Fishing Done For Another Season

Once school started a few months ago life got very busy. This is why I have not updated my blog. I do have to make time as I enjoy telling about the fishing trips I take. Since my last update I did go to Chipman a few times to fish pickerel. I also went to french Lake to try it as well. The day James and I went to French Lake we had some success but then the wind picked up so we decided to go to Chipman. The last time James and I went to Chipman it was close to the October 15th fishing cutoff date. It was a wet day but we both had rain suits so we did not mind. The water was up a good three feet because of all the rain we had. I had a few fish hit my baits but did not get a fish to the boat all day. James caught 4 or 5 throughout the day. We were certainly hoping for more but that is fishing.

I am looking forward to next season already and will use the "off season" to restock some baits. I recently went on Mister Twister's website and ordered some top props as a friend said they work very well so I am excited to give them a try next season. I will also have to take the exam to get my boater's licence so I will be able to use my trolling motor. Yes, I need it to use my trolling motor on my 13 foot canoe. Silly, yes. Money grab by the government, yes. But that can be another blog!! :)

One of the highlights was when I took my daughter Amy to Chipman to try for some bass and pickerel. We first went to the pond where we had great luck from shore catching bass last year. I am not sure what happened there but I tried there 4 times this year and did not catch a fish. We left there and I asked her if she wanted to try for some pickerel and she said yes. We again just fished from shore. She did a good job casting and soon had a few hits and was having fun. We went to the other side of the road and worked our way along the edge of the water. We had some big strikes and she enjoyed that. She then made a cast and had a fish on! She was able to reel it in by herself and ended up catching her first pickerel all by herself. She was impressed with how it fought and how heavy it was.

James and I are also going to make an effort to try some more bass fishing next season as well. We would talk about it but we usually ended back at Chipman because we have so much fun there.

I hope everyone has a great winter and I hope everyone will be as excited for April 15th as I will be.

Four More Rainbows

Dave and I went back to Crooked Creek this afternoon and we each ended up catching two rainbow trout. All four fish were caught on Royal Coachmans.

We did not get at the brook until 3pm as we each had things we had to get done. We were able to get quite a ways up the river as we fished the pools and then walked the woods a lot. The last pool we got to was the spot that I caught the rainbow that is in the picture. It came up a few times at my fly and at Dave's and then it finally took mine.

We had a great afternoon hiking and fishing in this beautiful area. We are hoping to get there one more time before Dave has to go home.

Fishing at Crooked Creek

My brother-in-law Dave is home from Calgary. I always enjoy this time because he is an avid fisherman like me. Before he moved out West we would spend many days fishing at Crooked creek. On his return trips home we always make sure to take a few days and return to fish at this beautiful spot.
On last Sunday we decided to go. We arrived at Crooked Creek at around noon for an afternoon of fishing. This was the first time I have been at Crooked creek all summer. We figured the water would be running high and hard because of all the rain we have received all summer. We were correct in this assumption as the water was very high and running very hard for this time of year. We decided to give it a try since we were there. We said we would go a ways up the water and if we did not get any action at all we would leave and try the Kennebecasis.

We tried the first few pools with no action at all. We were using different dry flies. My favorite one to use there is my home-made Royal Coachman. I have had excellent luck at Crooked Creek using this fly.
We knew there were a couple of other pools just a little further up the system so we kept going. At the next pool I caught a little brook trout at the head of the heavy water in front of the pool. We said at least we saw a fish and Dave went to the next spot just above this one. In a few minutes he called my name as he had a nice rainbow trout come after his fly. He said he did get the fish close to shore but did not set the fly properly and the fish got off. This was enough for us to continue fishing. The next pool is a very deep spot that we have had good luck at over the years. Dave fished the pool for a few minutes and then I tried my Royal Coachman a few times. On one cast I thought I saw a rainbow swirl a little to the left of the fly so I casted again in the same area and the fish hit the fly right away. I got the fish in and we were excited to at least catch one fish in these water conditions. We fished here a few more minutes and I had one more small rainbow come up but it did not take the fly. Around the corner was another favorite spot of ours so we ventured to it.

Dave, who now had a Royal Coachman on tired this spot with no luck. I moved to the back of the pool and casted my Royal Coachman in a few times and again I thought I saw a swirl. I threw the fly in again and a very nice-sized rainbow jumped completely out of the water at the fly but missed. At this time I yelled at Dave to let him know what I just saw but because of the heavy water running into this spot he did not hear me. I casted again and the fish hit right away. I gave Dave another yell and told him I had a nice one on. Again because of this action we decided to go a little further up the system.

We could a few small brook trout but decided to turn back after a few more spots. We said we would hopefully be back in a week or so to go further hoping the water would be down some.
On the way back to the car we fished the same spot again. On a spot that we have not had much success in recent years Dave caught a nice rainbow.

I was pleased just to get out fishing with Dave at Crooked Creek but also pleased that we both caught some fish. Hopefully the water will drop some so the next time we go the conditions will be a little easier to fish.

Tried the Kennebecasis

I took my fly rod out for the first time this year and headed to the Kennebecasis for a little evening fishing. When I got there, my thoughts were realized as the water was quite high and running quite hard. I figured I was there so I might as well give it a try.

Throughout my time fishing I tried different flies. I used the Adams, the Mosquito, Royal Coachman, and some other flies that I tied that had green in them. I did get some trout to rise at the flies but only managed to catch one small one. I think if, and that is a big if, the rain stays away for a handful of days that the water will drop pretty quickly.

On the way back home I stopped by the Scott road and fly fished the Petitcodiac for a couple of minutes using a Wolley Bugger and I did manage to catch one small bass. They are always great fun to catch on the fly.

I hope everyone is having fun fishing and having good luck. Until next time, tight lines.

What a Bass!

James and I decided to go fishing yesterday to our favorite pickerel place. When we got into the canoe we did a loop by the culverts under the road. On the way there we made a few casts with no action. The last time we were there we had a few pickerel that were hitting just in front of the culverts in the running water so I decided to throw my line in that spot. As soon as the 6 inch pink worm hit the water there was an enormous splash on top of the water. I was very excited as I thought I was about to catch a huge pickerel. Well, the way the fish was acting James and I quickly said that it was not a pickerel. James was the first to say that it was a bass. About a month and a bit ago we saw 2 people with some small bass they said they caught there. This was the first that we heard bass being in this water so I was not terribly surprised that it could be a bass. What was very cool was the size of the bass. I have caught a few nice bass on Little River and another nice on on the Canaan River but this one is the biggest I have caught to date.

We did catch some pickerel and had others case like we normally do but the wind picked up and made fishing very difficult in the canoe. We went to another stretch of the river but it was still very windy so we decided to call it a day. Hopefully there will be another fishing day very soon.

Another Awesome Day Pickerel Fishing

I got permission from the boss (my wife) to go fishing on Tuesday so I gave James a call and we were off to our favorite pickerel fishing place. We decided to go early to get in as much fishing as we could. We left James' house at 6am and were fishing by about 7:45. We fished the same area we normally do and were getting some action but not quite as much as we normally get. We worked our way around the area and then decided to take the canoe to the other body of water across the street.

We worked our way around the edge of this water getting some pickerel to chase our lures. We were using different color worms, hooked weedless. The way to fish these is to cast out and beat the worm across the top of the weeds and water. This takes some practice but not too hard to get the hang of. It is very important to get the worm on the hook properly. I still had a bend in mine and I was getting caught up on the weeds a lot. James showed me how to fix that and the rest of the day I did not get caught up as much.

We kept going along this edge until we got quite a ways down. We decided to cut across the water to head back to the other side. When we got to the other side of the water we noticed a nice spot protected from the wind. The water was calm and there were weeds on top of the water. It looked like a perfect spot to catch some pickerel. Let me tell you, we were right about that! I would say for a good 2 hours we had pickerel chasing our lures on about every cast. We caught many of these pickerel. The were some very nice sized ones as well. Some were the biggest I have seen come out of this water.

Some of the pictures I have with this blog are from both sides. This time out we certainly had much better luck on the "new" side. In the pictures you will notice I am wearing a glove. Yes, it looks silly; yes, I know that; no, I do not care. :) I am new to pickerel fishing and after seeing James get his finger cut a few weeks ago I figured I better wear something that helps me get a good grip on the fish. The glove has rubber spots on it and it helps very well holding the fish.
Needless to say I am extremely excited to head back to go after more pickerel.

A Fun Day Fishing Pickerel

I took a fellow teacher buddy out fishing today. Guy and I have gone fishing a few times in the past. We have mainly gone for trout. I really wanted to take him to try for some pickerel and when I mentioned that to him he was all for it.
He picked me up at 7am and we were off. Today was the first time this year that I used the canoe. It was great to use it again but I am still all knotted up :) When we got there Guy said the first one who catches a fish does not have to pay for some treats on the way home. We got into the canoe and started fishing. Guy caught a nice pickerel about 5 minutes into fishing. I was pleased that he caught his first pickerel ever that I did not care if I had to buy the treats. Guy was quick to catch his second pickerel of the day.

We crossed the cove and started fishing up the side. Before I knew it I was down 5-0. guy reminded me it was 5-0 :) I did not mind as I was getting a few pickerel to case my bait. We were using different 6 inch rubber worms. Guy thought I was crazy when I showed him a certain color but it was the color that worked the best today. The color was pink.

We continued to make our way around the water. I finally caught two back to back pickerel and they were 2 very big pickerel. They were probably two of the biggest I have ever caught.
When we stopped fishing we probably landed around 15 pickerel and had many more chase our baits. Guy had a great time and is anxious to try it again. Of course I am always looking forward to going back to this spot to do more pickerel fishing.