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 1/8th ounce head. This area of
the river is full of snags and we broke off a few more tubes as we fished
through it. We caught five fish in the area and left for spot two.
I expected to catch the fish is six to eight feet of water
but that turned out not to be the case and I went out much deeper and we got a
bunch on structure in 25’ fishing dropshots. This was a new technique for
Chrissie and it took her a few minutes to get the feel of it. I took no pity on
her and whacked some nice fish while she got used to the rig.
We worked in and out at various depths looking for the fish
hoping to find some schooled up for the fall feed but they were not quite there
yet. The water temperature in the river was still up to 66 degrees and they
just weren’t bunched up yet. We caught fish off and on all day as I kept the
boat pointed into the wind and worked along the river.
Our last stop was similar to one where I had expected to
find a bunch of fish stacked up and we had made a run over to it for a look. I
had a big SP9 Firetiger Skitter Pop rigged on a G Loomis NRX rod and made a
cast as far out from the boat as I could. The bait hit the water and just
exploded back into the air with one very large ticked off Smallie tailwalking
across the surface. Thank God for Power Pro at that distance as I was able to
get a hookset and get her to the boat. Chrissie knew it was good because it was
the first fish I wanted the net for all day. This one was right around the four
pound mark and was the biggest of the day. Chrissie nailed a big three on her
next cast with a Silver Blue Fox and I got another close to four and a big
three on the Skitter Pop. This all happened within the space of ten minutes.
Now being an angler I want to stay and catch some fish but with a charity trip
coming up the next day with a father and his two boys I don’t want to burn the
spot either.
We decided to pack it up and head for the ramp and save the
fish for another day. I got home and plugged the boat in and started to replenish
tackle for tomorrow. As I was selecting gear it occurred to me that I might
have mixed my dates up and the calander proved me right. The free trip is next
week and I will write that off as a seniors moment. My bonus for the day was
watching Chris relaxing away from work and nailing some really nice Smallies.
We don’t get out enough together anymore and it was fun.
What we caught them on:
SP09 Skitter Pop in Firetiger rigged on a G Loomis NRX 6’8”MH,
Stradic 2500Fi, 15lb Power Pro Super8Slick.
Trigger X Flutter Worm in Pumpkin, 4/0 Gamakatsu wide gap,
Crucial 6’6”MH, Stadic 2500, 15lb Power Pro with a Flourocarbon leader.
For the drop shot we just wacky rigged the Flutter Worm on a
3/0 Gamakatsu with about a 14” gap between the hook and the sinker.
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