While Casey and I were fishing Salmon River near Grand Lake we moved into each cove or bay along the way. The water in the river and bays is dark so you need to either hit your fish right in the face or make a big splash near them.

But we moved into this cove that we knew immediately upon seeing it that it was different.

I could see something in the back of the bay but from where we were I thought it was a man made structure. I guess I need new glasses because it turned out to be a brook running into the cove.

Very Clear Water in This Cove

The water up and down the river and in each of the bays we stopped at was a rusty or dark tea colour but this cove had crystal clear water.

If it had been a little warmer water I am sure I would have just stripped off and jumped right in. Next time we hit the river I am sure we’ll head into this back bay and have a swim.

At one point the depth finder told us the water was 8 feet deep but looking into the water it looked more like 2 or 3 feet deep.

Casey took one of the paddles and tried to touch the bottom. Not even close. I tried that in a canoe once and nearly flipped us over when I didn’t hit the bottom.

Even though the water was coming in from the brook above that water temp was higher than any other bay we were in. The temp was sitting at 70 degrees where the rest of the system seem to be stuck at 64 or 65 degrees.

I would have expected the brook to have made the water colder but maybe the fact the water is so clear that the sun gets to hit the bottom more and heats it up.

Casey invited both Jamie and myself for a day of fishing Friday but Jamie had already been invited for two other fishing trips and had already commited to a two day trip on Oromocto lake.

I love fishing new spots and Ormocto lake if a first for Jamie. I hope you have a lot of fun and had a couple of very productive days.

Last year Casey had fished the Salmon river from Grand Lake up towards Chipman with a friend and had great fun and wanted to do it again on Friday.

I was certainly up for that, it was my first time fishing the Salmon river. I have fished a couple of bays off the river but never spent any time in the river.

He was here to pick me up about 6 and we were off.

I alway look forward to passing over the bridge at the Cannan river just before highway 10.

Cannan River Was Just Like A Mirror

We took a few minutes to stop at the bridge where I first used my float tube. It’s so much fun using the float tube as I can get into spots that most boats can’t get to.

Checkout The Scenery

I remember that day was about the hottest of the year. I was niche to be so close to the water as it was easy to soak myself to keep cool that day.

Here’s what that area looked like once we were at the water.

Breath Taking View And The Fishing Rocks

We stayed for a couple of minutes taking in the view and then it was off to the Chipman boat launch and Salmon river pickerel fishing.

Chipman Boat Launch

Everything looked perfect. The sky was a bit cloudy which would help to keep that blistering sun off us. Of course I still piled on the sunscreen as I burn so easily.

The wind was, well there was no wind at this point. Who could ask for more?

After a couple checks around the boat to be sure we hadn’t forgotten anything we hit the water.

All Well, Let’s Launch

Before we headed down river I suggested we try a little bay just up from the bridge, about 2 minutes.

The Water Temp Was Low

With all the rain we’ve had the water is still high and to my surprise the water in the river was still only 64 degrees, all day long.

When ever we moved into a cove or bay the temp would go up about 2 or 3 degrees but not much more.

Well Casey landed the first pickerel of the day and as it turned out the biggest pickerel of the day at 24″.

It’s so cool that Casey has a rubber net. The lure he was using had two treble hooks on it and the line was around the pickerel’s mouth a couple of times and hooked right into the net.

Took about 4 seconds to untangle it. On the old net we may have needed to cut the line to release the fish quickly.

By the way Jamie has a nice rubber net now as well. The really are much safer for both the fisher and the fish.

Casey made a cast to a set of lilypads and the water exploded, just the way we love to see it. Really gets the blood going, even if it’s not your fish.

Love Fishing To Lily Pads For Bass And Pickerel

Before we were done in this little bay Casey had 4 pickerel and me, well I was taking pictures I guess.

I never had as much as a follow for hours.

We trolled down the river all day but never had a follow or a strike while trolling, none at all. The only places we caught fish we in the coves and bays along the river.

Casey stayed at 4 pickerel for a while giving me and my new Ugly Stik Lite combo a chance to catch up.

I was enjoying the distance I could get with the Ugly Stik and Shakespeare reel so of course my first strike was about a hundred feet out into the weeds.

I’ve had lots of practice getting pickerel out of the weeds as it’s my favourite place to fish for them as they tend to get quite explosive in the weeds.

As far out into the weeds as I was I was pretty sure I’d loose it before ever getting it close to the boat. However my new rod had the backbone to keep the pickerel’s nose up and I actually landed it.

Felt really good on my new rod and reel.

Before long I was tied with Casey, 4 pickerel each and I was pretty proud of that after going for hours with zero fish. That didn’t last long as about a minute later Casey hooked into another pickerel.

What a show-off. I would never do that to a buddy. Ha

What’s Up With The Wind

That was about when the calm water ended and the wind picked up. I really do prefer to fish the weeds in calm water as I really enjoy watching them come flying out of their hiding places.

I never get tired of watching the wakes they make, especially when there are two or three going after the same baits.

Even though the wind picked up we were shaded most of the day with lots of clouds. I didn’t mind that at all because when the sun did come out I heated up pretty quickly.

All in all it was a really fun day, as usually when I’m out with Casey or Jamie.

I’m already packed for the next day on the water.

Related articles

• Chipman Chain Pickerel on Canada Day (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• Canada Day, Chipman And Chain Pickerel (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• Cassidy Lake Pickere Fishing 2011 Part Two (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• Saint John River, Harts Lake And Some Smallmouth Bass And Pickerel Fishing (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• Cassidy Lake Pickerel 2011 (thejoyofflyfishing.com)

I love watching underwater videos of fish doing their daily thing. I fish for smallmouth bass, a variety of trout and Chain pickerel and would love to see some quality video to see how they sit in wait and how well they are hidden in various types of cover and structure.

Here is an underwater video from Underwater-Ireland.com Youtube channel. I imagine pike live and hunt pretty much the same way chain pickerel do.

Some of the water I fish for chain pickerel in is very merky water and I’m not sure how far I’d be able to see underwater.

I was thinking about putting my rather inexpensive camera in a clear plastic bag and trying to get some video over the side of the boat. Maybe I’ll give it a try the next time I’m out on the water.

Enjoy the video.

Related articles

• Fishing Smallmouth Bass on the Saint John River, New Brunswick (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• Canada Day, Chipman And Chain Pickerel (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• New Horton Lake Fishing June 23, 2011 (thejoyofflyfishing.com)

Our Canada Day may have started as a chain pickerel fishing trip but half way through the day Jamie asked if I’d like to try the Saint John river at Jemseg for some smallmouth bass.

Casey and I were on the Saint John river at the Jemseg bridge a couple of weeks ago and we had a great time.

We launched at the bridge and trolled along the shoreline down to the enterance to Hart Lake for a few pickerel.

Well it didn’t take long for me to respond to Jamie. I love fishing smallmouth bass and it’s one of my favourite fish to go after.

I never get tired of the power these guys have.

Jamie Makes Sure The Canoe is Secure

Jamie and I launched at the same spot Casey and I launched his boat but instead of crossing to the other side we chose to stay on the side we launched.

Great To Have A Trolling Motor

It wasn’t very windy but it doesn’t take much wind to make the waves uncomfortable in a little canoe. There are also some big and fast boats that move up and down the river. They leave quite a dangerous wake if you’re not hitting them straight on.

We wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for the fact that Jamie has a trolling motor. It’s so great to have on those days that go from day break to dark and sure beats using the paddles all day.

Checkout the affordable Bass Pro Shops Prowler T30/30 Trolling Motor and let the fishing wear your arms out, not the paddles.

Jamie headed his trolling motor down river along the bank. We soon came to a big island the protected us from the boat traffic on the main part of the river.

I was trolling with one rod, under my foot and used the other rod to hit the shoreline structure. Love fishing that shoreline structure.

It wasn’t long before Jamie hooked into the first fish. It hit hard like a smallie but was a perch. It was still the first fish and that always feels great.

Jamie Which Is The Lure??

It always amazes me when I catch fish on lures bigger than the fish. Of course when it’s Jamie with the little fish it’s time for me to tease him a bit.

A few minutes later I thought I hooked the bottom of the river but an instant later the water behind Jamie’s head exploded, just where I couldn’t see it.

I didn’t get it landed but it sure felt good and Jamie said it just almost 3 feet out of the water just as it spit my little Rapal countdown at Jamie and took off for Fredericton.

We fished until the trolling motor battery started running dry and then headed back to the car and then on to home.

On the way back to the launch point Jamie hooked a fish. I didn’t want my line to get tangled in his so I started reeling it in quickly.

I thought I hooked the trolling motor but at that same moment the water behind Jamie, again, exploded. This time I saw the smallmouth and it was so close to the canoe Jamie got a good soaking.

I think perhaps that bass was going after Jamies catch but as I cranked my Rapala back to the canoe it saw it and smacked it instead.

What A Great Way To End A Day of Bass Fishing

I wouldn’t want to be out there on a really windy day but I would love to give this spot a try with my float tube on one of those really calm days.

Now I haven’t been a bass fishing beginner for many many years and I have learned a lot of little things over the years that help me to catch more bass, both smallmouth bass and largemouth bass.

First, just incase you’re not aware, but bass are fish and fish are cold blooded which means the colder the water gets the slower the bass’ metabolism.

This means that in the early spring the bass may be slow to respond even though they may be getting hungry early spring they are still rather lethargic and slow to respond.

Where I live in eastern Canada we see the bass starting to move a bit more during May and from there they just get faster and hungrier the more the water warms up, until about mid June when they are ready to go wild.

As the ice starts leaving and back bays and streams are warming up first the bass start moving in to prepare for the spawn.

The Bass Spawn

The bass spawn is a great time to catch some early season bass as they aggressively protect their nests. For this reason it’s also necessary to be wise and take care of any bass you may catch.

Without the protection of the male bass their eggs and off-spring are open to attact by other fish, even other bass. So be sure you return them to the nest area quickly so as not to over stress them, remember they haven’t fed much at all during the winter.

Where I Usually Find Bass

Once the spawn is over the bass will spread out throughout the system meaning you will need to find them.

Finding them isn’t all that tough most of the time as bass have habits you can learn making it easier to locate them and thus catch more bass.

Fishing Bass Off-Shore

If you are fishing off shore you should have a fish finder so you can find place bass frequent like ledges and dropoffs, especially submerged structure like trees and logs.

Just about anything can be structure for bass so look for edges. Weed edges are some of my favourite places to find big hungry bass and they can be totally under the water so if you don’t know they are there you may just be missing out a whole lot of fun bass fishing.

So be sure you have a fish finder and you can be catching fish you didn’t even know were there.

A good choice for fishfinders is Humminbird. I’ve always used Humminbird for my fish finders.

Take a look at the Humminbird 586c HD Sonar Fishfinder

Fishing Bass Close To Shore

Bass are predators and love to use as little energy as possible so they will sit in ambush close to shore but also close to a drop off or structure for hiding in.

Now don’t think the bass needs a big piece of structure because they don’t. They can use a weed and stay in the shadow of that weed to break up their body shape in the water making it harder to see them.

Bass will use a rock sticking out of the bottom of a river, lake or pond as an ambush point.

I’d have to say weeds and lily pads are my favourite bass fishing spots.

If I can position myself so that I can cast along the edge of a weed bed from the side that leads to deeper water I will do it every single time as I have hooked into my biggest bass doing just that. I also love to get the first cast as it’s usually the one that gets the biggest fish, which also ticks off my fishing buddies.

Related articles

• New Horton Lake Fishing June 23, 2011 (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• Saint John River, Harts Lake And Some Smallmouth Bass And Pickerel Fishing (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)

If you’re a proud Canadian I sure hope you enjoyed doing something you love on Friday.

I enjoyed my Canada Day fishing the Chipman area with a Jamie and had a great day.

Here is some of what took place in Moncton on Canada Day while Jamie and I were enjoying the fishing off Salmon river.

Thursday evening I checked my email, right after checking my little veggie garden. There was a message from Jamie. All it said was, “Call me when you get this message.”

I was dialing the phone within seconds.

In case you’re not sure who Jamie is he’s the owner of FishingFunInNewBrunswick.com and he loves to fish, maybe even as much as I do.

Fishing Fun In New Brunswick

I think I wanted to leave right then but finally we decided 5 am was a better time. He probably heard from Jenny, my lovely wife, that I snore like a freight train. Ha, she lies.

Set the alarm for 4am but didn’t need it as I was awake long before the alarm went off.

Everything was ready the night before so once I gulped down a bowl of home-made granola, a banana and a hot cup of Java I started pacing the floor hoping Jamie would be early like my friend Casey is.

He was about 15 minutes early and all my gear, clothing and food were ready in the driveway. We were on the road by 5am and fishing about 6:30am.

Was That Fog Or Heavy Rain Clouds

As we came up over a hill on highway 10, the road into Chipman we saw a huge mountain that wasn’t there the last time we were here.

Well it turned out that the mountain was a mountain of fog which we quickly moved through and from then on it was clear sailing all day.

Is That A Mountain Ahead?

As we came around the corner to where we planned to start fishing we could see that the water was like glass. Man I love it when it’s like this.

Perfect Day For Fishing The Chipman Area

Jamie backed down to the water and in just minutes we were fishing. It’s so much faster when we can get the car close to the water so we don’t have to lug every.

As you can see in the image above the water was very calm. This is the type of day I love getting out the top water baits.

I know I say it all the time but man we have some beautiful scenery here in New Brunswick.

Breath Taking Scenery in New Brunswick

Friday was cloudy which helps keep the heat down a bit but even better their was little to no wind all day making it easier to control the canoe.

I have been fishing this area for more than 20 years and always take new fishing friends to this area as I am seldom disappointed.

I practice CPR, catch, photograph and release so we don’t keep any pickerel at all. I have caught thousands of pickerel along the Salmon river over the years.

I think I was practicing my victory pose early but I was feeling like a champ already.

First we fished at Redbank, my favourite spot to start fishing pickerel.

We started on the riverside of the road first before moving through the culverts to the other side for a while.

Jamie guided the canoe through the culvert so I was the first to get to the other side and of course got that first cast. I wasn’t disappointed.

That almost makes up for the day Jamie got the first cast toward the culverts and hooked and landed a huge smallmouth bass. All the years I have fished there I have still never caught a bass.

Such a show off.

I landed a nice little pickerel on the first cast. He was just sitting there waiting for a meal. We actually had a number of strikes here, even a few perch.

We called it quits here early afternoon and headed to Gemseg and the Saint John river for a try at some bass fishing, but that’s for another post.

When we arrived back home at about 9 pm where we drove into rain and by the time we got to Moncton we could see they got a lot of rain. I am sure my little veggies were very thankful for the rain.

I ended my Canada Day watching the Moncton fireworks from my bedroom window as I drifted off to sleep with a big smile on my face thinking about my day of fishing.

Related articles

• Cassidy Lake Pickere Fishing 2011 Part Two (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• What A Perfect Day On The Water (thejoyofflyfishing.com)

What a great way to start off summer. A great day of fishing with a friend.

Casey picked me up and we headed off to New Horton Lake for some smallmouth bass fishing.

The weather was pretty much perfect. Lots of sun for vitamin D, almost no wind at all for the entire day. Heck there were even a few fish to keep our interest up.

Oh yeah, and no one came home sunburned, this time.

New Horton Lake

Actually New Horton Lake reminds me of a couple of lakes I’ve been on in Ontario that were left behind after the last ice age backed off, leaving huge rocky gouges in the landscape that filled with water and today hold plenty of hard fighting fish.

New Horton Lake, New Brunswick on Google Maps

We Headed To An Island, Or Was It

Here is a photo I took while we were going down the lake on my first trip there with Casey. I thought we were headed to an island however it was a point of land that come way out into the lake. I think it’s about a half mile long or more.

No Jim That’s Not An Island

If you look at the bottom left of the Google map above you will see the strip of land that comes out into the lake. Lots of fishing area along the shore line here.

You can see just how calm the water was from in the image above.

Casey was saying the wind can quickly whip up waves but no problems this day.

Casey Catches First Fish

Casey didn’t waste any time catching the first fish. I think he may have brought it with him but then again if he was going to do that I’m sure it would have been a bigger one. Ha Ha.

Not A Huge Fish, But The First Fish, Congrats

We didn’t get much action trolling but as were got close to weeds and banks I was casting. As soon as the water warmed up along the shore they started taking baits.

They were hanging around the shore where the water was a degree or two warmer and where they could stay in the sun or move into shade.

We started hitting the shore line where there was a definite line between the sun and shade. I love being able to pop a lure up on the bank and then pull it into the water.

It’s amazing just how fast those bass can strike. Sometimes it seems that the lure would have to land in their open mouth to be so fast.

At one point Casey said he was changing to a spinner bait. I agreed but had given all my spinners to my son Steve for trout fishing.

Casey pulled out a tackle box with dozens and let me take the first pick.

I choose the little #4 Mepps with a nice floresent blade. It’s the one on the left and worked great as I caught the first smallie in about a half minute. First cast to the shore in a shady spot.

I had never fished smallmouth using a Mepps. I have used them on pike, pickerel and trout but now it’s a new confidence bait for bass as well.

The only reason I caught the first bass using the spinner is because Casey let me pick first and in about 4 seconds it was on my line and I had that first cast to the bank.

Look At That Lure Fly

I bought a new shrimp/perch pattern Rapal. I’m no good at names of lures, I just buy em and use it. Anyways I put on this new lure, lined up a spot to cast to and let her fly.

There was a little knot in my line and it snagged after about 6 feet of line went out and that lure straightened the swivel snap and that lure fly so far.

I told Casey it was a floating lure so we headed in the direction I made the cast. I thought it was long gone and probably somewhere out in the bush somewhere.

Just before I gave up looking I saw the sun reflect off the top of the lure which had about a square inch showing about the surface.

It had hit the water a couple of feet from shore. Very lucky.

What’s really funny is that last year I lost the original lure in New Horton Lake and I’m sure it did land somewhere in the bush. That was the reason I had a new one this year.

Related articles

• Saint John River, Harts Lake And Some Smallmouth Bass And Pickerel Fishing (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• What A Perfect Day On The Water (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• Cassidy Lake Pickere Fishing 2011 Part Two (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• Cassidy Lake Pickerel 2011 (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)