The Joy of Fly Fishing in New Brunswick

Wow, first Casey starts getting the first fish of the day. Then Jamie takes me fishing and catches the biggest smallmouth bass of the day as the first fish, in about 4 minutes.

I still managed to catch more fish but not the first or the biggest.

I try so hard. I make lots of casts into the right places and do my best to distract Casey or Jamie but something just wasn't right.

Then yesterday just as I lifted the first fish of the day into the boat I'm sure I heard Casey say 'The Spell is Broken' under his breath. Sure hope you can't put the same spell on a guy twice.

We didn't measure any fish as none were huge but I can say with certainty that Casey had the biggest fish by just a little bit so I had to catch more fish to make me feel better. Okay now on to some serious fishing in the weeds.

First turtle I've seen in years. Used to see them all them time.

Fishing Pickerel In The Weeds

95% of the time I fish in the weeds if there are any. I just can't get enough of the action that takes place in the weeds. If there is one weed sticking out of the water I will always cast to it before going for any open water. There's just a lot of fun and maybe some frustration but so much fun so fun wins out.

Example: I made a cast to, you got it, some weeds and a pickerel left the water and smacked down on my bait. But when his mouth hit the bait his head stopped moving and the rest of him kept going making for a pretty cool flip.

Then there's those wakes that immediately make me laugh and sometimes I get excited and set the hook before the actual strike.

So glad Casey has a trolling motor because it wasn't long before the wind picked up making it hard to stay in the zone. It's perfect for those time when the anchor just drags along the bottom.

It was hot so the wind was a relief but when the wind would stop for a little while it wasn't long before I was feeling the heat. So when the clouds moved in I was glad to see them come between us and the sun.

Drawing Pickerel Out of The Weeds

I love tossing something weedless way back in the weeds. I get some of my best strikes doing that and I miss a lot of fish but I sure have an exciting time. I also like to draw them out of the weeds before they strike.

Jenny and I just got knew glasses a couple of months ago and this time I didn't get the kind that go dark outside. Just clear glass. Jenny came home with a pair of polarized sunglasses a few days ago. For the first time I was able to see through the glare on the water and it was a fun experience.

It was so much fun watching the pickerel chase the bait. I could even see them sitting right next to the boat. A couple of times when I saw a fish sitting I lifted the sunglasses and there was no fish as far as I could see.

At the end of our day Casey had 8 pickerel landed and one clam. Me, I had 17 pickerel and don't forget that all important first fish of the day was mine too.

You can see that the rains we have been having are adding and once again the trees are standing in water. Most of the weed beds were submerged about 8 inches so it was kind of strange looking for this time of year.