The Joy of Fly Fishing in New Brunswick

Image by Scott Butner via Flickr

Here are a few things that people can do to prevent fly fishing from creating adverse effects on the environment:

• Only catch fish during the fishing season. Doing so would ensure that the species of fish will continue to thrive for generations to come.
• Follow the rules and regulations set by the local government. They are there for a reason and it is for the protection of the local wildlife including the fish.
• Catch only the number of fish that the person intends to eat and return the others to the water. The age of the fish should also be taken into consideration here. Young fish should be given the chance to grow.
• Fishers should bring their garbage with them until they return to their homes. No trash should be left behind on the waters and in the surrounding areas.

Keeping the environment clean should not only be the responsibility of environmental activists but also by those people who find joy in the sport of fly fishing.

Otherwise, there is a risk that there would be little fish left for the next generation to catch, if at all. Saving the environment is a far more rewarding experience than simply catching fish and doing whatever one wants to do with them.

Image via Wikipedia

My first experiences with the Wooly Bugger was the greatest and I was about to give up on it and started hauling it back to our canoe and that’s when I got the biggest strick of the day. Of course I can be a little thick as it didn’t sink in as to why that trout hit the fly.

I thought I would keep the Wooly Bugger on for a bit longer, give it another go as they say, but nothing. Was it just luck? Well I decided to change the fly and started hauling it in again and BAM another nice strick and then the lights came on.

I made another cast, let it sink just a bit and then I brought it back to the canoe about as fast as I could and the rest is history. I used that same Wooly Bugger for years even though it was pretty tattered but it was still catching brookies.

The Wooly Bugger is a very simple fly to tie and it doesn’t just catch brook trout.

I quess what I am creating is an artificial fly that looks like a nice long pulsating leech. We find them in all the fresh waters we fish here in New Brunswick.

• It all starts out with the grip. The proper casting grip is one which has the thumb on top of the rod. This helps the fisher apply a greater force when casting.
• Before casting, any slack on the line should be removed. This would allow for a smooth forward and backward cast.
• The line must fly towards the direction where the person points the rod during the cast.
• The size of the loop depends on how the rod tip is moved when casting.
• The distance of a typical cast is usually a number of meters away from the caster. Long distance casts are achieved by tons of practice.

The newbie may not get it right on his/her first few tries at casting. However, with the proper guidance from a more experienced companion and a lot of time dedicated to practice, the correct way of casting can be achieved.

Ideally, 15-30 minutes spent on practicing per day can help improve the beginner’s technique.

As a word of warning, practicing casting can be a dangerous activity. That is why beginners are advised to do their practice away from the water and away from a lot of people.

Fields are ideal spots to do this as there is a large room to accommodate errors that may prove dangerous in otherwise constricted areas.

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time I think you know now that I love to share my fishing experiences with friends. Most of my friends get excited when they see the excitement I have for my fishing hobby but they don’t get excited enough to give fishing a try.

I have one really good friend that won’t go fishing with me because I practice catch and release almost 100% of the time and usually only keep a fish if I have hurt it in some way. He thinks I am completely crazy to put fish back in the water.

Every once in a while I get the opportunity to take a friend fishing. I can’t think of anything else the pleases me more than introducing people to catch and release fishing.

This morning was the first day of our vacation and you guessed it. It is raining so I just sat here for a while wishing I was fishing. I always wish I was fishing when it’s raining. I just seem to have really great days on the water when it’s overcast and raining a bit.

I wasn’t planning to go fishing today. I was planning to be home doing more yard work but now I guess I will spend the day working on my websites and enjoying the view I have of my backyard.

Maybe I will tie a few trout flies in prepartion for my next fly fishing trip. I will have to tie up a few of my favorite salmon flies as well. I like to be ready for those fat brook trout that like to hang around the mouth of streams and brooks that feed the rivers with fresh cold water.

I just brought my fly tying equipment up from the basement and am setting it all up in my office. It’s going to be a bit more crowed but I am hoping the lighting conditions will make it better for recording a few fly tying sessions.

So raining days are great

I was sitting here this morning watching the sun come up. Another beautiful sunny summer day in New Brunswick and I am stuck here at home doing chores. Oh sorry dear, I was just getting to it.

I don’t mind working around the yard because we love the fact that we finally have our dream home but it does need some work to make it our castle as well so I don’t mind making it better.

I love having my office in my home looking out over our backyard garden we feel so blessed.

While I was sitting here this morning I was remember a day on the water in the Renous with my good friend Roland and Paulie, as we call him.

Paulie had not been fishing with us for long and had only been to this spot one or two time, if my memory is working. He had caught a lot of trout to this point but had not managed to hook an atlantic salmon.

This day was going to be a fun day.

The spot we were fly fishing was in the Renous, New Brunswick area about 3 hours from home so we usually camp for the weekend and a lot of fun is had, maybe too much some times but it’s all good.

This day is one I will never forget. Not because we caught fish because we didn’t that day but Paulie hooked one and that was the most fun I have watched in a long time.

I have never seen Paulie move so fast and so gracefully.

It started with a scream. FISH ON !!

Then a huge Atlantic salmon came flying out of the water and the game was on. Paulie’s line was screaming and we all stopped fly fishing and took our lines out of the water to watch.

Now to help you understand let me tell you that the rocks were greasy all the time and there were huge trees down lying in the water so it was impossible to move around this salmon pool quickly.

But that didn’t stop Paulie. I have never seen any one move so fast and sure without wiping out.

He just started running down river with that samlon and jumped over downed trees and floated across rocks that would have caused most people to slam face first into the dirt, rocks or water but not Paulie, he just kept on going.

That salmon kept jumping but this time he went down and didn’t move. Paulie kept the tension on her and never let up, then after about 2 minutes of hard pulling a log surfaced and we all burst out laughing, well all expect Paul.

That salmon had come out of the water about 3 feet and then went down and dislodged the fly leaving it stuck in a log without ever releasing the tension on the line.

The salmon was too big to keep so he would have had to let it go anyways and he did get a great fight but it still sucks when we all pretended we never saw the fish.

I forgot to ask Paul what flies he uses to catch such nice logs. Ha Ha

Sometimes it seems likes it not the time to go pickerel fishing, well to my wife anyways. I haven’t really found a proper time NOT to go fishing.

When I just have to get out fishing I tell my wife it’s just to strengthen my heart dear and she usually lets me go. But really she is awesome about the times I go fishing and really I am just joking a bit.

I would say that pickerel fishing from my float tube is good for my heart. Just being out in the fresh air enjoying nature is good for my heart and being but those pickerel keep my heart pounding all day long and that sure beats going for walks every day.

The fact that chain pickerel, pike and musky are known to wait until they get to the boat before exploding into action makes for a great day on the water. It’s also an opportunity for a shower now and then so be sure to bring some bio-degradable soap.

The day is was at this spot I didn’t have my float tube with me so I was fishing from the bank. I didn’t even get in the water as the bottom is very boggy and you quickly could find yourself in a spot you just can’t get out of and that really spoils a day.

You can see a little island, just close enough to get a cast but far enough that I don’t scare the pickerel.

I was walking along making casts and catching a few here and there but as soon as I got close to this island I started getting excited and I could see minnows breaking water and that usually means something is chasing them.

The very first cast that I made snagged right on the bottom, it was only a few inches deep around the island, so I started casting a little shorter each cast until I found where the water dropped off and BAM, dinner served.

That pickerel was sure it had the best of me and even managed to dig into the weedy bottom as much as possible but the only was that chain pickerel was getting away was to either pull the plastic bait out of its mouth or cutting the line.

About 5 minutes and that 24 inches set of teeth and fury was landed. My wife had the camera so I didn’t get to take this picture until later and had already released the pickerel to fight another day.

This little cove has a number of little islands that stick out of the water, within casting distance and through the course of the day I had a blast.

I have never fished this area from the bank. We usually arrive with our float tubes and fish a different area just across the road from this spot.

I will definitely go back to this spot a little later and see if the pickerel are still hanging around this area. It can be so shallow on this side that it’s hard to get through it with a float tube. A canoe works well but I sold that and replaced it with two float tubes.

I usually fish smallmouth bass, trout and salmon and have only found a few good spots for chain pickerel. I would like to find some more spots that are easy to access with my float tubes.

This little spot is just past Chipman, New Brunswick and takes me just over an hour to get to from my home.

I have another spot I used to go to in my canoe but it get really windy there and unless the day is calm it’s tough to fish, even in a canoe it’s hard to manage this spot in the wind. There are many days that I just had to get out of the water and walk back to the car and that’s no fun when you’re stuck at the bottom of that lake.

I don’t go there much any more as these other places keep me excited and I don’t usually have to get out of the water due to the wind.

Are you from New Brunswick? Do you have a few nice spots me and my float tube could have a great on the water fishing chain pickerel?

Image by Tim Somero via Flickr

Fly fishing for smallmouth bass from my float tube is always exciting, even on a bad day, if there is such a thing. I am really looking forward to my trip out. I just have to wait until all the yard work is done, the house is painted and a fence in built around our entire property.

Well okay, I made that last part up. I have been busy with planting this year and haven’t had much spare time but there is always time to go fly fishing, especially for smallies from a float tube. It’s just too much fun to pass up.

The reason I am writing this post is because an image popped into my head while I was watching a fishing show over lunch. I saw a good friend and I fly fishing in Lake George, New Brunswick and nothing was happening and my friend was getting a little discouraged, not too much, just a bit.

We were fishing close to shore and there was quite a bit of distance between boat docks and any kind of structure, so there was a lot of paddling without much action.

Until we rounded a small point, just big enough that we had not seen what was there. To us as we were at water level in our float tubes all we could see was open water but there was a small bay full of rocks, boulders, downed trees and lily pads.

We both thought we had drown out there and had gone to heaven.

Before we could even get to this new glorious spot the smallmouth’s started going wild and our day in smallmouth bass heaven had just begun.

I am the type of guy that just give up that easily and my friend was always willing to follow me because he knew I almost always caught fish and this day was no different.