Now there's a goal. Grab your fly rod, a couple of flies boxes and jump on your surfboard. Be sure you're on time because the tide waits for no man or woman.

The guy in the front looks like it's a walk in the park so I'm sure he would give it a try. I want to be there with my video camera.

Landing a salmon on your surfboard and keeping your balance might be a bit challenging.

Ten or twelve Canada geese were running along the bank on the other side of the river. They were pretty much running in single file like they didn't want to miss anything.

A couple of local surfers got in the water just down river from where I was standing and then paddled down river to meet the other two or three surfers as they were coming around the bend by the big red hotel.

I am really glad I decided to go and see what it was all about. I think there were two surfers from California, the two local guys and then I'm not sure but I think I saw at least five surfers.

There were two seadoos going back and forth helping anyone who lost the wave back to the front again so they could keep going. Near the end of it there was one surfer way back from the other. I think he lost his paddle and couldn't keep up.

I had my video camera setup in the direction they were coming and I just waited until the crowd got louder. Then I knew someone saw them coming towards the bend. There were a lot of people closer than I was so I could hear them a minute or two before I could see the surfers. Lots of time to turn on the video camera.

I don't do many videos so it's choppy and the wind is making a lot of noise.

Great fishing with Jamie again. The last time we fished together was near the end of June last year. The water levels were quite a bit lower then so we didn't have much action at all.

Yesterday was hot, very hot, day but the perfect day to go fishing and always beats a day sitting at home or out working in the yard, as much as I enjoy that.

Have to say it was more exercise than I've had in an entire year. By the time I got home, at 5:00 I was ready for bed. Woke up ready for another day of it but it's raining cats and dogs. My two rain collecting containers were emptied from the last few days of watering but filled up in less than a half hour this morning. I need more and bigger containers to last between rains.

Beat Last Year's Catch

Casey and I were out fishing a week ago and the water levels were still up a few feet. Yesterday the water was still up a foot or two on Canaan river so unlike our last visit there we actually caught a fish or two. Well actually it was more like 16 fish. Very enjoyable day of wading.

Jamie waded one side of the river and I the other. It was kind of strange as there seemed to be mostly bass on his half of the river where I had bass, pickerel, perch and chub on my half.

There seemed to be a lot of fish on both sides of the river that needed glasses. I'm sure we had as many fish completely miss the bait as we caught.

Love My New Canon PowerShot SX500 Camera

Got a new Canon Ppowershot SX500 IS for my 60th birthday so 2013 making this year a really fun year for taking pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.

I wasn't able to take pictures until just a few short years ago. So happy to have image stabilization technology as now I can take all I want.

Even when I get excited and start shaking I can still take pictures, even use the zoom, although when I shake I can't take macro images.

Now Back To My Fun Day Of Fishing

Once we walked to the river from where we parked and made it through the thick trees that line the river bank Jamie headed to the opposite side and we started down river.

We arrived at the river right at 8:00 and by 8:04 Jamie had his first bass. Both of us got very excited because both of us half expected the same results as last year at this time which was just about zip.

The excitement wore off a bit as the next hour passed without as much as peak at a fish. Was it just a single fish that hung around? Then Jamie hooked into his second bass and the excitement level went through the roof again.

I zoomed in and started snapping pictures trying to get one that caught his fish airborne but all I could get was this splash as it went back in the water.

He landed the smallie which was smaller than his first but still a bass. I on the other hand was catching a lot pictures but hadn't seen any fishing yet.

Just after that I caught a huge chub which was a start. Then a few minutes later Jamie hooked into another smallmouth bass. Well if I couldn't catch any bass I'd still rather be wading a stream or river taking pictures than staying home wishing I was fishing.

This first image looks like Mother Nature poured a few buckets of nature's colours into the river making for a great picture or two.

Wild roses were everywhere along the river banks and even the road we parked on. I think the other flowers are daylilies. I noticed this morning at home that we have some opening just like these ones and bright yellow ones as well.

Jamie was still out fishing me on the other side of the river but he was able to stop long enough to wave at me before hooking into his next bass.

I was on his heels now. After that chub I started hooking some smallmouth bass and was catching up with Jamie. He knows I don't give up without a fight.

Next I hooked the biggest bass of the day but don't get to count it because he grabbed my bait and then jumped high in the air and spit it back at me.

It was a privilege just to have him on the line.

It's amazing how fast time flies when you're have a blast with a friend. Before we knew it it was time to call it a day and head back home. I was already to the point I could hardly drag my feet through the water.

Well it was time to go…

By the end of the day I had caught up with Jamie's number and then passed him. He even hooked into a big fat chub but by then he couldn't catch me.

No I didn't say I wanted to go home just to beat him. I'll save that little trick for another day.

At the end of our fishing day the score was 9 fish for Jimmy, that's me, and 7 for Jamie. Jamie's fish were all smallmouth bass except for that last one which was a chub. I caught 2 chub, two perch, two pickerel and three smallies. Variety is the spice of life, right?

The drive to Chipman seemed like it was going to be a foggy one but the fog was always just up the road ahead and by the time we reached the Canaan river the fog as gone. It was still cloudy though.

It was good to have the cloud cover as there was no wind at all. That only lasted a short while and then the sky was clear of clouds other than what you see when a plane flies overhead.

Once I saw the clouds disappearing it was time to pour on the sunscreen. I came home with only one tiny spot I missed that was burned. It's that little spot the gets burned when your shirt sleeves move up and down your arm.

Some Days The Wind Is A Welcome Friend

It was one of those days when the wind was truly a welcome friend, even though it has a tendency to turn off those top water fish which are my favourite kind of fish. It also pushes off the spots we want to fish so we either have to use the anchor or the trolling motor.

The trolling motor is fun but this day it seemed to NOT be getting any power even though the power was there. So I was anchor detail for the rest of the day. But that was good as it was Casey that seemed to be doing most of the catching.

I'm getting ahead of myself. First we stopped at a location we pass every time we go to Chipman. I have fished this area from my float tube so I've never gone very far from the bridge and never had any luck there.

We stopped and walked down to the launch which is normally blocked with downed trees and debris that gets blown onto the short. It's usually so bad that you would never be able to launch anything more than a canoe, kayak or float tube.

When I fished with the float tube there was usually about four of us but never saw any action and would quickly pack up and head elsewhere.

We were so impressed with just how clean this spot was that we had to at least give this spot a try so Casey backed the boat down and in a few minutes we were fishing for pickerel.

There weren't many weeds here yet but we figured there would be pickerel here and headed out to give it a go.

Who Ever Cleaned This Spot Up Needs A Thank You

I have never had a good feeling about this spot but was excitedly anticipating a day where the pickerel would be jumping over each other to get to our offerings.

Sadly that wasn't to be.

It was a couple of hours before anything at all and then it was Casey with a fat chub. We then fished for another hour and it was again Casey but this time he landed a nice fat 21" pickerel.

That was it… Nothing else even looked at our bait. 

I'm not sure what it is about that location. Maybe later in the season when it's really thick with weeds we'll have to give it another try. But now it was time to get out of there and head to Chipman.

Wouldn't Want My Hand Caught In There

The fog that was over head making it look cloudy soon burned off and the few clouds that remained didn't stick around for long. Once the fog burned off the wind picked up but I didn't get upset with the wind because it was getting hotter by the minute and the breeze made it easier to handle.

I'll admit I'm a top water guy and I'm always happier when I can fish top water baits and see the action. When it's as hot as it was I accept the wind and adjust.

This trip I was prepared with my new wide brimmed hat. It's not quite a sombrero but close and it kept the direct sun off my tender head.

The fishing was tough and the fish were acting very strange. Maybe the barometric pressure was squishing there head and messing with their vision because they sure were coming up short on the strikes. I think they needed glasses.

At the end of the day we both had 7 fish. The two biggest was Casey's 24" pickerel and my 23 1/2" pickerel.