When One Ends, Another Begins

When one ends, another begins. This can be said about many things, such as chapters in ones life, football games on Sunday and relationships. However, I of course am talking about fishing seasons! Tomorrow is Halloween and that means there is exactly one month left in the Bass Fishing Season here in Ontario. Once that ends, I shift my focus to my favorite winter activity of them all... ICE FISHING!

The last four weeks of the 2012 bass season are bound to be busy for me. I'll be doing a little bit of cranking for largemouth and a lot of drop-shotting for those hungry fall smallies! November is a busy month for bass anglers in Niagara. We have several late season tournaments to choose to compete in if we wish. I may have an opportunity to fish the the St. Catharines Bassmasters... a local division of the Ontario Bass Federation. I also make a point of volunteering to work at the Frostbite Tackle and Guide Service Opens on Lake Erie each weekend in November. Simon and Melanie Frost are a HUGE part of why I love fishing, and helping them out is a subtle way for me to say "thanks" to them! 

The 2012 bass season was an interesting one for me. First and foremost, I started this blog to share my adventures with my fellow anglers! I spent a lot of time this year improving my largemouth game despite living in an area surrounded by the worlds most intense smallie waters! I'm pretty sure I flipped more docks, trees, boats, and bridges this season than I have in my entire life... and for good reason! Caught many largies pushing 5 pounds this year! My most memorable day of fishing in 2012 has to be launching an aluminum in a small local pond I've fished to little avail since my childhood and catching well over 50 bass! I became the proud owner of a beautiful new Shimano Ci-4 this year as well, and I still love! I didn't get to fish as many tournaments as I hoped, just some small weekend events and the "Help A Child Smile Charity" on Lake Erie and Niagara River. My partner, Matt, and I didn't have a fantastic day but a lot of guys finished a lot worse than we did. It was rough, wet, tough and windy but we still managed over 15 pounds of Lake Erie small mouth! All things considered, I've enjoyed every second of this season. I got to fish with Matt in the HACS event, spend some time on the water with one of my best childhood friends Tyler Frost and his dad Simon, a Pro bass angler and Canadian Open Champion! As always, I fished a bit with my good friend Matt Kar from the Power Team Lures Pro-Staff and my aunts young nephew Travis! We have spent a lot of time wetting some lures and ripping lips together! This was the first year in many that I didn't get to fish with my dad at the family cottage, but hey, I'm sure we'll get out some time! One of this years biggest highlights by far is becoming a writer for Reno Viola Outdoors on his fishing blog! I can't wait to start working with Reno and his outdoors adventure. 

Now that my season is nearly over it's time to get back in the swing of walking on hard water and drilling holes in the lake! I'm looking forward to having a great year of ice fishing! I am planning to take a trip this winter to the famed Lake Nipissing this year in search of some trophy walleye. Speaking of trophy walleye, I can't wait to get up to the Bay of Quinte. Last spring I was fortunate enough to meet Ashley Rae of www.shelovestofish.com in Niagara Falls at the Niagara Sportsman Show, and spoke a bit about Quinte. After seeing some of the Gold she has pulled through the hard water I can't wait to return! Maybe if I'm lucky she'll take me out and show me the ropes of fishing this pristine body of water. I will also be attending the Crappie Derby at Binbrook Conservation Area again this year. This is a small Saturday event that I look forward to attending every winter. It's a great day with fantastic sponsors and awesome prizes to be won! I really look forward to meeting up with a lot of the anglers who follow my blog, Facebook Page and Twitter Page over the winter for some fishing! 

That's all for now, I'll report back if I survive this crazy November! I have to make it through the end of bass season before I make it to hard water, right!? I hope the ice hurries up and comes in soon! Remember to always be safe out there, fish hard and take lots of pictures! Stay safe my friends! 

Fishing The Mighty Niagara with Pro Angler Simon Frost

A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from a long time friend of mine from my childhood. Tyler asked if I wanted to go fishing, a question to which the answer is ALWAYS yes. This however would not be any old fishing trip. I was asked to go fish the waters of New York State for smallmouth with Ty and his dad, Simon Frost, a professional bass angler. Simon has several first place tournament victories, including a win at the 2000 Canadian Open of Bass Fishing, and countless top 5 and top 10 finishes throughout Ontario and the United States. I get excited when I get to go out and fish with Simon, there are always big fish and lots of laughs. 

Many years ago, Simon took me out fishing on Lake Erie with Tyler for a day. Prior to that trip, I simply liked fishing. Following that day I loved it. Every opportunity I got to spend with him after that day, I took. He has molded me into an experienced, confident, competitive and knowledgeable fisherman. It is thanks to him I love the sport and share it with the world. I've become a regular working at Fishing and Outdoor trade shows for his company, Frostbite Tackle & Guide Service, and even help out with the operations of the Frostbite Fishing Series Open tournaments in the summer and fall. 

On this day, the week prior to Canadian bass season opener, we made the short drive over to Western New York and launched at a nice little public launch on the Upper Niagara River. We made a really short run to our first spot where we saw many spawning beds abandoned, but a few still holding fish. It was at this first spot where I caught my first American Upper Niagara River largie! He wasn't big, but still fought good and hard.

My first River largemouth, caught on a wacky style Strike King Ocho in Green Pumpkin.

Shortly after landing my first couple of river largies, Tyler lands a good size small mouth that came back two or three times to bite his drop shot! As we proceeded down the weedline we were fishing, we dropped to slightly deeper water. At this point we are sight fishing smallmouth in the crystal clear water. I hooked into a big fat one using my favorite green tubes with smoke skirts, and as I reeled him towards the boat, he took a leap of faith and shook out the hooks 10 feet from the net. I wasn't too impressed, but soldiered on. A couple minutes later, Tyler and I see Simon's rod bend right over, and hear him saying "net, get the net." When you're out fishing with a Pro, and he says "get the net..." you get the net! We scooped the smallie, and had to take a second for a quick photo-op with the big, healthy bass! 

Simon's fat, healthy Smallmouth off a weedline

I had a great day out on the water with Tyler and Simon, as I do every time I get out with them. It's always tons of fun, and we catch tons of fish! I'm lucky to have people like Tyler, Simon and his wife Mel to help me become the best angler I can be! I sincerely appreciate everything they do to help me, including getting on the water, teaching me new techniques and helping me try new products on the market!

You too, can have the fishing experience of a lifetime with Simon. He is professional fishing guide, entertaining his clients on Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Simcoe, Lake St. Clair and the mighty Niagara River for Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, and Perch. Feel free to give Simon a call to book a day of fishing at (905) 984-4263 or visit his website at www.simonfrost.ca Tell him Cody sent you!

www.simonfrost.ca

                       

Shimano Stradic Ci4 Review

I recently made a "quick" stop at my favorite local tackle shop here in St. Catharines, ON to pick up some LiveTarget Lures. I did find all the lures I was after, but I also found something else. I found myself standing there with the Shimano Stradic Ci4 spinning reel in my hands! It was one of those situations where you instantly fall in love! I've only felt that love one other time in my life, back in March 2012. I could not let myself walk out of Peter's Tackle & Live Bait without that reel, so after playing with it for a few minutes I told Brandon at the counter "I'll take one!"

2 minutes after I bought it I had to open it and play with it in the van!

Let me tell you a little bit about why I instantly fell in love with the Stradic Ci4. It has very little to do with my two fishing idols and personal friends Simon Frost, a Canadian Open of Bass Fishing Champion, and Dave Mercer of Facts of Fishing TV swearing by them. The "Ci4" stands for Carbon Interfusion, with the number 4 referring to the number of electrons in the Carbon atom. In non technical terminology, it means reinforced carbon fiber... in a fishing reel! That being said, this reel will NEVER rust! It contains no metal to rust.  The result of using carbon is an extremely light weight reel. This reel matched on Shimano's Cumara series of rods incredibly light!

Such a great looking Carbon Fiber reel

Ci4 matched up on my 7'2 Cumara. Extremely light!

The Ci4 is designed as a finesse presentation reel, so I use nice light line on mine. I have it spooled now with 8-pound test Fluorocarbon line Vicious Fishing. The Ci4 can hold 140 yards of 8-pound test. If you like light line finesse fishing, it will accept 200 yards of 6-pound test! The Ci4 is extremely smooth with its six Shielded Anti-Rust Bearings, and one Roller Bearing. It really is as smooth as a babies bottom. Here is the most amazing thing about the Stradic Ci4, are you ready? It only weighs seven ounces! YES! SEVEN OUNCES! That is 2.2 ounces lighter than the new Stradic FJ.

I strongly, strongly urge any angler looking for a new spinning reel for finesse fishing to take a look at the Shimano Stradic Ci4. It will allow you to feel more soft bites when fishing a Drop Shot, Shaky Head, Wacky Worm and so on! I can't wait to get another one. I truly am in love with this reel. I have fished it four times since I bought it, and have had nothing but success! When I bought it, Ashley of She Loves To Fish told me I would love it, and she was correct! It's amazing!

The first Shaky Head victim of my Stradic Ci4, a chunky Largemouth from a local pond!


Until next time, Tight Lines!




-Brooksy

Detroit 2012: The Gear-Head Get Away

Not Only am I an avid fisherman, I'm also a complete gear head! I love cars and driving! I was honoured to have the opportunity to spend a few days in Detroit, Michigan with two of my closest friends... Lee the musician, and Aaron the chiropractor!

 Here are a few pictures we snapped at the 2012 International Auto Show in Detroit. Above, I get comfy in the new Infiniti Convertible IPL.

To the right, Aaron introduces some Canadian Swag to the Mercedes SL Roadster.

Lee quickly took over the Benz SL. Hopefully when his first album goes Certified Platinum he just might buy me one! That or I'll save my pennies and dimes!

It was really great to get away with these two great guys for a couple days. They are both total gear heads! That being said, Aaron even knows the Specs of the new Scion Tc better than the girl from Scion promoting it!  Several months ago at the end of the summer we decided to go to Motor City for one North Americas largest automotive shows. Between then and Friday night it felt like time wasn't even moving. By the time we  finally loaded up the truck and headed west, we were overflowing with excitement and anticipation. 

To put the Detroit International Auto Show in perspective, it's almost comparable to taking all of the Bass Pro Shops franchises and combining them into one, and setting KVD loose inside! We saw some truly incredible concepts and new production models to be released this year! I think my favourite has to be the Shelby GT-500 Super Snake, while the other two were completely googly eyed and nearly drooling over the new Scion FR-S! 

Unfortunately Sunday afternoon came quickly, and it was time to pack up the truck and set the cruise control back to Niagara. The weekend came to an end and it was time to get back to our real lives, Lee has songs to record, Aaron has learning to do to fix up injuries, and most of all, I have fish to catch!

Enough for now,

-Cody Brooks

(Ps. Talk about self control. I has right by the Detroit River and Lake St. Claire for 2 days, and didn't even pack a fishing rod for some of those monster walleye!!)

My first ever blog post!

Well, here it is! My first ever blog post! As some of you may already know, I have been sharing my fishing adventures with friends on Facebook and through Twitter for a little while. I had been looking for another way to share some adventures with the world when I consulted a fishing community friend for some advice on how to be successful. Ashley of www.shelovestofish.com suggested blogging to me via Twitter. After toying with the idea for a day or so, I decided to make a blog! So here it is guys, I look forward to sharing my fishing adventures with you! Feel free to follow my blog at www.fishingwithbrooksy.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter at @CodyWBrooks!! Thank you Ashley, for the idea of blogging! I've been following and reading yours for quite some time!

That's all for now (Momma Brooksy has supper almost ready, and it smells too good to miss!!!)

-Brooksy