Sunday morning and I was up at 5am, had a little breakfast and headed out to the backyard garden to get a few more veggies planted before it got too hot, like it was Friday and Saturday.

It was just after 9 and I was down to just 4 zucchinis left to plant before taking a break. That was when Jenny came out with the phone. It was Jamie asking if I was up for going fishing. Ha, am I up for going fishing, that’s funny.

Jamie said he would be there to pick me up shortly so I planted the last four zuchinni plants in record time, sure hope they survive, and then I was in the house to get ready to go fishing.

On the road to Chipman

I ask Jamie to stop at a bridge on highway 10, just before Chipman. I wanted to show him where I had my first pickerel and float tube fishing experience. It sure looks different without all the weeds choking it.

Even though it looks totally different that the day I first tried my float tube I still took a few pictures of the area. Just imagine it full of weeds with only a few pockets of open water. The put the temperature at about 30 degrees. Now you know what that day was like.

pickerel-water

There were four of use with float tubes that day. Roland, Paul, Kerry and myself. The three of them were already familiar with their float tubes and were on the water in just minutes, while I was still trying to figure out how much air to put in the thing.

Now let me clear up a little point. They took off across the water without me but I deserved it. Why? Well I tend to be the first one to the water and almost always the first to catch a fish, so the boys tend to get a little pissed at me now and then.

So this was their opportunity to leave me in their dust and I mean dust. It was a really hot day and as they went through the huge weed patch they caused a small dust storm from all the dust on the weeds.

I finally got my float tube filled, I thought, and headed out. I should mention that back then I was also 60 pounds heavier than I am now.

I was doing fine until I hit that weed patch and then I came to a hault. It took all the strength I had to kick my way through those weeds, but they looked like it was a breeze.

Later I found out that I had not inflated my float tube enough. I had put in so much air that I though the thing would explode but it still wasn’t enough.

I got a major work out that day and the sad part was that we didn’t get as much as a strike there. Didn’t see a fish.

We headed back to our cars but I took a different route to avoid those weeds again.

It worked out good for me because I could fit my float tube in the hatch back on my car and when we arrived at Red Bank it only took me a few more minutes to float tube inflated properly.

Once I had it inflated correctly it cruised across the water and I was hooked on float tube fishing.

On another trip Kerry and I tried the other side of the bridge but again we had no luck at all. Perfect looking water for pickerel and nothing.

other-side-of-bridge

We went quite a ways into the background of the image above. Remember there was a lot of weeds, ideal for both bass and pickerel but we didn’t get as much as a strike. We did get one follow but that was it.

Again we packed up and headed to Red Bank where we had great fun as usual. Later in that day we packed up again and moved to another nice little spot for pickerel.


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Filed under: chain pickerel • new brunswick

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