The day Casey and myself fished Salmon River between Grand Lake and Chipman, New Brunswick, for some Chain pickerel, we spent the day in and out of bays along the way.

The clarity of the water in the river and bays is pretty poor. We saw boats hauling kids around on wake boards, having a great time. I noticed the colour of the water was more like tea that river water.

Well we turned into a cove that had big green patches we hadn’t seen in the other coves. As we got closer we could see it was new weed patches on the bottom. The colour of the rest of the system is so dark we couldn’t see this anywhere else.

The water here is 6 feet deep, looks like 2 feet

I saw the back of the bay. It looked like a building or something white that looked out of place. As we got closer I could see it was actaully a brook feeding crystal clear water into the bay.

Very Clear Water in This Cove

Casey’s fish finder shows the water temperature and in this little bay the temp was about 5 or 6 degrees higher than anywhere else we were that day.

Casey pulled the boat around so that we could get close to the mouth of the brook so I could snap a few pictures. The water looked about 2 feet deep here but the fish finder said it was 8 feet deep.

The only other place I’ve seen with water this clear is the Restigouche river at Campbellton where my wife is from.

Casey couldn’t believe the water was that deep so he stuck the paddle down into the water but wasn’t able to hit the bottom.

Maybe next time we give the Salmon river a go we will find this little spot again and have a swim.

We didn’t get any pickerel in this little spot but I’ll tell you that it didn’t matter where we cast our baits they could be seen clearly. Maybe it’s just too clear in there and the pickerel find it hard to find a place to ambush their dinner.

The rest of the bays and the river, when you drop your bait over the side of the boat it’s only visible for about 2 feet.

Got an email from Casey inviting both Jamie and I for some fishing fun, last Friday.

I jumped all over that opportunity however Jamie had already been invited for not just one fishing trip but two of them. What a popular guy Jamie is.

I’ll be waiting to hear how his two day fishing trip on Ormocto lake turned out. It’s his first time there and I’ve never been there, yet.

Casey wanted to give the Salmon river from Grand Lake out of Grand lake. He did this run last year with another friend and had a great time.

It sounded great to me. I have fished a few coves off the Salmon river but never actually fished the river itself.

By 6 Friday morning we were on our way.

Whenever I am heading that way I like to see what the water in the Cannan river looks like and this morning it was like glass, just the way I love it.

We weren’t slowing down so I had to snap a picture on the fly. It looked perfect to me.

Cannan River Reflections

We took a few minutes and stopped at the bridge I first tried out my float tube at about 20 years ago. It didn’t really look like a spot you’d want to try backing a boat into.

Checkout The Scenery

I remember that day was about the hottest of the year. I was niche to be so close to the water as it was easy to soak myself to keep cool that day.

It’s a beautiful spot as you can see from the picture below. Made me want to run back to the truck to get my fishing gear.

Breath Taking View And The Fishing Rocks

We only hung around admiring the view for a minute or two as we were eager to get to the boat launch at Chipman and start fishing the Salmon river for some Pickerel or Smallmouth bass fishing.

Chipman Boat Launch

It didn’t take long to get the boat in the water. At this point there wasn’t a breath of wind, just the way I like it when pickerel fishing.

All Well, Let’s Launch

The water temperature was only about 64 degrees so I suggested we hit a little back bay where the water might be warmer. Just up from the bridge there’s a nice cove so we gave it a try.

It didn’t take long to notice the water was still quite high compared to other years I’ve fished there.

It didn’t take Casey long before he hooked the first fish of the day and actually landed it.

Turns out it was the biggest fish of our day as well at 24″.

I grabbed the rubber net and brought it into the boat. You have to love those rubber nets, especially when things are a big tangled up like that pickerel was in the leader.

Two seconds to get it untangled from the rubber net. Would have been a lot longer on the old net.

I don’t usually use a net for that reason but I grab that rubber net every chance I get now as it’s quick and doesn’t seem to hurt the fish at all.

Casey cast his RED WORM into some lilypads not far from the boat and, just as we love it, the water exploded and he had another pickerel.

Love Fishing To Lily Pads For Bass And Pickerel

I wasn’t even getting a strike and before I knew it Casey was up to four pickerel leaving me to take pictures.

Then the wind started and the fish turned off, for hours.

We left the cove and hit the river for a bit of trolling to see how we’d do at that. Still now fish.

Actually we never had a strike while trolling, not a single one all day.

We moved into another small bay after some time on the river and I finally had the chance to give my brand new Ugly Stik Lite combo a try.

I was so pleased with how smooth the casting was on my Ugly Stik and Shakespeare reel that I was probably casting further into the weeds than I should have been.

Of course my first strike was about a hundred feet out into the thick weeds and the battle was on.

I’m happy to say I landed that fish after a few minutes fighting him and the weeds. Then another cast and another pickerel, I was catching up.

Before long I was tied with Casey. He hadn’t even had a strike while I was catching up but once it was 4 all it only took about a minute and Casey landed #5.

What a show-off. I would never do that to a buddy. Ha

All in all the day was a lot of fun and Casey and I spent most of it laughing at the silly things we say and do.

By the way I love to have people take me fishing and I’m already packed for the next day on the water.

Related articles

• Canada Day, Chipman And Chain Pickerel (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• Cassidy Lake Pickere Fishing 2011 Part Two (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• Saint John River, Harts Lake And Some Smallmouth Bass And Pickerel Fishing (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)

The day began as a day of fishing chain pickerel around Chipman, New Brunswick but by 2 we thought it was perfect weather for trying the Saint John river around Jemseg for some smallmouth bass.

I had mentioned that Casey and I were on the Saint John river a couple of weeks ago and we had a great time.

I wouldn’t even think about it in a canoe if there was any amount of wind or large waves but it was calm and we would stay close to the shore.

Great To Have A Trolling Motor

Also I would have thought twice before going without Jamie’s trolling motor. Especially when we aren’t certain about the speed of the current there.

I don’t have a boat of my own, yet but you can be sure I’ll have a trolling motor just like I did on my last boat.

Checkout the affordable Bass Pro Shops Prowler T30/30 Trolling Motor and let the fishing wear your arms out, not the paddles.

We launched the canoe at the same spot Casey launched when we were there. Casey and I headed straight to the opposite side and headed down toward Harts Lake for a few pickerel, trolling for smallmouth bass on the way.

Jamie didn’t take long to get the first fish. It was cute but no smallie. Ah, such a cute little perch.

Jamie Which Is The Lure??

It always amazes me when we catch fish on lures bigger than the fish. Of course when it’s Jamie with the little fish it’s time for me to tease him a bit.

At the beginning we were still in the main part of the river and had to deal with a few boat wakes. We were careful to face the canoe into the waves.

Not long after we started down the river we came to a big island that protected us from traffic on the main part of the river. This allowed us to feel a little safer further from shore.

I Have Two Rods Why Not Use Them

I was trolling with one rod and held it under my foot while I was using my second rod to cast to the structure near the shoreline. Why waste a rod by letting it sit in the bottom of the canoe, when it could be catching fish, right?

A couple of moments after Jamies first fish I hooked bottom but then the bottom jumped about 3 feet out of the water and spit my Rapala countdown lure at Jamie.

I think we fished a couple of miles down river before turning around and heading back.

We caught a few fish, had a lot of laughs. At one point we thought we were funny enough to go out on the road with our act.

About half way back to the launch point Jamie had another strike so I quickly retrieved my line so as not to get tangled with his monster fish.

Just as I reached the canoe, behind Jamie, I thought I snagged his trolling motor but I didn’t. A nice sized, 16 inch smallmouth bass, had hit my Rapala countdown right at the boat and flew out of the water covering Jamie.

Rapala has so many great lures it’s hard to buy just one. Here is a Rapala Trolls-To?-Minnow – Chrome – TTM20 I am looking at today.

I think it saw Jamies fish and was following it back to the canoe when it saw my lure cruising past it and changed it’s focus to my lure. Thanks Jamie.

The Perfect Way To End A Smallmouth Bass Fishing Day

You can see the water behind me. That’s what it was like for the entire day. Who could ask for a better day of fishing?

I’m proud to be Canadian, eh and spent it doing something I love, fishing with a friend.

Jamie picked me up and we were on the road to Chipman just before 5am.

I had everything ready Thursday evening so all I had to do was get up, grab some breakfast and be ready to jump in as Jamie drove by my house.

I’ve mentioned Jamie a few times in my posts but just in case you’re not sure who he is he’s the owner of FishingFunInNewBrunswick.com and he loves to fish, maybe even as much as I do.

Here’s a link to his Fishing Fun in New Brunswick website, be sure to check it out and let him know what you think about his fishing adventures.

Fishing Fun In New Brunswick

What The Heck Is That?

We turned off the main highway and came up over a hill on highway 10 into Chipman. Just as we came over the top of the hill I said what the heck is that, a new mountain where Chipman used to be or what.

I grabbed my camera and snapped a picture. It’s a little dark but I am sure you can see the huge fog back we were about to enter.

Even though the fog looked bad it lasted about two minutes and all was clear from then on.

Welcome to Fog Mountain

We drove through a rather quiet Chipman, well except for the guy in front of us who was moving at turtle speed. He must have known we were going fishing.

Early Morning Red Bank

We came up around the corner to the point we could see the water and it was like a mirror, my favourite water to fish. Now I was really hyper.

Jamie backed his car and canoe down to the water and in minutes we were chain pickerel fishing for the first time this year.

I drank a big mug of coffee on the drive so I needed to relieve myself and thought you might like to see the beautiful scenery New Brunswick has to offer, even while taking a leak.

Breath Taking Scenery in New Brunswick

The entire day was cloudy which helped to keep it from getting too hot which was just fine with me.

The thing I don’t care for the most when fishing is the wind, especially when in a canoe but Friday was almost wind-less making for the perfect day in my books.

Before we got in the canoe for the day I thought I would practice my victory dance.

Our day started on the side of the road at Redbank the river is on which is always my first choice before moving to other great locations along the Salmon river.

We fished there for a few hours, caught a few pickerel and then moved through the culvert to the other side.

The water was still high enough for use to run the canoe and trolling motor right through. Sure beats carrying the canoe to the other side.

Lucky for me Jamie was driving which gave me first shot at the other side, as soon as I was close enough to cast out of the curlvert.

Immediately a nice little chain pickerel smacked my worm.

Screaming fish-on in a culvert sounds pretty cool.

Usually we will fish pickerel right until dark if the conditions are right but Jamie mentioned giving the Saint John river a try at about Jemseg.

Casey and I had been there a couple of weeks ago and had a great time so I was certainly up for that, but that’s another story for another day.

We arrived back home to find it had rained hard there making us feel even better about how nice the day was for us.

I drifted off to sleep watching the fireworks over the trees in our backyard, what a great ending for the perfect Canada Day.