Fly Fishing in New Brunswick

I was so happy to take a day off from building our first hugelkultur bed to go fishing with Casey. He’s so much more fun than that big hole I dug in our backyard.

I think I should have tried a bit harder to find a couple of strong guys to dig the 4 foot x 8 foot hole 2 1/2 feet deep. It has actually taken me weeks longer than I thought it would take.

Hoping to have it completely today and get some wild flower seeds planted on it.

Started At New Horton Lake

I really enjoy fishing New Horton lake but it doesn’t take much time for the wind to create choppy conditions. For that reason it’s better to fish there in the morning and move to the river later if the wind does pick up.

I love getting pictures of the shoreline towards that back end of the lake. The terrain is all rock that’s been split and broken over many thousands of years of freezing and thawing. When I see the bare tree roots and shattered rocks I wonder how the whole area doesn’t just slide into the water.

I Think It’s Beginning To Be A Habit

What!? Casey caught the first fish again. I must be losing my touch. Then he even catches the second smallmouth bass before I even had my first strike. Well I guess I’ve done that often enough.

When I finally did get a strike I was casting to the shore line using a Mepps and trying to keep out of the bushes and trees. When I lifted it out of the water it was a small 10” brook trout. That’s the first trout I’ve ever caught in the lake.

I’ve fished the brook that flows into the lake years ago and have caught many dinners but never actually fished in the lake back then.

Sandy Shoreline Seemed To Be The Pattern

As we were heading up one side of the lake I saw a small sandy beach the wind was blowing against. I love fishing the shoreline the wind is hitting.

When I saw this spot I told Casey I caught my biggest smallmouth on a spot just like this in Harvey lake and sure enough when my lure hit the water a bass smacked it.

He was only a foot long but thought he was bigger. I continued casting to the similar spots along the bank and landed about a dozen smallmouth bass.

The water conditions were changing by this time and the water was getting chopping and dirty so it was time to move to the river to see if we could get us some trout.

Casey backed his trailer into the water and rather than get in the water and push the boat out behind the trailer he just jumped back in his boat and drove it up on the trailer. That was pretty cool.

Used The Boat Launch At Riverside Albert

The launch we usually use to get in the river had a few vehicles parked there already so Casey took me to a launch behind the Riverside Albert school. I didn’t even know it was there. The launch was out of the wind too.

We fished up and down the river for a few hours without any takers. Then we saw a couple of guys sitting in a boat. They had been there most of the day and had only caught one trout each. They were nice trout though.

At one point I saw a puff of smoke come up over the river bank near a turn in the river. I didn’t think Casey saw it so I said I’ll bet there are a couple of guys right around that corner. And sure enough there were two guys fishing from shore. Not sure what they were puffing but when we came around the corner there was no more puffing going on.

So glad I finally got a digital camera to take fishing and since then I’ve taken thousands of pictures. I try to balance fishing with picture taking so I likely look a bit crazy jumping around the boat like I do.

Pictures are a great reminder of our days on the water so I get a lot of scenery images and try to get any wildlife pictures I can.

The wildlife such as eagles can be tough to get images of as they tend to take off before we get close enough, so I do a lot of zooming to get pictures. Some times it works and some times I just get scenery with no wildlife in it.

The bald eagle is one of those pictures that are taken from a long way off as they see and hear us coming toward them and all I see most days are the silhouette of an eagle flying away.

Saw Plenty of Bald Eagles At Oromocto

It seemed like we saw at least one bald eagle every time we turned a bend in the river both on the Oromocto and Saint John river on Tuesday May 21. We did see quite a few pairs of bald eagles which is something I’ve seldom seen.

They may be nesting right now so they were probable fishing to feed their babies so they hung around in the trees just a little long than usual so I did get a few pictures that weren’t all fuzzy and far away.

I tried to get a picture of a pair of bald eagles but like the picture on the left one would take off before I got the camera on them.

I did like this shot of the second one ready to take off as we approached. I might need to carry my camera around my neck all the time so I can be a couple of seconds faster on the draw.

If you’re interested you can find more about Oromocto and about the bald eagle on Wikipedia.

Saw Some Juvenile Bald Eagles

Now I say this is a juvenile bald eagles but I really don’t know. I checked online yesterday but couldn’t find info on any other eagles in New Brunswick so I am just assuming this is a juvenile bald eagle. Please let me know if it isn’t.

It’s not the best picture but it’s the best of the ones I got. The others had branches between my camera and the eagle.

Isn’t it a great feeling catching that first fish of the year? I so look forward to that experience each and every year and it never gets old, like the rest of us.

Monday Casey and I headed to Salmon river in the Chipman area for our first day of fishing in 2013. As Casey put it when he picked me up ‘Sure beats splitting wood’. It sure does.

I checked the post and pictures from our first day of fishing last year and noticed that the water level was at least three or four feet less than it was this year. I thought it was a cold day last year so it’s good to keep records, other than in my head, so I can compare. Turns out it was just as nice a day last year as it was this year.

We brought clothing to take on any conditions but soon started peeling off layers as the temperature quickly rose. We have a really sunny calm day with no clouds.

Salmon River Water Level Still High

Last year I remember there was more of the Chipman boat launch out of the water. When we walked down to see what the launch was looking like we saw that most of what was there last year was under water.

Casey backed the boat to the water, we did a check around the boat and then we were on the water for our day of fishing.

First Fish of 2013 Goes To Casey

I was looking around to see where I wanted to cast next and determined to get that first fish of the year but that wasn’t going to happen. Casey was being kind of quiets and when I checked to see if he was still in the boat he had the first fish on. Not even the net could knock it off the line. Believe me I tried.

First fish, a chain pickerel 19 inches long goes to Casey. Congrats. I will do better next year.

It Took A While But I Got A Fish Too

After someone gets that first fish it can seem like a long time getting my first fish and this day was no different.

Time on the water is different that time elsewhere so it seemed like hours getting that first fish in the boat but eventually I did but it wasn’t bigger than Casey’s pickerel.

Now that I had my first fish it was time to get one just a little bigger than Casey’s so I could at least have the biggest fish of the day. Even 19.5 would have done it.

After a few more hours, in fishing time, I caught a 21” chain pickerel and had the biggest and most fish.

Casey had a couple of pickerel follow his bait all the way to the boat and then turn away but he just couldn’t get another one to take the bait before I had a third pickerel and the day ended.

I Need To Slow Down And Practice My Aim

The water was so calm without no clouds in the sky that it made it hard to tell the real trees from their reflections so I ended up in branches more than usually. It gave Casey a chance to show his boating skills.

Why Take The River When We Can Go Through The Trees

The water in the trees was about six feet deep and made our trip out of this cove and back to the river so much quicker. Felt a bit like those Swamp People looking for gators.

By days end it was Casey with one chain pickerel for the day and Jim, that’s me, with three pickerel for the day. It was a slow fishing day but still so much better than staying home.

At home I don’t get to see too many Canada geese landing in my yard. I don’t get to see a Canada goose flying next to the truck like we did on our way Chipman.

Saw an otter swimming across the river too. Haven’t seen an otter for years. The last time I saw one I was fishing trout from a raft and one tried to get up on the raft to take my trout.

You can see from the image below that there wasn’t any breeze going on at all. At one point the wind did pick up and immediately the temperature dropped by more than 5 degrees. Had to put my jacket back on but after a couple of minutes it was gone and the heat was back.

As we were heading up river from the Chipman boat launch we passed Redbank so I was able to get a picture of the culverts. From there we could see how much the water was actually up in the river.

I have seen it almost to the top of the culverts and I have seen it less than half way down the culverts. This day it was two thirds the way up so I would say about six feet higher than it will be a few weeks from now.

I tried numerous lures without any luck at all but my trusty red worms did the trick as all three of my pickerel were on the worm.

What I have learned about fly fishing chain pickerel is that they are really not all that picky about what they attack. However there will be times that they just don’t seem interested and that’s when I like to get out my fly rod and try some of my favourite pickerel flies.

Okay I don’t just use them for pickerel as most fish like the same flies.

There are a ton of flies to choose from but I have a few that are the flies I always reach for when fly fishing for chain pickerel.  Even though there are times when I think I could toss a red hook at them and they would strike hard.

Our chain pickerel is a lot like the northern pike and muskie, just not as big, but pound for pound they are just as feisty and love nothing more than smacking most streamers, poppers and a many other top water flies. These are the same flies I would use for trout, salmon and bass.

The chain pickerel is an opportunist fish and most days it doesn’t matter if it looks dead or alive, they will probably smack it and like it. I do like to give my flies a little action to make them appear alive though.

The Mickey Finn Fly

I like the Mickey Finn fly and every species I fish like it and it can be used in a variety of sizes. So when I’m fishing brook trout I just use a smaller Mickey Finn that if I use when fishing our big New Brunswick Atlantic salmon smallmouth bass or chain pickerel.

The Mickey Finn is an easy fly to tie and only takes a couple of minutes once you’ve tied a few because there are few materials. You’ll need some stream hooks size 8 thru 12, although you could go with a slightly bigger hook if you wish to tie a bigger teaser.

The materials I use are silver tinsel, don’t tell my wife, yellow dyed deer tail and red dyed deer tall, black thread and some head cement. That’s it. So easy to tie and yet is so popular with the pickerel.

Just watched a video by Joe Cermele. He was fly fishing for chain pickerel and then tied a cool minnow like fly and then took it out and tested on some pickerel. I think I may have just found me a new fly to tie and try.

He is fishing this early spring and he is using a trailer hook. He also suggests tying in a weed guard if one is planning to use during the summer and I do most of my fishing during the summer and fall so I will definitely add weed guard. It’s a whole lot more fun to fish with the weed guard.

The Every So Humble Black or Brown Leech

About 30 years ago I tried black woolly bugger with a red butt. It easy to tie and only took a couple of minutes. I fish it with a leech in mind so I try to make it pulse through the water with short retrieves to bring the fly up in the water and then gently let it drop again.

It took me a few minutes to get the retrieve the way I wanted it and they started smacking it hard.

I tried to find the same fly on Youtube but couldn’t find the exact one as I was looking for a black or brown leech with a red butt. However I found lots of leeches with marabou tails. I haven’t tried fish one of those so I would just follow the plan but instead of a marabou tail I would replace it with red yarn as a butt section and not as a tail.

I may just tie a few woolly buggers with the marabou tail and see how they do for me.

Note: If you use wire to give some weight to your flies be sure to use lead free wire.

I think I might tie a few woolly buggers with red marabou feathers as a tail section and see if that’s more attracting to fish than just the red yard butt. Might take a little less action on the fly and catch more finicky fish.

Poppers Can Drive Fish Mad

I’ve never tied a popper myself but have used a few from others and I have just as much fun with a popper fly as I do with the varieties of poppers I use with my spinning gear. The key is to just be patient allowing the popper to sit until the ripples disappear before twitching or popping it again.

Ha, it would have been quite a sight to watch me fly fishing and trying to hit a hole in the ice that’s just a few inches across. Plus the wind would have played havoc with my cast, I’m sure.

Seriously though I wasn’t out for a day of fly fishing but it was windy enough that would could have done some ice sailing, even had to chase down a couple of buckets we brought with us that wind caught.

The forecast was for temps around zero which was fine with us. There was also suppose to be sun. Last minute the weather guy changed things and added 50 Km/h winds, from the north.

Last year I was ice fishing with Casey but he had a fish hut and a Coleman stove.

I bundled up with about every piece of winter clothing I have and was prepared to last as long as possible.

Casey brought along his ice fishing auger and within 5 minutes had two holed cut in the ice and we were ready to start fishing. The next blades he put on the auger cut through like the ice was butter. We parked our butts on a couple of buckets and put our backs to the wind and started ice fishing.

When we were walking onto the ice we saw this rustic looking tepee. I thought it looked pretty cool and I imagine it was quick portable.

I looked out over the ice and way off in the distance I could just make out the Point du Chene wharf although you wouldn’t know it if you didn’t know that’s what it was. I put a circle around the lighthouse.

The lighthouse is in the white circle.

I have to say, again, that I love my Canon VIXIA digital camera. With my other cameras I wasn’t able to do much zooming without losing quality plus once I started zooming the image shook too much to make it worth taking. Not with my Canon though as you can see in the image below. I must add that it was very cloudy at this moment as you can see by the sky. I think the image still turned out pretty good for how far it was away from us.

When we arrive there were only two people on the ice and they were building a fish hut. Although shortly after they stopped and started fishing, with only the floor of their hut completed.

The one guy told us they would likely wait until Saturday to finish it. Hope it doesn’t snow or rain and freeze it to the ice before they are done.

With Our Backs To The Wind

We setup our fishing rigs and were fishing in just a couple of minutes. I was sure glad to get my gloves back on because that wind made it feel about 20 degrees colder than when it stopped. However it didn’t stop very often and only for a couple of seconds at a time.

I am thankful that what little snow was on the ice was frozen so it wasn’t blowing around in the wind.

We stayed a couple of hours but didn’t get a strike and the wind wasn’t slacking off any so we packed up and headed back to the truck. Before we headed home though we drove around to see if there were others out on the ice.

We did see two other shacks on the ice but no one else. It was Thursday morning so most were probably working I guess.

The wind was so strong that it pushed the clouds really fast. It would go from really dark heavy clouds to clear blue skies in just a couple of minutes and then a couple of minutes later it was a black sky again. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the sky change so fast.

A few times though the sky looked pretty cool, like in the image below. I didn’t take too many images though. It was just too cold to take my gloves off.

When the wind stopped and the sun was out it was a whole different story. I could actually feel the sun on my body and it was even comfortable. I think I could have fished all day if it hadn’t been for the wind.

I still had a great time and laughed a lot which is why I go fishing with Casey.

I have lived in Canada for 60 years, have been fly fishing for 30 years and love it more every year. Canada just has so many awesome places to experience ‘The Joy of Fly Fishing.

To-date I have only experienced fly fishing in New Brunswick and Quebec but plan to take a trip across Canada with my wife Jenny. I am sure as we drive across our great country I will be able to get in at least a little fly fishing fun.

At the time of this writing it’s the second week of October. The trees are putting on their fall colours and I can’t get enough of them. It lasts for such a short period. I’ve had days fly fishing where I just had to stop fishing and take in the view.

So I’d say autumn is my favourite time of year to fish, although spring time is close, after waiting all winter to get out fishing again and I love watching the new leaves of spring. So spring is the time I get the cobwebs out of my brain.

Even though I have only fished a fraction of what’s available to me here in Canada I do read and watch TV along with videos that show me how much I’m missing. It’s a big part of why I want to travel Canada once we both retire. Just six months to go.

I was raised in Ontario but never learned about fly fishing until I moved to New Brunswick at age 30. Now I can’t get enough of it.

Fly Fishing West Coast Salmon

A friend I used to get to fish with all the time went out west to visit his sister and while he was there he dove a few rivers taking pictures of the huge salmon. When he returned he showed me some of the pictures. Since then I have been eager to go out west for some salmon fishing on the fly.

Fly Fishing Canadian Northern Lakes

I have done some fly fishing for chain pickerel here in New Brunswick and even though they only get to a max of about 30 inches they are a blast on the fly rod. When I lived in Ontario we fished pike and some of them would eat our biggest chain pickerel for lunch.

I want to hit a few of those northern lakes for some great northern pike fly fishing. Maybe I will get the chance to get out with our son who moved to Saskatchewan to find work in his field. He has started to enjoy fishing and would be great to fish together for some of those toothy pike. He caught his first pike this summer and was pretty excited to do more fishing.

Fly Fishing For Giant Brook Trout

Living in New Brunswick I have done a lot of fly fishing for brook trout. The biggest I’ve caught here was about 3 pounds and the colours were brilliant. I enjoyed the battle, kissed him and let him back into the water. My fishing buddies were not pleased that I released it but I’m more into catch and release and will only keep a few small brook trout in the early spring.

I’d rather let them go so my son and his children can enjoy fishing them in their future.

Newfoundland and Labrador are well known for have monster brook trout. Some day I plan to get over there for a bit of fly fishing fun. I would also be doing some Atlantic salmon fishing on the fly while I’m there.

Related articles

• Brook Trout Fishing on the Fly (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• Fly Fishing For Bass And Pickerel In New Brunswick (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• Jamie And Glenn Were Fly Fishing For Smallmouth Bass On The Cannan River Last Sunday (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• Brook Trout And Atlantic Salmon Fishing in Canada (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• Tying Flies for Fly Fishing (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• Smallmouth Bass Fishing On The Fly (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)

I fish a few varieties of fish here in New Brunswick and love having the opportunity to go fly fishing. Just a few days ago I was out fishing rainbow trout for the first time with my friend Casey and was really amazed at just how picky they were being. Casey was catching trout after trout and I was getting nothing after nothing until he gave me a lure that was the same as he was using and I started catching rainbow trout.

I was hoping to get the fly rod out but it was just a bit too windy. If I was alone I would have been able to but with two of us in the boat I felt it was a little too close and didn’t want to hook and drag Casey into the Shepody river or give him a new piercing or two.

I had such a great day, even though we were using spinning rods, I am planning to do a bit of fly fishing on the Shepody next year. Today I am hanging out on Youtube watching videos on fly fishing for rainbow trout.

Here is a video that explains what you should do before you start fly fishing a stream.

When I go fly fishing I tend to bring at least one fly box that holds my favourite go-to trout flies for what ever species I am fishing. In the case of rainbow trout, well most trout I fish in brooks and streams, I like a lot of dry flies as I love top water action. However I will also bring sub-surface flies, streamers and even nymphs, to cover all my bases when conditions are perfect for top water action.

The following video shows eight essential trout flies to help you catch rainbow trout.

Eight Essential Trout Flies

Just in case you think you need big waters to catch rainbow trout I thought I would add this video so you can see that even small streams can hold fat rainbow.

Rainbow Trout Flies on Ebay

Friend and fishing buddy Kerry had never done a lot of fly fishing and any he had done was for brook trout, so I decided to take him fly fishing for smallmouth bass on Lake George New Brunswick, near King’s Landing.

The image top left is actually of my son Steve, bass fishing from his float tube. He had not learned to fly fish yet so here we were using spinning gear.

We took Steve to see King’s Landing while we were vacation at Lake George. I would have to say that this was the place Steve enjoyed the most of all the places we have visited here in New Brunswick.

Fly Fishing Smallmouth From Float Tubes

The day Kerry and I went smallmouth fishing Lake George with our fly rods it had to be the hottest day of that summer. There wasn’t a cloud anywhere to be seen, all day long and the smallies we had to get our casts very close to shady spots to get them to come out at all.

When you’re using float tubes you’re right on the water which tends to make it even hotter with the glare coming off the water.

We started fly fishing right out from the campground on Lake George where Jenny, Steve and I used to camp on vacations. I’ve caught a lot of smallies right out from there but not this day. I couldn’t get a single bass to come up for the fly.

I suggested we move up to the far end of the lake where there are lots of big boulders, weeds and lily pads for the bass to find shade and protection for the birds and the sun. It was too hot to paddle the half mile so we packed up the car and drove instead.

Kerry had pretty run out of steam and enthusiasm due to the heat. This made him a little pokey getting back into the water so I just headed out without him. After about ten minutes I had my first smallmouth on top water bass flies and for some reason Kerry picked up his pace.

The rest of the day was one smallie after the other, all with top water flies that looked like small mice or rather big bugs.

U.S. Top Water Flies For Bass

Canadian Top Water Flies For Bass

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• Hello James, Up For A Bit of Smallmouth Fishing This Evening?? DUH!! (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• Want To Try A New Bass Top Water Fly (thejoyofflyfishing.com)

I love fishing, period, however given the opportunity to go fly fishing over other types of fishing I’m going to choose fly fishing. It’s a big part of why I moved to New Brunswick Canada in the first place.

It all started with a fly rod and a brook trout. It took me all of 15 minutes to learn how to cast using a fly fishing rod and artificial fly. Catching that first brook trout using the fly rod was amazing. It wasn’t even a big trout, just a lot of fun.

I purchased my first fly rod along with an inexpensive fly fishing reel and became a fly fishing fanatic, getting out every opportunity I get. For me money was a big issue as I had just quit my job and moved to New Brunswick, so I purchased a fly rod and reel combo that was very inexpensive yet it lasted me for many years and helped me land hundreds of brook trout, Atlantic salmon as well as chain pickerel and smallmouth bass.

If you happen to be a proud Canadian, like myself, you can check out the fly fishing deals with the links below:

Fly Fishing Reels – Fly Fishing Rods – Fly Fishing Combos

My first chain pickerel fishing trip was to Penobsquis New Brunswick. There was a little lake or pond we passed on the way to a few places we fly fish for brookies and always wondered what was in it. A few times we stopped and watched to see if we would see any trout jumping.

One day the three of us, Roland, Paulie and myself, stopped and launched our float tubes and started fishing. Didn’t catch anything for an hour as we moved across the water to the furthest spot from where we launched. We figured there would have been less pressure there as it had no roads or paths we could see.

As soon as I got close the the weeds on the far side I make a cast with a little trout dry fly and it got smacked by a 15” chain pickerel. That was a huge surprise as we usually used a steel leader when fishing pickerel as their razor sharp teeth can but the line in an instant.

When I landed the pickerel the fly was right in the end of it’s mouth and the fly line was intact, so I cast it out again. We fished there for hours catching one after the other and never lost any to our line being cut by their teeth. It was a blast to say the least.

Fishing buddy Kerry and I have done a lot of fly fishing for smallmouth bass on places like Lake George and it’s so much fun, especially from the float tubes as they will pull you around in circles.

Learn How To Cast A Fly

If you haven’t tried your hand at fly fishing and you love fishing you don’t know what you’re missing so what are you waiting for? If it’s about the money don’t fret. You can buy an inexpensive fly rod and reel combination.

I don’t remember the exact price I paid for my fly rod and reel but it wasn’t any more than $30.00 and I still use it today more than 30 years later. And like I said above I have caught large numbers of fish over the years and have battled some big Atlantic salmon.

I learned to fly cast in just a few moments, enough that I was able to go out by myself and catch fish. Of course I have improved over the years and can cast further with more accuracy but my fishing started just minutes after I learned to fly cast.

Watch the video below to see how easy it can be and if you need more be sure to check out other videos on Youtube.

I didn’t have any flies when I first learned and borrowed a few from Joe but before long I was eager to try tying my own brook trout and Atlantic salmon flies.

The same as learning to fly cast on a NON windy day I learned to tie simple to tie artificial flies first and gradually moved into a few tougher to tie flies.

I started with trout flies and later found that I could catch all kinds of species with my trout flies. I love the top water action so I tend to tie flies that float on the surface. I even use trout flies to catch Atlantic salmon.

Not ready to tie yet well don’t let that stop you from learning to fly fish. I have friends that don’t tie their own and they like to see what kind of trout flies they can get on eBay.

Related articles

• Casey’s Wife Snagged Him A Few Dozen Flies And Cases At Auction (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• Jamie And Glenn Fly Fishing For Smallmouth Bass Using Top Water Poppers (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• Tying Trout Flies For Chain Pickerel Fishing On The Fly (thejoyofflyfishing.com)

I love New Brunswick for all the fly fishing opportunities available. We have the Atlantic salmon and brook trout that got me started fly fishing but since that time I have added smallmouth bass and chain pickerel to my fly fishing experience.

Well Jamie has the fly fishing smallmouth bass bug, pun intended, and can’t get over just how much fun it is. Just wait until I get him out fly fishing for chain pickerel as it has the added enjoyment of trying to land those toothy critters without losing your fly.

There is just something about casting a fly, maybe a popper as bass and chain pickerel love those poppers and will smack them pretty hard which always gets your blood pumping a bit faster.

You can see from the image top left that Jamie was happy with his bass catch.

I really like rivers like the Cannan for fly fishing with friends as it’s plenty wide enough to avoid getting an ear piercing by a buddy. I’ve had Roland snag me with a fly a few times and it can make for a few tense moments.

Here is a link to Jamie’s account of their evening fly fishing the Cannan river.