I do most of my fishing in spring, summer and fall but winter fishing is an option, although I haven’t done any ice fishing or winter fishing since I lived in Ontario many years ago.

Back then I didn’t think about winter fishing clothes and did a lot of freezing. No so today.

So the first thing I do is to dress with layers to keep as warm as I want to be.

For me it’s not about looking good,  it’s more about comfort. If I am freezing my ass off I want to either catching a heck of a lot of fish or I wan to go home. I don’t care for frost bite and it doesn’t take much for me to start shaking, then I can’t even tie a proper knot.

I remember the first time I dressed in layers to go fishing. Once I got fishing and was all bundled up I could barely more around. It was hilarious according to my fishing buddies. After that I dressed a little loosely.

What Do I Wear Ice Fishing

You could spend money buying just the right clothing like my son does, but he still lives with us and doesn’t pay the bills. So for me, I would rather spend my money on new fishing gear.

For that reason I start with my long johns, both top and bottoms. I wear them all winter long anyways. I like two piece so that I can remove one or the other depending on the day.

Some times I put on another tee shirt and then a nice warm winter shirt. The T-Shirt is usually only for the extra cold ones. Then it’s aunt Hazel’s gift of a wool sweater.

That setup is great for those days in winter when it’s nice enough to have your big coat off for a bit. The wool sweater keeps any moisture off me.

After the sweater I will put on my winter jacket with the wool liner. Now the top half of my body is ready to go late November fishing or ice fishing.

Let’s move down and put on some pants. I like lined winter pants but I will also bring my snowsuit bottoms. I don’t use the coat as it’s too bulky for my liking. Oh, maybe I should try it on without all my other stuff on. Just kidding.

If My Feet Are Cold I’m Cold

I remember back when I was a kid it wasn’t my clothing that allowed me to freeze. It was winter boots that didn’t fit properly. I grew up wearing hand-me-downs and of course they never fit right. It’s important to have boots that fit correctly.

I like to be able to wear two pair of socks in my boots, a thin comfortable sock and a thicker wool sock. I also make sure my boots fit well without pinching my feet. Keep the feet in comfort and they will thank you.

Note: I always carry and extra set of socks in case my feet get wet. I never leave my feet wet in the winter while fishing.

Okay Now For The Hands

Now I’m nice and comfy, ready for a day of fishing in the winter. All that’s left are my gloves and for that I like neoprene gloves that have finger tips that flip back.

The first pair my wife bought me as a fishing gift never saw a day of fishing as my dog Shadow ate them. That was the only thing of mine she ever ate. Maybe I don’t take her fishing enough.

Cover Your Head And Protect Your Face

Some guys and gals can take the cold but I guess I’m a wimp that loves to fish but I don’t like my ears going numb or my big nose.

I like to wear a hat that covers my head well and my ears, especially if it’s windy.

For those days that are really windy and bitter cold I wouldn’t think of going fishing without a scarf or a neoprene face mask. They may look funny but I’m still able to smile because my face isn’t frozen.

So the key to a great day of fishing, even when it cold enough to freeze the, well I won’t go there, but with the right winter fishing clothes you’ll have a great time and remember it for all the right reasons.

When it comes to fishing around the world trout fishing seems to be the most popular for most anglers. I would have to agree with that most of the time although bass fishing puts up a good fight for first place among sports fishers like myself here in North America.

I have been fishing for these rather abundant yet crafty fish using my spinning gear and fly fishing gear for about half a century. Trout fishing just never gets old whether I’m fishing a lake, pond, river or brook.

I live in North America, Canada actually and we have trout all the way from the east coast, where I currently live to the west coast where I’d love to take a fishing trip some day. The trout in it’s many forms such as brookies or speckled, rainbow, brown and even lake trout are all over most parts of North America but they are not limited to N.A.

The Trout Habitat I Love To Fish

I really don’t find fishing lakes for trout as exciting as I do fly fishing a stream for brookies probably because a brook is so much more visual. But I won’t turn down a trip to a lake for some trout fishing.

One of my best fishing trips was a fly in trip into Quebec for lake trout and pike. A fishing trip I will not soon forget as I got to sight fish for spawning lake trout, my first chance to fly fish for lake trout.

We have rivers here in New Brunswick with Brown trout in them. I didn’t even realize we had brown trout here so you can imagine how excited I was when I landed my first brown trout ever in a brook I was fishing for brook trout in.

Luck can be a big part of fishing and I enjoy making a cast that hooks into a fish I didn’t expect.

My fishing buddies tend to think I’m lucky or have horse shoes up my behind when I catch a big one.  Of course when it’s them that makes the big catch it’s all skill.

The truth is there are always a few things you can learn to do while fishing that will make you a better trout angler.

1. When trout fishing a stream don’t get in the water until you have evaluated the lay of the water and structure. What’s happening in and around the water that will tell you want might be happening under the water.
2. Knowing what the trout are feeding on will give you a big advantage so follow step one first and then step two is to turn over a few rocks that are under the water to see what kind of life is living there, then use a bait that matches what you find.
3. Having taken the time to read the water and surrounding for indicators of what the trout are feeding on and you have turned a few rock you now need to get your bait or fly where the fish live, but not on top of their head as you will spook them and never catch much other than dumb fish which are usually quite young and small.
4. Situate yourself so that you are not in a feeding lane and then cast ahead of the fish so that the bait or fly will drift into the fishes feeding zone. You are much more likely to get that big one when you’re stealthy.
5. Patience is a virtue, especially when it comes to trout fishing as they are extremely easy to spook. Practice patience and you will do much better. When you accidently slap your bait or fly on the water and spook a fish, stop, take a break to give the fish a few minutes to calm down. That’s when you get the big one and the other guy gets skunked.

Bonus Trout Fishing Tip

A real key to successful trout fishing is to go with a fishing setup that will give you the most excitement and sometimes that means going with a light setup for those smaller trout. I have so much more fun when I am fishing light tackle or fly fishing setup that matches the size of the trout I am fishing.

These 5 useful trout fishing tips will help you catch more trout and even bigger trout in the same water you couldn’t catch them before. Happy fishing and remember to take a kid fishing, it could change their life like it did mine.

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Trolling motors give you the opportunity to find those best fresh water fishing hot spots. Let others fish those not so productive areas.

I love trolling motors. I even had one for my canoe and caught lots of big bass on Lake George, Harvey Lake. Even pickerel and trout from Cassidy Lake near Norton New Brunswick.

So today I’d like to share a bit about a specific fresh water trolling motors, the Minn Kota Endura C2 30 12V 30lb 30 Inch. Let’s look at some benefits along with a few features but it wouldn’t be complete without a look at any reported shortcomings of the Minn Kota Endura C2 30.

I don’t mind spending money on fishing related products but I also love getting a real good deal because it means I can usually buy more fishing related stuff. Those of us who are really serious about our fishing and who have a boat loving buying new things for it.

Christmas is getting so close and it’s the time I try to get my friends and family to think fishing when they think about what to buy me.

If you’ve had your mind set on a trolling motor you need to start giving the hints to your family. Wouldn’t it be nice to get the Minn Kota Endura C2 30?

Minn Kota Endura C2 30 Characteristics

Start sharing all the characteristics with your family so they know you’re excited about the Minn Kota Endura C2.

• 30 lbs of Thrust
• 30 Inch Shaft
• 5 Forward Speeds
• 3 Reverse Speeds
• Six Inch Telescoping Handle
• Lever Lock Bracket. A Mounting bracket that’s the strongest
• Runs Quietly so as not to disturb fish.
• Special composite materials resist flexing warping and UV damage.
• Indestructible composite shaft stronger than steel.
• Uses 12 volt Battery – not included.

Yeah the Minn Kota Endura C2 is a legendary performer built to explore, built to last and backed up with our two year warranty. It’s also designed specifically for boats that are small to medium in size.

This trolling motor has been designed for freshwater and is easily mounted using the lever lock bracket. To reduce friction as well as noise the Minn Kota Endura C2 has a ball bearing system that’s extremely smooth so it doesn’t scare off the fish.

Before I finally boat a trolling motor I used to curse the wind, a lot. Especially on Cassidy lake near Norton New Brunswick. The best fishing spot of course is the furthest spot from my vehicle. And of course once you get down in there the wind picks up and makes it tough for one person to paddle out of there. I usually ended up beaching the canoe and walking it along the shore line until I would get out of there. But it’s such a good fishing spot.

Image via Wikipedia

The first time I used my new trolling motor on Cassidy Lake I cruised right out there. Actually caught a couple more pickerel on the way out. When the wind is blowing in there you can’t stop paddling or you lose ground. With the my trolling motor I wasn’t cursing the wind or the the slightest bit exhausted from paddling.

The places we fish for bass, pickerel and trout require a trolling motor as most boat motors would never get to where we like to fish. Take a few minutes to check out the Minn Kota Endura C2 30 and I am sure you will have more productive days on the water.

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Jamie Does His Happy Dance

Can you tell by the image on the left that Jamie was having fun. I think he’s doing his happy dance. Heck I didn’t even know he could dance.

I was doing the happy dance in my head so as not to expend too much energy. I needed it for the rest of the day.

I will have to send this image to my sister in Newfoundland as Jamie, with his tougue covered ball cap, gum rubbers, rain gear and life vest on remind me a lot of her husband.

Picked The Oromocto Over The Saint John River

Fishing the Saint John river in a little canoe can be a bit nerve racking when a boat flies by at high speed or the wind picks up a bit too much making high waves. For that reason we decided the Oromocto river would be better.

Plus the Oromocto isn’t as wide and has a nice wall of trees on both sides to help with any wind that might come up.

It was nice to see the sun but then I was blind when I looked in that direction, which was the direction I was sitting, of course. So glad I didn’t have a hang over.

My glasses don’t get very dark so I just couldn’t look in that direction, so I was kinda glad when the clouds moved in front of the sun again.

The Sun Rise Lights The Forest

I am sure you’ll agree that the sun made the trees look awesome.

Let The Action Begin

Jamie didn’t wait for me to catch the first fish like he normally does. About 20 minutes after we started he switched from a firetiger pattern lure to a 5” green senko worm, wacky rigged.

A couple of casts to the structure along the shore and he had his first fish on, a couple minutes later he landed it. Of course I did a great job with Jamie’s rubber net.

A great start to the day and I guess it was okay, after all it was Jamie’s car and canoe and trolling motor and he was the one driving.

“Now you have the first, biggest and most fish, so far”

Not long after, maybe 10 minutes, I had my first strike and landed a somewhat smaller smallmouth using a #3 Silver & White Mepps with a skirt of white feathers.

I tried to show the Mepps in the image on the left but I think I hid it more than showed it.

Compared to a lot of our fishing season this was a great start to our day.

Actually it was a perfect in my books. NOT cold, NOT windy and the fish were active, who could ask for more.

The two best lures of the day for me were the Silver & White Mepps, and the Red Devils.

Just Trolling Along, La La Laaa

Jamie came prepared to fish all day from the canoe so he brought his trolling motor along. I would rather expend my energy fishing over paddling anyways. You can see the bracket that fastens the trolling motor to the canoe, so glad he has that.

If we were paddling we would never had made it so far up the Oromocto river and I would have been worn out long before the end of the day.

Jamie picked the right time to turn around and head back to the launch point. The trolling motor battery ran for almost 12 hours but about 15 minutes before we were back we could notice we were slowing down.

Jamie grabbed the paddle and helped the trolling motor along. About the distance I can throw a stone the battery died for the day.

If Jamie didn’t bring so much food and tackle I am sure the battery would have lasted all the way back. But then again he could have left me home to save energy. I better be quiet. Ha Ha

Jamie, How Are You Able To Fit In The Canoe?

Didn’t Produce A Single Strike Trolling

The majority of our fishing was casting into the trees, literally. However we did a fair amount of trolling throughout the day but never had a single strike trolling, not even a perch.

Strange that we would catch so many fish in the structure but not a single strike trolling.

Our Biggest Bass of The Day

Jamie started the day with the biggest, the first and the most but it didn’t take me long to catch up.

My biggest fattest smallmouth bass of the day, on the left, was all of 18 inches in length.

He jumped a number of times and each time I was sure I was going to lose it.

When the jumping failed to release the smallie Jamie did his best using the net but it still remained hooked. The hook did however fall out in Jamie’s rubber net.

Jamie’s biggest bass of the day was 16 inches and fought like it was at least 19”.

I went through a section of the river where I was catching pickerel after pickerel and one fat perch. The perch was a fat little guy and the pickerel were a respectable size. I have to thank Jamie for that though as he was catching all the little guys to keep them out of my way.

The biggest of the bass for the day did not come from the trees. Instead they came from the little inlets along the river, even if the inlet only went ten feet into the bank. I love casting to to those spots as I have caught my biggest bass and pickerel on those spots.

Near Sighted Pickerel

I was just about to close the post for today but then I remembered this one pickerel.

I was reeling in the Silver Mepps I was using and had it to a point I could see it near the surface. I could see a pickerel following it so I sped up the retrieve a little which of course caused the pickerel to speed up. But it sped so fast it over took the lure and swam right over top of it with it’s back out of the water. Maybe you had to be there but I thought it was the funniest thing.

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I had another great day of fishing with Casey on Saturday. We were on the Saint John river at Jemseg for some smallmouth bass fishing.

The day started out cloudy and a bit foggy but the closer we got to our destination the clearer the sky was getting.

Even though I used lots of sun screen and water.

Bonus Catch: As Casey was backing the boat into the water I looked down and to my surprise there was a rather muddy $10 bill poking out of a mud puddle. That could buy one more Rapala Countdown lure.

A double check to be sure we had everything and it was time to push off. We headed across the river and then up river towards Swan Creek.

The last time Casey and I were there we headed down toward Hart’s Lake.

You can see from the picture above the water is pretty calm. The entire day was fairly calm but around 11am the pleasure boat traffic along with plenty of wakes picked up.

Casey Wins The Day

We didn’t exactly catch a boat load of fish but I know I had a good time and saw new water I hadn’t fished before.

At the end of our fishing day Casey won with 5 bass, 8 perch and 1 chain pickerel

I wasn’t too far behind with second place which in this case was also last place, with 5 bass and 5 perch

If Casey had not added an extra half hour at the end of our fishing day I would have only had 4 bass. I was able to hook and boat 6 more fish in that last half hour so my score didn’t look to sad.

Casey gave me one of his lures, which were getting more action than mine or I may have gone home with just 4 fish.

I may not have won the day but I did manage to catch the three biggest bass of the day.

This guy thought he was a much bigger smallmouth bass.

Chain Pickerel Seemed To Be On Strike

I don’t know if I can say the pickerel were on strike if they didn’t strike, but you know what I mean. It was kind of weird to only see one pickerel for the entire day as they are usually smacking at everything that gets close to their territory.

Swan Creek Lake Is No Trespassing

Once we reached the Swan Creek entrance we went under a couple of bridges and plenty of tree for cover but didn’t get a single strike.

There was a huge cove with lots of water and weeds but never saw a single fish  more and we threw a lot of baits in there.

Once we fished our way into Swan Creek Lake we realized we weren’t wanted there as there we Military No Trespassing Area signs everywhere. Sure glad we didn’t get shot before we could get out of there.

So it was back down Swan Creek back to the main river where we headed back down towards that Jemseg bridge again.

There may not have been a lot of fish on the go but we caught some, had a lot of laughs and saw a lot of wildlife

On the way home Casey noticed something in his side mirror. It was getting closer and then it was, Casey’s friend ShiftChevy flew by us. He has a nice looking fishing boat as well.

That was our day on the Saint John river and I was home before my beautiful wife was snoring too loud to get to sleep. If she reads this I’ll be sleeping on the couch.

Over the past few years I have enjoyed using the 5” red senko worm for fishing chain pickerel. I was catching so many pickerel while my fishing buddies were struggling a bit, well until they started using them as well.

I was ordering my red senko worms from eBay and then Casey and Jamie started ordering them as well. We were throwing those red worms at every blade of grass and lily pads we could find.

The last time I checked the person selling the 5” red senko worms stopped selling them.

Well both Jamie and Casey bought the last of them I guess because they had them and I didn’t have any.

The last two times I was out, once with Casey and once with both Casey and Jamie I was borrowing their red worms. I don’t really like borrowing things I can lose as easy as a red worm or lure but the pickerel seem to love them so much.

Well on Friday Casey took me back to the Saint John river at Jemseg and we fished from there up to Swam Creek and into Swan Creek Lake.

I was using a black senko worm as I didn’t want to ask Casey for any more of his red worms, especially now that we can’t find any at the moment.

We fished from just after day break all the to supper time and not a single strike on the 5” red senko worm. Casey’s little red worm didn’t have a mark on it. That’s unbelievable in my mind.

It kind of looks like no one catches bass or pickerel on the red senko if I don’t have any.

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Well another fun day of fishing with Casey and Jamie on French Lake has come to an end. The only thing that stopped us was the fact the big light in the sky ran out of energy for the day so we decided to go home.

Even though the wind was fairly strong and of course always blowing in the wrong direction we still had a blast. There was enough cloud cover so we weren’t frying all day and plenty of wind so that the bugs had to hang on to trees so they didn’t bother us.

Who could ask for more, eh?

The ride up in Casey’s truck was full of joking around and teasing each other but of course once we arrived at French lake things got serious. NOT. That would just be strange see three guys in a fishing boat being serious.

Casey hooked and caught the first fish of the day. For a perch it put up quite a fight but Casey still managed to land it, even without the use of his rubber net. Sadly that had to hold him for a while as Jamie decided to take over.

Casey lands the first fish, a feisty little perch with an attitude.

Now Jamie’s first fish could have eaten Casey’s perch but even so Casey had the bragging rights for catching the first fish.

The score was now one fat perch for Casey and one long skinny 22.000017 inch pickerel for Jamie. I was still in practice mode, I guess.

Jamie’s pickerel trying to flip out of his hand

Then for a while the two of them were going crazy with strikes, although they weren’t landing any. Casey is in the back of the boat, Jamie in the front with me in the middle and I can’t get a strike at all. It was time to change baits.

Jamie landed a second pickerel, a little smaller than his first and Casey was trying to figure out why the pickerel were not getting the point he was presenting. They just wouldn’t stay on his hook.

Casey was trying a new lure he had just bought the day before but the pickerel just seemed to smack it with getting the hook. After a bit he gave up and tried another bait and landed himself a nice pickerel.

Eventually I had practiced enough and got my first strike and first pickerel.

It always amazes me how three people can be in a boat, fishing the same water, structure and weeds with two people getting attention while the third is completely ignored by the fish.

Sometimes we go fishing and one person royally kicks butt and yet we’re only a few feet apart.

We had a lot of action as well as fun of course.

My biggest catch for most of the day was 19 inches. The majority of catches seemed to be right around 19 and 20 inches but my last catch of the day was my best at 22 inches.

Smiling Jimmy with his biggest fish of the day.

At this point is was dark, very dark. Sure glad Casey knew where the heck he was going because I would have had to stay out there all night waiting for daylight to find my way back.

At the end of the day the final score was Casey with 8 Chain pickerel plus 1 fat perch, Jamie with 10 Chain pickerel and myself with 15 Chain pickerel. I may have started off slow but gain ground over the rest of the day.

Another great day. We got home just about midnight and I’ll tell you it didn’t take me long to pass out once I got home.

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