The Joy of Fly Fishing in New Brunswick

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

Sometimes it seems likes it not the time to go pickerel fishing, well to my wife anyways. I haven’t really found a proper time NOT to go fishing.

When I just have to get out fishing I tell my wife it’s just to strengthen my heart dear and she usually lets me go. But really she is awesome about the times I go fishing and really I am just joking a bit.

I would say that pickerel fishing from my float tube is good for my heart. Just being out in the fresh air enjoying nature is good for my heart and being but those pickerel keep my heart pounding all day long and that sure beats going for walks every day.

The fact that chain pickerel, pike and musky are known to wait until they get to the boat before exploding into action makes for a great day on the water. It’s also an opportunity for a shower now and then so be sure to bring some bio-degradable soap.

The day is was at this spot I didn’t have my float tube with me so I was fishing from the bank. I didn’t even get in the water as the bottom is very boggy and you quickly could find yourself in a spot you just can’t get out of and that really spoils a day.

You can see a little island, just close enough to get a cast but far enough that I don’t scare the pickerel.

I was walking along making casts and catching a few here and there but as soon as I got close to this island I started getting excited and I could see minnows breaking water and that usually means something is chasing them.

The very first cast that I made snagged right on the bottom, it was only a few inches deep around the island, so I started casting a little shorter each cast until I found where the water dropped off and BAM, dinner served.

That pickerel was sure it had the best of me and even managed to dig into the weedy bottom as much as possible but the only was that chain pickerel was getting away was to either pull the plastic bait out of its mouth or cutting the line.

About 5 minutes and that 24 inches set of teeth and fury was landed. My wife had the camera so I didn’t get to take this picture until later and had already released the pickerel to fight another day.

This little cove has a number of little islands that stick out of the water, within casting distance and through the course of the day I had a blast.

I have never fished this area from the bank. We usually arrive with our float tubes and fish a different area just across the road from this spot.

I will definitely go back to this spot a little later and see if the pickerel are still hanging around this area. It can be so shallow on this side that it’s hard to get through it with a float tube. A canoe works well but I sold that and replaced it with two float tubes.

I usually fish smallmouth bass, trout and salmon and have only found a few good spots for chain pickerel. I would like to find some more spots that are easy to access with my float tubes.

This little spot is just past Chipman, New Brunswick and takes me just over an hour to get to from my home.

I have another spot I used to go to in my canoe but it get really windy there and unless the day is calm it’s tough to fish, even in a canoe it’s hard to manage this spot in the wind. There are many days that I just had to get out of the water and walk back to the car and that’s no fun when you’re stuck at the bottom of that lake.

I don’t go there much any more as these other places keep me excited and I don’t usually have to get out of the water due to the wind.

Are you from New Brunswick? Do you have a few nice spots me and my float tube could have a great on the water fishing chain pickerel?

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.

This was a few years back now but my first boat was a headache as well as some of the greatest fishing time I have had. My buddy Roland was with all the way through the good times and a few bad times.

First, my first boat was a double hulled fiberglass boat and it was extremely heavy.

I don’t remember exactly what I paid for this luxury liner but it was less than $400 and it came with a trailer to haul it.

The thing about the trailer was that the rollers were totally seized up so they would roll the boat on or off the trailer. Instead the boat had to be float because if you had to push that sucker off that trailer you were in for a fight.

It seemed lke the trailer glued it’s self to the bottom of the boat and wouldn’t let go unless you floated the boat, like I said. The few places we launched that wouldn’t go deep enoug into the water sure gave us a workout getting that boat wet.

Our very first trip two things happened. First we blew a tire on the trailer about half way to where we were going to fish which put us about an hour behind schedule.

Secondly. We finally arrived Saturday morning and launched for our first day on the water. It was so exciting and then the boat started to sink, bummer.

That’s what happens when you don’t put a boat on a trailer correctly and the bottom of the trailer goes through the boat’s outer hull.

So here is it is, early Saturday morning, nothing was open yet and we were getting ready to go back home when I looked over at the road and saw a man and a kid pull into a car repair shop. I pretty much ran from the boat to the car and asked the guy if he worked there.

Long story short, for $60 he fixed my boat and we were on the water in just two hours.

When I caught that first smallmouth bass both Roland and I did our happy dance.

This day started getting kind of windy which is normal here but I had spent my alloted budget on that boat and couldn’t afford a motor for it. I did however had a trolling motor which got us from point A to point B until the wind over powered our little motor.

We ended up on the rocks beside the railway line and had to get out of the boat and walk it around the point so we could get it back out into the water.

We decided to take a break for lunch and headed to the local grocery store to buy a few supplies. It was very hot that day so we took a drive around the lake while we were eating. That’s when I saw it…

There it was just lying there on the grass chained to a tree. A 9 horse Evenrude (I could be wrong on the size but it was small) outboard motor.

The owner was home so I asked how it worked. He unchained it and hooked it up to his little aluminum boat and it started first pull. It also pushed that little boat quite fast, I was totally impress.

Now this is something you don’t see or hear about any more but that guy gave me the motor and gave me his address so I could send him the money. He had never met or heard of me so he had no idea how honest I am but he just trusted.

Well that little Evenrude wouldn’t go any faster than 5 miles an hours once it was on my boat but that was a lot faster than my trolling motor was taking us.

That was just about the perfect speed for trolling though and we had a blast for about 5 or 6 years before I sold it. I still miss that old boat even though something went wrong every single time we went fishing in it.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

One of my web design clients, Big Paw Outfitters owner Kevin Caissie dropped in yesterday and was telling me how the Atlantic salmon fishing was doing in the Main West Miramichi River. He and his clients have been having a blast.

That was awesome to hear but one thing that really caught my attention was the size of brook trout they caught. I know there are a lot of salmon and I enjoy fishing for them but my heart has to go to the brook trout. Their beauty just can’t be beat and they fight like there is no tomorrow.

So many people I talk to tend to think there are only small brook trout in the brooks, streams and rivers here in New Brunswick but they are dead wrong.

What it comes down to is the fact so many fish where every one else fishing and those spots tend to get over fished but if they would take their time and go to spots that are a little off the beaten track they would find a lot more and bigger brook trout.

An important key to catching brook trout in brooks and streams is stealth. If you can see the trout you can be sure they can see you, unless…

… you are really stealthy and keep low, don’t cast a shadow across the water and keep the noise, especially your feet, quiet otherwise you will alert that 4 pounder behind that downed tree.