Tag Archives: Tom Armstrong

Tips to Catch More Ontario Lake Trout

By: Tom Armstrong Lake trout is my favourite species to target through the ice. In Thunder Bay I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by a multitude of ice angling opportunities for lake trout. Lake Superior offers excellent lake trout fishing as do many inland lakes. Lake Superior lake trout feed on smelt. Locally, and across […]

Tips to Catching Northern Ontario Perch

By: Tom Armstrong Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world. That brings visions of deep, crystal clear, cold water inhabited by a variety of large salmonids. While this is true the lake is diverse and also harbours a variety of warm water species. My favourite place to target warm water species through […]

Northern Ontario Anglers Chasing Lake Trout

By: Tom Armstrong Unrelenting cold temperatures have plagued Northwestern Ontario for months. It’s been cold, ugly, consistently -30C and the wind chills are brining us down to -45C. The frigid temperatures suck the enthusiasm out of most anglers. Hopefully, with March’s arrival we should be seeing slightly warmer temperatures. The end to the madness comes […]

Northwest Ontario Ice Good for Walleye & Trout

By: Tom Armstrong Cold temperatures and major snowfalls have winter in full force in Northwestern Ontario. As our lakes frozen early the region is covered in a layer of snow and ice. In fact, some anglers were drilling holes as early as November! Almost all area lakes are fishable through the ice. Many are even […]

Splake Showing Now Through Ontario Ice

By: Tom Armstrong The Chartreuse Fire Dye minnow was practically glowing on the tube jig as I dropped it down beneath the ice in search of an aggressive splake. Cameras were rolling inches from my face as we attempted to film Pautzke Outdoors on a remote Northern Ontario lake. I was jigging the bait about […]

Thunder Bay Steelhead Run Starting Early This Spring

By: Tom Armstrong Unseasonably warm weather has put us ahead of schedule in the greater Thunder Bay area. At this time last year we had snow along Superior’s north shore. This spring we’re in t-shirts steelhead fishing. Ironically, as I’m writing this snowflakes started falling. Regardless of the weather, steelhead have started to migrate into […]

Fire Dye Suckers – Boosting Action on Ontario Ice

By: Tom Armstrong After being introduced to Pautzke’s Fire Dye last winter when brook trout fishing, (https://youtu.be/XSt7YeHxFjY) it’s become something I use every time I’m on the ice. Most recently we used it in Northern Ontario for walleye and burbot. It’s a cool product that adds intense colour to your bait, increasing the baits reflective […]

Spring Creek Trout Finicky With Heavy Pressure

By: Tom Armstrong Following a Northern Ontario to Pennsylvania for a fishing/sports weekend this FireBlog has a different twist. I flew south late last week and teamed up with Chris Shaffer of Pautzke to catch golden rainbows and steelhead while also hitting a slough of sporting events (Penguins, WVU football & Penn State hockey). I’ve […]

Steelhead Alley Creeks Producing Chromers

By: Tom Armstrong For nearly two decades I’ve fished steelhead on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes. Meanwhile, yesterday was my first time casting to steelhead in Pennsylvania’s Steelhead Alley on Lake Erie’s south shore. I was with Chris Shaffer of Pautzke, on the fourth of a five-day sports/fishing expedition. After catching a college […]

Northern Ontario Brook Trout Grabbing Fire Dye Minnows & Worms

By: Tom Armstrong Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources stocks hundreds of lakes in Northern Ontario with brook trout, splake and rainbows. Brook trout are the most abundant. Meanwhile, fishing stocked brookies can be a hit or miss. No matter how good the lake or how large of a stocking it receives catching brooks is never […]