Our first trip to some of our favourite rivers in Southern Ontario kicked off on Thursday night as we headed for Owen Sound, which would act as our base camp. Having grown up in the area, I am lucky to know of countless rivers and access points within several hundred square kilometers. The campground that we stay at each year is located right on one of these rivers, and is truly a fly fishers dream! Several species of trout are a possibility on this river, and it is very difficult to get skunked here.

Even at 7 am, after very little sleep, its a real beauty.  After a little breakfast of bacon and eggs, we were in our waders and ready to roll.  The fish in this river are always very co-operative, making it a great river for the beginner.  One other aspect that is good for those just getting started is the size of the river.  It is rather small, and it allows the opportunity to tweak your casting abilities as you must really pick the right holes and seams to get at some of the bigger fish.

There are always a few surprises along the way.  I had a great surprise on just the second cast I took using a hares ear nymph.  The 'chocolate bunny', as I call it has been my go to nymph for several years now.  It always produces, and in nearly any situation. 

This was my surprise!

That plump Borwn came in at about 19".  It put up a great fight, as it was mad as hell that it didn't get any real breakfast.  After a 5 or 10 minute fight, Kerry netted the beast, and after a couple of quick shots he was released to be caught another day.

This river runs through the Niagara Escarpment after tumbling over Inglis Falls, south of Owen Sound. The current can be very swift and extreme caution must be exercised at all times. In some areas, once you have clambered down to the river, there is virtually no way out easily. You must navigate the stream and find ways that are easy to navigate, moving around large obstacles and cliffs.

Kerry likes a challenge, and always gets herself into some of the best spots available. She had a nice rainbow comin to the top after emergers one little run.

We spent most of Firday on this river, heading back early in the afternoon.

There was a cold front moving in, and we wanted to make sure our campsite was prepared for the rain that we knew was coming. We took a little drive to scope out some other areas we'd be fishing in the next couple of days.

We rose early on the next day, gobbled up some bacon and eggs and headed for the first location of the day.  A branch of the Saugeen in headwaters country. We would be hitting two separate tributaries of the Saugeen today, one of my favourite rivers.  The headwaters of the Saugeen river offer great fishing for Brook and Brown trout.  Access is available at many of the bridges that cross over the rivers.  Respect landowners and don't trespass.

We started off with dry flies on this river. It was moving at a nice slow pace, allowing for some long, uninterrupted drifts. We got into a few smaller brook trout, and as we moved down stream we noticed some larger fish chasing our flies, but no takes. We switched over to green streamers, pretty small (size 10) which quickly got us inot some bigger fish.

Kerry got her biggest Brookie to date. It came up from under a log to nail what it assumed was a minnow or a leech. After a couple of hours on this river, the sun was directly overhead and it was nothing but smaller fish that were interested in our flies. We decided to head off to another branch of the Saugeen that was more forested and likely to be much cooler. The great thing about being in headwaters country is that there are so many streams within a very close proximity to eachother.

This stream is a gem in my books. I started coming here over two decades ago. Now there is a spring sanctuary on the river as the MNR brings steelhead up from Denny's Dam and Walkerton to allow easier spawning in the cool clear waters here. The sanctuary also helps to keep alot of pressure off the river, as people tend to pass by areas with no fishing signs without taking a closer look at dates printed on the signs.

We were lucky to arrive late in the afternoon on Saturday, and to our surprise, a great hatch of cahills and blue winged olives. Fish were rising all around us, so we sat and watched for several moments before tying on some bi-visibles. It wasn't long before we were hooking into many brookies, several over 12", and the odd Brown.