My love of fishing began just about 50 years ago when I moved from Toronto to a foster home in the country. It was a 100 acre beef farm with a river running through the back end. I spent a lot of hours fishing for catfish. It was were I went get rid of stress.

Those memories of fishing are as fresh in my mind today as they were 50 years ago. Take a kid fishing and change a life.

I couldn’t wait to get out of that foster home and eventually moved to New Brunswick Canada where I still had blood relatives.

It was New Brunswick where I learned how to use a fly rod for the first time and spent the next 5 years finding and fly fishing every trout streams, brook and beaver pond I could find. I also spent a lot of time fly fishing for Atlantic salmon but that’s for another post.

Trout Fishing Tip #1 – Patience Wins The Day

As many years as I have been fishing I still get more excited the closer I get to a fishing spot.

I used to be the first to the water and usually the first to catch a fish but I wonder just how many bigger, wiser fish I spooked being in such a hurry.

I remember watching brother-in-law Joe, the guy who taught me to use a fly rod. He was slow and pokey but it turns out that he was more methodical about fly fishing and would always catch the bigger fish. it took me a few years to calm down enough to pay attention to him.

Joe would get all geared up, then he would creep down to the edge of the water, find a comfy rock and have a coffee while watching what was going on in and around the water.

Trout Fishing Tip #2 – Being Stealthy Wins The Day, Again

I learned a bit of patience from Joe but I learned to be a stealthy fly fishing from a college professor who was an avid fly fisher.

My professor asked me if I wanted to go fly fishing after supper as he knew I carried my fishing gear everywhere I went.

Well he took me to a spot I have fished many times and caught some nice fat 12 and 13 inch brookies. Nothing any bigger than that there, I thought.

Well I was about to find out there were much bigger brookies in that brook.

We didn’t take the same path I usually took to fish this spot. He took me up river a bit where we crossed to the other side and came back down to where I usually start fishing.

Before getting to the brook he started to crouch and almost crawled to a tree right on the river bank. From behind the tree he pointed out a little riffle of water going under an overhanging tree on the other bank.

He made one false cast to get the line out and then changed his direction and landed a small dry fly at the beginning of the riffle and let it drift under the tree. A huge splash and he had on a brook trout that could eat the trout I usually catch there.

I was blown away when he netted the first 18 inch brook trout I had ever seen.

He said to give that spot a break for a few minutes and we moved to the next spot where he did the same thing. Kinda crawled to a spot he could get a good cast with his fly, without being seen by any fish. Heck I used to just walk up and start casting.

This time he hooked into a 16 inch brookie.

The next spot it was my turn. I did all the stealth and tried to keep low in the tall grass. I had a bit of trouble making a cast in that position and my fly slapped the water. Big mistake when you’re fly fishing spooky fish like brook trout.

I did hook a 13 inch brook trout. Guess he wasn’t as smart as those bigger brookies who took off when I smacked the water.

Trout Fishing Tip #3 – Learn To Read The Water

Back to brother-in-law Joe who taught me to fly fish with a bit of patience. Well Joe also taught me about reading my surroundings. Something I have taught many people over the years.

He’d sit there sipping his coffee and reading the river for potential fish locations were we could take a fish.

Once he had them pointed out we would watch those spots. It was amazing to me when we would see a brookie take something from the surface, exactly where he showed me.

The more I observed the better I got at observing which showed in the numbers of fish I was catching on the fly. I actually got to the point where people I took fishing were impressed with my talents, talents I had to learn from others.

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As usual I was dragging my butt around yesterday after a great day out fishing Sunday. I do my best to completely wear myself out before heading home. For me fishing is worth every ache and pain I get.

I was puttering around the yard taking a few pictures of the flowers and veggies in our little backyard garden. I like adding lots of pictures to my gardening blogs.

It was a nice day, the sun was shining but a moment later I looked up to see dark black, really thick clouds moving and and headed for the house. I just got my butt in side the door and Mother Nature let loose.

The rain was so heavy we could barely see across the street that was instantly turned into a river. Then the wind picked up until I thought the trees were going to come down. We did have a couple branches come down and then it was over as fast as it started.

I heard on the radio this morning that a lot of people were going to be without electricity until about 10am.

As I was looking out at the river running infront of our house I remember a trout fishing trip my son Stephen and I took when he was about 6.

We were both pretty excited and had everything ready the night before so we could just get up, grab breakfast and go. Mom had made us plenty of food for the day and lots of treats and drinks so we were set to go.

Time for some bonding with my bud and hugs and kisses with mom were hit the road.

Steve never stopped asking questions all the way there. As a matter of fact he is still asking questions today at 23.

We finally arrived and headed off road through the trees to brook trout fishing heaven.

We couldn’t wait to get things together Steve wanted to see the water so we walked in first.

From my point of view the water was gorgeous and as smooth as a mirror. I picked Stephen up in my arms so he could see more.

I took the canoe off the Samuria and hauled it in to the lake while Steve carried his fishing rod and tackle box. It still took a couple trips back and forth to get all our gear and goodies in the canoe.

Then we put on our life jackets, climbed in and shoved off.

We weren’t there long before thick dark clouds moved in across the trees and by the time I decided to head back to shore the skies opened up and we were soaked instantly, right through to our skin.

What was the one thing we didn’t think to pack? Rain gear, DUH.

Stephen was kind of shocked at how hard it was raining and became quite scared. A few words to reassure him he was safe and we started laughing.

We got back to shore and ran to the protection of the car and a dry set of clothes. The rain only lasted a short time and we were back on the water fishing.

It’s one of those memories that we will share for a life time. Maybe some day he will marry and have a child of his own that he can share experiences like that with.

Heck if he does it soon enough maybe he will take his old man too.

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Image by Getty Images via DaylifeWhether it’s a fly rod, which is my choice, or a spinning rod, which I use in places the fly rod just won’t work, it’s all fun when you’re trout fishing here in New Brunswick. Stocks are plentiful in most places and there are still plenty of 2 and 3 pound brookies just waiting for the stealthy fisher to entice them.

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.

Spring here in New Brunswick has been fickled this year to say the least. We never really know what kind of weather we are going to get but then that kind of holds true for any time of the year here. The only difference is that in the spring things can turn cold and it can start snowing without a lot of notice.

This can make for strange and exciting days on the water.

My fly fishing buddies and I head to Renous New Brunswick every year for Atlantic salmon but one year my buddy Kerry invited me to a brook I had never fished before.

Justing getting to the brook was a chore as the underbrush was extremely thick. I am sure this would cause most to move on to another place to fish. I love it.

I had taken Kerry on a great day of brown trout fishing near Shediac New Brunswick and he was now returning the favor and he didn’t disappoint.

We both had our cars as I was coming from Moncton and he was coming from Fredericton. This worked out great because we parked one car as close to the point we could be leaving the brook, where it meets the Caines River and the other car was were camped and entered the brook.

We finally clawed our way through the underbrush and found the brook. The action was pretty much none stop all day and the scenery was eye popping at times.

I have gone back to this spot many times since that day and always have a great day.

It is far too thick to use a fly rod so we always go with light spinning gear which is great while we are on the brook but when we reach where the book enters the Caines river we have to quit fishing because it’s mostly fly rod only at that point.

I think it would make for an even better day if we could exchange our spinning gear for our fly gear once we reach that point. I am sure there is another road that we could park the second car at so we could be closer to the water and the car when we are done fishing the brook.

I haven’t taken Roland to that spot yet but I think this year would be a good year for introducing him to a new brook trout brook.

I also love fishing the Cains River for Atlantic salmon but I have caught a few nice trout on what I call a little trout fly for the Cains river, it works for both so forgive me if I have to keep it a secret.

I have been fishing trout in Canada, mostly New Brunswick, for more than 30 years and to this day my heart pounds just thinking about it.

I do use a spinning rod when I can’t get through a stream with my fly rod but if I can see a path that my fly line can take I use the fly rod. It’s just so much more fun, for me anyways. Each to their own.

When I first came to the Maritimes I was only used to fishing catfish and pike but it was only a few short hours and my brother-in-law had me fishing for trout with a flyrod.

The learning process took about 10 minutes and I was up to speed enough to catch brook trout. They were a whole lot bigger and easier to catch 30 years ago than they are today but I still get out when I get the chance.

One of the most important things I learned about trout fishing and it goes for a lot of other species is:

• The big ones are there and if they know you are there you will never catch them. Stealth is the key and that is why I out fish my fishing buddies.

Sometimes, especially late in the summer when the water is low I actually crawl to the river bank and cast from behind a tree. I have caught my biggest brookies doing this. I can’t take credit for thinking of it as it was one of my college professors that showed me how to catch the big ones.