The original plan was to head out Sunday, the 14th, for our last day of Pickerel fishing this year. Saturday morning, after returning from Canadian Tire with the bullet sinkers and hooks I needed for Sunday, I checked my email and found Jamie in there asking if I wanted to go Saturday instead of Sunday.

I grabbed the phone and called Jamie before finishing the email.

Beating The Tail End of a Hurricane

The reasons Jamie changed his mind was one, the hurricane that was tracking up from Texas. The winds were going to be strong and of course would be accompanied by lots of rain. Not a good combo for Chain Pickerel fishing. And secondly, it’s always great to go sooner in my books.

Jamie arrived, we loaded up the car and then I babbled like a little kid all the way there. I tend to do that when I get excited and I am happy to say Jamie didn’t drop me off half way there.

It can be a bit decieving on the drive to Chipman from Moncton. It might look calm and the trees don’t seem to be moving but once you pull around the corner and see the water it can really surprise you just how much wind there is. This day the water was almost calm as you can see in the picture above. An ideal Pickerel day so far.

There was a slight breeze blowing but not enough to affect the weed areas. The water was like glass in those areas and very little wind on the open water. Seeing that just made me more hyper. Poor Jamie, he was probably looking for some ear plugs by that point.

The day turned into a perfect day. It was so cloudy going up we though for sure we would be fishing in the rain like the last trip but instead shortly after we arrived the clouds parted, the sun came out and the wind all but stopped.

We had a perfect Pickerel day in New Brunswick.

No Time Wasted

I have been fishing since before Jamie was even born and I still get excited like a kid going to Disney World for the first time. Jamie was much more in control of his excitement than I was and I am sure he just laughed when I just had to run down to the water for that first cast.

There are a couple of weed patches right were we launch the canoe and that’s where I made my first cast, right along the edge of the weeds.

I was expecting a Pickerel to come flying from the weeds to nail the big pink worm I had on but to my surprise the wake came from the open water and exploded on my bait.

I think they just sit there waiting for anyone to step into the water so they can eat them.

Over the past 5 years I have been recovering from heart damage and haven’t been able to go fishing. I was so excited to just be fishing I didn’t bring a measuring tape or a scale so I am not sure how big the Pickerel was but my best guess would be about 20 or so inches.

Jamie didn’t even push me in the water for getting in the first cast.

Politely Sharing The Water

When we arrived there were already other people fishing from a motor boat. They were extremely polite and never came close to our canoe or the area we chose to fish. In the past we have had people that would fly by and take over the water. One year a jerk swamped our canoe with his speed boat and flipped us right over. My fishing buddy that day lost all his gear and the guy never stopped.

Then The Clouds Parted

We expected the wind to pick up and the rain to start at any time but instead the clouds parted, the sun came out and the wind all but stopped.

To make this day even better the pickerel seemed to go out of there way to make our last day of fishing this year such a great one. It was pretty much none stop action all day. By the end of the day I could hardly stand up and my arms had no energy left at all. They wore me right out, awesome.

I am not sure if Jamie is fixing his line or doing his Pickerel catching happy dance.

I don’t know how many Chain Pickerel we caught Saturday but the action was constant all afternoon and we didn’t leave until it was dark. It was one of those days people pray for.

Our day went from a possible stormy day to the ideal fishing day.

We are looking forward to next season already and I think over the winter I will tie a few weedless Pickerel flies and get Jamie to do some fly fishing for Chain Pickerel. The experience is unbelievable and can be quite addictive.

It had been five years since the last time I was out fishing for Chain Pickerel in the weeds. I have fished them from the shore in open water earlier in the season and had a great time.

A couple of weeks ago I went pickerel fishing with my new best buddy Jamie. He brought his canoe and we headed for the weeds, deep in the weeds actually. We saw a lot of action but few hook sets.

The reason we didn’t land many, even though the action was pretty steady for a windy day in the weeds, was due to my poor choice in the hooks I purchased. I just grabbed what I thought was the correct hooks and it wasn’t until I used the first one that I realized I had messed up.

I quickly found that when I hooked the bait correctly on the hook it wouldn’t move through the water right and also caught on every weed, lily pad and blade of grass. When I rigged it so that the hook was in the plastic correctly to keep it straight the point of the hook would not embed in the plastic so it wasn’t weedless.

We still had a great day and Jamie landed a few but I wasn’t getting anything rigged like that. Even though we practice catch and release and don’t mind a few getting away it’s still nice to actually catch and release them without a long distance release.

If the weather holds out for one more day we are hitting the water again tomorrow but this time I will be prepared.

Today I am heading to the shop to pick up the right hooks for Texas rigging and then Chain Pickerel look out.

How to Rig the Plastic Worm or Lizard Weedless

I said it earlier but it’s worth mentioning again. It’s important to have the right hooks but it’s also important to know how to rig it correctly or you will just be fishing instead of catching.

To get a bit more distance a to be able to drop it into the weeds and have it sink you can use a bullet sinker. Put it on you line before you tie on your hook of course.

Threat about 1/2 inch of your worm onto the hook and then pull the hook through the bait. Move the bait to the top of the hook shank and then give it a turn so the hook point lines up with the bait.

Next you can just put the hook into the bait, but not through the bait. Some baits will have a groove that will allow you to put the hook right through the bait and then it fits right into the groove making it weedless. Just be sure you have it aligned properly or your worm may twist and move through the water or weeds right.

I think Jamie and his twin girls had a great day of fishing Smallmouth bass. Here is another little post from Jamie.

After talking to James and sharing the day I had with my girls I asked him if he would like to go fishing for the day. I know it is hard to believe but he said yes.

I strapped my canoe on my car and picked James up early in the morning and we were off to try to catch some pickerel and bass. I went to Cassidy Lake earlier this summer and caught a few small pickerel so I was excited to go to some water that had pickerel that would be more plentiful and larger in size.

We arrived at the location and of course we were both excited to get fishing that we fished off shore for a few minutes. James had one follow his lure after just a few casts which got my heart pumping. We put the canoe in the water and made our way to where James said he normally fishes.

I had an excellent time trying to catch these fish. It was great fun watching them chase after the lures in the water. I quickly realized that they are quite a predator. We caught a few, but that did not matter, as I told James it was just as much fun watching them chase and hit the baits. If not by the end of this fishing season, I am truly hoping that James and I will be back to try for some more pickerel very soon.

The day was actually very winding and it came to a point where we decided to leave and try for some bass. We loaded up our gear and the canoe and in a short time we were fishing bass. This was non-stop action for about three hours, I would say we caught and released about sixty bass. They were not monsters but that made no difference to me at all as I am someone who just has a great time catching fish no matter the size.

James was a great help teaching me how to fish in the weeds for pickerel. I am hoping to practice lots more very soon. I am very thankful that an evening surfing the internet led me to James’ fishing site. It led to a great day with my girls and also to another great day fishing for pickerel and bass with a new fishing buddy!

As James has mentioned in an article he wrote on his ‘The Joy of Fly Fishing’ site, I had asked him about a spot that he has good luck catching bass and is easy for kids to fish. He was gracious enough to tell me the location so my twin daughters and I were off on what I was hoping would be a great day of bass fishing.

I have taken my girls trout fishing on a number of occasions but the trips never lasted very long as poor fishing and terrible bugs took the fun out of it for them in a hurry. They are now ten so I was hoping that they were getting to the age where they could handle their fishing rods better and not get frustrated as easily.

Once we arrived we got geared up and started our way around the water. It was not long before we started catching some bass. Many of the fish were jumping right out of the water after being hooked. The girls enjoyed this a great deal. They were also using very light tackle so even a small bass felt big to them.

We were having a great time catching fish and spending the day together that time melted away into late afternoon. On previous fishing outings I would be lucky to get an hour out of them. On this day we fished for over 4 hours. They improved their casting abilities and even got brave and touched the bass.

People have things happen to them with friends or family and they say it will be a day they will never forget. Well, thanks to James, this simple fishing trip turned into a day of fishing with my girls I will truely never forget.