Category Uncategorized

Best Day Ever

Once again I have chaired the Kids Fishing for Charity event on the Saint John River. This is our tenth consecutive year running this popular children’s tournament in support of the Canadian Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In the grand scheme of things we don’t have the resources to make a big donation but I think every dollar helps. Juvenile Diabetes is a growing problem in North American and more research is needed to help find a cure or a better treatment for kids with this affliction. One of our young competitors was just diagnosed this year so it hits pretty close to home.

Registration started a 7 am and it was already up to 20 degrees, it was going to be a scorcher with a forecast of 32...

Early season Smallies

I have been boatless for a couple of weeks and was definitely suffering from some serious fishing withdrawal. As soon as I got one of them back I called my neighbor Bill and we were headed for the lake. Our choice of water was beautiful East Grand Lake on the Maine – New Brunswick border. Most of our NB lakes are somewhat stained and it is a real treat to fish crystal clear East Grand. The only down side is no charts and lots of rocks so don’t run if you aren’t familiar with the water.

We stopped on a main lake point that has a mix of sand, gravel and small boulders. The water temperature was up to 59 degrees so I opted for a jerk bait. I rigged up a Jackall Squad Minnow 115SP in Chartreuse Shad which is a great colour on a cloudy day...

The Striped Bass fishery has been closed on the Miramichi River since 2000 due to over harvesting and a dramatically reduced population. The management efforts have paid off with what appears to be massive returns of Stripers to the river. On the surface this is a great story of the recovery of a population of fish, however, there is a downside. The Atlantic Salmon fishery is also very fragile and there is a growing concern that the Stripers are eating a large number of Salmon smolts on their journey to the sea. The various Salmon groups, guides and outfitters have been requesting that the DFO open up a recreational fishery for the Stripers to help manage the population. What they got was an experimental open season to gauge the viability of the fishery...

Taxis River Outfitters

We treated ourselves with a trip to Taxis River Outfitters for  the first show of the season. Our hosts Larry and Bonnie took great care of us with some great meals and good company. Larry took us out in his canoe for a shot at a Black Salmon on the Miramichi River. This is a serious canoe measuring in at a stout 24 ft..  I had some concern about Shawn and the camera but it was not an issue.

We fished a few pools near the lodge and although there was a lot of surface activity from Salmon we only managed to hook up with two. Larry landed a nice grilse but mine was gone almost as fast as I set the hook. The run was winding down a bit early this year due to the warmer weather we have been blessed with this spring and we had hit the tail end of it.

The lodge itself i...

Today is the day I have been waiting for all winter. We are hitting the water today for the start of our new season. Shawn and I are loading up for a trip up to Taxis River Outfitters for some spring Atlantic Salmon fishing on the beautiful Mirimichi River. I have not had a fly rod in my hand in about fifteen years so there should be some entertainment value in that alone. If the fish are still in the river we should have some great action. As a bonus, I heard on the weekend that the sea trout  were also running right now. We can’t keep any but I have heard stories about some very large trout being caught and it can only add to the fun.

One of my favourite places to go fishing is on the Farm. That would be Stick Marsh / Farm 13 in central Florida. This 6700 acre impoundment was originally created to filter farm runoff before the water entered the St. John’s River. The fish were stocked by Florida Fish and Wildlife to act as a barometer for the health of the marsh. They figured if the fish died it would be time to drain and dredge the Marsh and start over. Since the Marsh was created there has not been a fish kill from runoff in the St. John’s River nor has there been one at the Marsh. The growth rate was so phenomenal that the FFW decided to make this a 100% Catch and Release Bass fishery. It has one of the highest catch rates in Florida and also one of the highest probabilities of nailing one over ten...

All good things come to an end and it is almost time to put the boat away for the season. My first non tournament trip to Woodstock this year was with my friend Terry Curtis who made the trip down from Ontario to fish with me. My last trip for the season is also in Woodstock with my buddy Jason Gogan who drove up from Saint John to spend the day on the upper river trying for some cold water smallies.

It was cold enough that when we went to stow the extra gear the compartment lids were frozen shut. We decided that the best course of action was to idle to our first spot instead of starting the day with a bone chilling ride.

With water temperatures down to 48 degrees you wouldn’t think that a spinnerbait would be what started the day off but Jason was slow rolling a tandem willowleaf spinne...

We tried filming much later in the season this year and we were partly defeated by the weather. Show seven found me on the Saint John River just outside of Fredericton with my guest Darcy Simon. Darcy is a retired AHL hockey player and a very successful Fredericton real estate agent. As the day went on it was also apparent that he has an infinite amount of patience.
This was by far the toughest day I have had on the water in years and we tried to deal with high water, heavy current. cold temperature and 30k winds out of the Northwest. To say boat control was a challenge would be an understatement.
We only hooked six fish all day and only four of those made it to the boat. Three of the fish were caught in about 8 feet of water and one in twenty...

My guest on today’s show is Fredericton hockey great, Danny Grant. Danny was drafted by the Montreal Canadians in 1968 and played 22 regular season games and 10 playoff games, helping them to win the Stanley Cup. The following year he went to Minnesota and played a full season winning the Calder Cup for Rookie of the Year. Not to many guys have won the cup and then won Rookie of the Year the following year. It was a great story. Danny was also only the 12th player at the time to have a 50 goal season. He had some great stories to share and to top it all off the city of Fredericton has named the new arena after Danny and his good friend Buster Harvey.

Danny likes to fly fish but it sure didn’t take him long to get the feel of the Shimano spinning rod and reel...

My daughter came home for a visit from Cape Cod and wanted
to go fishing. I had donated a fishing trip for a charity auction so I figured
we would go find some fish for that trip. It was a damp and dizzily day as we
put the boat in the water in downtown Fredericton with just a bit of wind.

We headed downriver about a mile to my first spot and Chrissie
nailed a feisty Smallmouth a minute after I shut the engine down. Not a monster
but a river fish always gives a good account of itself when hooked. I guess a
lifetime of living in the current makes them tough. She picked up that one on a
Trigger X tube in Green Pumpkin on a 1/8^th ounce head. This area of
the river is full of snags and we broke off a few more tubes as we fished
through it...