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The link is to a short video of our last salt water trip in Florida this winter. David hooks a beautiful Amberjack in 170 feet of water. We caught several Mahi Mahi, a small Tuna, a smaller Amberjack and a large Red Snapper. We had a great day out with Daymaker Charters out of Stuart. We will definetly make an effort to get our with him again next year.
This trip was the first time I ever hooked a fish I couldn’t budge and the hook finally pulled free. Very different experience from fresh water fishing for sure.

Judy and I got out for a half day on Stick Marsh and put about twenty or so fish in the boat. The bigger fish were hanging around on very specific spots on the outside weed line. The best one is where my buddy John nailed a 10.48 lb monster when we were out on Thursday. The three biggest fish today all came within 25 feet of where the big girl came from. It is becoming my favourite waypoint on the Lowrance Touch. We were fishing a senko style bait on a 4/0 Gamakatsu hook with no weight. I was using a 6’6″ Crucial rod, a 2500 Stradic reel and 15 lb Power Pro with a 12 lb fluorocarbon leader. The fish were looking for a slow presentation which was a bit of a challenge in 15 MPH winds but we got it done. The Power Pro is a huge help in getting these fish out of the grass if they bury up...

Hit the water with friends Mark and Jed from Maine today. We took a trip into Keenansville for a change of scene. We put a bunch of fish in the boat with most in the two pound range but as you can see from the pics there were a few big fish in the mix. Shimano 6’6″ MH rods, 2500 Stradics and 15lb Power Pro for me. My big fish was a nice 7.8lb . I hate to stop but tomorrow is boat and trailer maintenance day.

Here is a video link to you tube for a quick look at the Stick Marsh / Farm 13 impoundment in Florida.

What a beautiful day to be on the water. There were no big fish today with the biggest topping out at 4 lbs but with around fifty fish to the boat it was a fun day on the water. As you can see you don’t need any heavy duty gear to fish here and I am using almost the same setup I would use at home for Smallmouth. Today I am fishing with a Shimano Compre Spinning rod 6’6″ MH, 2500 Stradic and 15 lb Power Pro with a fluorocarbon leader.
Great fun

Mark and I hit the Marsh at 8 this morning. Forecast 10 to 14 MPH. More like 20+ when we started. The wind had switched more to the north and it was blowing straight in on our spot. Still clean but getting dirty. By eleven we had four bites and we decided to make a move. The wind dropped a bit much closer to forecast. We hit the spillway and the third cast with a half ounce JackAll spinnerbait put a five in the boat. Dug another one out for Mark and it was game on for the next two hours. They were busting bait on top and we would toss into the middle of it, a couple of turns of the handle and it was fish on. Great note to end Mark’s trip as he heads back to the snow.
This was our third day out this week in high winds and sub normal temps...

We wrapped up the show season fishing in the capital region with my guest Bobby Despres, Sports Tourism Co-ordinator for Fredericton. We actually caught a couple right off the dock at Carleton Park while Shawn was unloading the camera equipment. Once we got loaded we idled up the river a hundred feet or so and went fishing. My first Smallmouth was caught just opposite of Bobby’s downtown office. Not a bad way to start the day.
We fished up to the old bridge piers and picked up a bunch of small fish but none of the big girls we were looking for so we headed upriver towards the Bucket Club. I don’t go up to that area a lot so you can imagine my concern when my Lowrance suddenly spiked from eight feet to just a foot and back down to six or so feet...

I donated a free fishing trip to St. Thomas Universities annual charity golf tournament and the gentleman that won it has a son, Micah, who is a fan of the show. A few phone calls back and forth and it was decided that the son would take the trip with me and retired NHL player Mike Eagles and we would make a show of it.
We picked Micah up at 6:30 am and headed for the lake. There are a few places on the lake that fish really shallow, almost like Largemouth fishing in the pads and weeds and that is where we opted to start.
We tried some surface frogs across the weed edges and pads and although we caught a few that way it turned out to be a tube and Senko kind of day...

Backwater Casting show six

This year I am fishing out of a Mercury powered Triton 21 TRX so it seemed fitting to invite our Triton rep, Jim Lacey, to be a guest on the show. Jim graciously agreed and flew in from Ontario to spend some time with us.
We headed up the Benton which is, I believe, a Ducks Unlimited impoundment that was created with a low dam on the upper reaches of Eel River. It has created quite a wetland area which has got to be great for the migrating waterfowl.
Most of the flats are too shallow to be fishable for anything but Chain Pickerel with the Smallmouth most sticking in or near the original river channel.
The bite was a little slower than I would have liked but by the end of the day we had boated a decent amount of Smallies along with a ton of Pickerel...

We have had a six week shut down for our tournament series that covers the bulk of the Smallmouth spawning season and we are back at it now. This was our third qualifying event for the NBSFA’s Molson / Mercury Bass Tour and it come right after a visit from Hurricane Arthur. The river has droppe d a bit this week but it is still at least three feet higher than normal for July. I wouldn’t call it filthy dirty but it is definitely stained.

We planned on going up the Oromocto River for this one hoping the upper reaches would clean up first. We didn’t have any idea how much wood was in the water so we opted to take my partner’s jet boat. We can cover some ground with the inboard Mercury 250 jet and didn’t have to worry about bumping into a tree because she is heavy gauge aluminum...

My neighbor Mike hasn’t fished for several years and I asked him if he would like to go out with me as a guest on the show. Sure thing he says, can I bring a fly rod? We haven’t filmed anyone doing that yet so into the boat it went.
As luck would have it we were faced with sustained 20 to 40 k winds that day and despite his best efforts he couldn’t get a decent presentation with the fly. In the meantime I had put four fat Smallies in the boat on a Jackall 3/8 ounce Super Eruption spinnerbait. I had rigged at home on a 2500 Stradic with 8 lb Seige Green mono and a Crucial 6’6″ M rod and a #1 trailer hook. Being a nice guy I said Mike would you like me to tie one of these on for you. I took a new one out of the package and tied it on for him...