My Passion For Fly Fishing Started in New Brunswick

Oh man did I have a great nights sleep last night, thanks to plenty of sun and fresh air last evening.

My fishing buddy Casey, from Hopewell Cape gave me a call yesterday afternoon to see if I wanted to go fishing that evening. I always laugh before answering a question like that because, well, why wouldn’t I want to go fishing.

Casey said he would here to pick me up at 5:30 pm. I said great, hung up the phone and was packed and ready to go in about 15 minutes and that included making a couple of peanut butter and jam sandwiches, my favorite.

I don’t mind fishing bass in the wind. Most of the places I fish for bass are stoney or gravel bottom. The wind seems to turn them on.

Lake Petit on the other hand has a silt bottom and when we got there the waves were high and the water was like chocolate milk, but did we turn around and go home, not a chance.

Heck a day on the water, even if once in a while we get skunked is better than sitting at home wishing we were fishing.

We head up river toward Salibury where there is less silt built up and managed to find a few spots where the wind couldn’t get at us so much but the water was still pretty stirred up.

I watched our lures and noticed the visiblity was almost nil. I had to have my lure right on the surface before I could even see it.

My first trip to one of my favorite spots almost ended with out doing any fishing. That would have sucked wouldn’t it?

The reason we decided to leave without fishing is because there was no place to get in the river without crossing private property and I won’t do that without permission, so we left.

When we backed out to the road we could see a car slowing down with their blinker on, so we waited for him to see where he parked.

He owned the first cottage so we stopped and asked for permission to continue down the lane and get in the river.

The old guy, about 80 I am sure was impressed that we were going to leave without fishing. He said most people wouldn’t have even thought of asking.

He gave us permission to not only get in the river from there he also gave us permission to park on his property so no one else would think we were crossing their property.

So, we thanked him and headed down to the river with our float tubes.

It took us about 15 or 20 mintues to get to where we would start fishing but later found that when the water was a bit lower we could walk there in less than 5 minutes.

I took my Fly rod with me, along with my spinning gear of course. It’s always a great experience going after Chain pickerel with an artifical fly.

I caught 6 or 8 nice pickerel and a whole lot of little hammer handle sized ones. They all were fun of course.

I came back alone about a week later and headed back to the same spot but this time I was going to follow the water as far back as I could and what a trip that turned into.

The water was still a little high compared to later in the season so I was able to go a long ways back in and probably had my best day of pickerel fishing I have ever had.

I came back a little more than a week later and the water was low enough I couldn’t get back very far at all. I guess it’s a very short time that their is water in those places, but the pickerel know it’s there and hang out all spring.

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Sunday morning and I was up at 5am, had a little breakfast and headed out to the backyard garden to get a few more veggies planted before it got too hot, like it was Friday and Saturday.

It was just after 9 and I was down to just 4 zucchinis left to plant before taking a break. That was when Jenny came out with the phone. It was Jamie asking if I was up for going fishing. Ha, am I up for going fishing, that’s funny.

Jamie said he would be there to pick me up shortly so I planted the last four zuchinni plants in record time, sure hope they survive, and then I was in the house to get ready to go fishing.

On the road to Chipman

I ask Jamie to stop at a bridge on highway 10, just before Chipman. I wanted to show him where I had my first pickerel and float tube fishing experience. It sure looks different without all the weeds choking it.

Even though it looks totally different that the day I first tried my float tube I still took a few pictures of the area. Just imagine it full of weeds with only a few pockets of open water. The put the temperature at about 30 degrees. Now you know what that day was like.

There were four of use with float tubes that day. Roland, Paul, Kerry and myself. The three of them were already familiar with their float tubes and were on the water in just minutes, while I was still trying to figure out how much air to put in the thing.

Now let me clear up a little point. They took off across the water without me but I deserved it. Why? Well I tend to be the first one to the water and almost always the first to catch a fish, so the boys tend to get a little pissed at me now and then.

So this was their opportunity to leave me in their dust and I mean dust. It was a really hot day and as they went through the huge weed patch they caused a small dust storm from all the dust on the weeds.

I finally got my float tube filled, I thought, and headed out. I should mention that back then I was also 60 pounds heavier than I am now.

I was doing fine until I hit that weed patch and then I came to a hault. It took all the strength I had to kick my way through those weeds, but they looked like it was a breeze.

Later I found out that I had not inflated my float tube enough. I had put in so much air that I though the thing would explode but it still wasn’t enough.

I got a major work out that day and the sad part was that we didn’t get as much as a strike there. Didn’t see a fish.

We headed back to our cars but I took a different route to avoid those weeds again.

It worked out good for me because I could fit my float tube in the hatch back on my car and when we arrived at Red Bank it only took me a few more minutes to float tube inflated properly.

Once I had it inflated correctly it cruised across the water and I was hooked on float tube fishing.

On another trip Kerry and I tried the other side of the bridge but again we had no luck at all. Perfect looking water for pickerel and nothing.

We went quite a ways into the background of the image above. Remember there was a lot of weeds, ideal for both bass and pickerel but we didn’t get as much as a strike. We did get one follow but that was it.

Again we packed up and headed to Red Bank where we had great fun as usual. Later in that day we packed up again and moved to another nice little spot for pickerel.

Image by palestrina55 via Flickr

I am not sure if I would use the internet to find a date but a new fishing buddy, oh yeah.

Yesterday a new friend, Casey, who I first met online at the New Brunswick Sportfishing Association Forum took me fishing in Lake Petit.

I had lived on Lake Petit when my son was an infant but never fished there. I always took my boat about an hour to two away to fish. I find that kind of funny but at the time I didn’t realize there were fish in there.

Casey lives in Hopewell Cape about a half hour or so from where I live in here in Moncton.

I first met Casey on the Forum but after a day or two my username was changed from FlyFisherMann to J_Mann by the admin. I guess I didn’t read the rules for usernames. I lost the email telling me what the new username was so it was a while before I returned there.

I never got to know Casey but it’s a small world.

I have this blog and love to share my little fishing trips.

One day I was blogging about a little spot I took my son a few times. The bass weren’t big here but very plentiful, a great place to take kids in the summer.

Well this guy with twin daughters contacted me asking if I would mind telling him where the spot was so he could take his daughters. Well I didn’t mind, they had a great day and now I have a new fishing buddy, Jamie.

Jamie was telling be about a guy named Casey but I didn’t know enough about Casey to be sure it was the same guy, but it was. So, as I said, it’s a small world, isn’t it?

Jamie gave Casey my email address, we sent a couple of emails back and forth which ended in us going fishing in Lake Petti yesterday.

It was a perfect day for fishing too. It wasn’t cold. It wasn’t hot. It was cloudy and there was no wind going on. A perfect day or what?

Well as perfect as the conditions were I think the water may have still been a little cold as our nights seem to go down to almost zero every night this month.

We fished, talked and laughed all day. Well until about 3 anyways. That’s about the time the heavens opened up on us so we called it a day and headed back to the boat launch, a half hour away. I am so glad it wasn’t cold as the rain ran down my back and into my butt crack.

I had a great day and even though we didn’t catch anything I enjoyed my self a whole lot more than I would have doing yard work. And I made a new friend. That’s a great day in my books.

It will be cool the day that the three of us get out for a day of fishing. Three internet fishing buddies.

Image via Wikipedia

I am a polite guy and treat people the way I like to be treated. It allows me to sleep better at night and I very seldom piss people off. But not all people are like this, even on the water.

I like to bass fish on Lake George and I usually do from my trusty float tube. So I keep fairly close to shore, just incase something happens to my float tube. I had one spring a leak once and even though I made it to shore with lots of time to spare I was pretty nervous, so I don’t go too far out.

I have a places that are hot spots. They are not close together and I had a much easier time getting from place to place when I had my boat. So I like to be sure to pick my spots so that I don’t have to kick my way around the lake.

At one end of Lake George it’s really rocky, a great place for smallmouth bass. I don’t think I have ever been skunked there.

Jerks on the Water

All people don’t live life like I do and they will come right up and get in your face when your fishing, even if they have a bass boat could take them to any spot in minutes.

Well this moron decide I was having too much fun and came flying across the lake as fast as he could get that boat going and didn’t slow down until he was right on top of me.

Then he started casting exactly where I was fisihg. I can’t believe people like that.

Well he cast a couple of times, right on top of my lure so I pitched my lure right at his head and pulled it back just before it hit him. It dropped in the water right at his boat and BAM. FISH ON.

I caught a smallie that went about 3 pounds right under his big ass boat. I yelled fish on and laughed all the time I was reeling it in.

All though he was trying not to look at me I held that bass up high and yelled at the guy. ‘Would you like to catch one like that?’

He started up his boat and was gone. I wish I had a camera so I could have take a picture of the bass with that jerk in the background.

Image by alibaster via Flickr

It’s going to be a hot one today, not much fun to work in the garden on a day like this but I like eating and the work I do today will pay off with some great produce. Okay that didn’t work, I still want to go fishing today.

As I was digging up the first 4 foot square garden plot I found lots of huge earth worms, makes me want to go even more. I think it’s a good thing we don’t have a vehicle right now or I am sure I would be sneaking away from our backyard.

Let me see, when was the last time I fished using worms. Going back, keep going, oh yeah. I think I remember.

It was early season and it was raining hard. Roland, Pauly and I went to Grassy Lake near the top of Fundy Park. I think it may have even been right about this time of year and I am sure it was more than 10 years ago.

I don’t fish using worms unless it’s early season and even then I don’t use much live bait.

We all had cheap little ponchos on. Not sure why, but I think it only started looking like rain after we left home without rain gear. They were cheap and mine ripped quickly leaving me open to the rain and then the cold.

Normally if I am shaking hard enough to affect my vision I would be intellegent enough to go back to the vehicle to dry off a bit, but the fishing was just so good I couldn’t bring myself to walk away, so I just kept fishing, catching and shivering.

You know I don’t remember anything from that day but the fishing. I don’t remember suffering on the way home as a wet noodle, only how much fun we had and all the brook trout we caught and released.

I wonder if we could take our second lot here to install a nice big Koi Garden Pond and stock it with bass instead of goldfish or carp, now that would be kinda hard to explain to Jenny wouldn’t it.

Okay I have stalled long enough. I have to get my butt out to the back yard and finish digging up that second square foot garden.

Image by neutralSurface via Flickr

I am the guy who never throws things away. Although I do practice catch and release fishing but that’s not what I am talking about today.

Heck, I still have clothes older than my 23 year old son. They’re fine and have no holes so why would I get rid of them.

Well the fly reel I have been using, I have been using for about 20 years or so and saw no need to change it. I usually out fish my fly fishing buddies and still get a longer cast even though my gear is older than some of the guys I fish with.
This year I decided to retire that reel and keep it as a back up fly reel just in case my new one isn’t as good as the old Pflueger Medalist I have been used to.

It’s a bit funny thinking back to when I first started using my trusty reel. I dropped it and it landed face down on a big rock and broke a piece that holds the spool in the reel. Not a good way to start with new reel.

I had a second reel, already spooled and just switched it up and it’s been like that for the past 20 years. I never changed the reel again and I am sure that I have only used maybe 4 fly lines with that reel.

I just took the old spool out this morning so I would remember where I damaged it and believe it or not it still has the same fly line I had put on it the day I bought it.

I stopped in at Canadian Tire and picked up a new Crystal River - Royal Coachman fly reel. I will give it a try the next time I am on the water to see how I like it. It’s bigger than my old reel so I am not sure if it will feel different or not.

Maybe next year I will buy a new Fly rod to match my new reel.

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