After a computer hard drive crash these were the only pics that survived from the show. My guests for this episode were local high school students Eli and Josh. Both are also Venture Scouts as well. As you know we normally shoot for a day and what you see is what it was. In this case we went twice with day one being heavy rains and thunderstorms that has us sitting on the river bank for quite a while waiting for the lightening to pass. Fishing was tough. We booked a second trip a week later and ended up with the same weather most of the day but minus the thunderstorms.
The bass were definitely not cooperating and we went looking for Chain Pickerel. I switched the guys over to Zodias rods, 2500 Stradics and some Power Pro to get the fish out of the weeds with breaking them off...

We hit the water yesterday with 2015 NBSFA Champion Ryan Hood. It was a day of firsts for both of us with Ryan catching a personal best Smallmouth and some crazy topwater action over deep water.
We started our day off over a shallow grass flat with scattered dollar pads. I was throwing a Blue Fox in line spinner and Ryan was using a fluke. Both of us were catching fish and they were extremely aggressive. They seemed to be roaming around on the flat so we just kept moving around. In the more open areas I was throwing a JackAll SK Pop Grande topwater. It’s smaller profile seemed to be the ticket for the very clear water we were in and they would inhale it. I love topwater.
After a bit we moved further down the lake and tried drop shot fishing in 20 to 25 feet of water...

I have often mentioned the importance of eye protection on the show, not just as sunglasses but also to protect yourself from wayward hooks. I got a real life test of it this week while filming with my friend Ron. I flipped a two pound smallmouth into the boat that was hooked on a crankbait. As the fish came into the boat, the bait came out and with all the tension released from the rod, it flew back and hit me square on the left lense of my glasses. I hate to think what two sets of trebles might have done to my eye if I hadn’t been wearing them. Be safe out there, accidents happen really fast

This trip we had the pleasure of fishing with Alisha Gilbert who is a forward with the STU Women’s Hockey Team. We had a bit of a chilly boat ride with the temps sitting at about 6 degrees when we put the boat in the water.

Alisha likes to fish when she has time off from school, hockey, two jobs and as a volunteer with the Chipman fire department. This is one busy girl. A bonus for today is that she has never caught a smallmouth and we are going to take care of that little problem for her.

The first spot we stopped at, I had smallies come up and hit a Jackall SK Pop Grande topwater on back to back casts and boy did they ever eat it. I was really watching my hands trying to get those hooks out.

We used an assortment of baits including the SK which is a great popper for smallmouth...

http://rogerstv.com/media?lid=237&rid=18&gid=253343

This is a short clip from our show on the Miramichi. The full show will air in the fall.

Crazy is one of the words to describe the Striped Bass fishery on the Miramichi River. Other words would be outstanding, phenomenal, world class, unbelievable but crazy sums it up pretty well. It seemed like a fitting spot to start off our new season and as always, it did not disappoint.

Shawn and I hit the water today with Economic Development and Tourism director, Jeff MacTavish of the city of Miramichi. Jeff has been so busy promoting the Striped Bass fishery that he hasn’t had time to actually go out and catch some. We took care of that little problem this week. He not only got his first Striper but he also caught the biggest one that came to the boat at just under 9 lbs.

Shawn called this morning and said we put 60 fish in the boat on camera plus all the ones we caught when it was off...

My buddy Jeff flew down for his annual week of fishing and as always we hit the Stick Marsh / Farm 13 impoundment. I don’t know why, but the fishing is not what it used to be. The pressure was off of the lake for many years during our last recession and if anything you would think the bite would have improved but it is just the opposite. That being said when you average 30 to 40 fish most days with the odd big one thrown in its not a bad day on the water.

Oddly, this year most of our fish came further out and away from the grass. It is not a depth issue because it is really pretty consistent at about five feet in the south end. We had to figure them out but once we did we got our fair share. This year most of the fish came on soft stick baits and 10 inch worms...

We have had a succession of cold fronts through the area for the last little while. The water cools right down and the bite cools right down with it but the warming trends in between make for some good fishing. Jeff Rathburn was down last week and was lucky to get in on one of the upswings in temperature and was able to come down to the Stick Marsh for a day out on the water.

A 7am meeting was arranged and we headed in to the lake in a very heavy fog. It was just as bad when we finally got into the ramp and launched the boat. With the Lowrance up and running on the map screen we headed out across the lake at a relatively slow speed which is pretty much normal with my jet drive anyway...

The talk has always been if you hit the spillway when they a pulling water through, you don’t need to go anywhere else to catch fish. There is no way to find out when they will open the gates so you have to go look. Mark Osgood and I headed out across the marsh in his Bass Cat for a look and they were really hauling water through.
We weren’t early enough to get one of the prime spots, the guys ahead of us must have run over in the dark. We tried a mix of baits and caught fish on 10″ Black and Blue Worms, Rattle Traps and Sticko’s.
Mark ended up with the two in the photos plus a bunch of two to four pound fish. I had some nice ones but nothing that was worth photographing.

It was a costly day for me...

Chrissie and I put on our rain gear and headed out on Florida’s inter coastal waterway to test out the new Stella that Santa got me for Christmas. A super nice reel is an understatement. We spooled her up with 10lb Power Pro and put it on a 6’6″ Compre spinning rod. We were catching a bunch of Trout and Ladyfish when this hit. As you can tell from the audio, I have no idea what I have on and the guessing is fast and furious each time I get a glimpse of it. I cut the video down but it took six minutes to get this one to the boat. Lots of fun and the silky smooth drag on that Stella was awesome on the first big runs it took.