Ice Fishing Huts on Shediac Bay

This past Sunday was like most other Sundays in the Mann residence during the winter months. I usually park my butt on the couch, watch TV all day long while playing my guitar and maybe having a couple of beers or maybe a shot or two of Scotch.

It’s usually about this time of year I start feeling a bit of cabin fever as I don’t get out much in the winter due to health issues. Good thing I have a treadmill or I wouldn’t get any exercise in the winter.

So when the phone rang with Casey on the other end calling to see if I was interested in checking out his fishing hut they had just put out on Shediac Bay, I got excited. He wasn’t going for long, unless the fishing was hot, and just wanted to finish up a few things and to bring a couple of items they had forgotten on the first trip.

Casey’s lives at Hopewell Cape, such a gorgeous spot to live. Jenny and I really enjoy the drive through this area, especially the Rocks on the Fundy Bay.

Less than an hour later Casey was at my door ready to head off to Shediac by the sea. Just as I was heading out the door my son Steve handed me a flask with Scotch in it and said, ‘Just in case it’s chilly out there’.

Getting There From Here

We left Moncton heading towards Dieppe and then took Veterans Highway to Shediac. From there we we took route 133 until to the Queens Warf turn off where it was just about one minute to the end where we could see fishing huts.

Casey and a friend hauled his fish hut out onto Shediac Bay, in about 6 sections, and assembled it right on the spot.

It was pretty efficient with four side panels that bolted to the floor and roof. I’ll be it didn’t take long to put it up and it has plenty of elbow room inside as well.

The floor boards opened opposite the door revealing a big hole to fish through. You could bring a whale through that hole.

The first thing I saw when I looked down the hole was what looked like a big hunk of ice but it was on the bottom. It was white bed sheets, with a little floral pattern along the edges, sown together to make a big pillow cases filled with chains.

Sheets Sown Together With Chains

I told Casey I was telling his wife he was stealing bed sheet. Then he told me she was the one who sowed it all together. What a great wife.

We spent a few minutes tightening the bolts that hold the hut together to make sure the winds hadn’t loosened them. And then cleared the ice from the hole and settled in with a nice fresh cup of hot coffee.

He has a nice little stove that keeps the hut nice and cosy so there was no need for all the clothing I was wearing and I started peeling off one layer at a time. The only thing missing was a wide screen TV.

As it turned out the tide was just heading out and the water was really low. Plus we didn’t see any fish. The locals weren’t out there either which is usually an indicator that the fishing isn’t that hot at the moment.

We stay for a few hours and enjoy the Scotch Steve gave us along with a few snacks and then closed things up for the day and headed back to home. I am so looking forward to the next opportunity to go ice fishing.

I do as much fishing as I can and when I’m fishing brooks and streams I do a lot of sight fishing, however as the water gets bigger and deeper it’s hard to see the fish that aren’t on the surface. That’s when a fish finder, like both of Casey’s Humminbird fishfinders.

I don’t have eyes like my fishing buddy Eagle Eye Paul. When I first started fishing with him I doubted the things he said he was able to see until he proved it over and over. Sure would be nice to have great vision.

Without a way to know what’s going on under the surface you either need to take a dive or use tools that will show you can keep you dry, like a fish finder.

I see a lot of clues that indicate what might be going on around the shoreline such as points that extend into the water or downed trees. Love through to structure.

When I had my canoe and fished lakes around New Brunswick I caught a lot of fish but when I got my first portable Humminbird Fishfinder I was able to see what I was fishing over and the fish I had been missing out on.

Casey has two fish finders which is great because when we are fishing together I have one I can see and he can usually see both.

I really enjoy float tube fishing and now there are fish finders available for even the float tube. I can just hook the transducer to a little fishing line and just toss it out in front of me to see what’s going on below and then I just keep moving around.

There are plenty of indicators that will help you find fish whether you’re fishing shorelines or off-shore. It just takes observing your surroundings but I have to admit I would rather take pictures of the scenery and use a Humminbird Fishfinder to locate the fish.

Related articles

• Checking Out Garmin Fish Finders (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)
• Fished Beautiful Meenan Cove With Casey (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• 5 Tips For Better Trout Fishing Success (thejoyofflyfishing.com)