got the wheels turning.
The float itself was really cool. Sun out most of the time but the northwind off Georgian Bay, it was a little chilly now and again. We stopped in plenty of areas and even did a little hiking around here and there in search of bows. Once, my float dropped while walking the dog down the river. The float drifting in front of me, it was fun to steer while flowing above it from tube controlled only by my flippers. I lost that fish though, in fact, I lost most during the trip. Fishing from the tube you miss a little scenery while watching the float or casting hardware into fishy looking pockets along the way so, stopping ashore to cast good looking water seemed to bring better odds.
Len’s two crafts were amazing for this style of fishing. Each having capacity for 1200+ pounds, they easily handled our payload. The thought of these things on a river like the Sutton for a week… oooohhh yeah me wanna So maneuverable by paddle and fins, riding high and dry and super made, they’re like floating in personal Lazy Boys. This said, my craft with it’s 400 pound capacity was real gnarly and comfortable too. Two or three precise kicks with one fin and it’ll spin 360 in seconds. Below the knees, feet are submerged, the butt takes a little splash, but otherwise I was high and dry as well. Not having to worry about paddles and being able to quickly go one side of the river to the other kicking the feet, the arms were always free to fish. It’s a choice float tube for a day or overnight trip.
This year the fellas and I didn’t see all that many trout, especially in lower sections. They were used to a couple dozen in past trips but this time around with the waters low and real cold things just didn’t quite go the same way I guess. Anyways, end of it all our float on the river was awesome and nobody took a skunk, there were rainbows for all. Hopefully, any trips to come the fish will make it up to us in better numbers. For me, this first round best goes to the new experience of it all. Drifting the Saugeen with a couple friends and taking in a whole other kinda fun on the water, it was quality from top to bottom. Thanks to Lenny for making it happen.
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Bunk
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