We headed to Oromocto the other day for a little bit of fishing and as you can see we weren’t the only ones out. Even man’s best fishing buddy was on the water.

Our day of fishing started on the Saint John river to see if I could get my first muskie. I waited quite a few years before I felt I was finally strong enough again that I could take on a muskie.

We fished a known muskie stretch up and down for a couple of hours but did get a muskie strike. Casey did get a small smallmouth bass.

After a while of trying for muskie we moved into the Oromocto river and fished our way up to French lake where we hooked into a few chain pickerel. We moved a lot of pickerel but they just weren’t very active.

I hooked into a few but missed a whole lot of them. It’s great catching but I still get a blast just casting and watching them. Not sure why they kept missing the baits though. So cool watching the wakes and swirls. Sometimes before the bait even hits the water. However I think it’s a little more fun landing some.

I was in the front of the boat and had what looked like a big pickerel making a huge swirl when my bait hit the water but nothing on the next few casts. I pointed the spot out to Casey as he was now closer to that spot. He cast exactly where I pointed and that pickerel came flying out of the water and took the bottom half of Casey’s Senko. He was a huge pickerel but that was the last we saw of him.

Before I knew it the day was almost done so we took the run back to the Saint John to give muskie another try before heading home again.

Casey Get’s The Only Muskie of The Day

Well I didn’t manage to get my first muskie but Casey landed a 31” muskie. When he hit it looked like Casey had snagged on bottom but only for a second and then the head shaking started.

It was fun watching but would have been great if it was me with the muskie. Maybe next time.

Taking The Time Taking Care

As soon as I realized Casey had hooked into a muskie I grabbed the big net from the front of the boat and had it ready.

I even managed to get the muskie in the net without any mishaps.

At that point we kept the muskie in the net and in the water so that it would remain calm while we got things ready for measuring and getting pictures.

The muskie wasn’t out of the water for more than 15 or 20 seconds.

The muskie was really hooked and Casey felt it was better to cut the hooks than to try getting them out and maybe hurting the muskie. A minute later the muskie was free of the hooks and back in the net while I got the camera read.

He was calm, the muskie that is, but as soon as Casey tried taking him out of the net he went wild. Almost got away before he could be photographed and measured. Once Casey finally got a grip we measured his 31” muskie and I snapped a couple of pictures.

We did see a lot more bald headed eagles than usual. I wrote a short post about that and added some pictures and a video.

From the time I first bought a digital camera to take fishing I have been taking pictures, thousands of them. I still get lots of fishing in while we’re out.

I take pictures of water, trees, clouds, sun, some fish and wildlife if I can get close enough for a picture. I often get images that are too far away and out of focus. I just never seem to be able to get a close up image of a bald eagle.

Lots of Eagles On The Oromocto River

On Tuesday May 21 Casey and I were fishing the Oromocto and saw bald eagles every where along the Oromocto river as well as all along the Saint John river at Oromocto.

I don’t normally see pairs of eagles but this day we saw multiple pairs and even a few juvenile bald eagles who still had their mottled feathers.

Even though the eagles were still a bit shy and took off before we reached them they still allowed us closer than they normally do. Must have babies they gotta feed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many eagles in a single day.

The picture on the left is the closest I got to getting a picture of a pair of eagles. Just as I got the camera up for the picture the first one dropped out of the tree and the second one had wings lifted ready to take off. Just a couple of seconds too slow.

Take a minute and learn more about Oromocto and about the bald eagle on Wikipedia.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

I wasn’t sure if the juvenile bald eagles we saw were really bald eagles but I looked online to see if there were other eagles in New Brunswick but couldn’t find any. So if this isn’t a juvenile bald eagle left me know please.

It’s not the best picture but it’s the best of the ones I got. The others had branches between my camera and the eagle.

We were heading for a day of fishing at Harts lake and looking at every brook, stream and river along the way to see if the water had come down any since our first day out fishing at the end of April.

At first glance the water did appear to be down some but a close look and it really wasn’t down much at all.

Plus when we got close to Jemseg we could see that the fields were still flooded and that there was a lot of water around.

We couldn’t even use the launch at our usually spot as it had so much water that it was impossible to even get close to the river to launch. So we moved up the road and tried the old ferry point where the road when straight into the river. A few minutes later and we were fishing again.

My Back Pain Disappeared

When I woke up Tuesday morning I didn’t jump out of bed like I normally do when I know I’m going fishing. After a weekend and Monday doing backyard clean up work my back was kind of tender so I crawled out of bed.

Funny how getting out on the water makes a lot of that pain go away and after the first fish of the day it was completely out of my mind.

Nearly Record High Temperatures

I don’t think it was a record hot day but I am sure it was within a degree or two because it was hot. I plastered sunscreen on all visible areas, except one earlobe, for some reason, and it’s really itchy today.

Even though I like calm days for fishing I will admit I was a bit happy it was windy as it would have seemed even hotter than it was.

We were able to find lots of spots that were protected from the most of the wind and few that we really calm so we didn’t’ stay in the wind all day and I got to have some fun top water action.

Whaaat!!? Casey Lands The First Fish, Again?

Hey the last time we were out Casey caught the first fish of the day. I thought it was his job to drive and mine to catch the first fish. Guess I got mixed up on that one.

His first catch of the day was our only bass for the day and was 14”. Unfortunately Casey let it go without a pictures. So did he really catch that first fish or not. Hmmm??

It’s Okay to Catch A Fish Now Jim

Once Casey had the first fish of the day he gave me the okay to start fishing.

I wasn’t long waiting. We had moved into an area protected from the wind and I was standing on the deck in the front of the boat.

The water was very clear for being so flooded and I could see down about 3 feet and a couple of feet out about 15 feet from the boat.

Just enough that I was able to see this huge mouth come out of the depths and nail my bait. As soon as I saw it I told Casey it might be a 25” pickerel. I was close as it measured in at 24”. It also gave me the best fight I’ve had this year.

This guy didn’t want to be caught and put up a great fight. He went under the boat pulling drag and then nothing but tension. I thought he had taken me into the prop and hooked me up but a few seconds later he started moving again.

Casey did a great job netting him and one good flip from the pickerel and he was in the net and on the measuring board. I guess I will take biggest fish over first fish of the day but it would be cool to have been both. Ha Ha

At the end of the day Casey had first fish and the most fish with 7 fish. Four were pickerel, two were perch and of course that first smallmouth bass. I had 6 fish for the day and the biggest fish of the day with five pickerel and one fat perch.

As we were heading back to our launch point Casey pointed to a tree of in the distance. It was either an eagle or osprey was perched on an old dead tree.

It was quite choppy so Casey stopped to give me a minute to get him in focus and zoom in enough to see which it was.

As you can see it’s an osprey.

I found a few osprey images to add to my Pinterest account and will hopefully add more of my own in the near future.

A Red Herring

While we were fishing a small bay and getting some action from picky pickerel who wouldn’t commit to a strike and perch that couldn’t get the bait in their mouth I was watching a herring at the back of the bay but it was too far to get a picture.

We fished closer to the back of the bay and I noticed the herring was still there so I grabbed my camera, zoomed in and snapped a picture. He never moved.

Well as you can see from my picture it wasn’t exactly a herring was it? By the way the following day was my eye appointment to get my eyes checked and new glasses. Maybe I’ll also stop hooking up in trees like I did on our last day. Getting polarized clip-ons with them as well.

Currently I have one spinner bait but I’m now planning on getting a few more spinner baits and give them a try this year. We were talking with a couple of guys who almost always use them and not much else. I have my eye on the terminator spinnerbait.

I used them in the past to catch loads of smallmouth bass back when I was fishing with Roland. But never tried them fishing pickerel.

It’s always exciting to get out fishing for the first time each year here in New Brunswick. Yesterday was my first day of fishing for 2013 and sure beats sitting in the office typing.

Last year our first day was a really cold day so we came prepared for just about any weather. I had my entire wardrobe and Casey brought a snow suit, just to be sure we were prepared.

Turns out it was calm, sunny and warm all day long. I don’t think I saw a cloud all day. I just kept peeling off layers of clothing.

Salmon River Water Level Up 6 Feet

The Chipman boat launch was sure different that I remember it last year. I think there was about half of it still under water. Last year we could go down and and make a loop to come back up to back your boat down. This year it’s just two lanes going straight into the river. So I would say there is about 20 or 30 feet missing at the moment.

A second walk around the boat and in the truck to be sure we weren’t going to have to come back in because we forgot something and we were heading up river.

Casey Lands The First Fish of 2013

It’s always nice when I get the first fish of the day and especially of the season. I was focused and tried so hard. I was thinking positive, holding my tongue just the right way and even used my fish whistle and yet Casey still hooked that first fish.

My last resort was to smack it with the net, as usual, but that didn’t even work. So congrats on getting the first fish, a respectable 19” chain pickerel.

A Couple of Hours Later I Get Onboard

Eventually I hooked into my first fish of the day. I could see that it wasn’t quite as big as Casey’s pickerel. Didn’t even bother to measure him or get a picture.

I was happy to have my first but I was looking for one that was 19.5” in length.

We went a long time before the next fish which choose my lure over Casey’s and it was 21” putting me in the bigger fish category.

Casey played with a couple of fish but they just wouldn’t commit. They would chase the bait right to the boat and give up. Wimpy fish.

Later I caught another pickerel making it three for the day. Casey’s response was: “It sure beats splitting wood.” I so agree.

I Need To Practice My Aim

When I wrote that title I immediately remembered the needlepoint picture my Aunt Hazel had over the toilet. It said:

“We Aim To Please, Would You Aim Too Please”

But I’m not talking about using the bathroom. No I’m talking about getting my lure hooked up in the trees.

It was so calm and clear yesterday that the reflections were playing tricks on my eyes. I found it very hard to judge the distance so I ended up launching into the trees. However, on a positive note it did allow Casey to practice his boat handling skills.

Fortunately I only lost one all day and it wasn’t to the trees. I hooked bottom and no matter what we did I couldn’t get loose and eventually just pulled on the line until it snapped.

The lure I lost has been in my tackle box for many years and had never actually caught a single fish but I always gave it a try. Now I will focus on using baits and lures I do catch fish using.

Cajun Casey Hunting Gators

A couple of times during the day we travelled through the trees to get from point A to point B without making the long trek out of the cove we were in and back to the river. Didn’t see any gators in there though.

The spot we were just leaving is a great honey hole for pickerel once the grass and weeds start growing. I wanted to try this spot for a long time and one year I paddled my float tube across the Salmon river and climbed the bank, about 8 feet high and then walked a little ways to the cove.

The water over this area, I walked through, was 6 feet deep. That’s a lot of water and it’s no wonder the train trestle looked so low to the water.

I missed two good opportunities for some great video as we saw a Canada goose flying right next to Casey as he was driving. It was almost within arms reach and the same level as the truck. It was landing at just the right moment but it all happened so fast I didn’t have time to get a video.

Later I was taking a picture to my right when Casey saw two Canada geese landing right beside us. Again it was all over before I got the camera on them.

I did get a picture immediately after they landed but a video would have been great.

For most of our time on the water there wasn’t a breeze at all. At one point, maybe for five minutes, the wind picked up and showed us how chilly it would have been if it was a windy day.

This Is About As Rough As It Got

But for 99.9 percent of our day it was calm and the water was like a mirror. Just like the image below. I took a couple of pictures of just the reflection on the water and it just looked like I turned the picture upside down it was so calm.

Health problems make it so that I get extremely beat the following day but today I was very surprised when I woke up without a bad headache and tired like I haven’t slept for day. I did wake up with a sore back, shoulders, arms and legs but not so much that I couldn’t have gone fishing today. That’s a first since 2004. Every year it’s getting better and better.

We past the Redbank culverts on our way up river so we had to get close enough to see how high the water was. I am 5’ 9” and can stand up in the culverts with room to spare. This image shows the water was about two thirds the way up the culverts.

Later in the season Casey has no problem driving his boat through the culverts. We would have had to have a sub to get through yesterday.

I haven’t had the pleasure of catching my very own striped bass yet but it’s one of the goals I’ve set for 2013.

But fishing season isn’t open quite yet and I need a fix so I’m spending a little time watching some Youtube fishing videos. I’m looking for some striped bass fishing in New Brunswick to see what I can learn and for a bit of entertainment.

The first video I saw this morning was from MyersMuskie and he was fishing with his dog. I think he should train his dog to help a little, maybe move the camera around a bit.

I was glad to see that he kept his striped bass in the net and in the water until he had the hook out and was ready to get a picture for the memories. CPR – Catch-Photograph-Release is the way I like it.

Fishing Stripers Without A Boat

It’s nice to have a boat or a friend who has a boat, thanks Casey, but striped bass can be caught right from shore if you know where to go. The following video is a few friends fishing from shore casting right into the Bay of Fundy.

Forgive me that’s it’s not actually New Brunswick but hey Nova Scotia is right next door and we both share the Bay of Fundy. Enjoy this guy’s first striper. I kept rewinding and watching that part of the video.

Well break time is over so now it’s time for a snack and then maybe I’ll sort my fishing lures just one more time before the season opens.

I wasn’t there and no one shot any video but my friend Casey hooked and landed a little striped bass in the Saint John river at Jemseg, I think.

I was raised in Ontario and only ever got to ice fish once. It was a lot of fun but we mostly drank and flew around the ice on our snowmobiles.

The fish hut we stayed in was more like a hotel on ice as it was huge and even had bunk beds.

Many years went by, 40 to be exact, and I had my first time ice fishing in New Brunswick. We fished from a ice fishing hut so it was pretty comfortable. The only thing about having a fish hut is that it’s pretty much stuck in one place all winter.

This year we didn’t use the fish hut, which has now been converted to a garden shed. We used an auger to drill a couple of holes where we wanted to fish and when that did pan out it’s just a matter of relocating and cutting a new hole.

I first day out this year it was so cold and windy it was hard to stay out on the ice. We stayed for a while but nothing was happening so we headed back to shore to fish another day. That day was yesterday.

Casey checked on the New Brunswick Fishing Forum to see where other ice fishers were catching smelt. Casey had a couple of places in mind and then checked the tide times so we would be there at the right time. We did our hardwater fishing at Rexton.

I guess others were watching the tides as well because when we arrived there were people who just arrived heading to the fish huts.

That Sinking Feeling

Before we carried all our ice fishing gear and supplies out on the ice we walked out to talk with some people and see what’s happening. The first thing we notices was a couple of guys drilling holes behind their fish hut.

When we asked about it they told us their friends fish hut had sunk into the ice. They had dragged it out of there and set it back up on the ice. Because it was such a beautiful day they decided to just fish outside for the day.

Then I noticed two fish huts that looked almost identical but one was about 3 feet shorter than the other. It wasn’t until someone told me it was sunk in the ice that I realized it wasn’t built so short.

Hmmm I thought it might be tough ice fishing while laying down because it was too short to sit on a chair and fish.

Not sure how they will get that out of there.

Time To Catch Us Some Smelts

After chatting for a few minutes we headed back to pick up our fishing gear and pick a spot to start drilling for smelts. The ice was so thick that we almost ran out of auger before breaking through the ice.

When we cut through the ice it was about 3 feet thick and almost no water under it. The tide was out and when we cut through the last inch of ice the auger hit the bottom and stirred up a mess.

Achin’ For The Bacon

I was sitting on my comfy armchair watching the boob-tube a couple of weeks ago and something came on the tube about bacon and BAM I thought I might just bring some small pieces of bacon ice fishing and see if the smelt would like it and they did.

I would have been the first catching smelt if I wasn’t setting the hook like I had a 3 pound bass on the end instead of a 3 ounce smelt. I was getting strike after strike but wasn’t catching anything, until Casey suggested I set the hook a bit easier.

I also was putting too much bacon on the hooks making it hard for the smelt to get it in there mouth so they would just try and yank pieces off the bacon. I took most of the bacon off the hooks and left just a tiny piece on the hook. What a big difference that made.

Best Day of Smelt Fishing I’ve Ever Had

Everything was great. The sky was clear all day. There was not even a little breeze and the temperature was close to zero. The scenery was so nice I had my camera in hand most of the day. And we caught smelt. Who could ask for more. We didn’t catch a bucket load of smelt but enough to keep us entertained and I’m looking forward to going back again, soon.

Well it’s the middle of January and I’m already sick of winter and looking forward to spring and another year of fishing fun in New Brunswick.

Since I bought my new camera, the Canon VIXIA HFR32, I’ve taken thousands of pictures and that’s just for 2012. I’ve been taking pictures, like a crazy guy, since about 2009 when I first found a digital camera that would eliminate the shaking from my hands. Now I have pictured to look at.

If it wasn’t for our treadmill I am sure I would get no exercise at all.

Looking Back At Fishing New Brunswick 2012

May 08 – Chipman Salmon River

Fishing season 2012 started for me on May 3rd at Chipman on the Salmon river with Casey. We certainly couldn’t have asked for a better day on the water.

We launched Casey’s boat from the Chipman boat launch and for the first few hours we had to keep bundled up to keep warm. But by noon I think it was warming up enough for us to start peeling of layers of clothing.

It was quite cloudy when we left Moncton but the closer we got to Chipman the less clouds and by the time we were on the water most of the clouds were gone. Great opportunity for those toothy pickerel to get some sun so they could warm up and become more active.

Didn’t see any other boats today

I like the launch at Chipman as it’s always easy to launch a boat and it’s so close to so many great chain pickerel hangouts. We’ve even caught a few good size smallmouth bass in the area. Just up from this launch Jamie caught the biggest bass I’ve ever seen caught here.

It’s always great getting that first fish of the season and even better when it’s the first fish of the day and it’s on my line. This guy took my lure right about noon.

Of course it’s not always fair as Casey has control of the boat which gives me the chance to cast to every point along the way. That’s if he’s not going too fast.

It wasn’t a big pickerel but it was fish #1 for the day and that always makes me feel great. It’s just great having action. I use a light action fishing rod so even the little guys are fun.

Right after Casey snapped the picture above he was back to fishing and caught his first of the day just minutes later, like about 3 minutes and his pickerel was just a bit bigger than what I had just caught and released.

The only downside to our first day out was me breaking my camera. On the upside it gave me the opportunity to buy a new and better camera. Now I have a Canon VIXIA HFR32 which takes good images and quality video with audio.

Great first day out.

May 18 – Fishing The Shepody River

Petitcodiac River from highway 114

Let me start by saying our day on the Shepody river wasn’t as successful as our first day out. The wind was far from calm and just kept getting stronger as the day passed. At times I sure it hit 30 clicks. We didn’t see many birds flying but we saw hundreds of them along the river bank, just waiting for the wind to die down.

Sure glad we weren’t trying to fly fish.

The wind had churned the water up so much that when I put my lure in the water it disappeared at about 6 inches under the water. Maybe we should have been using noisy baits. As it turned out we only saw one trout. It was following my lure but never touched it.

Still made for a great day. I took almost 200 pictures throughout the day. And it absolutely beats sitting at home.

June 24 – Cannan River Fishing

I don’t do a lot of wading rivers as it wears me out too quick. But when Jamie called to see if I wanted to have an evening of smallmouth bass fishing the Cannan river I was excited and agreed. So glad I did as I had a lot of fun.

I caught of couple smallies and even a fat chub. Sadly Jamie was just the driver and guide as he didn’t manage to land any fish on this particular day. Better luck next time Jamie.

I did see this bit turtle crawling along the bottom. I wear a size 9 boot and this turtle’s shell was longer than my boot. This is the biggest turtle I’ve ever seen in New Brunswick.

Looking forward to the next opportunity to fish more smallies on the Cannan river.

June 29 – French Lake Fishing

Off for a day of pickerel fishing on French lake New Brunswick, near Fredericton and it was looking like it was going to be a fine day for fishing fun.

We fished for a few hours with nothing and then, just as it was lunch time, they started turning on. We did have some action earlier but they would follow the lure and then turn away. So it was exciting when one finally took my bait and was landed. It wasn’t a big fish but it was the first fish.

I love fishing but I also love being able to take pictures after not being able to for most of my life. I love technology that lets me take steadier images.

July 10 – Cannan River Smallie Fishing

I had been working in our vegetable garden and getting more yard work done. So glad I was in the house when Jamie called or I would have missed an evening of wading for bass on the Cannan.

The pictures I took were using my Fujifilm XP which doesn’t do well when using the zoom feature. I almost brought my new Canon video camera but last minute felt it wasn’t a good move, just in case I took a nose dive into the Cannan like last year.

That little red dot on the other side of the Cannan is Jamie holding up his bass. I was too far away for my camera because the zoom sucks on that camera. Fortunately Jamie took a picture of his bass. That’s it at the top of the section.

Looking forward to doing some fishing with Jamie again in 2013.

August 02 – Fishing New Horton Lake For Bass

Casey called to see if I wanted to do some evening fishing on New Horton lake. It took me a couple of seconds to decide. Stay at home or go fishing with a friend. Hmmm, okay what time?

When we arrived I saw this cool metal head on top of a cut off tree. Looks like the start of a good looking totem pole.

This beautiful spot can go from very calm to quite choppy with just a little bit of wind. So glad it was a calm afternoon and was looking like it might just be the perfect evening of bass fishing.

In just a few minutes we were on the water and they started attacking baits right away. I think I had my first fish about 5 minutes after launching.

I really like using poppers when the water is calm enough and it was so I did.

The popper I used was a popper I had lost to a chain pickerel at Chipman a few years ago. It rolled up in my line and managed to cut the line. I liked that popper.

A little later I saw something glittering on the surface. When I got close I could see it was my lure with pickerel still attached. I tried to get close enough to hook the lure but the pickerel would just dive, but couldn’t stay down long with the lure pulling it to the surface.

So I gave it some distance, put on a top water lure and made a couple of long casts. The second cast landed on the far side of the pickerel and I slowly reeled it in. Once I was really close I gave a quick tug on the line and hooked the lure. As you can see I still have that lure and happy to catch a nice smallie with it.

Another fun evening of fishing with Casey was over but I had lot of pictures and got to watch the moon rising in the sky as we were heading home.

August 18 – Salmon River Pickerel Fishing

I so love fishing smallmouth bass and chain pickerel later summer when the water is warm and the fish active. It’s nice getting out for day break but I really like being able to fish until dark as I’ve always caught my biggest fish right about the time I couldn’t see any longer.

This day of fishing was one of those days. By the end of the day we had caught and released 45 pickerel between us. Great fun.

The picture on the left is Casey with a 24” chain pickerel, just one of the 17 pickerel caught on this trip.

It was one of those days that the wind was just enough to keep us from roasting but not enough to bother the fishing or boat control.

I managed to catch and release 28 pickerel for the day. I kind of beat Casey but then again I don’t stop while he is controlling the boat. I managed to catch another 25” chain pickerel which is my best so far.

August 27 – Fishing Gagetown New Brunswick

I always tend to look forward to fishing new places and this day it was the Gagetown area. We were even taking the Gagetown ferry which I had never taken before either.

The sun still wasn’t quite above the horizon yet so the images were a little to dark but I think you can tell that’s a ferry on in the image on the left.

Behind us, as we were crossing, I could see the sun was coming up. It was giving a nice pink glow to the clouds about the horizon. Not long now and we’ll be fishing.

Sunrise at Gagetown, New Brunswick

The ferry ride is only about 5 minutes, it was a quick ride and just a few minutes later we were at the Gagetown boat launch.

While Casey was parking his vehicle, about a quarter mile away, I took a few pictures. Of course.

On the left of the launch there was a heron taking interest in what we were doing and on the right a couple of ducks ducking for breakfast.

I got one picture of the heron but as soon as I tried getting a little closer her decided I was a little too close and took to the air. That’s just about the time Casey got back from parking and we were on the water for another day of fishing.

Guess he didn’t care to have his picture taken.

Couldn’t have timed it better. As we launched Casey’s boat the sun cleared the clouds on the horizon. There was just a slight breeze but nothing to speak of.

I couldn’t help but to tease Casey about the size of his pickerel, just a little teasing. Casey now had a new personal record, for the smallest pickerel that is. You can see the image in the post I made. But once he regained his strength he started catching bigger fish.

I guess I shouldn’t have teased him because he proceeded to kick my ass all day long and soon had a nice smallie in the boat while I was still trying to catch my first fish of the day.

It seemed Casey couldn’t go wrong at Gagetown on this day and ended the day with 22 fish while I was only able to land 13 pickerel.

We arrived back in Moncton just in time to catch Jenny raiding our vegetable garden for more pole beans.

September 13 – Fishing Rainbows on The Shepody

Casey drove into Moncton to pick me up and then all the way back to his house for his boat and then we were off to the Shepody river at Riverside Albert for a day of rainbow trout fishing. This was a first for me as I had not fished for rainbow trout before.

I even had my fly rod but it was just a little too windy to try that with another person in the boat so I left it for another day.

Before we hit the Shepody we gave New Horton lake a try but it was just too windy. We fished the lake until almost noon without any luck so it was time to move to the Shepody where we would be able to find some protection from the wind.

Early Morning And Windy Already

Packed Up And Move To The Shepody River

As the wind just seemed to be getting strong as the day passed we moved to the Shepody river to try for some rainbow trout, if they were still in the system.

I love watching Casey back his boat down to the water. I’ve always had trouble backing trailers up for some reason. I would have taken 5 tries before getting it done right.

We quickly saw that the wind was considerably less here although I still wouldn’t be doing any fly fishing for trout.

Casey seemed to be catching rainbows left and right as well as the best caught of the day. However for my first time rainbow trout fishing I was quite happy with the few I did manage to catch and look forward to try for them on the fly rod next year.

We didn’t keep any to eat as I much prefer to eat trout caught early season while the water is still icy cold.

October 4 – Pickerel Fishing Jemseg New Brunswick

Autumn is about the best time of year when it comes to New Brunswick and getting some beautiful images of the trees putting on their fall colours. It actually distracts me from other things, like paying attention to my fishing.

I think I took about 40 pictures of tree changing colour while we were driving to Jemseg. But then I started seeing water and my mind was back in the game.

I was a bit surprised but there didn’t seem to be any trees changing and everything was still bright green. The river looked very calm and we could only see one other boat. A couple of guys were fishing stripers right under the bridge.

Conditions looked perfect but still the day started out slow. Just as we reached Harts lake Casey caught the first pickerel of the day but after that it seemed like a long time before we saw anything else. Actually it was just about an hour but then my trusty red senko worm caught the attention of a pickerel and we were tied.

The biggest pickerel of the day was caught my ME and was 24”. I thought it was a bit bigger than that while I was fighting him and had visions of a new personal best. Didn’t happen though.

Long Skinny Chain Pickerel 24 Inches

This was our best day of fishing as far as numbers of fish, even though it took more than an our to get the first one and another hour before we got a second fish. However once they warmed up it was non stopped action for the rest of the day with more than 30 pickerel.

November 12 – First Time Musky Fishing

Got to see the Mactaquac dam up close for the first time. Well we weren’t that close but closer than I’ve ever been. The spot we were going to be fishing is called The Arm.

It’s a beautiful spot and we even got to go through a big culvert with the boat to get to this spot and the water was like glass. Plus there was a haze that made everything in the distance look pretty cool.

You Can See How Calm It Was, Very Cool

I hooked into some nice fish, bass and pickerel, but didn’t get a musky, this time. I did manage to land a fat 25 inch pickerel that I thought was a musky, at first. All in all it was a great day and beautiful conditions. Maybe I’ll get my first musky in 2013.

I’m already dreaming about next year’s fishing fun and hope to do more fishing with my fishing buddy Jamie in 2013.