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.

• 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.

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

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.

Image via Wikipedia

As an angling method, fly fishing differs from other methods in its technique for casting. Other methods rely on the weight of the lure to pull the line.

But in fly fishing, the line is cast rather than the lure since the lures used in this method are too light to be cast.

Casting in fly fishing can be compared to the way a whip unfurls when it is being cracked. It is said that a good angler can unfurl his/her line even before he/she does the return motion when casting.

This angling method has been around as early as 200 AD. It was first mentioned in a book entitled “Natural History”,
written by a Roman author named Aelian.

One chapter of his book mentioned in passing the Macedonians’ way of catching their fish. It talked about how they tried to lure fish using imitation flies that they made themselves.

Based on Aelian’s description, the methods that they used are closely similar to the methods and purpose of the modern-day fly fisher in catching fish.

While it has been around for two millennia, fly fishing remains a relevant and exciting method of angling until this day and will remain so in generations to come.

Sport Fishing on the Fly is one of my favorite fly fishing show to watch. I enjoy sportfishing on the fly myself and get out on the water every chance I get.

I have been watching their TV show for some time and always learn something. I especially like the time spent at the fly tying bench. I get to see how to tie the flies that are new to me and then I get to try them here in New Brunswick.

I get a fair bit of fishing on TV but when I heard that Sport Fishing on the Fly had moved to WFN I contacted my satilite TV dealer and had them add WFN to my account. Now I can record more shows than ever. Thanks WFN and thanks Bell Express.

The SFOTF hosts, Don Freschi and Grant Fines do an awesome job. They know what they are doing and unlike so many other fishing shows they keep fairly sane during the taping which I appreciate.

I have a couple of float tubes and love taking friends fishing. It’s nice to get out fishing but I really do enjoy it so much more when the day on the water is shared. How much fun is it to yell fish on when you are all by your self?

It’s also nice to have a friend who can take good pictures. My hands shake too much, ever since I was a young boy, so I really suck at picture taking.

I bought a viedo camera this years and a tripod. I am hoping to finally be able to take great pictures and share them with my readers.

I know of this great little spot for fly fishing smallmouth bass in New Brunswick on those really windy days. This spot is protected on all sides by high mounds of crushed rocks and trees from strip mining.

Many years ago, not sure how many but by the size of the trees growing on these mounds I would say it been abuot 50 years or more since the mining stopped do to hitting too many springs and flooding the entire area.

The miners just packed up and moved on leaving a huge new area of spring water and potential, so the wardens stocked these new ponds with smallmouth bass after about 10 or 20 years. The result, a lot of fun for bass fishers like me.

The bass don’t get huge here but with light gear you can have fun all day. This is a great place to bring kids if you want them to catch fish, almost guaranteed.

I brought my son here for his first exprience with a float tube and fishing bass. He doesn’t use a Fly rod but we still had a great time. Actually we always have a great time when we go fishing.

This is a great spot to fish. You don’t need a boat of a float tube as you can fish right from the banks around the ponds. It can be a little hard walking here as the shale moves under your feet a bit and the piles are pretty high but it’s all worth it when you see how much fun you can have.