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.

Fishing New Brunswick: First Eel River Lake

I was lucky enough to be asked to go away fishing last weekend to First Eel River Lake, which is near Woodstock. We left at 5 am Saturday morning and we arrived around 9ish as we met the 3 other guys at the Big Stop at Salisbury. I have never been to this lake but Matt had been there plenty of times and said the bass and pickerel fishing was very good so I was excited to get on the water. Matt said he usually fishes the lake a little later so he was not sure how the fish would be.

Matt and I fished in his 12 foot aluminum and the other three guys fished in a 16 foot aluminum which was set up very nicely. I am use to my canoe so being in a boat that was wider was very nice. We were able to take turns standing up to fish, which is great because it gives you a chance to stretch.

Saturday morning was a little chilly and it rained off and on for the first few hours but then the rain stopped. We went to a certain part of the lake that the guys knew produced fish and it was not long before the guys started catching bass. We also saw a few pickerel chase the baits. As we moved down the banks we got to one spot that I had a few big pickerel hit my baits but I did not land any. It actually took me a few hours to land anything. I used some of the new baits I bought just for the trip. I used a jointed hard bait and also a skitter pop. This bait worked very well for everyone. I put on a rubber frog and Matt said I must be going after the pickerel. I told him I was just going to give it a try. To his surprise I caught 4 or 5 bass with the frog and also had a few pickerel chase the bait.

As we made our way down the wind picked up some and we decided to go back to the lodge for supper around 6pm. I was hoping we may fish around the lodge after we ate but it got very windy and actually quite cold.

We sat around and watched TV and I think were all asleep by 10pm( We are getting older :) )

We woke up around 6:30 Sunday morning and I was very happy to see the water very calm. We ate and organized our things but as soon as we set out on the water the wind picked up and did not let up. We went to the same spot hoping the trees would block some of the wind but the direction it was blowing, the land did not help. We fished for a few hours. Matt caught 3 or 4 bass and I caught one pickerel but the conditions were not very good at all. We decided to go back to the lodge and pack up to leave.

I had and excellent couple of days on a new body of water and having the chance to meet some new friends. I certainly hope Matt will have room for me again next year and hopefully the wind will cooperate.

Fishing New Brunswick: Afternoon in Chipman

James and I decided to go fishing on Saturday. James came over to my house and helped me put the canoe on my new car as I wanted someone there to help me as I just got the car two weeks ago. The canoe went on and is more secure than on the Saturn.




When we got to Chipman we went to our regular spot to take a look. We figured the water would still be fairly high and we were right. We decided to go to another spot as we thought the water would be a little lower. We also wore our waiters which turned out good as we were able to get out a few times and fish from the sore to give us a stretch.




Throughout the day I had had a few pickerel chase my baits and I did not land any fish. As for James, I am not sure what he was doing all winter but it worked. He landed 6 or 7 pickerel and was was a very nice size. (See pic). If I was getting skunked I was at least glad someone was catching fish.....not really :) We used many different colored 6 inch worms and we used a little weight as the weeds have not grown much so we thought we would keep the baits a little below water level. James had most of his luck using the color red this day.

I am sure the water will continue to drop and our regular spot will look more to normal within a few weeks. I look forward to trying it again and hopefully this time James can take a few pictures of me catching some fish :)

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.