I work from home and spend a lot of time in my little office staring into our backyard and day dreaming about fishing, errr I mean working my online business.

Usually when I look out my office window my mind always goes to fishing and what it would be like at that exact moment. Well over the past week all I could think was just how windy it was and how tough it would be to fish pickerel in the weeds.

I can’t remember that last time the wind blew for a week like it has been. Even today I am looking out the window and it’s even windier than it was yesterday while we were fishing.

The Wind Sucks or Should I Say BLOWS

I really don’t mind fishing in the wind. It keeps the bugs at away most of the time and makes the heat easier to deal with.

I don’t like the wind when I am fly fishing, in a canoe or doing both. I especially don’t like the wind when I am fishing chain pickerel in the weeds, which is the only way I like to fish pickerel.

Can’t Let A Little Wind Stop Us From Fishing

Jamie and I didn’t let the wind stop us from giving the pickerel and the weeds a try, so yesterday we headed out for a day on the water. Great exercise trying to control the canoe in that wind, the anchor helped a few times.

We worked hard but we did get a lot of action in the moments that wind let up. It only took about 2 minutes after the wind stopped for the water in the weeds to calm and the action started right up.

Of course it also only took 2 minutes for the action to stop once the wind picked up again.

When we started from Moncton we kind of expected the day to be rainy, which we were prepared for but instead it just got windier.

We tried to get to a couple of spots that would have given us some protection from the wind but we couldn’t get there because of the white-caps. The waves were just large enough to make it un-safe so we stayed where we were.

We spent the day moving from one location to another, always looking for spots the wind was not effecting.

Our day ended a few hours sooner than any other time we have gone fishing but all in all it was still a great day, just a lot more work than most fishing days.

We were actually home before day. Heck we don’t usually leave the water until it’s dark.

While we were in one spot I saw a maple tree that had far more maple keys than leaves. It was a strange looking tree.

Forgive the fact the picture is a bit out of focus. It was so windy it was hard to take a picture from the canoe but I am sure you can see the amount of red, well that’s all maple keys.

I think our next trip out is going to be for smallmouth bass. I used to have a little hot spot, but I haven’t fished it since my heart attack in 2004. However I am pretty sure it’s still holding a lot of nice bass.

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It can take a long time getting that first musky. Well that’s what I have heard as I have never gone musky fishing.

When Casey goes after something he goes big or he stays home and his first musky was certainly not a little guy by any stretch of your imagination.

Casey, Oct 2009, with his first musky. Congrats

Here is the email a happy, well exstatic Casey sent me once he had his pictures uploaded.

It was Sun 18 Oct and the last muskie outing for the St John River chapter in Fredericton called the “Ironman”.

It was a frosty morning around 2 C. We arrived just as most boats were departing the launch area at 8 am and were advised to pay our fees at lunchtime which was a mandatory break for all participants.

We donned a couple of more layers of clothes and gloves and headed out. We began trolling right away as it is the preferred method when the water is cold.

I put on a 10″ Jake and my partner used a 10″ Believer. We trolled for about an hour and had caught many loads of weeds but no hits. I hate catching weeds so I put on a 6″ jointed perch lure, which is probably the cheapest one in my box.

At about 09:30 I had a strong hit in about 10′ of water, it turned out to be a 16′ bass but got the adrenalin flowing.

Ten minutes later I got a real tug on the line. I set the hook twice and could feel the fish fighting. I knew it wasn’t a bass.

My 8′ Okuma rod was bent big time when we finally saw the fish. It was a muskie and looked half as long as the boat.

My partner did an excellent net job and we had it. That’s when the shaking started. I couldnt believe the size of this fish, the biggest I have ever caught. After about 5 min my partner removed the lure and lifted the fish from the net.

We were both pretty nervous about handling this monster as it had a huge head and large teeth. I was still trembling like a leaf but got a good grip for a few pics.

It took about 15 mins in the water before the muskie headed for the deep water on his own.

What a rush!!!

15 muskies were caught at this tournament and all were safely released. The largest was 48″ x 23″ I was in 4th place and the prizes only went to 3rd. Maybe next year.

Didn’t think I was going to get out fishing this week but to my delight I found a note on my coffee mug when I got up Friday morning.

Fishing buddy Casey had called after I hit the sack the night before so he just left a message for me to call in the AM.

I’m an early riser, about 5am each day, but didn’t feel right calling at that time, so I waited until 6am.

Well I apologized to Casey’s wife as she was still in bed. Casey was out walking his dogs and she would have him call me when he came back in.

5 minutes later the phone rang. “Jim, Would You Like To Go Fishing?”

I can’t tell you how much I enjoy hearing those words over the phone or in person.

An hour later we were on the road to Chipman as Casey had never fished the Chipman area for pickerel. And an hour and half later we were at the Chipman boat launch.

Chipman New Brunswick Boat Launch

In a few minutes the boat is in the water and Casey was asking, ‘Which way?’

There was a spot that was very close to where Jamie and I fish but seemed a lot further in a canoe so I said let’s go up river a bit.

As we are putting Casey’s boat in the water he asked me if I like soft ice cream. What a strange question to ask as we are about to head out fishing, but of course I like soft ice cream, hard ice cream and milk shakes.

He was just seeing if I was up for a little wager. The loser for the day buys the ice cream at the end of the day.

I was up for that as it’s always a great treat after fishing for the day. It always tastes better when someone else pays too. Game ON!!

So we launched and headed off to our first spot for the day with our lines already setup and in the water to troll a bit while we were heading up river or was that down river.

The water temperature was still only 54F or 7C, still a little chilly for crazy pickerel action so we would likely need to slow down the presentations for a while, at least until the sun warmed the water up a few more degrees.

The sky was clear and very little wind. Looked like the ideal day for pickerel fishing.

Well Casey hooked into the first pickerel and I was nice enough to net it for him.

We used the net so we wouldn’t lose pickerel at the boat.

Casey replaced his old net with a nice little rubber mesh net that doesn’t get tangled in the hooks and doesn’t hurt the fish.

Fish ON!!

Casey hooked into and landed the first fish putting him in first place. Personally I like catching that first fish just to get into the other guys head but not today, Casey was already in my head.

Shortly after Casey’s first fish he had a second, which was 19″, slightly bigger than the first.

The water temp was still at 54F/7C.

I tried to hit it with the net but some how it got in the net and Casey had me 2 to zip. I have to get better with that net or start catching some fish.

You can see the rapala that Casey was using seemed to work well.

I hooked into a couple as well but they never saw the net, maybe not even the boat. They did poke their head out of the water just long enough to laugh at me though.

After a little bit I did manage to land a pickerel. It was my first for the day but it was equal to Casey’s second fish, so it was now Casey’s 2 to my 1.

Then Casey caught another and made the comment about how it’s can be tough to come back when you are two behind. 3-1 for Casey.

The water temperature had gone up to 55F by this time and we had been fishing for a couple of hours.

Then I hooked into another that came in at 21″ and it was Casey 4, Jim 2 but I now had the largest fish and bragging rights. Plus I was catching up.

First 21″ Chain Pickerel of the Day

Casey caught a couple more pickerel as the day went on but as the temperature went up I changed to top waters and started hitting the weeds on the bank.

Fishing top water in the weeds is my favourite method for pickerel fishing as I spend most of my fishing time in a float tube.

I started getting a lot of action in the weeds but still was landing any more fish. I decided to switch to my other rod which had lighter line and would allow me to cast about twice the distance. Then things started happening.

The wind wouldn’t co-operate with us and it was hard to keep the best angle to fish the weeds.

By this time the water temperature was up to 56F and we could see a lot of minnow action which gave us great direction for casting.

At that time we moved off the river and into a small cove where we could see some weed beds and we could get out of the wind a bit as it was getting stronger.

The water temp in the cove was about 2 degrees higher than the river.

The Weeds Are My Favourite Place To Fish

I spend a great deal of time in the weeds fishing pickerel as I just love their explosive nature. It’s so cool to watch the wakes and see them leave the water for a bait that is still in the air.

Early Season? Look For Green Weeds

Now when I am fishing the weeds early season I look for any green patch above or below the water. Anything that is going to add oxygen to the water. These little spots usually hold a few small pickerel or one great big one.

I’ll Admit I Had An Unfair Advantage

I think I had the definite advantage for a few reasons.

1. I live to fish the weeds.

The weeds are where I started to shine as I fish the weeds every chance I get and I have my favorite baits for the weeds.

2. I had the secret bait

I had one pink 6″ plastic worm that the pickerel seem to love more than anything else but I only had one and it was hacked up pretty good from the week before fishing with Jamie.

I used that pink worm until it was chewed up and then I bit the end of it and put it back on the hook. I fished that pink worm until a pickerel finally took it right off the hook.

By that time I had tied things up. I believe it was now 5-5

3. I was in the front of the boat

Casey was in control of his boat which put me in the front. So I feel I had a definite advantage as long as we weren’t trolling.

Once my pink worm was gone I switched to another worm that was a green with a red tail. Pickerel seem to love that red as it indicates an injury.

The water temperature was up to 60F by this time and the pickerel were becoming very active.

22″ Chain Pickerel, Water Temp 60F

I started getting a lot of following pickerel but my excitement was making me a little too hyper and I was snatching the worm away before they could get it. But I was having a lot of fun.

Then we were getting a lot of them that just followed the bait to the boat then would bugger off. Casey was laughing and telling me to do the figure 8 like you do for a big ole musky.

What a change a few degrees in the water makes.

At the end of the day we had a lot of follows and great fun. The final score for the day was Jim 12 pickerel landed, Casey with 6 pickerel landed.

Oh yeah, I had that 22″ pickerel so that gave me the biggest fish of the day as well.

Note: The wind became a real problem as the day went on but with Casey’s boat we had no problem moving to the back end of coves and behind trees and islands that blocked the wind.

Almost every cast to a calm spot, even with wind all around us we were getting action.

Thanks for the great day of fishing Casey. Most enjoyable and the company wasn’t so bad either.

You don’t have to be an expert fly caster to catch fish. My fly fishing buddies and myself prove that every time we go out. However I have been fishing and fly fishing much longer than my friends have so I usually catch more fish, so I guess all those years of practise have made me better. Good reason to practise, isn’t it?

Fly fishing experts say that the one thing that you need to do to develop a good casting technique is to practice as often as you can. I never bothered to practise my fly casting until my health took a turn and left me as weak as a new born kitten. I had to get out on the lawn and practise, but it was more to exercise my arms so I could last longer on the water.

Like anything in life the practise will lead to a proficiency in casting that make all the difference between being a successful fly fisher or a frustrated one. I watched one of my fishing buddies go an entire year without ever catching a fish on the fly, most would have given up long before he ever caught that first fish. You can bet the he didn’t practise from one fly fishing trip to the next, but over time he managed to pick up enough practise that he started catching fish.

It’s best to learn the proper technique right from the start as bad habits are hard to break, but even if you have been doing it for some time and you aren’t getting the resulting cast you think you should be getting then you should take the time to practise. It becomes more fun the more you practise, it also becomes easier and takes less energy when done correctly. You will be able to fly fish much longer and not pay for it so much the next day.

Fly fishing has a stance, a placement for your feet that is ideal for fly casting but when you are on the water you will find that stance is not always possible, so it’s most important to learn how to hold your arms and fly rod.

Here is a video showing Joan Wulff, a great fly fishing and casting instructor. She impresses me to no end. Enjoy and learn the art of fly casting.

I hope you enjoy the video and learned a bit about the first lady of fly fishing. Now you need to get outside and start practising what you have just learned. Think about every aspect of your cast until you don’t have to think about it any longer.

I too use multiple methods of fishing, spin casting, bait casting and fly fishing but fly fishing has something that the others don’t. It’s an experience that you will only get when you practise enough. The feeling goes deep, right into the heart, like you are one with your surroundings.

As the previous post points out Jamie and I were out chasing a few pickerel around the Salmon River in the Chipman, New Brunswick area. Couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was a great day but kind of a strange day when it came to catching those pickerel.

Fishing Chain Pickerel on the Salmon River, New Brunswick

The first thing I realized was the amount of line I had on my spool. The first cast I made went right to the spool. I don’t know how I missed that, guess I was a bit too eager to get out fishing.

I decided to cut off the braided line that was worn and had turned white from the original black. When I went into my tackle bag to get more line it wasn’t there. My son had taken it out to use on his reel and didn’t bother to put it back. We’ll have a talk about that.

So I fished the entire day with almost no line and must admit that I did pretty good.

You can see in the image above that we stopped the canoe to check out what looks like a farmers field, off Salmon river, that was flooded with about 3 feet of water. Last year I caught a really nice pickerel here so of course we couldn’t pass it by.

I had a lot of pickerel chasing my plastic worm but they just seemed to ignore Jamie’s offerings. I was trying to figure out why I was getting all the action but nothing seemed to work for Jamie.

I told Jamie I had added a bullet weight to the front of the worm so that it was more sub-surface, so he gave that a try but still nothing.

Where’d You Get That Pink Worm?

What is kinda funny though, I still had on the pink plastic worm Jamie gave me last year just before the fishing season closed. I forgot to take the plastic worm off the hook on my rod so I just left it on. I thought it would be funny, I think I said something like it was the only bait I had.

I should probably buy a bag of those pink plastic worms to give to Jamie as I borrowed so many of them last year. I am sure I cleaned Jamie right out of them.

I have a terrible habit of grabbing fish the wrong way. I guess that comes from so many years without taking pictures and just catching and releasing. I will work on that on our next outing, maybe I will get it right and get a good picture.

I also forgot my thermometer as I wanted to get the water temperature, I will try to remember that for the next trip as well.

Saturday Jamie and I headed out for an afternoon and evening of fishing fun and pickerel and maybe a bass or two. The pickerel were there but I didn’t see any bass to be had.

Every river, stream or body of water we passed had us looking to see how high or low the water was. We remembered last year the water was extremely high.

It didn’t surprise us much when we arrived to see that the water level was pretty average for this time of year as we had a big melt off early March before the weather turned cold again for another month.

I decided that it would be great to try a couple of spots I had shown Jamie last year for the first time. I showed him those spots in the last season when most of the area was dried up from a long summer.

Today though I would just like to show you a couple of pictures of the water we were fishing and I will leave what we caught for another day.

This little cove looks like one big cove right now. You can’t even see where the river is, it just all looks like the river. There were three boats just launching when we arrived so we didn’t stay here.

We just stopped here to see the water level was before moving on to the hot spots I wanted to take Jamie to.

You can see that the water was still high enough to move up into the bush but that just makes for more fun spots to hook into a big fat pickerel, just watch the trees and branches still under the water. It makes it very challenging.

The river in the foreground of this image was high but just on the other side of those trees is pickerel heaven. A great spot for those really windy days when it’s hard to control a canoe. Also a great place to fly fish for pickerel on windy days.

We could not have asked for a better day on the water. It was sunny, not overly windy and we were fishing, who could ask for more, right.