The Joy of Fly Fishing in New Brunswick

Hi from New Brunswick’s Pickerel Jim. I think I will wear my new hat on our next fishing trip. It really does help to keep the sun out of my eyes.

Well it’s really a hat my wife Jenny picked up at a second hand clothing shop in town while she was looking for costumes to wear during some Christmas songs at church.

With the wind we get here in New Brunswick I am sure I would have to tie both the hat on my head and my butt in the boat or it would lift me right into the air.

Did I Tell You I Love My 5″ Red Worm

The pickerel love it as well and the numbers of chain pickerel I have caught makes it a real confidence bait for me. I have converted a few people. I think Casey even likes them now.

I placed an order for 50 5″ red plastic worms and 50 more for Casey.

As soon as they arrived I shot an email off to Casey and he sent one back asking me if I want to head off to French Lake in the morning. Like I would ever say no.

6 Deer playing in a field at French Lake

I did get a picture as close as I wanted as they all decided to take off into the trees as soon as they heard our vehicle but they were sure having fun.

There were two groups each with a cute little fawn in each group.

It was nice to see them after hearing about them but never seeing any when were hit French Lake.

We also say some people who where floating around the sky while parasailing, if that’s what it’s called.

I saw this one just as it was about to disappear behing the trees so I only had one shot to get a picture. Not the best but we thought they looked pretty cool.

We say 3 or 4 of them but there was a stand of trees between them and us so I couldn’t get a picture.

I think it would be fun to do that once in my life.

Yes we could have stopped and maybe I would have gotten a better picture but HEY, we were going fishing eh.

Well we got to the launch and the water was already broken by the wind. I of course wanted it to be completely calm so we could give the weeds a good go right off.

We started trolling right away but headed directly to where we knew there were lots of weeds but weeds with lily pads among them as I have much better luck when there are lily pads.

Casey caught the first pickerel while we were trolling to the pads, of course.

I did my best to shrink the image down so that it looks like a little minnow but his hand is in the way. Okay his first pickerel of the day was 20″. Man they can make you think they are much bigger when they smack your bait while trolling.

Later I did manage to catch a 23″ chain pickerel while trolling. Once we were done with one set of weeds we would troll to the next and caught a lot of perch and a few pickerel. Most were caught in and around the weeds though.

This pickerel just swallowed my little Rapala and I cut his tongue a little getting it out but he was fine and jumped right out of my hands just before I put him back to fight another day.

As the day went on it got even windier but the fishing didn’t let up. Pretty much every set of weeds with lily pads had a couple of fat pickerel hanging out under them.

We caught a few rather tiny pickerel and some big perch while trolling but of course Casey has to catch something different so he caught a catfish on a jointed Rapala.

He marked this one down as a BF for Bonus Fish, worth 5 points.

I have never, in my 50 years of fishing, seen a catfish caught on a lure, especially while trolling.

Actually catfishing in Ontario was my first fishing experience as an 8 year old. I spent a lot of my spare time down by the river at the back of our farm. Love eating catfish.

Next Casey caught a freaky looking pickerel that has his nose missing.

I imagine it happened while it was still a pretty small fish as it was completely healed over.

Leave it to Casey to caught things that are a little different, just for extra bonus points.

I have seen fish with fins missing and even without a tail but I have never seen a snub-nosed pickerel.

He still hit the lure as hard and fierce as any other pickerel and he was a fat pickerel so he wasn’t starving, that’s for sure.

The Wind Blew Away

Then just about 7pm, I think, the wind died down quite a bit and just kept getting less and less. Then the pickerel really turned on and went on the feed.

I was laughing so hard I think I had to sit down for a minute as my brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Okay I made that up but I was laughing pretty hard.

I couldn’t cast anywhere that the water didn’t explode. They were coming for my 5″ red worm from all angles and it stayed like that until dark when we had to come back home.

At one point I was casting back into the weeds as far as I could just to see those monster’s wakes and great leaps out of the water at the baits.

I made sure I pulled the baits away just before they got smashed as we would never have gotten them out of those lily pads and weeds. They were too much for the motor.

At the end of the day I had landed 25 pickerel ranging from 23″, the biggest fish for the day, all the way down to a couple that weren’t much longer than my 5″ red plastic worm.

I also caught about 15 perch and they are big and fat at this time of year. They hit as hard as a pickerel sometimes. They are a lot of fun on my light action rod.

Casey caught 15 pickerel with 21 1/2 inches as his best for the day. Of course his BF (Bonus Fish) and I believe he also had 15 perch.

The amount of pickerel we lost in the weeds and even right at the boat far out numbered the amount we landed.

So I have to say this was my best fishing day of the year, so far.