What a great year for fishing new locations. Thanks Casey.

Our last day of fishing took us to Colwells Wharf, Washamadoak lake and Otnabog lake, although once we were on the water I was completely lost.

The drive there was a bit wet as it rained from the time we left until we arrived and then the rain stopped leaving us with a perfect day for fishing.

Finding It Hard To Focus

Once the leaves begin changing colour in the fall, as they are doing right now, I get a little distracted from fishing. I just keep taking pictures to show Jenny when I get home. No wonder my neck hurts by the time we head back home.

We managed to catch some fish which is always nice on a day of fishing. Still not like we have in years past. I think there’s just too many places for the bass and pickerel to spread out making them a little tougher to catch.

One minute we’re fishing a channel and the next we are in the middle of a farmers field that’s been flooded with 3 feet of water.

Casey Makes It Look Easy

It didn’t take Casey long to get started. I think it was about 10 or 15 minutes from the launch and Casey had his first smallmouth bass on. Not a bad way to start the day with a fat little 13 inche smallie.

It looked like we just might have a day without the fear of getting skunked, at long last.

In the picture to the left Casey is politely asking his bass to tell all his friends we practice catch and release fishing. Then back in the water with him.

It wasn’t too long after than and Casey had another fish. This time it was a pickerel who thought he was a lot bigger than he turned out to be.

Then it was my turn but I didnt’ get a bass or a pickerel. But it was the first perch of the day. I also got the second perch of the day before catching anything else. I caught them on my little Rapala Countdown, perch pattern. Those little cannibals.

The fishing didn’t get to heavy but it was better than a few other days we were out fishing this year. The high water and dark stained colour hasn’t helped much.

We had a lot of action at Coles Island for a bit and then wind picked up and they shut down. It really was great to see the action pickup like that. I will definitely have get back to these spots Casey took me to, next year.

What beautiful pickerel water. I am sure there were thousands of pickerel in that area but the day light was running out and we had a long boat ride back to where we launched so we had to call it a day.

Huge Pickerel Opened Its Mouth Right Under My Bait

A bit earlier in the day I had an experience with a pickerel I have never had in all the years of fishing. And of course with the rod in my hands I didn’t have my camera ready.

It’s great fun bringing pickerel back to the boat and having them explode on baits. I’ve had a lot of soakings from my canoe and float tubes doing this but this pickerel was a bit different and may have happened a lot, I have just never seen it happen.

To start with the water clarity was just a few inches so I couldn’t even see my bait coming back to the boat unless it was at the top of the water.

We were in deeper water here, mabe 10 feet deep or so.

I was watching my baits pretty close so as not to pop one out of the water and smack Casey in the head.

On this one retrieve I had the lure come to just below the surface when I saw this huge mouth open up right under the bait. However at the same exact time I saw that huge mouth the pickerel saw me and was gone. Didn’t even touch the bait but it was still so cool to see.

I even tried to find an example of what I saw using Google images but couldn’t find one.

The Scenery Was Breath Taking

The deciduous trees around the shoreline were already changing colour and looked great, like I mentioned at the start so I thought I would add a couple of extra images of the scenery.

The trees around the water line were all changing to gorgeous colours yet the trees behind them, being protected, were still healthy greens.

We saw a couple of lighthouses, not sure if they are active but they looked pretty cool. The two below were directly across the lake from each other.

While Casey and I were heading toward Coles Island to a pickerel hotspot we saw a float plane and of course I wanted to get a picture.

As we got close I could see a couple of people around the plane, so I was kind of hoping it would be taking off.

Well, they weren’t taking off and had only just landed. Reminded me of a fly in fishing trip I was on a few years ago.

Another day of fun on the water ended all too soon but Casey took us out of there following the water. What a beautiful place to have a home, cottage or camp, heck even a tent would be special in this area.

Well I’d say Casey is looking pretty pleased with himself after landing this huge 45”. 38 1/2 lbs striped bass on Sunday September 10, 2011. I would love to have been there with my video camera.

Congrats to Casey

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• Casey Had Better Luck Fishing The Oromocto River (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• These Bass Fishing Tips Help Me Catch More Smallmouth Bass (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
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Thursday morning Casey and I hit the road for another day of fishing. We went to Oromocto, New Brunswick which was another first for me.

We turned down toward the launch near Phil’s Auto & Recreation, where we stopped to look at all the bass supplies and of course a few boats. On the way out that is, but first we fished.

The boat launch was pretty good, well I haven’t launched a lot of boats but I would say this is one of the better launches I have seen.

I took a few pictures, such a perfect start to the day. You can even see a little mist on the water and the sky is clear.

There was no one around but us and the birds.

A few minutes later, boat check done and we were on the water.

Turned out to be a tough day of fishing. But even a tough day of fishing is better than staying home.

I managed to get a bass on and brought it all the way back to the boat and let it get off two inches from my fingers. Go figure. Casey asked if I wanted him to net it and as it was all that big I said no thanks. Again, go figure.

After the rain we had Tuesday and part of Wednesday the water was pretty discoloured but get a little better as the day moved on.

We tried the Oromocto river for a few hours but the water was so dark the lure disappeared after about a foot. We also tried some noisy baits but nothing seem to work. So, we headed back out. It took use a few hours to fish our way into the river but less than 15 for Casey to get us back to the main river.

When we went in the Oromocto river it was quite and calm like glass. I thought it would make for a nice picture.

As you can see there wasn’t much going on as far as clouds. It didn’t change much but at one point we had a cloud move in front of the sun and it felt like the temperature dropped 10 degrees.

It felt so good I had to take a picture of it. I think we got about 5 minutes of shade.

All too soon the cloud was gone and the sun was right back on us.

Now even though it sounds like I am complaining notice I never once asked to go home. That’s why I bring so much water with me.

Eventually we started getting a few strikes and I hooked into another smallie. This time I didn’t refuse Casey’s help with the net. This one didn’t get away.

Casey took a picture and thought he should get closer to be sure y’all could see it. Smart ass isn’t he?

I lost about 2 pounds from sweating to catch that fish and I wanted proof.

Casey didn’t wait long before he landed his first smallmouth bass. They were few and far between this day. I think they were way back in the bush looking for some relief from the sun. We were sure feeling the heat.

We caught a few more bass and I got a couple of perch. One perch was about the biggest perch I’ve ever caught. That’s not saying it was huge, just the biggest I’ve caught.

At one point I thought I was in Bethlehem as I saw a donkey walking along the water’s edge.

We didn’t have any Lama sightings but the donkey started rolling in the sand and kicking it’s feet up in the air.

Looked kinda like that Lama Jamie and I saw while it was doing that.

Every once in a while a plane would come out of nowhere it seem. I haven’t fished much where there is an airport within spitting distance.

At one point we saw 4 helicopters heading straight towards us and then right over our heads. We were kinda hoping they would let us know where the fish were hiding but they kept going.

They made some noise which reminded me of fishing from my canoe on a lake in the Renous area. I think it was called Mitchell lake.

It was so quiet back in there you could hear a mosquito fart. Well all of a sudden I heard or felt this rumbling and then 3 jets flew over the water and scared the shit out of me, well pretty close.

I was sure I could feel the canoe moving.

We see all kinds of birds bald eagles, hawks, kingfishers and quite a few osprey but I can never get a good picture. So as usually I tried to get a picture and got closer than most but it’s still a ways away.

I’m not up on my birds but think it’s a young eagle.

So we saw a lot of water, a lot of sites, got some sun, drank a lot of water and caught a few fish. Not a record setting day of fishing but still always fun to be out on the water with a friend.

Related articles

• Pickerel Fishing Salmon River From Grand Lake To Past Chipman (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
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Even though we wear life-vests we still don’t care to be swamped. It happened once with my canoe and it wasn’t a fun thing at all. Not to mention the gear we lost.

Our plan is usually to check the weather and if it’s little to no wind we will head to the Jemseg bridge and launch from there if the river is calm. Just like it was on Saturday morning about 7am.

We had fun and caught a few smallmouth bass as well as one chubby Chub however once those recreational boaters came on the scene it was time to pack up and move to a less traveled area, like Salmon river bays and coves.

We headed back to Salmon river to a few spots we knew we’d be able to get out of the wind.

The action in these spots have not been so good this year. The only reason I can come up with is the fact we have so much extra water for the fish to disperse in making them fewer and further between.

Saturday on the other had was a reminder of years past with plenty of action.

I cast into one spot and had nice strike but I it was gone as quickly as it had struck and didn’t seem to want my bait on a second attempt. Jamie attracted a nice pickerel on the other side of the canoe.

This guy wanted Jamie’s bait and wanted everyone to know it by jumping clear of the water and coming down on top of his bait. What an explosion.

Jamie now had the biggest pickerel of the day. I still had the first and the most fish for the day so I could still hold my head up.

Then as we were coming around a point heading back to the car I made a few casts to the point but nothing. Just before we hit the bank where the car was parked I turned and gave another cast from the opposite direction.

I made a couple of turns on the reel then something to my left caught my eye. I turned away for just a second and of course I had the strike of the day. Jamie got to see this pickerel come flying out of the water and smacked my bait.

Sure glad I had checked the drag on my reel. I immediately had visions of taking first place for the day.

The fight was on and Jamie was quick to grab his new rubber net and was ready but it wasn’t going to be as simple as that as the sun was directly in Jamie’s face and to make it worse it was glaring off the water as well.

I didn’t think we were going to land this guy and he looked bigger than Jamie’s last fish. I was both excited and nervous as it was the last cast of the day and I saw first place slipping away.

Then the pickerel made one last jump and Jamie got the net under it and it was in the boat.

I think that’s when Jamie asked me how long I thought it would take to walk home from there.

Oh I almost forgot to mention I didn’t have any red worms left plus the sun was now lower in the sky so I had changed to a black senko worm and was having a lot more reactions from hungry pickerel.

My winning pickerel came in at 24 1/4” which is exactly what Jamie said it was before we even landed it. Smart guy eh?

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.

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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.

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I’m planning on giving the new KickTail XL lure a try this coming fishing season. I have seen a few ads and videos, from what I have seen it looks so life-like that smallmouth bass as well as pickerel or pike have a hard time NOT biting it. So much so that the claim is that the KickTail XL lure will increase my catches as much as 3 times.

I’m certainly up for giving the KickTail a try.

The KickTail XL has:

• steel-hard construction
• more life-like scales
• better swimming action
• dazzling colors

I have fished a lot of minnow lures and have a few that I have confidence with but I am always looking for new and better lures that can give me the same confidence.

Watch this video I found on Youtube. I makes me want to head south and give it a try as our fishing season doesn’t open for another 2 months here in New Brunswick.

Watching it move through the water, it looks like a real minnow, no wonder that fish can’t seem to resist it.

Checkout the patented KickTail XL Series Lure @ NGC Worldwide Inc. today and get your new confidence bait.

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I will cast to the shallows close to weeds and bring it back to the deeper water. And if the water drops off quickly I will pull it right along the edge of the weeds for really explosive strikes.

It wasn’t until I moved to New Brunswick that I experienced smallmouth bass fishing and later chain pickerel fishing. Before that it was strickly trout and salmon.

That’s when I started buying a few crank-baits, spinner-baits and plastic worms.

Fishing Crankbaits

My fishing buddy Roland and I were in my boat on Lake George just past Fredericton, it was really windy, so the top water baits weren’t doing much so I switched to one of my brand new crankbait.

Fishing A Brown Shrimp Crankbait

I remember it was brown with some darker brown stripes going down the sides. It cast a country mile and would float until I started cranking on it. Then it would dive anywhere from 3-7 feet depending on how hard I cranked it.

On my first cast the crank-bait was smacked hard and then again on my second and then it seemed like I couldn’t use it without getting strikes.

Guess how many of those I purchased?? Just one because I bought a variety of lures that day and just one of each. Roland didn’t buy one of this particular crankbait and I didn’t have one to loan him.

I kicked his bass fishing butt royally that day.

The crankbait quickly became one of my confidence baits and still is today. I went and bought another two, one for the tackle box and one I just in case Roland didn’t get a chance to buy one.

I used that crankbait until all the finish was worn off, leaving it a matte silver colour and it was still caught bass, which I found strange because I had a silver one that didn’t catch anything much at all.

Then one day I made a very long cast, probably the longest cast I ever made. It went straight across the water and into the trees on the bank somewhere. Never did find it. Guess I didn’t tie that knot as well as I thought.

That crankbait had hooked hundreds and hundreds of bass and pickerel and lasted for a few years before I lost it.

The second crankbait lasted for many years as well until one day Casey and I were bass fishing Lake Petit and on the very last cast of the day I lost it, the same way I lost the first one. The line snapped and it went so far I couldn’t find it. Bummer

A couple of years after I started bass fishing we gave chain pickerel a go and I used the same crankbait in open water along weed banks and found that they love that crankbait as much as the smallies do.

Check out the Rapala Crankbaits on FishUSA.com

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I love catching big fish, but then again don’t we all. But, using a light action rod and reel setup and I don’t mind catching smaller fish. Heck I fish brook trout about 8 to 13 inches long using my light action fly rod or spinning rod.

Smallmouth bass are no different. I love catching the big ones explode on my baits but the little guys of about 16 inches, are great fun on light action gear as well. It’s so cool to be able to watch them dart around your float tube or canoe so fast it’s unbelievable.

My son Steve caught the little guy in the picture below with just a little yellow head jigg and a plastic grub. He was catching them all day long and never changed his bait, other than to replace the grub once it was munched up too much to stay on the jigg.

Steve With His First Bass From His Float Tube

Keep Your Secret Spots Secret

The little spot I took my son is full of smallmouth up to about 15 or 16 inches. I like going here when fishing conditions elsewhere suck. I can usually fish and catch and release dozens of these little smallies all day long.

I have friends that never release fish and friends who practice catch and release like I do and for this spot I only ever take my catch and release friends. I certainly wouldn’t give up this location to any of my catch em and eat friends, I have lots of other places to take them.

Tricked And Treated To A Happy Surprise

The first time at this place was when a friend I worked with took me. He really didn’t tell me anything about it as we were fishing somewhere else and it just got too windy for our float tubes.

It was funny because he only showed me one small pond first and trust me I wasn’t overly impressed as it was so small I could almost cast to any point without moving my feet.

I did see a beaver and her hut and hooked into a little bass about 8 inches long. After fishing for a few minutes I noticed my friend was not to be seen. I figured he was taking a leak behind a tree but after a few minutes I called his name and then followed his voice.

As I came up over the ridge behind the little pond I was fishing he was snickering away with a 15 inch bass dangling from his fishing rod. He was standing on the edge of a pond that was, at first glance, about 3 or 4 times as large as the first pond. What a funny guy, eh?

We fished there for a long time and cast after cast after cast we were getting strikes, almost every cast was a bass on.

Then he started walking and in just a few minutes came to a channel that led to yet another section of water and then another. We fished all day and I still didn’t get to see all the water there. It wasn’t until the next time we came that I got to see the entire body of water.

By this time I was impressed.

So, the second time we brought our float tubes and that’s when I got to see all the water that was seldom seen by anyone on foot.

Being Prepared With Little Tackle

I can easily carry all the tackle I use for these ponds in just one little tackle box, small enough to fit in my fly fishing vest. Just a few small baits, crankbaits, tubes, top water, jiggs and grubs.

For fly fishing for these bass I use all small top water dry flies and my favourite are brown, anything brown.

When I am not fly fishing for these little smallmouth’s I prefer to use a small jigg and a pumpkin coloured grub like the BearPaw Fat Bear Grub. It has been the setup that has landed me the most fish here, other than the fly rod of course.

BearPaws Fat Bear Grub $ 3.69
The Grub (12 per bag) is a very powerful bait in the world of bass fishing, or any type of fishing for that matter. The grubs outstanding natural action makes it one of the best baits in the water. Fish are attracted to grubs under all fishing conditions making it a sure bait throughout all seasons. The 3″ Bear Claw Grub is exceptional within it’s own right. This grub has a soft texture for a lifelike feel and action along with a special blend of seasonings and scents, just like all our other Bearpaws baits.

All Terrain Tackle Jim Moynagh Rock Jig – Undressed $ 2.49
We build the Rock Jig on a heavy, black-nickel, Mustad UltraPoint hook.

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I will say that spring is my second most favourite time of the year but it’s largely due to the fact I’ve experienced quite enough winter by then.

What Makes Fall Such Good Fishing?

As fall approaches the water temperature in rivers and lakes begin to drop which causes the weed beds to die off slowly which in turn decreases the level of oxygen in the water.

The lower levels of oxygen in the water sends the bass looking for more oxygen rich water which usually means they will be stacked up around healthy weed beds. This makes it much easier to locate them if you focus on finding the remaining healthy patches of weeds.

Testing The Waters

The last time I was out Bass fishing in the fall there were four of us. I wanted to test the waters as they say so I didn’t tell my buddies that I was only going to fish green weeds.

At the end of the day we compared notes and I had hooked and landed 4 times as many fish as two of my buddies. The third guy did the same thing as I did and only fished spots that still had healthy weed beds.

Mmmm That Looks Tasty

It’s at this time Smallies tend to be less discriminating than they can be at other times of the year due to the fact winter is fast approaching and now is the time to put on some fat for the winter months. Smallies are inclined to chase almost any baits at this point in the season. I have observed them go way out of their way to reach a lure in the Fall.

I truly do take pleasure in casting in the lily pads for Smallmouth bass at any time but particularly throughout the Fall once patches of weeds which are producing oxygen begin the process of to die off. For the duration of those fall weeks I really watch the healthier weeds still making oxygen.

Smallmouth bass are cold blooded therefore as the temperature of the lake water lowers the Smallmouth will slow down as well so it’s necessary to slow your baits as well. You will find that you hook up with a lot more Smallmouth’s.

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