That should teach him to catch more fish than me. Oh yeah, and he should know now never to turn his back on my, cause I can kick his butt again if he ever out fishes me. Ha Ha

Okay, really I got skunked. I forgot what that felt like and now that I do remember I remember that I don’t like it at all.

Jamie did managed to catch 4 fish, a chub, 2 pickerel and a bass. The chub he caught a little off the bank but the others were tight to the bank in very shallow water.

I was too far away to get a picture of the bass or chub but I did get a picture of the pickerel Jamie caught.

Jamie with his second pickerel of the afternoon

The second one was about the same size, small but a whole lot bigger than what I caught.

The water clarity was poor to say the least. I think the visibility was no more than about 2 feet. All the rain we had Thursday raised the water level, dropped the water temperature a bit but muddied up the water way too much.

Couldn’t see more than a foot into the water

That would explain why there was a bit of action along the bank where the water is only a few inches deep.

I am always amazed at the beauty that is all around us when we are fishing, sometimes I get too busy fishing to look around me.

Here was a little flower that was growing right in the water. I have never seen one like this so I am wondering if it was perhaps growing on the shore but after the rain Thursday it was in a foot of water.

I have never walked a river fishing without wearing waders but because it had been so hot and the water so warm I thought I would were shorts and sneakers. I was so much cooler than I would have been in waders, just ask Jamie how his wader felt.

In closing for today I would like to point out that the bottom was pretty slippery and right near the end of our fishing day I slipped and fell right in the drink.

Even though a bit embarrassing it was very refreshing. That must be why I fell in again before I could get back on my feet.

Now that would have been funny to have on video but Jamie was busy fishing instead of filming me flopping around in the water.

I didn’t have a change of clothes so I spent the ride home sitting on three or four grocery bags to try and keep Jamie’s car seats from getting soaked.

Until the next time, keep our woods and waters clean.

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• Went Fishing With Casey on The Cannan (thejoyofflyfishing.com)

We arrived at the Cannan river at 7am. I took the image below from the place we launched the boat. As you can see it was very calm.

Picture from where we launched Casy’s boat.

Note: The air temperature was 18C when we arrive at 7am and the water temperature was 26C. The water was already warm and the sun wasn’t even hitting the water yet.

It was a scorcher today, glad I remember to put on sun screen.

The fishing was so hot and I landed 3 small fish. One white perch and two pickerel. They all came from weeds with lily pads.

That was early in the morning but once the sun was up I had very little action and no landed fish for the rest of the day.

Casey didn’t see a fish all day and like the song says, ‘Shhh, it happens.

I hooked into a smallie at a dock but it had other plans once I pulled it out of the shade. It jumped, laughed at me and spit the hook.

I went at the weeds as much as I could figuring they would be hiding in the shade under some lily pads and I did manage to get a few to chase the bait, they just didn’t have the energy to connect.

I had a great day, as a day of fishing is better than most things. Plus Casey is always fun.

Timing always amazes me. As we were leaving. We had the boat on the trailer and ready to get in the truck when our fishing buddy Jamie and a friend arrived to take our place for the evening.

Hey, what’s the hold up here, are we fishin’ or what?

We chatted for a few minutes and were on our way.

Thanks for the fun day Casey

I have to say for a fishing fanatic without a car I am having a great summer, thanks to two guys, Casey and Jamie. Both are great fun to go fishing with.

The fact that I met both of these guys through my fishing blog makes it all the better. So thanks guys, you both rock.

Just over a week ago Casey called me up and asked if I wanted to fish New Horton Lake. We had a great time and the day was perfect. That was my first time ever fishing that lake.

Yesterday Jamie took me to a little spot on the Cannan river, again another spot I have never fished and we had a lot of fun and the day couldn’t have been better weather wise.

The Cannan River

It was extremely hot, way hotter than I personally care for but once we started fishing the wind picked up and helped to cool us down a bit.

Jamie told me that he has caught some nice smallmouth bass in this section of the river, well actually he had fished a little further down from where we launched.

Strange Looking Smallmouth Bass Jamie!!

I thought it was kind of funny that we were bass fishing and taking a little break from pickerel fishing but what was the very first thing I caught, before we even stepped in the river, a pickerel. How funny is that, eh?

It wasn’t long before I actually hooked into my first bass of the day. I am sure my expression shows how pleased I was with myself.

OH MANN This is a lot of fun.

It didn’t take us long to realize this section of the river was better for walking than canoe as we were out of the canoe far more than we were in it. Although it was great to be able to bring all the food and gear without the need to carry it.

It wasn’t very hard to pull the canoe along with us and Jamie even managed to catch a bass while pulling the canoe behind him our way back to the car.

Jamie fishing while pulling the canoe along

Jamie Multi-Tasking

I was impressed at just how well Jamie was multi tasking. What a talented guy he is.

NOTE: You may see that Jamie caught this little bass using the same 6″ pink worm we use for pickerel fishing. Does it get any better, when you can catch both species in the same spot using the same offerings?

Jamie caught and landed the big bass of the day but if you want to see it you need to visit Jamie’s Fishing Fun in New Brunswick blog.

I still get quite emotional when I remember my brother Bob but I have some great memories.

I remember back to the day I got the call saying Bob had died of a massive heart attack April 1st, 1999. It was horrible news and broke my heart. As I sat there trying to take it in my thoughts went to the fact it was April Fools day and then I got really angry. If Bob was pulling a prank on my I would never forgive him, unfortunately it was no joke.

One of the funniest stories I remember about brother Bob

I put one story he would not appreciate if he was still with us. It’s on my Fishing in Canada blog.

I went from New Brunswick to Toronto to visit Bob. I didn’t get to visit nearly as often as I would like as life just kept us both too busy. Anyways we were having a beer and catching up when he asked if I would go and pick up some more beer. I looked at him and told him to go as he knew where the beer store was and he was more used to the traffic.

After doing his best to get me to go he told me the following story:

First, Bob was a graphic designer and quite talented but he could be absent minded sometimes.

One year Bob forgot to renew his driver’s license, for about a year. He went to the motor vehicle branch to renew it before he got stopped by the police. As he was standing in line he over heard the lady say to a guy at the counter, ’sir your license is 6 months over due, you will have to retake your driver’s license exam’. Well he just stepped out of the line and went home.

Being the creative guy that he was he created his very own license. He even created tags for his car. Then he lived in guilt and fear.

One day he got pulled over in downtown Oakville Ontario. He asked for Bob’s license and registration. That’s when Bob blurted out a confession.

The officer looked at the license and then at Bob. Then he said that he had only stopped him to let him know that one of his tail lights was out.

The officer waved another office over, that was right across the street, and told him what Bob had done, then showed him the art work. Bob thought he was going to be instantly arrested but instead the two officers laughed.

Then the officer took out a wallet and put Bob’s license in it which stuck Bob as strange so he asked him what that was about. It turned out that Bob wasn’t the first to do something creative and this office like to collect great works. He even pealed the license sticker off and kept it.

Bob was in a huge amount of trouble but it was his lucky day. The officer gave him a fine, a very small fine for something not even related and told him he better get his license renewed because he wouldn’t get away with it again.

So to make this long story come to an end…

He had to retake his driver’s license and at that time as a beginner he had to go one full year with zero alcohol so he was trying to get me to go get beer without telling me.

I still laugh when I remember this story but that was Bob. I sure miss him and have never had as good a friend since.

Bass fishing tips are great for any beginner as knowledge is power. Knowing a few details about the metabolism of a bass can make the difference between fishing and catching.

The temperature of the water you fish needs to be within a specific range to have your best days. I have gone when it’s a bit too early here and the water temperature was too low and it was as if there were no bass in the water at all.

A day or two later and the temperature of the water raised enough to make those bass extremely active. So pay attention to the water temperature and you will have better days.

A great bass fishing tip is, when the water is too cold for bass to be very active move to shallower water if possible, where the sun warms it up faster. It can be dyn-o-might fishing.

I have been fishing smallmouth bass here in New Brunswick and at the start of each new fishing season I head to the spots that warm up first and very seldom get skunked. Although last year I took a friend to spot I thought was going to be perfect but the water was considerably colder than any other year I have fished there in the spring.

Water temperatures for optimal smallmouth bass fishing conditions are between 10 degrees Celsius and 25 degrees Celsius. Get above 25 or below 10, approx, and they will tend to shut down, so find the water that is between these two values and you should be catching fish if they are there.

I say ‘if they are there’ because I was fishing a spot hoping for a few smallies and this little ole lady came up to me laughing at me and telling me that pond never had fish in it and then she walked away laughing. You never know until you try.

Fish tend to school or travel in groups of similar sized fish so you can use this as an indicator of whether you should choose to move on if all you are catching are small smallies. Although I have caught some big bass after a number of little guys were caught, so take this piece of advice any way you would like.

As a rule if I go too long with the same size fish I will move on.

After saying all this it still comes down to going with my gut because some days all the conditions seem right yet nothing is happening. That’s the time I start thinking about what they eat and find a location where their source of food is more plentiful.

That might mean to start checking out the little bays and coves where the wind may have forced the bait fish into.

Get the first few tips right and you should be having a good time smallmouth bass fishing.

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• Fly Fishing For Smallmouth Bass in New Brunswick (thejoyofflyfishing.com)

After years of fly fishing Atlantic salmon and Brook trout in New Brunswick, every chance I got, I was introduced to smallmouth bass fishing and decided to give my fly rod a try on some smallies. That’s a day I will not soon forget as it was an experience that was completely different from any other fly fishing experience I had to that point.

Fly fishing for salmon and trout has a specific feel when the strike comes but nothing even close to a smallmouth strike on a fly. It was a powerful strike and the fight was spectacular with so many jumps and spins I was dizzy. Oh yeah, plus that fact that they spin your float tube around and around if you can’t lock your feet to the bottom some how. Great fun.

I can thank my friend Kerry for that experience although he never tried the fly rod so he doesn’t know what he missed. It was completely different that fishing smallies with a spinning rod, as much fun as that is.

Even the water I fished was different than the brooks, ponds and rivers I fished for salmon and trout. Now I was fly fishing lakes looking for lily pads and weeds more than open water.

Smallmouth bass on the fly is heart stopping action and I can’t get enough of it. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time to do all the fishing I want to do, bummer. Maybe we need to move to a more southern climate, eh? Not really though, I love New Brunswick.

I guess, for now, I will just have keep dreaming about fly fishing for smallmouth bass in New Brunswick, well at least until spring arrives once again.

Rapala CountDown Minnow $ 6.99

The CountDown method of fishing first introduced by this lure has become a standard presentation of knowledgeable anglers. The slow-sinking, control-depth method enables you to put this lure exactly in the feeding zone of suspended fish or just above weed tops or bottom structure for deeper feeders. Of course, the balanced action can be trolled or casted and retrieved in the usual manner. The CountDown has proven itself especially effective for large trout, walleye and bass.

• CD01: 1″, 1/16 oz., One No. 12 Treble Hook
• CD03: 1.5″, 1/8 oz., Two No. 12 Treble Hooks
• CD05: 2″, 3/16 oz., Two No. 10 Treble Hooks
• CD07: 2.75″, 1/4 oz., Two No. 7 Treble Hooks
• CD09: 3.5″, 7/16 oz., Two No. 5 Treble Hooks
• CD11: 4 3/8″, 9/16 oz., Two No. 3 Treble Hooks

Rapala CountDown Minnow $ 6.99