Fishing season here in New Brunswick was quickly drawing to a close, a time of year that always brings a tear to my eye. As dedicated fishers Jamie and I weren’t willing to let the season end without getting out just one more time.I am semi-retired, our son is in his 20s and lives on his own, I work from home and my wife has always been the best when it comes to me going fishing so I can pretty much go fishing at the drop of a hat. Most of the time my clients give me plenty of notice when they want me to do something for them and time isn’t usually an issue at all so I am always ready to go fishing, especially for Chain Pickerel.

Now Jamie on the other hand is a husband, father of twin girls, a school teacher and a hockey coach so he is more than just a busy guy which can make it rather tough to find an entire day to dedicate to fishing.

The last day we were fishing we planned one more day out but it hindged on whether Jamie could fit it into his schedule. It would be tough as the Thanksgiving weekend seemed to be the only slot available before the season closed.

I hadn’t heard from Jamie and time was running out. I knew he was busy and didn’t want to bother him especially if he wasn’t going to be able to go, why torment him, right. I even put all my fishing gear away for the year and tried not to think about it.

On the Thursday the 9th I got an email from Jamie asking if I was still interested in going fishing. I laughed out loud when I read that as I am always interested in going fishing. He either thought that was funny or he just hasn’t known  me long enough to know just how fanatical I am about fishing.

Fishing In The Wind

Over the years fishing pickerel here in New Brunswick I have found that when fishing the weeds for pickerel the slightest breeze can put them off and make an otherwise beautiful day non-productive. It also makes it a lot tougher to fish from a canoe and maintain your position out from the weeds.

Most days here start out very calm and as the day progresses the wind tends to pick up and then just before dark it usually calms again.

I was sure hoping Saturday wasn’t going to be like Friday as Friday started windy and just got more and more windy as the day progressed.

Well I woke up Saturday at 5am and immediately looked out the window to see if it was calm but it wasn’t. I could already see the branches moving when they are usually dead still at that time of the morning.

It was a bit depressing but our backup plan was to fish for smallmouth bass if it was too windy for the pickerel.

Jamie picked me up and we headed to Chipman. I spent the entire time watching the tree tops to see how the wind was doing, hoping the closer we got the less wind. We arrived and saw that there was a little ripple on the water.

I know we could fish the open water all day and catch pickerel but we both love the action in the weeds. When you cast to the weeds and the water explodes or you see a huge wake coming at your bait, well there is something about that that makes pickerel fishing in the weeds so darn exciting.

Over the years I have noticed that the slightest breeze can bring the action in the weeds to halt, immediately. Even though the water in the weeds can remain calm, if the breeze isn’t too strong, it still move the weeds enough to turn them off. As soon as the breeze stops the action starts again.

The wind also plays havoc with the canoe and even using an anchor you can’t keep the canoe facing the way you want. Well I can’t seem to get it to any ways, so I like those really calm days for ease of canoe control and plenty of top water action.

The wind picked up and died down over and over but every once in a while it would get windy enough to make it really tough fishing the weeds and maintain control of the canoe, even with an anchor. A number of times I suggested we leave and head to our bass fishing spot, but then the wind would die down and the pickerel would go nuts again.

Eventually the wind stopped and the water became like glass. Perfect for fishing the weeds and the pickerel didn’t disappoint us, the action was none stop all the way to dark.

We spent 10 hours in Jamie’s canoe and a great day. It did take me about 10 minutes to stand up straight after getting out of the canoe.

I am already looking forward to and planning for next year’s fishing season.

Image via Wikipedia Not too many things are more exciting than fly fishing for chain pickerel in New Brunswick. Chain pickerel are very similar to pike and very aggressive. I don’t even like cleaning my hands in the water after releasing them as they have even returned to take the fly immediately after release or perhaps a finger or two.

Sport fishing on the fly is definitely in my blood but normally I would be fishing trout, salmon or bass on the fly so the first time I used my fly rod on those toothy critters I had a most exillerating experience and returned for more time after time.

I am sure I could tie on a banana peel and they would take it, they are so aggressive. I have tried so many flies and they all seem to work great but if you want to get your arms pulled off all day long just make sure your fly has a red butt. The chain pickerel can’t resist red. I am pretty sure to them it’s a sign of a wounded meal.

I fish from my float tube most of the time and when you are flyfishing for pickerel it makes it even more exciting as the pickerel, just like pike, love to follow a fly or bait all the way back to the boat, or in my case the float tube and then, just as you are about to take the fly or bait out of the water they strike covering you will water and scaring the crap out of you. It’s so great. You just have to give it a try.

I found that if I used Spider wire or any good braided line you don’t really need a metal leader for these aggressive and razor sharp toothy monsters of the shallows. I have been fly fishing for pickerel for a lot of years and since I started using a braided line as my leader I have never had a pickerel cut my line and escape.

Image via WikipediaDo you like to get you heart pumping when you’re fishing? YES!! Well then you need to take a crack at fly fishing for Chain Pickerel. Here in New Brunswick, where I do my fly fishing, we have some great action fly fishing for pickerel from about the first of June right on through into the fall.

If you want to make it even more exciting you need to fly fish from a float tube. Yeah, you could fish from a boat but it’s just not the same as when your elbows can touch the water.

When you make a cast into a grassy or weedy area you need to hang on because when you see a wake from a chain pickerel moving through the water you get the greatest urge to yank on your line but wait, it’s just about to get really exciting.

It’s always nice to get big pickerel but I have so much fun with the little 16-20 inch guys and my fly rod. They just don’t seem to give up. Another part of pickerel fishing I love is that fact they will quietly follow your fly all the way back to your float tube before exploding on the fly just as you are about to draw it out of the water for another cast.

Most already know I like to fish with friends. I have had too many times fishing and having such a good time but was alone. No one to share the experience with. There is nothing much more fun that fishing side by side or back to back with all day action and laughing.

I haven’t been out fishing with my buddies yet this year but being out in the last couple of weeks without my float tube has me itching to do some chain pickerel fly fishing with Roland and Paul. It’s been way too long, five years to be exact.

I am putting my float tube together today to make sure I have no surprises when I do finally hit the water with it. So guys if you’re reading this you better have yours ready as well.

Image from WikipediaI love living and fishing in New Brunswick, Canada. I doesn’t get much better than being able to be fishing for brook trout and bass within 10 minutes of our house.

Twenty years ago I literally lived a stones through from this fishing spot. It was right in our backyard, our property went 32 feet right out into the lake.

Other than on a fishing trip in northern Quebec I haven’t fished for northern pike for more than 30 years now. I really only miss fishing in Ontario when I think of the great pike and muskie.

We don’t have the pike here but we do have the chain pickerel. They may not grow to the 48 inch toothy monsters that we grew in Ontario but I still find a 26 inch pickerel quite the experience.

My favorite fishing buddy Roland still has the record for the largest pickerel we have caught, at 26 inches. 24 inches is my record but he is going down this year. He just doesn’t know it yet.

Our first pickerel spots are about an hour’s drive giving us time to recall the great experiences we have had fishing pickerel but as we draw ever closer there is always a silence. I know that I am planning how I will kick my buddies butt and I am sure they are thinking the same thing.

Fishing in New Brunswick is awesome and the pickerel is just one of the species we fish from the float tube.