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: 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.

First Time Out = No Luck

Well I decided to take a drive to Little River tonight as I figured I waited long enough to get out fishing for the first time this season. I arrived around 6:30 pm and just stayed on the banks as the water was high and running hard. II stayed by the bridge and casted a bunch of times to the right in the calm water without any luck. I was using a 4 inch gren tube.

I then decided to walk up the path and try farther up the river on a couple other calm spots. I again had no luck so I decided to call it a night around 7:10 pm. It was certainly nice to get out and make a few casts. I am not even sure if there will be any bass in Little River this year as they have opened the gates and salt water (and raw sewage) are now in the system.

I am not sure how long to wait to give Chipman a try for our fun pickerel. Perhaps a few weeks to let the weeds to start to grow and the water to drop.

If you have already been out fishing I hope you have had some luck.

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.

Canaan River

I went fishing today for a few hours. I usually try to get out fishing on Father's Day as a bit of a celebration. I did not call anyone to go with me as the sky was very dark and thought I might get poured on. I went to Little River and caught one bass but did not get any other action. It was still early in the day so I thought I would go on the Cole's Island road and fish part of the Canaan River.

I drove a couple of minutes past the bridge at the turnoff for Havlock. I had my waiters so I decided to get in and walk the river. The water is dark so I walked carefully. On about my fifth cast I had a bass on. I was using a 4 inch tube. I started walking down the river and kept casting close to the edge of the river. About ten minutes later I had another hit and realized it was a good one. It danced out of the water a few times and I quickly realized it was the biggest bass I ever caught. It was at this point I was really upset I forgot the camera at home. I got the bass in and held it up and was very pleased with the catch.

I continued down the river and caught 3 more bass. They were all caught on the 4 inch tube. I did try some other baits. I had a bass got after a 6 inch green and blue worm.
The trip to the Canaan River only added about 20 minutes to my usual spot at Little River so perhaps I will go back there instead of Little River as I had good success there today. I will have to see if James would like to make the trip next time.

Sorry, no pics this time :(

Finally Some Success Catching Bass

Last Sunday Night I snuck out for a couple of hours of fishing. It was a last minute decision to go so I made a quick trip to Little River to see if the bass were in the system yet. It was this time last year that I caught my first bass. The water was lower than the last time I was there and the water was not running as hard so my hopes were up that maybe I would have some success. I worked different parts of the river with no success. I tried some different baits. I tried some 4 inch tubes and tried some 6 inch worms. I figured since I was out and did not know when I would get out again that I would go try a couple of parts of the Petitcodiac River just past Salisbury.
There is this one corner that I had good luck at last year so I tried that spot first. I was using the 4 inch tube here. I did three or four casts with no luck and on my fifth cast I had that sensation I have been waiting all winter and spring for, the pull of a bass on the end of the line. It was nothing big but I was excited just to have a fish on. I played it for a minute and then released it. I did not have anymore luck there so I went up the road to try another spot I tried last year. It only took another couple of casts before I caught another bass. This is the one that is in the picture. Again, nothing big but fun just the same. I tired around this area for about another half an hour with no luck so I called it a night.
It was great to catch my first two bass of the season. I am taking a course for school and was there today and again tomorrow. If I am lucky I will sneak out when I get home from course for a couple of hours. If I make it out I will let you know how I make out. Tight lines.

First Day Of Fishing......Finally

Well, it took me eleven days but I finally got out fishing last Sunday. Things came up and I could not get out until then. I called James and we were going to go to Smith's Creek to try some early season trout fishing. When I picked him up he asked if I wanted to go try for some chain pickerel and bass. Of course it took me all of 2 seconds to say yes.

So off we were to our pickerel spot. It took about an hour and twenty minutes to get there. We had a nice talk and the way there as we have not seen each other over the winter. As we turned the corner and saw the spot where we were going to fish we say that the water was extremely high. This did not stop as we put on our waiters and went fishing.

I am not sure if the water was still too cold, the water level, or if it was the wind but we did not have any luck catching any pickerel. We did not even see any movement on the water. We tried for about an hour and then decided to try the bass spot.
The water level was fine here as I do not think it changes much there, so I thought we were in for some fun bass fishing. Well, I was wrong. Again, perhaps the water temperature was still too cold. We did not have any luck at all. We tried for over and hour.

The weather was very nice, it was great to get out with James again, and I can finally say I have been fishing. Hopefully I will get out this weekend again.
Now that I have started fishing I will be keeping my blog up to date.
Happy fishing.