Fishing Pickerel at French Lake in New Brunswick

Please take a look at my new post describing my day fishing at French Lake yesterday for chain pickerel.

Trout Fly Fishing

I have written a post on some tips for people who are new to fly fishing.  Please give it a read at Trout Fly Fishing.

Pickerel Fishing

I have written a blog about some tips and techniques for pickerel fishing.  I have posted it on my other blog site. Please have a look.

Fly Fishing Trout

I always enjoy getting out on the water to do some fishing but I really enjoy getting out to fly fish for trout in New Brunswick.  One of my favorite places to fly fish for trout is at Crooked Creek, which is in Riverside Albert.  Over the past 10-15 years I have spent countless days there catching rainbow trout with the fly rod.  For more detail about my experiences at Crooked Creek click on the link.

Fishing Fun In New Brunswick Website

Hello Everyone,
I wanted to let you know that I have started a new Fishing Fun in New Brunswick website on my own server and would love for you to check it out and bookmark it.  I will most likely be updating that site more than this one now. Please become a regular follower and post comments.  I enjoy reading and responding you your comments.  The site is new but I will steadily be adding content for trout, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, and salmon fishing.

Thanks
Jamie

Salmon Fishing: Buying Salmon Flies Online

Before I begin this post I want to say I encourage supporting the local people who sell the items you are looking for and I certainly buy my share of items from local people and local stores but I also look online to buy items that interest me, such as salmon flies that I will use when I go salmon fishing.

Yesterday I was surfing the Internet and came across this online store that sells trout and salmon flies along with other items. Since I have started to do some salmon fishing this year I need to start to stock pile my salmon fishing flies. I decided to give them a look to see what types of flies they sell.

I was very pleased to see that they have a very good selection of trout and salmon flies. Even though I wanted to buy a handful of trout flies I did focus of buying salmon flies. Their sidebar has these flies under steelhead/salmon. I also decided to look under the heading bass flies and I did decide to buy some of those flies as I think they would work for fishing salmon as well.

When I was finished placing my order I bought a total of 13 salmon flies, with me buy multiples of some same flies. Not one of the flies cost more than a dollar (US) and shipping to Canada for fishing flies was only $2.88, which if you ask me is an excellent deal.

The store is located in Arlington, Texas but that did not scare me away because of their very low shipping cost. I just received an email tonight saying the order was shipped today so I will post again post a comment to this post when they arrive to say how long the order took to arrive and what the quality of the flies is like. I am sure they are going to be just fine.

So, if you are someone who likes to go salmon fishing and are always looking for places to buy salmon flies online, why not give this company a try. The name of their company is The Angler's Dream Fly Shop. Give their name a click and give them a look.

Fishing New Brunswick: French Lake

Yesterday I had a fantastic day at French Lake withCasey and James. Casey asked if James and I wanted to go fishing at French Lake. After we bothquickly said yes we had the plans made. Casey picked me up at 5:40 am and then we got James and were on the road. We arrived and got the boaready and were on the water by 7:45.

It was a beautiful morning with no wind.....I repeat no wind!!! We started our way going up the lake. We did some trolling and casting to the edge of the lake where grass and lily pads were growing. We made our way to some bigger patches our lily pads and started to get some strikes from some pickerel. As we continued our way up the lake Casey caught the first pickerel of the day while trolling....he is the trolling king, as he catches many fish using this strategy.


We made our way to one spot of the lake that was a dead end. It was very calm and full of lily pads. We got into some very action and we each must have pulled in two or three pickerel each. When we finished with this spot we continued moving around the lake catching and also getting many hits as we tried different lily pads.

I would say by 11am or so the dreaded wind started to pick up. We started looking for spots to get out of the wind but everywhere we went to it seemed like the wind was always in our face and disturbing the water. By noon it was really windy but we did not let in and continued fishing. Our experience with pickerel fishing is they usually turn off when it gets windy but luckily for us we were still able to catch some pickerel at certain spots. We also spent some time trolling for pickerel and perch. We caught 18 perch while trolling. Some of the perch were a good size.

As the day wore one we continued to look for little coves to get out of the wind. We were able to find a few that gave us a little relief from the wind and James caught the biggest pickerel of the day. It was 24 1/2 inches long and was quite heavy.

When we decided to call it a day we decided to troll back to the boat launch. We each caught a few perch and Casey caught another pickerel.

We kept count of the fish we caught during the day for some bragging-rights fun. By the end of the day James landed 7 perch and 14 pickerel, I caught 4 perch and 12 pickerel, and Casey caught 7 perch and 7 pickerel.

I tried many different lures during the day but James and I had the best luck with the pickerel using a red 6 inch senko Gary Yamamoto Original 5" Senko Worm Color: Fading Watermelon w/Black (194J). I also tried different colored worms. I used a skitter pop, hula popper, rubber frogs and some swimming hard baits. I also used two rods throughout the day.  One was with a spin cast reel and the other one was with a bait casting reel.  I have been using the bait casting reel more.  I am getting better with it fishing from a boat as I find casting from a boat with it is much different than walking a river and fishing with it. Strikeforce SF100SH Baitcasting Reel

As I continue to look around for a 14 foot boat to buy it was really nice to go out on Casey's 16 foot aluminum boat. He has it rigged up very nicely. He made storage areas and even has a cd player so we could listen to music while fishing.

It was a fantastic day with two great fishing buddies!
If you have time check out my Amazon.com fishing store.

Fishing New Brunswick: The Kennebecasis River

I called James yesterday around 1pm to see if he wanted to go fishing. Of course he said yes :) Since it was getting a little later in the day I suggested we try fishing for some trout and what better way to do that than to do some fly fishing. We decided to go to the Kennebecasis River near Sussex since it is only about 45 minutes from home.

I picked James up close to 2 pm and we were ready to fish right around 3pm. We decided to try a stretch or river that we have both fished in the past in the Penobsquis area. James said he had not fished this area in the past 10 years so I was glad we decided to give it a try.

We got into the water below the bridge and walked up to the bridge as I have caught some decent trout there in the past. We each caught a small trout and had a few decent trout come up for our flies. We then decided to start our way down the river. The water was fairly high from the recent rain we received. It was cloudy and actually a little cool. The water temperature was much cooler than the Canaan was the other day.

As we made our way down the river we both caught lots of little trout but did not really see anything too big but the constant jumping and catching of the little trout made it a great afternoon and evening. We walked down quite a ways and when we decided to stop we just got onto the railroad tracks and walked back to the road. This made it a very easy walk back to the car. It certainly beats walking back through the bush.

James was getting tired out part way through the fishing so he decided to go rummaging through the woods to see if he could find a chair to sit on for awhile....and guess what....he found one :)

The flies I used on the trip were a white wolley bugger, a black wolley bugger, royal coachman, and a mosquito. I used the mosquito last and would have to say gave me the most action.

It was a great change getting the fly rods out and doing some fly fishing on a great river, The Kennebecasis River. The stretch we fished is designated as catch and release only.

Part way down the river my line got caught in a tree and when I tired to get it out my leader came off my fly line.  I have always used an item to attach my leader to my fly line because I have never learned to tie many knots.  James was good enough to tie my leader on for me.  He used a nail knot and told me he will show me how.  If you are like me and are not good at tying knots you could try some of these books or guides to help you.  I think I should pick some up as well :) Complete Book of Fishing Knots, Lines, and Leaders, The Complete Book of Fishing Knots, Fisherman's Ultimate Knot Guide, Practical Fishing Knots, and The Book of Practical Fishing Knots.

Fishing New Brunswick: Canaan River

Although it rained all day on Thursday James and I decided to go try the Canaan River for a few hours yesterday. When we got there we noticed the water was up about 2 feet, which I guess is good because it was down a bit and very warm. The water temperature was warm but cooler than before the rain.

We both started fishing with senkos, mine a pink one and James using a red one. Just before some rapids I caught a pickerel. He was just a small guy. He was sitting right in by some grass. We continued our way down the river and came to the area where we have caught some bass in the past. We tried along the grass on the left hand side for some pickerel and also in the middle for some bass. I decided to use a new hula popper that I just bought on Ebay. I was very pleased with the action it created on the water. As I was fishing a fish jumped just behind me saw I threw the hula popper there and as soon as it hit the water I had a fish on. I thought it was a small bass at first but it ended up being a good sized chub.

James testing how deep the water was :)

As we made our way down farther I decided to cross the river and fish the other side as there was quite a bit of brush hanging close to the water. Now using my skitter pop lure I threw it close to the brush and caught a small bass. We went down a little farther without any luck and decided to fish back up the river. As we got close to the rapids again I caught another pickerel in along grass. Again it was just a small one.

The fishing was slow again but it was still good to get out on the water and spend a few hours fishing with James. I am thinking the next time I can get out I am going to give French Lake a try to see if we can get into some more pickerel.

Fishing New Brunswick: A Busy Day

Yesterday I spent a full day fishing(and driving). Glenn, myself, and another friend of Glenn's decided to go to the Miramichi to try some salmon fishing. With the weather being so warm and reports that the fishing has not been good we decided to go early in the morning while the water temperatures might be a little cooler. We left at 4:15 in the morning and arrived close to 6 am. We got to our spot and got set up for some fishing. When Glenn and I walked down to the water we saw a salmon moving around. Glenn tried fishing it for awhile with no luck so I decided to start my way down the river.

On my way down I tried a handful of different flies, some dry and some wet. I was catching lots of chub but that is all I was seeing. The water temperature was very warm, which I am sure was not good for the fish. Glenn and I continued down the river with both of us catching lots of chub. After about 30 minutes we decided to go back to our starting point. When we got there I went back to the small pool that we saw the fish. I was standing quite close to it and could see a fish there. The reflection of the sun made it hard to see. The other two guys came over and Glenn had a better angle and could see a handful of grilse and one salmon. The salmon then had enough and took off between me and Peter. It was a very big fish and it was very cool to get that close to one.

We decided not to go to any other spots and made our way back to town. We got back home around 1:30pm and Glenn and I wanted to continue to fish so we loaded up his boat and made our way to Coles Island. As we got to the boat launch there were two other people there. As we drove by them I had to do a double take to realize it was James. He was there with Casey. They said they only saw a few fish in 7 hours of fishing.

We decided to go on the water anyways but soon realized we would not see many fish. Again, the water temperature was very warm. I suggested since we were only 30 minutes from Chipman that I could show Glenn where I have spent so much time the past few years. So we loaded up again and made our way to Chipman. We put in at the launch by the marina and made our way to the cove I fish all the time. At one of the points Glenn hooked into a pickerel right away using a frog bait that is also a popper. I was getting the camera ready to take his picture when the fish jumped right out of his hands and back into the water. It was quite comical to tell the truth....right Glenn???? :) We continued to fish the cove getting some chases and hits but we did not land anymore fish. Glenn said he really enjoyed seeing what the pickerel can do and I was glad to show him. Hopefully next time we will be able to land some more pickerel. I am thinking it may be time to give French Lake a try.

We left at 4:15am and got home at 10:30 pm. I would say that was a full day!!

Fishing New Brunswick: First Eel River Lake Again

Mat and I decided to go back to First Eel River Lake again for a day trip. We went there back in May for an over night trip with three other guys. Actually these same three guys came again. Mat picked me up at 4:30 am....yes 4:30 am :) It is a three hour drive and we wanted to get there around 8am so 4:30 it was.

When we got to the boat launch there were some lily pads around so I threw my line out a few times with a rubber frog on it. I had a few pickerel chase but did not get anything. We then got the boat ready, Mat has a 14 foot aluminum boat. We then made our way to the part of the lake that is a good spot for bass. On

Once we got there I threw out my skitter pop lure. On about my fifth cast I caught a nice bass(pic below). So I thought this was going to be a good start to the day but of course, like most days this year, the wind picked up. It got quite windy and stayed windy for most of the day. Mat said it would be better to try to fish the bass with under water baits so we started using 4, 5, and 6 inch rubber worms(senkos). We put a little bullet weight on to help get the baits to the bottom quicker. Mat caught a few bass at this area. We then went across to a cove that was protected from the wind. It was nice and calm in this area but we did not have much luck. Mat did catch one bass. The other three guys arrived so we went over to say hello.

Mat and I then decided to go try the top part of the lake. This is where there is a crazy amount of lily pads. We were hoping to get into some pickerel for awhile. No sooner did we get there and start to fish then the wind really picked up. In my experience with fishing pickerel, when the wind picks up the pickerel stop. This was the case as we only saw a could chase. With the amount of weeds and lily pads this area must be polluted with pickerel. After a frustrating 30 minutes or so we decided to meet up with the guys and go fish down close to where we stayed on our over night trip. Mat knew there was a rock bed near there and that it dropped off all around it. We were not having any luck so we thought we would have nothing to lose.

Well, when we got there the other three guys in their boat started catching bass like crazy. I had a 4 inch tube on and tried that one for awhile. The picture below shows the bass I caught with it. The other guys were still catching and said they were using a blue and black worm so mat and I put them on as well. I caught one more bass and Mat caught a good 6 or 7 bass. The five of us must have stayed there for a good hour and a half and must have pulled in 30-35 bass.

We were thinking that perhaps at this time of year the bass leave the shallow waters and go to the deeper water. Perhaps they do this because of the hot weather and or they do this when they are done spawning. Next time we are there we will have to look for a few more areas like this one. That way if the bass are not in the regular spots we will be able to try these.

Although I would have liked to catch some more bass, it was a great day and it ended on a great note getting into all those bass.

Lures used: I used the skitter pop(fire tiger color) when the water was calm enough. I mainly used different colored rubber worms. I used a rubber frog green in color. I used an orangish frog that was also a popper. I used the Mister Twister Top Prop some in the weeds for the pickerel. I used a 4 inch tube with a weighted hook.

If everything stays the same I will be going to the Miramichi to try salmon fishing again. I will write a blog about that upon my return, hopefully with some pictures of some salmon :)

Fishing New Brunswick: Crooked Creek

My friend Nathan emailed me a few days ago saying he was going to go to Crooked Creek to do some fishing and asked if I would like to go. I have not been to Crooked Creek or have done much fly fishing yet this year so thought it would be a great opportunity to go.

Nathan picked be up a little after 5 am and we were ready to start fishing around 6:30am. We drove to the bridges, which is 4.6kms into the dirt road past the lookout. I heard rumors that the first bridge was gone. By looking at this picture you can see that the rumors are true. I am not sure if they will replace it or not?

We got into the water and started fishing up the river. Nathan had never fished this stretch of water so I wanted to show him some of the pools that we have had luck in over the years. My favorite fly to use at Crooked Creek is the Royal Coachman. I have had great success with this fly of this water. As soon as we started fishing Nathan caught a little rainbow right where the bridge use to be. He threw this one back. Just above that there is a nice little run and I had a rainbow on but it got off. It was good to see a few fish right at the beginning of the day. We did not have any luck at the next pool so we made our way to the covered bridge. There is a nice run just above it so I floated the Royal Coachman down it a few times and caught this nice rainbow.

After this spot we walked the road until it cut back into the water. It is just a few minute walk. Just above there is a nice pool where I have had luck over the years. We did not see anything this time and made our way to the next corner. It is a very nice deep run. After almost getting ready to leave this spot I caught another rainbow.

I decided to take Nathan to one more hole and to get to this spot we decided to walk through the woods to get there as the water on this stretch is pretty hard to walk. Once we got there Nathan tried the pool a few times and then I threw the Royal Coachman in and I saw some movement on the water. I threw it in again and caught this nice rainbow (picture below). We decided not to go any farther up the river but did fish the pools on the way back down. It was at this time that Nathan caught a rainbow.

The water conditions were that it was running fairly hard because of some recent rain but was still certainly fishable. When the water settles a bit it will make the pools that much better. It was pretty neat that there was a mist on the water and it stayed there quite awhile. It made for a few nice pictures.

I am very glad I was able to make it to Crooked Creek to do some fly fishing and hope to get back soon.

For anyone looking to go here to fish it is located in Riverside Albert and you turn towards the lookout and then drive on the dirt road. Be warned though that the road is quite rough and I was amazed to see how much the bush and trees have overgrown on the road.

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Fishing New Brunswick: Canaan River......Twice

Friday night my friend Glenn and I decided to go down by Coles Island for an evening fish in his 14 foot aluminum boat. When we arrived at 6 pm it was extremely windy but we decided to give it a try anyways. As we got out into the water we noticed there were weeds beds and grass everywhere so I figure we would be in for a good night of pickerel fishing. Well the wind said different. It stayed windy pretty well night. We were able to find a few spots out of the wind but we did not get any action there. Actually we did not get any action at all during the evening. I would have to say it was because of the wind. It was fun going around in the boat and continued to make me eager to get my own 14 foot boat. I am looking but have not found one yet.

Today when my wife got home from the gym I threw out that I would like to go fishing for a few hours and she said yes....always good to test the waters :) so I went back to the Canaan River at the bridge by the Havelock turnoff. Again when I got there it was quite windy but it looked like the rain was going to hold off. I wore my waiters and started down the river. I tired for a pickerel right away where James caught one on Monday. I got one to move a couple of times but did not catch him. I then walked to to the stretch that is quite flat and fairly deep. This was the spot James and I had some luck early in the week. I walked down the right hand side casting into the middle and along the bank. I tired different lures. I tried the skitter pop, a black with red spots frog, a 4 inch tube for some bottom fishing, and a green with white belly frog. I did get some action on the black frog but I did not get the hook set properly. I would say I had three bass chase that lure. I also used a lure that looks like a salamander, I got some action with that one by some weeds.

I was almost ready to head back up but saw some more calm water so I went down a little farther using the green and white frog. I casted out into the water and when I was reeling in I had a hit but missed it. I casted out again and it hit again but again no fish. There was a big rock in the middle and figured the bass was hanging out by that. I waited a few minutes and threw the frog out again and this time I had the bass on. It was a nice size bass. It is the one in the picture by my rod. It was released back into the water after the picture.

After I caught the fish I decided to start back towards the car. On the way back I decided to walk on the other side of the river to try it while also casting out into the middle. I decided to use my skitter pop, which is the fire tiger color by the way. The picture is a little blurry but it is clear enough for you to see it. I would recommend buying this lure if you are fishing bass. It works quite well. As I made my way up the river I casted straight in front of me in calm spot which was fairly shallow. Pretty well as soon as the skitter pop hit the water I had another bass on. This one is in the picture with me holding it is one hand, another god sized bass.

So, I ended up landing two bass and probably having 5 or 6 hits so all in all not a bad afternoon of fishing. I will have to make sure I ask earlier so I have time to ask someone to come with me but this was unexpected. The other picture is of the frog I caught the bass on. I decided to put the pictures of the baits on in case it helps someone when they go shopping for baits.

Fishing on the Canaan

James and I decided to go fishing yesterday. We decided to try something different and since we did not leave until 1 pm we went to the Cannan river and put the canoe in at the bridge by the Havlock turnoff. As we were getting the canoe ready James tried by some weeds and caught a nice little pickerel right away. I have never fished this stretch of the river as I usually drive a few more kms down the road. I was hoping the water would be fairly deep and we could just float down and fish until we got to my regular spot. This was not the case as there were many spots that got quite shallow and we had to walk the canoe. We did manage to stay in the canoe some and fish.

In the deeper spots we did get into some nice bass. We also each had some very nice ones get off before we got them into the boat. Early in the trip I was using a Skitter Pop and a bass smashed it and once it pull a certain way my knot to my leader gave way and off went the bass with my lure. I had another one so I put it on and I think on my third cast I had another very nice bass on........guess what....off went my Skitter pop lure again. This was my fault as I did not tie a good knot again. An expensive way to learn to tie proper knots.

We used different top water poppers and also pink worms. We caught fish on both kinds of lures. I really enjoy using the top water lures because you can see the bass hit the baits. It was fun to be able to catch bass and pickerel in the same area. I hope to go back again soon and try another part of the river with James. I think a little farther down it flattens out and gets a little deeper.

A Good Day Fishing

On Sunday around 11 in the morning I decided to ask the girls if they wanted to go fishing. They said they wanted to go so we packed up the car and headed towards Chipman. On the way there I decided to stop at Straky's Warf on the Canaan River. It is the first time I have been there so I was glad to have found it. It was a busy spot so we did not stay long. The people there were catching perch so perhaps I will take the girls back sometime soon.

We then went on to Chipman and fished the banks again. The weeds have really grown in and the water was low which did not make for good fishing. We fished for a couple of hours and then the girls asked to go home. We had a great time together even if we did not catch any fish. I did have a couple good ones hit my bait but I did not get them to shore.

Once I dropped the girls off at home I decided to go back to my spot on the Canaan river and tried for some bass. I used a rubber minnow for awhile, as I caught a nice bass with it last time. I was not getting any action so I decided to try a skitter pop lure. This lure makes a lot of action on top of the water. After a few casts along the bank a bass came up and hit the lure but it did not take it so I threw it in again and the same thing happened so I threw it back a third time and this time the bass smashed the bait. It was a very nice bass. Hard to tell in the pic as it was hard to hold the fish up and take a picture.
I continued down the river using the same bait. I caught one more bass and then had a pickerel hit it a few times and then one more bass hit but I did not catch it.

All in all it was a great day with my girls and then a nice evening fishing some bass. I am thinking my next time out in the canoe I am going to give by Starky's Warf a try as it looked like there were many weed beds all over the place.

Chipman Again

Last Sunday James and I decided to go to Chipman to go after our favorite pickerel. We knew the weather forecast was not the greatest but we decided to go anyways. When we arrived it was windy as usual so we put in the right hand side as there were some protected areas. We fished there with little luck and then decided to go through the culverts to our regular side.
It was still windy so we decided to cross the river and see a spot James had talked about. We had to carry the canoe over land a bit but not too far. When we got there it was still very windy but we did get into a few spots that were protected. We had some pickerel chase the lures (all 6 inch senkos) and James caught a few. After we finished with this spot we went along the shore of the main river and had some strikes even though it was windy. We then made our way back to our regular fishing spot. As we did the wind finally died right down and we had a few hours of calm waters. We did get dumped on a few times with heavy rain but that was alright.
We got into on little channel and the water must have been 10 degrees warmer. James caught two back to back that jumped right out of the water as they were more active in the warm water. We fished around a little bit more and then called it a day as it became very dark again. As we were putting the canoe back on the car it rained very hard.
Here's hoping to get out again very soon.

Took the Girls to Chipman.

I mowed the lawn yesterday morning and then asked if the girls if they wanted to go fishing. They said they did so I decided to take them to Chipman to fish from shore for pickerel. Of course as soon as we left Riverview it started to rain. We decided to go anyways and give it a try.
We did fish for a couple of hours but did it ever rain. I had a pickerel go after mine a couple of times but that is all we saw for pickerel. We did see lots of gaspereaux as they are still in the system.
Even though we did not catch anything we had a good afternoon together......and isn't that what it is all about??

We said we would try again soon when we know it would not be raining.

Fishing the Windy City........Not Chicago

I gave James a call Saturday to see if he wanted to go fishing on Sunday. Of course he wanted to go so we decided to go to Chipman to give a shot at the pickerel as we knew the water was at a good level and that the weeds were starting to grow. We were not sure if it was going to rain but we prepared for it. My bigger concern was if it was going to be windy because the previous week was quite windy every day.
When we arrived at our regular spot we got the canoe and fishing stuff ready. As we started fishing the wind picked up. We continued to fish but tried a few spots that were out of the wind a bit. The wind continued to blow quite strongly so we decided to try the other side of the road. This proved to be better as we were able to get out of the wind in a couple of spots and as we predicted we got into some fish. I landed my only two of the day in this spot. James had better luck than me throughout the day and he got a handful at this spot as well.

We actually left to go home around 5:30 because of the wind. Hopefully the next time we go it will not be as windy.