Image from WikipediaA few years ago my good fishing buddy Roland took me to a spot along the side of the road where he used to stop every time he drove by and dropped a line in to see if there was a brookie sitting there. That’s as far as he ever went at this spot and never ventured into the thick under brush to see what was on the other side.

He always seemed to catch a few nice trout in the early part of fishing season but nothing much later on. I am glad he at least showed me the spot.

I was talking to another fishing buddy and we were talking about going out to catch a few trout and that it would be good to try a few new spots.

I started telling him about Roland’s little brookie spot and said that he had never fished beyond the road and that it was less than an hour away. In just minutes we were ready and on the road.

I didn’t bother taking my fly rod with me because the brush was just too thick. It was going to be tough just using a spinning rod. We fished the road, caught a couple of little brookie and then we headed in.

It was farming country but it looked more like a war zone in there. Downed trees, old cars, garbage. What’s wrong with people anyways?

I am not sure how long we had been fishing or at least trying and we were talking about heading back when the trees opened up and the river widened into a brook we could both walk and fish.

It was like we had been teleported to an entirely different river it looked so different. At that moment I wish I had my fly rod with me but I wasn’t fighting my way back.

It was only a few minutes later that I hooked a trout that didn’t seem quite the same as the brookies I have caught over the years and when it jumped it didn’t look the same.

I had just caught my first brown trout and both of us were blown away. We didn’t even know there were brown trout in New Brunswick and I have been down here living for about 15 years at that point.

Our day just got even more exciting that it was when we came out of the bush to such a nice river to fish. It’s easy to lose track of time when you are having a day like we were having.

We fished all day and caught many fish and before we knew it the light was fading and we had no idea how much further it was to the next road. At that point we heard voices up a head and though it was the road.

It turned out it was a father and son having a little fishing fun. They had access to the river from the road and told us that the bridge was about 20 minutes ahead of us and that when we were done they would pick us up and take us back to the car.

We measured the distance back to the car and we would have had to walk just about 5 miles to get back there. Thanks for the ride buddy.

Sport fishing brown trout in New Brunswick is a new pass time now. Just a few more weeks and I will be out there again, but I don’t go in the same way now and I do take my fly rod with me and always a friend.

Knowing the structure that lies beneath the waters that you fish in can be the difference between catching and just fishing.

I remember back when I was a kid I took an old bucket, cut the bottom out of it and glued a piece of glass into the bottom. It took me a while to get it water proof and it looked pretty ugly but guess what. It allowed me to see below the top of the water without sticking my head in the water. I was pretty proud of it and I could see my dad was impressed too.

Way back then I called structure ‘hiding places’. I even took my bucket with me when we went to the ranch where we kept our cattle all summer. They had a lake right in the middle of their property and only one other farm on the whole lake.

I was too young to take the boat out on my own but I would put on my life jacket and sit in the boat with my bucket over the side just watching all the life and activity beneath the boat.

Today I have become a little more suffisticated and use a Hummingbird fish finder. It saves me so much time on new waters. I was sold on fish finders when five of us went on a fly-in fishing trip to northern Quebec. I was the only one with a fish finder and we had three boats.

We had 7 days with an entire lake to ourselves. There was an island in center with a beautiful cottage but no one was there all week. It was a really remote location, accessable only by plane so I imagine it took some bucks to build that cottage.

We got settled in to our cabin had a bite to eat and then it was off to the boats. None of them knew I had a fish finder and of course they all wanted a crack at it but I said no way. I did say that each day I would switch fishing partners so they could all try it out.

Well every single day my boat caught more fish and bigger fish. We eliminated so much water and found other water that we might never have bothered with because the clues were all below the surface.

My partner and I out fished the others so much that they just started following us.

The fly-in fishing trip was my first so it is special but the quality of the fishing and accomodations were less than promised. I was the only one that practice total catch and release while the others wanted trophies. The fridge freezer quite working near the end of the week and they all lost their trophies while mine were still swimming around.

But honestly I would have slept in a tent and used canoes so we had it pretty easy for being so remote.

The happy memories would not have been so happy had I not brought my Hummingbird fish finder.The fact that I out fished the others with my fish finder proved to me that we would have been crying by the end of the week.

I don’t swear by Hummingbird, not at all. I am glad to have it and it works for me but I have never tried any other kind. I think just having one for those times you are fishing new waters is worth the investment.