The Joy of Fly Fishing in New Brunswick

We were heading for a day of fishing at Harts lake and looking at every brook, stream and river along the way to see if the water had come down any since our first day out fishing at the end of April.

At first glance the water did appear to be down some but a close look and it really wasn't down much at all.

Plus when we got close to Jemseg we could see that the fields were still flooded and that there was a lot of water around.

We couldn't even use the launch at our usually spot as it had so much water that it was impossible to even get close to the river to launch. So we moved up the road and tried the old ferry point where the road when straight into the river. A few minutes later and we were fishing again.

My Back Pain Disappeared

When I woke up Tuesday morning I didn't jump out of bed like I normally do when I know I'm going fishing. After a weekend and Monday doing backyard clean up work my back was kind of tender so I crawled out of bed.

Funny how getting out on the water makes a lot of that pain go away and after the first fish of the day it was completely out of my mind.

Nearly Record High Temperatures

I don't think it was a record hot day but I am sure it was within a degree or two because it was hot. I plastered sunscreen on all visible areas, except one earlobe, for some reason, and it's really itchy today.

Even though I like calm days for fishing I will admit I was a bit happy it was windy as it would have seemed even hotter than it was.

We were able to find lots of spots that were protected from the most of the wind and few that we really calm so we didn’t' stay in the wind all day and I got to have some fun top water action.

Whaaat!!? Casey Lands The First Fish, Again?

Hey the last time we were out Casey caught the first fish of the day. I thought it was his job to drive and mine to catch the first fish. Guess I got mixed up on that one.

His first catch of the day was our only bass for the day and was 14". Unfortunately Casey let it go without a pictures. So did he really catch that first fish or not. Hmmm??

It's Okay to Catch A Fish Now Jim

Once Casey had the first fish of the day he gave me the okay to start fishing.

I wasn't long waiting. We had moved into an area protected from the wind and I was standing on the deck in the front of the boat.

The water was very clear for being so flooded and I could see down about 3 feet and a couple of feet out about 15 feet from the boat.

Just enough that I was able to see this huge mouth come out of the depths and nail my bait. As soon as I saw it I told Casey it might be a 25" pickerel. I was close as it measured in at 24". It also gave me the best fight I've had this year.

This guy didn't want to be caught and put up a great fight. He went under the boat pulling drag and then nothing but tension. I thought he had taken me into the prop and hooked me up but a few seconds later he started moving again.

Casey did a great job netting him and one good flip from the pickerel and he was in the net and on the measuring board. I guess I will take biggest fish over first fish of the day but it would be cool to have been both. Ha Ha

At the end of the day Casey had first fish and the most fish with 7 fish. Four were pickerel, two were perch and of course that first smallmouth bass. I had 6 fish for the day and the biggest fish of the day with five pickerel and one fat perch.

As we were heading back to our launch point Casey pointed to a tree of in the distance. It was either an eagle or osprey was perched on an old dead tree.

It was quite choppy so Casey stopped to give me a minute to get him in focus and zoom in enough to see which it was.

As you can see it's an osprey.

I found a few osprey images to add to my Pinterest account and will hopefully add more of my own in the near future.

A Red Herring

While we were fishing a small bay and getting some action from picky pickerel who wouldn't commit to a strike and perch that couldn't get the bait in their mouth I was watching a herring at the back of the bay but it was too far to get a picture.

We fished closer to the back of the bay and I noticed the herring was still there so I grabbed my camera, zoomed in and snapped a picture. He never moved.

Well as you can see from my picture it wasn't exactly a herring was it? By the way the following day was my eye appointment to get my eyes checked and new glasses. Maybe I'll also stop hooking up in trees like I did on our last day. Getting polarized clip-ons with them as well.

Currently I have one spinner bait but I'm now planning on getting a few more spinner baits and give them a try this year. We were talking with a couple of guys who almost always use them and not much else. I have my eye on the terminator spinnerbait.

I used them in the past to catch loads of smallmouth bass back when I was fishing with Roland. But never tried them fishing pickerel.