The time has come to get the cobwebs out, put some fresh line on the Stradics and go fishing. It always seem that the spring is when all the problems surface and I just had a great customer service experience with the folks at Minn Kota and all is well.

My first guest this year is my old friend and CFT tournament partner Terry Curtis. Terry is going to make the trip to New Brunswick to have a crack at some early season smallmouth fishing on one of my favourite lakes. The fish are normally in a prespawn mode this time of the year but with the crazy weather we have had its hard to say what they will be doing. Between us it shouldn’t take too long to figure it out. It has been a long winter and I am really looking forward to getting out again and it is always good to go fishing with friends...

If the folks remain stable I will be heading to the Moncton Boat and Fishing show next weekend to do a few seminars. Drop by and say hello and maybe bring a question or two to the seminar stage. I will be helping out with Phil’s and New Brunswick Sportfishing throughout the weekend as well.

Farm 13 that is, just outside of Fellesmere, Florida. Chrissie started us off this morning with the Chug Bug again and had three fish to the boat to our nothing. Not being real slow my thoughts turned to topwater for her boyfriend. I rigged up a 6’6″ Shimano Compre with a Stadic reel and 15 pound Power Pro without a leader this time. I tied on a Zoom Horny Toad for him and showed him the way to fish it and how to get the speed right. About ten minutes later we turned parallel to a stump flat and he sailed a cast out over it. About three turns of the handle and the bait disappeared into a big surface boil and Todd leaned back into the rod. The fish surged towards the nearest stump but he managed to turn it and got her headed out towards the boat...

I took my daughter and her boyfriend out on Stick Marsh just prior to a front coming through and thought the fishing would be outstanding. Turned out not to be the case and we worked hard for the bites we got. Chrissie started us off with the gar pictured above that smashed a Chug Bug about ten feet from the boat. I destroyed the hooks trying to get them out but the bait will be good to go again after I rerig some new ones. We only caught 15 bass in about six hours of fishing but with the warm weather in the forecast and a full moon on the way it is going to fish really well in a couple more days.

I never get tired of the wildlife down here and big gators are a great part of the scenery. The one we took the picture of was a big un’.

Rick Greene

My buddie John and I hit the Stick Marsh for two days last week and had a great time 80+ fish to the boat up to 7lbs with lots of 4′s and 5″s in the mix. Most of the fish were caught in the south end on the Farm 13 side of the impoundment in and around shallow wood and a couple of the old drainage ditches that lead into this area.

A couple of early morning fish fell to a Chug Bug but the bulk of the days catch came on TriggerX Flutter Worms and Senkos. Dark colours produced the best. Contrary to the heavy gear the locals use, we were fishing with 6’6″ Shimano MH spinning rods, Stradics, 15 lb Power Pro and a fluorcarbon leader. The business end was a 4/0 Gammie wide gap worm hook texas rigged. We had no problem boating the fish with this equipment...

I would like to wish  you all a very happy new year. Posting will be light for a while due to a serious illnes with my parents. Hope you are enjoying the new shows.

Rick

Just got the word that we will be on across Canada on Rogers On Demand starting in January.

The good news is that the show is a go for 2012. I had a great meeting with the folks at Rogers yesterday to review the season and plan the new one. My producer, Shawn, got me down in the editing room to show me the finished show we did with the Premier. It is a good one. We probably had enough footage to make two shows out of it.

We are going to change things up a bit for next year and the first guest is already lined up for a show on trout fishing. Looks like I am going to have to break out and dust off the fly rod for that one. I am also going to have another go at lining up someone to get us out for some Salmon fishing. We tried this year but it just didn’t work out.

If you have any ideas for something you would like to see on a show I am always open to comments and suggestions...

By: Rick Greene

Trying to get ready for a show and deal with the aftermath of the accident last weekend made this week a bit of a challenge.  Phil’s and Oleary’s both stepped up and got me back on the water so I could prefish a bit. It’s always easier to do a show if I have already located a few fish to break the ice.

I spent a couple of days on the Saint John River out of Woodstock and I found that it was still a bit of a tough bite but the fish were aggressive when you found them. The constant up and down of the water level this year might have them a bit messed up.

I met my guests, Premier David Alward and Minister of Natural Resources Bruce Northrup, on the highway at seven A.M. and we headed for Woodstock. Everyone was pumped up and eager to get on the water...

First the good news, no one got hurt. The bad news is that I put the Sierra and the boat off the road this morning on the way to the lake. The truck is probably a write off and so is the garage I went through. The boat looks ok, the trailer, not so good. It speaks volumes about the truck when it is probably done and yet Judy and I never suffered so much as a scratch.

Word gets around fast in tournament circles and despite the fact that I had just put the whole works off the road. Phil Barrett from Phil’s called me at the accident scene and offered to lend me his Stratos. Aubrey Ward from Oleary’s called and offered me the use of a truck...