I work from home and spend a lot of time in my little office staring into our backyard and day dreaming about fishing, errr I mean working my online business.

Usually when I look out my office window my mind always goes to fishing and what it would be like at that exact moment. Well over the past week all I could think was just how windy it was and how tough it would be to fish pickerel in the weeds.

I can’t remember that last time the wind blew for a week like it has been. Even today I am looking out the window and it’s even windier than it was yesterday while we were fishing.

The Wind Sucks or Should I Say BLOWS

I really don’t mind fishing in the wind. It keeps the bugs at away most of the time and makes the heat easier to deal with.

I don’t like the wind when I am fly fishing, in a canoe or doing both. I especially don’t like the wind when I am fishing chain pickerel in the weeds, which is the only way I like to fish pickerel.

Can’t Let A Little Wind Stop Us From Fishing

Jamie and I didn’t let the wind stop us from giving the pickerel and the weeds a try, so yesterday we headed out for a day on the water. Great exercise trying to control the canoe in that wind, the anchor helped a few times.

We worked hard but we did get a lot of action in the moments that wind let up. It only took about 2 minutes after the wind stopped for the water in the weeds to calm and the action started right up.

Of course it also only took 2 minutes for the action to stop once the wind picked up again.

When we started from Moncton we kind of expected the day to be rainy, which we were prepared for but instead it just got windier.

We tried to get to a couple of spots that would have given us some protection from the wind but we couldn’t get there because of the white-caps. The waves were just large enough to make it un-safe so we stayed where we were.

We spent the day moving from one location to another, always looking for spots the wind was not effecting.

Our day ended a few hours sooner than any other time we have gone fishing but all in all it was still a great day, just a lot more work than most fishing days.

We were actually home before day. Heck we don’t usually leave the water until it’s dark.

While we were in one spot I saw a maple tree that had far more maple keys than leaves. It was a strange looking tree.

Forgive the fact the picture is a bit out of focus. It was so windy it was hard to take a picture from the canoe but I am sure you can see the amount of red, well that’s all maple keys.

I think our next trip out is going to be for smallmouth bass. I used to have a little hot spot, but I haven’t fished it since my heart attack in 2004. However I am pretty sure it’s still holding a lot of nice bass.

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As the previous post points out Jamie and I were out chasing a few pickerel around the Salmon River in the Chipman, New Brunswick area. Couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was a great day but kind of a strange day when it came to catching those pickerel.

Fishing Chain Pickerel on the Salmon River, New Brunswick

The first thing I realized was the amount of line I had on my spool. The first cast I made went right to the spool. I don’t know how I missed that, guess I was a bit too eager to get out fishing.

I decided to cut off the braided line that was worn and had turned white from the original black. When I went into my tackle bag to get more line it wasn’t there. My son had taken it out to use on his reel and didn’t bother to put it back. We’ll have a talk about that.

So I fished the entire day with almost no line and must admit that I did pretty good.

You can see in the image above that we stopped the canoe to check out what looks like a farmers field, off Salmon river, that was flooded with about 3 feet of water. Last year I caught a really nice pickerel here so of course we couldn’t pass it by.

I had a lot of pickerel chasing my plastic worm but they just seemed to ignore Jamie’s offerings. I was trying to figure out why I was getting all the action but nothing seemed to work for Jamie.

I told Jamie I had added a bullet weight to the front of the worm so that it was more sub-surface, so he gave that a try but still nothing.

Where’d You Get That Pink Worm?

What is kinda funny though, I still had on the pink plastic worm Jamie gave me last year just before the fishing season closed. I forgot to take the plastic worm off the hook on my rod so I just left it on. I thought it would be funny, I think I said something like it was the only bait I had.

I should probably buy a bag of those pink plastic worms to give to Jamie as I borrowed so many of them last year. I am sure I cleaned Jamie right out of them.

The chain pickerel really seems to love that pink worm Jamie, thanks

I have a terrible habit of grabbing fish the wrong way. I guess that comes from so many years without taking pictures and just catching and releasing. I will work on that on our next outing, maybe I will get it right and get a good picture.

I also forgot my thermometer as I wanted to get the water temperature, I will try to remember that for the next trip as well.

Pickerel fishing in New Bruswick is great fun and most of the time I use my spinning rod and plastic baits while fishing deep in the weeds. It’s just so cool to watch their wakes coming from all directions.

Every once in a while when the conditions are just right I like to get out my fly rod and try a few flies on these toothy chain pickerel. It’s a whole new feeling for fishing pickerel.

I usually tie on a pretty heavy section of mono instead of trying to use a steel leader. I lose some flies but I find it’s so much easier for to cast without the steel leader and personally I feel I get caught up in the weeds far less as well.

I have never been choosey as to which fly to use. I find the pickerel will go after just about anything but I do have more action if I use flies with a bit of bright blood red in it.

I also have, well had, a couple of brown frogs and mice that float really well and make it tough for the pickerel to ignore as they are dragged or popped across the top of the weeds, especially lily pads. Works just like it does for smallmouth bass.

I don’t think I have ever used a sinking fly on pickerel, the top water action is just too enticing for me and I am a very visual guy who loves the top water action.

Jamie and I left a little early this morning so we could arrive at French Lake right about day break so we could have a nice long day on the water for our first time on French Lake.

It was a gorgeous morning with lots of mist on the water.

The first thing we did when we arrived was to just stand there and admire the awesome view we had. The water was calm, like a mirror, with whisps of mist here and there. A memory I won’t soon forget.

The moon was still high in the sky as the sun came up. A little too high to get in the picture I took but it just made the moment even more precious.

We took the canoe off the roof of the car and piled all our gear into to.

Jamie even brought his trolling motor as this lake is huge compared to the waters we usually fish. It would be too much paddling and not enough fishing otherwise.

Jamie had been here a few weeks ago with his brother in law and had a pretty good day, so we headed to the same spot to see how it was.

Well the fishing was a little tougher than we expected. I was getting a few follows, a couple of strikes but none of these pickerel were coming back for a second try.

I have never seen pickerel act like this before. They usually keep coming back until they are either caught or they get a good poke with the hook and retreat into the safety of the weeds. Very strange day of fishing.

Why Were The Pickerel So Strange This Day?

A lot of reasons for how the pickerel were acting came to mind but really I was confused as to why they were acting so different this day.

I was thinking it was because we were on French Lake where they get a fair bit of pressure plus it was a long weekend, it’s also back to school and the end of summer for a lot of people so the pressure could have been more than usual.

The water temperature had dropped to below 60 degrees, that may have been part of it as well.

The wind picked up shortly after sunrise and before we knew it the waves had picked up enough that they were slapping the canoe. It was quickly becoming dangerous and even though we both swim and were wearing our lifejackets we didn’t want to have to swim.

So we headed to back to the launch site and moved to Chipman to try a few spots there that get more protection from the wind.

It was now much later and warmer by the time we were on the water at Chipman. The water temperature had risen but the pickerel didn’t change, they still only gave us one opportunity to catch them and then they were gone.

We had a hard time finding water in the weeds that wasn’t effected by the strong winds and kept moving all day, trying to keep in coves and inlets that were protected but the wind seemed to be coming from all directions.

We had a few follow to the boat but once they got a look or a little taste of the bait they gave up and turned away.

I managed to catch a couple of pickerel but they were pretty small.

They were still better than what we had been catching to this point which was just air.

Maybe they would have made a good sandwich but still fun.

A little later I hooed into one that was much bigger than the others. I even got it into the canoe so we could take a picture.This one was a bit more respectable.

You can see behind me that the water looks calm. It was rare but the wind would stop every once in a while, just long enough for the water to get calm enough for us to move away from the shore but they were few and far between.

After a day in the strong wind and weeds where the paddling becomes work it didn’t take long to wear me out so when I got home, a little after 8pm, I was ready for bed. I didn’t even bother to have anything to eat.

I was telling Jamie about a kid’s movie I had watched the day before. It was called ‘The Good Witch’. There was a little girl having bad dreams of monsters that asked her how to get rid of them.

The good witch told her to make sure she didn’t dream about fuzzy bunnies that night and told her to keep saying it. I will not dream about fuzzy bunnies, over and over.

The little girl woke up the next day and had only dreamed of fuzzy bunnies, and no monsters.

Well I was blessed and dream of monsters all night. Some were scary monsters but I managed to get them all in the boat and released safely.

I woke up happy, excited and ready to go again.

Fly Fishing For Chain Pickerel In the Weeds

Chain Pickerel are pretty close to the pike I used to fish for in Ontario, they just don’t grow as big down here in New Brunswick. But if you want a great fight just try for them using your fly fishing tackle.

Even a small pickerel of 18 to 20 inches can be a handful in the weeds using a fly rod but it sure is fun.

I like using a big artificial leech or even a big streamer I would use for spring run Atlantic salmon. They will go for just about anything you through at them.

What Fly Rod To Use For Pickerel Fishing

I never use a light action fly rod when fly fishing for pickerel as even the small ones can give your tackle a run for the money. I usually use an 8 weight fly rod and have never broken one yet.

Use A Tough Leader

The only precautions I take with fly fishing for pickerel is to add a bit of heavy duty leader to my existing leader. I don’t to use steel leaders on my fly rod. Instead I prefer to use a bit of really stiff mono or even some braided line at the front of my leader line. It only takes a brush with those razor sharp teeth to cut your line and lose your pickerel.

What Flies To Use

I don’t use small flies when fishing for pickerel on the fly. I like to use the same flies I use for smallmouth bass and Atlantic salmon.

Big Hairy Flies Work For Me

I tie on the biggest badest and ugliest flies I have in my fly box. Mostly I go for top water as I enjoy this type of fishing the most but I don’t mind using a big ole stream to get their attention and it’s usually still a big top water explosion even though the fly does sink. It just never gets much of a chance to sink far before they slap it good.

Fly Fishing Weedless Flies

The only other thing I would suggest is that you fish weedless or you will be in for a very frustrating day on the water.

When I tie the flies I like to put a skirt of stiff hair that goes from the eye of the hook past the hook point.

Don’t worry about making your flies look perfect as they will still wack it whether it’s pretty or not. I think you could tie on an old shoe and they would still attack it.

My first trip to one of my favorite spots almost ended with out doing any fishing. That would have sucked wouldn’t it?

The reason we decided to leave without fishing is because there was no place to get in the river without crossing private property and I won’t do that without permission, so we left.

When we backed out to the road we could see a car slowing down with their blinker on, so we waited for him to see where he parked.

He owned the first cottage so we stopped and asked for permission to continue down the lane and get in the river.

The old guy, about 80 I am sure was impressed that we were going to leave without fishing. He said most people wouldn’t have even thought of asking.

He gave us permission to not only get in the river from there he also gave us permission to park on his property so no one else would think we were crossing their property.

So, we thanked him and headed down to the river with our float tubes.

It took us about 15 or 20 mintues to get to where we would start fishing but later found that when the water was a bit lower we could walk there in less than 5 minutes.

I took my fly rod with me, along with my spinning gear of course. It’s always a great experience going after Chain pickerel with an artifical fly.

I caught 6 or 8 nice pickerel and a whole lot of little hammer handle sized ones. They all were fun of course.

I came back alone about a week later and headed back to the same spot but this time I was going to follow the water as far back as I could and what a trip that turned into.

The water was still a little high compared to later in the season so I was able to go a long ways back in and probably had my best day of pickerel fishing I have ever had.

I came back a little more than a week later and the water was low enough I couldn’t get back very far at all. I guess it’s a very short time that their is water in those places, but the pickerel know it’s there and hang out all spring.

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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.

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.

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.