Jamie’s King Of The Happy Dance

Looking at the image on the left can you tell Jamie’s happy to be out fishing again? That’s his happy dance, what a great job and I didn’t realize he was so talented.

I was doing the happy dance getting from the canoe to the bushes.

Jamie Suggested The Oromocto River

We have fished the Saint John river from Jamie’s canoe and had fun and good fishing but every time a big boat flies by leaving us in it’s wake it gets tense turning the canoe into the waves. So for that reason we thought the Oromocto river would be a bit safer feeling.

The fact the Oromocto is a narrower river with trees along it’s bank might help us if the wind picked up throughout the day.

We left Moncton while the sky was clear and starry but once we got past Jemseg the sky was thick with clouds.

As we arrived we could see that others had already launched before us and two guys were launching as we pulled down to the beach where we launched.

A few minutes later we were on our way up river and there wasn’t any breeze at all. Perfect.

Not long after we started a big hole opened in the clouds and the sun burst onto the scene completely blinding me. It made the trees look so awesome but it was painful. I wish my glasses would go a whole lot darker.

You know that feeling when the early morning sun hits your eyes after a night of too many beers around the campfire. Well the was how I felt when the clouds parted and the sun hit me right in the face.

The Sun Rise Lights The Forest

I was so glad when we came to a bend in the river that put the sun to one side.

Jamie Sees The First Action

I seem to remember Jamie used to wait until I had my first fish before he started catching but not this day. Not long after we started fishing Jamie switched his firetiger pattern lure to a green 5” senko worm that he had wacky rigged.

I think it was on his second or third cast into the structure and Jamie had the first fish on. I did a great job of netting his bass. Love that rubber net.

We’ve had a few days this year that we went a long time before seeing any fish so this was a great start to our day.

“Jamie has the first, biggest and most fish, so far”

Once Jamie had the first fish I didn’t take long catching up, maybe 10 minutes later.

My first bass wasn’t as big as Jamie’s first but now we were tied up.

I was using a #3 Silver & White Mepps that had a skirt with white feathers.

If you look close at my left hand you can see the Mepps, a little bit.

I would say we were having a perfect day so far. No wind, rain or cold weather, although we had on a few layers but were very comfortable.

The Silver & White Mepps, and the Red Devils were the best lures of the day by far.

Love Having The Trolling Motor Along

I remember when I had my canoe I didn’t have a trolling motor and would use up a lot of energy on those windy days. It’s so nice to have a trolling motor. Nice to save all our energy for casting and catching fish.

We started fishing just after 7am and fished until about 7pm. So that was 12 hrs of trolling and fishing. The trolling motor battery did run out of energy about 15 minutes before we were back at the launch so Jamie paddled the rest of the way.

I was wondering if the trolling motor would have lasted longer had Jamie not brought so much tackle but then I thought it better not to say that as he could have left me home. Ha Ha

Jamie, How Are You Able To Fit In The Canoe?

Trolling Didn’t Produce A Single Strike

Even though we spent most of the day casting to structure and shore line we did do a fair bit of trolling while casting but never seen a single strike all day long. I thought that was strange as we always catch something, even a perch, but not this time.

Our Two Biggest Bass of The Day

I hooked into a nice fat bass that put up a great fight and even jumped clear of the water a few times.

Each time it jumped I thought it would spit the hook but, even after Jamie tried releasing it with his rubber net, I managed to get it in the canoe.

That smallmouth bass measured in at 18 inches in length.

Jamie’s biggest bass of the day was 16 inches and fought like it was at least 19”.

We reached this one section of the river that seemed to have a lot of pickerel in it although it didn’t look any different than any other part we had fished.

Jamie managed to catch all the little pickerel so that I could get at the bigger ones, he’s good like that.

I would say that we caught 10 or 12 pickerel in that stretch and then they stopped again and the bass took over.

The Fish Action Stopped

I always look forward to fishing at dusk as it always seems to get a little wild about that time but not on October 22, 2011. As soon as we started to lose the light the fish shut right down, completely, not even a strike for the last half hour of our fishing day.

At the end of it all we had a great day, plenty of fish to keep us happy and talking all the way back to Moncton and Riverview. Actually we may have caught more fish on this fishing trip that any other all year.

A few days ago, just before daybreak on Thursday Casey arrived at my house and we headed to Oromocto, New Brunswick for some fishing. This is another place I had never fished. I always like trying out new locations.

We managed to get through two traffic circles without a problem and in a few minutes arrived at Phil’s Auto & Recreation where we turned to head down to the boat launch.

Lots of cool boats but we were going fishing, not shopping, although we did stop in on the way out. When I went up stairs I am sure I started drooling. I had never seen so much bass stuff.

Sure beats the heck out of the Canadian Tire store on Mountain Road Moncton.

I haven’t used a lot of boat launches but the few I have launched from don’t match the quality of this boat launch.

As always as soon as we’re near water I start taking pictures. This day the water was like glass with a little mist floating just above the water, pretty cool.

The sky was pretty much clear of clouds. The birds were singing and there was no wind at all.

A double check around the van and boat to be sure we had everything and that the plug was in and we were on the water.

We didn’t know it then but we were about to have a tough day of fishing but heck the should surprise me. The whole fishing season has been a tough one.

As tough as it was it was better than staying home.

It took us a while before we got a strike. The weeds were eager to bite though so I had a lot of those. Finally I got a strike that stayed on and started reeling it in.

Casey asked if I needed help with the net. I said no because it was just a small smallmouth bass and I was just going to grab it or bring it right in the boat.

My mistake because my chubby little fingers we just inches away from the leader when it flipped off so we were back to zero fish.

The switching between high and low pressure every other day has really made things tough plus the amount of rain we had a couple days before fishing churned the water up good so that there was only about a foot of visibility below the surface.

We turned into the Oromocto river and tried casting to a the boats on my left but nothing. We spent about 2 hours maybe more moving up the river but nothing at all.

So Casey headed back to the main river which took about 10 minutes or so to get back. I like Casey’s new motor.

We didn’t see many clouds and those we did see were just puffs and gave us no relief from the sun. Then a cloud moved in front of the sun and I am sure the temperature dropped about 10 degrees.

Immediately we felt relief, which lasted about 5 minute and then back to hot again. I just had to snap a photo of that relief cloud.

Hope I don’t sound like I’m complaining too much. I had a great day and never once asked to go home. After all a dip in the drink that was all around us would have cooled us down if it got that bad.

Finally we were getting a few strikes. The strike was very light so we had to be quick on the hook set. I hooked into another fish. As it cleared the water I could see it was a smallie.

This time I didn’t refuse Casey’s help with the net. This one didn’t get away.

I think Casey was teasing me, something about the size of my bass so he moved really close so the smallie would look a little bigger. Funny guy isn’t he?

The fish were few and far between but we managed to catch a few. I even caught a big perch. I think it was probably the biggest perch I’ve ever caught.

I didn’t say it was a monster, I just said it was my biggest. Perch are a cool looking fish.

Donkey Sighting

I was looking to see if I would spot another Lama like the one Jamie and I saw on an island at Jemseg.

But I did see a donkey strolling along the river. It came to a patch of dirt and took a minute to roll around, just like the Lama had done.

Lots of plane around. There were a few that came in so low I thought they were going to land in the river but they didn’t.

Right behind the trees there was an airport.

It was kind of cool to see the variety of small plains. I even say one that looked like it out of WWII.

Next I could hear them but I could see them and then they started to come into focus. Four helicopters, in formation, were coming right at us. It seemed strange that the middle two had a big head light while the other two didn’t or didn’t have them turned on.

I said to Casey that maybe they would be able to let us know where all the fish were but they just kept moving right over our heads.

As usually there were plenty of bird. We saw bald eagles, hawks, kingfishers and a few osprey, all watching the water closely. They wouldn’t tell us where the fish were either.

I saw what I think was a young eagle sitting in a tree. It was still quite far away but as we got closer it didn’t move. I took this picture and had to use my zoom so it’s not all the clear. We thought it looked great.

We didn’t have a record day but we had fun and saw a lot of great scenery and animals. Oh yeah we even caught some fish so that’s a good day in my books, especially when fishing with friends.

On our way out Phil’s was still open so we stopped in and checkout some boats and then moved up stairs to look at bass stuff. I felt like a kid in a candy store.

As we were on our way from Moncton it looked like it might be a cloudy day but they were almost gone by the time we arrived at the launch site.

First Catch of the Day: Casey was backing his boat to the water and I was walking along side holding the rope so it wouldn’t head down river without us. I looked down to step over a water hole and to my surprise I found a $10 bill stuck in the mud. I’ll have to buy another Rapala Countdown Perch as mine other one kinda got stuck in Jamies fishing vest on the way home last time we were out and it’s at his place.

One more check around the boat and van to be certain we had everything we needed for the day and we launched and were headed across the river and up towards Swan Creek.

Our last trip to the Saint John river was in the opposite direction, and Harts Lake.

Other than the boat traffic picking up at about 11am and the wakes the water remained pretty calm all day. It looked like the picture above most of the day. I love fishing the weeds on days like this.

Casey Politely Kicks My Behind

It didn’t take much for Casey to win the day as I couldn’t seem to get much attention from the bass, although I was getting a variety of weeds.

I did get to take a lot of pictures and saw a lot of new water I had never fished, all while Casey was catching bass and perch.

The final tally at the end of the day was Casey with 5 bass, 8 perch and 1 chain pickerel

Thanks to Casey asking if I wanted to stay an extra half hour I was able to end the day with 5 bass and 5 perch.

Oh yeah, he also gave me a new lure to try and in that last half hour I went 4 fish for the day all the way up to 10 so I was quite pleased.

You can see the lure Casey loaned me on the right. What a difference that one lure made for me.

Well even though I didn’t get a lot action for the day I did manage to catch the biggest bass of the day and that’s gotta be worth something, eh.

This little smallmouth really had me believing it was much bigger.

Chain Pickerel On Strike

I am not sure if perhaps the pickerel were on strike or maybe vacation but one thing I do know is that they didn’t want to strike at anything. Casey caught one little pickerel but that was the only one we saw all day. Not even a single wake or follow.

No Trespassing On Swan Creek Lake

We fished our way to the Swan Creek entrance and tried to get a strike or two in the creek without any success. We even tried a huge cove/bay that looked like pickerel heaven, without a single follow or strike.

We saw a couple of no trespassing signs but thought that they were about not going ashore but soon found out it was a military base and those were Military No Trespassing Area signs.

We turned the boat around and headed out to the main river again and then back towards the Jemseg bridge again.

All too soon our day was done and we were back on the road to Moncton and Hopewell Cape.

Casey’s buddy ShiftChevy flew by us with his great looking fishing boat in tow and in about two minutes was out of site.

It was great to get home before my family was in bed as I always like to share my day with them. Okay, really it’s because Jenny snores so loud I can’t sleep if I don’t get to bed first.

I’ll be sleeping in the garage if she reads that last remark. Just kidding dear, you purr like a kitten.

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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?

He hadn’t quite made up his mind as to where to go, Cassidy Lake or the Saint John river and Harts Lake.

I told him I love fishing Cassidy lake but I had never fished in the Saint John river or Harts Lake in the 30 years I have lived in New Brunswick.

I’m so glad we headed to Jemseg and the Saint John river.

The water temperature is still kind of cool early mornings so we planned to leave at 9, although Casey tends to show up about a half hour early which always makes me happy.

Knowing he would most likely show up early I decided to take Jenny for breakfast as I wouldn’t see her all day but I knew I better be back before 8:30, so it was an early breakfast at Hynes restaurant on Mountain road Moncton,

Sure enough Casey was 30 minutes early.

We were both anxious to fish making the trip seem longer than it really is but finally we arrived. I believe it was the TCH bridge at Gagetown where we launched.

Launched From Under The TCH Bridge Gagetown

After a few system checks we were launched and heading across the river. Our day of fishing had begun.

Ready To Hit The Water

Once we reached the other side of the river Casey lined us up for trolling down towards Harts lake but close enough for me to also be able to cast to the shore line.

He likes to laugh at me jumping around the boat casting everywhere. He does keep an eye on the rod I’m trolling with so I don’t miss anything when my backs turned.

Tried Something New

Our last day out, at Cassidy lake I just didn’t have any luck trolling. I think I would have done better if I wasn’t changing my lure so often.

I couldn’t seem to find a lure that didn’t hit bottom and kept changing lures all day long.

By the end of the day my butt was pretty sore as Casey kicked it hard that day.

I thought about trolling and made the decision to pick one lure and stick with all day.

I love my Rapala lures so I picked one that would run at about 5 feet. That was my little Rapala countdown, about 3″ long with a perch pattern.

The plan seemed to work perfectly as I caught the first fish, a smallmouth bass and then the second fish, a small pickerel.

Then I hooked a smallie and then a pickerel while casting under the trees along the bank. I was using a 5″ red senko worm for casting to the shoreline.

I didn’t use the red senko worm all day. Where the shoreline was clear of dead or downed trees I switched to a Rapala lure that looks like a shrimp.

I’ve caught a lot of smallmouth bass using that over the years but this day it didn’t do anything. They wanted that red worm.

Breath Taking Scenery

The scenery along the Saint John river is beautiful and I’m always happy to be the passenger on these trips so I can take pictures and watch the scenery go flying by.

The picture below reminds me of a little island my brother and I used to camp on in Gorgian Bay Ontario many moons ago.

What A Gorgeous Day We Had

This picture was taken early in the day and shows a few clouds but they soon disappeared leaving a beautiful clear sky all day.

Casey, you picked the perfect day for fishing thanks.

Even the wind was on our side. Just enough of a breeze to keep us from frying in the sun but not enough to even make waves.

I think I mentioned I caught the first few fish. Did I mention that Casey?

We reached the entrance to Harts lake and moved out of the river which excited me again. Another spot I had never fished before then.

Entrance to Harts Lake

We fished up through Harts lake catching pickerel all the way although more we under 20 inches. I did catch one that went 21 inches but it was a fatty making me think it was much bigger.

As we were going through the channel into Coy lake we saw that the water was still high and a lot of trees are living in rather soaked conditions.

Spring Flooding Slowing Going Down

Some of the places we fished sure looked like farmer’s fields covered in a couple feet of water.

Coy lake didn’t seem to be very deep, even though the water was high, so I’m not sure what it would be like when the water goes down.

I think this would be a canoe or float tube lake once the water drops but I would bet the pickerel would be thick in there.

Casey practiced using his new trolling motor. That’s going to be coming in very handy as the weed start getting thicker.

At the end of our day, as we were trolling back up to the launch area I was still using that same Rapala countdown and had one smallie right after the other, all the way back to the bridge.

Mmm Victory Tastes So Good

When we go fishing we usually have a little contest where the NON winner gets the privledge of buying ice cream for the winners.

At the end of our day of fishing I had hooked and landed just over 40 fish.

I believe Casey had 24 fish so I got free ice cream, which in my humble opinion always seems to taste better.

Image by heathzib via Flickr

We’ve had a beautiful white winter this year, haven’t seen one of those in a long time. Not always much fun shovelling as it gets higher and higher but sure looked like a wonderland looking out my office window into our backyard. Sadly the weight of all that snow on some of our shrubs and bushes was just too much after it started raining and broke the branches off of them.

That’s going to require a lot of extra work come spring, might even have to replace them all. I would much rather be spending that money on fly fishing gear, hope my wife didn’t hear me type that.

On a happier note fishing season’s not far off and that always lifts my spirits, so today I’m bringing my fly fishing gear up from the basement for another season.

Fly Fishing For Chain Pickerel And Smallmouth Bass

Fishing buddy Casey emailed me the other day asking if I had flies for pickerel and bass, which I thought was curious because he doesn’t fly fish, well not yet. As I read on he said he wants to give it a try this year and my excitement level went through the roof.

I told Casey I had some that have been torn up pretty good but would be tying some before fishing season starts. Now I will tie enough so that Jamie, Casey and myself will have enough to tie into some wacky and wild pickerel in our favourite spots. My first pickerel ever was on a fly rod and it’s a lot of fun, especially from my float tube.

I have been fly fishing for smallmouth bass as well and they are a blast on the fly rod. A great fish to watch jumping all over the place. So you can well imagine I am already dreaming of our days on the water in 2011.

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Once I learned how to get it to pop correctly and how to get the wake just right bass were fighting for it. So here is a video that shows how to pop a popper on the fly.

Now if you want to know how to tie a bass popper just head over to my fly tying section here for some instructional video: Fly Tying Bass Poppers

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Fishing is a sport that requires you to be prepared. Sure, you can grab any sort of stick, attach a rope to it and TRY to catch something. But, in today’s wide world of products, you can do so much better and become that much more successful at fishing. There are several things that you’ll need and that’s what we will talk about here.

Bass Fishing

So what are some of the few big bass fishing secrets? First and foremost, you must start off by thinking like a bass fish. It may sound crazy but it could help you in finding where the big one is. It is also advised that you find the right and appropriate tackle to use in any situation or case. You must have a lot of information on crank baits, spinner baits, plastic worms, buzz baits and many other types of it.

This would be one of the things that you might be sure of. A good lure is one of the techniques you have to learn and be knowledgeable about. In addition, you must know what part of the lake or stream is best to bass fish on different weather conditions. It will be different on a rainy day or a windy day, early in the morning or late in the evening. Other factors also affect like on a crowded lake or a steady lake and many others. It is up to you to research further on it.

Another thing is that you must know the most common bass fishing mistakes that almost every fisherman makes and executes. After knowing them and knowing the reason why will instill in your mind that these common practices end up in error so you must not practice it. Another grateful thing is that you must choose the right bass fishing rod. You must learn the techniques and secrets on how to choose and where to find the most appropriate bass fishing rods there are. Furthermore, you must know how to develop a successful bass fishing pattern.

This will really help you in your fishing trip and having a larger bass. Some may go bass fishing at night so it is good that you learn professional night bass fishing techniques. Moreover, others may also be benefited by learning the professional winter bass fishing techniques for those who experience four seasons. These are only some of the many techniques and tips on how to improve your bass fishing strategy. If you do not have any strategy at all, you may really get disappointed from time to time. But, it is suggested that you first learn and read sufficient information and guides on bass fishing.

Fly Fishing

Knowing how to utilize fly fishing knots is an extremely important skill to have when mastering the sport of fly fishing. First of all, there are quite a few different types of knots that you can utilize for fly fishing, and most of them are relatively simple to understand. The most simple ones utilized are the arbor knot, Albright knot, nail knot, double surgeons knot, and improved clinch knot.

Each one of these knots serves their own individual purpose, and is beyond the scope of this article to explain exactly what they do. However, here’s the important thing you need to understand about this. Without any one of these knots, fly fishing would not work. Obviously, this sounds rather complex and complicated, but once you understand how to do it, it will become as simple as time your shoe. Do you remember when you were a young kid and you watch other people riding their bikes? At first, this probably looks so complicated, but once you understood how to do it, you were amazed at how simple the process was. The same could be said of fly fishing knots. There are certainly more knots than the ones listed, but these are by far the most basic, and the ones you should understand released at the beginning.

Once you understand how to tie a basic fly fishing knot, you want makes sure that before you begin to go fly fishing, you must be certain that they are going to hold up. Especially at first, you might not know how to do it very well, and you might lose an awesome catch because of a faulty knot if you aren’t careful. By far the quickest and easiest way to make sure the knot stays tight as is to simply pour a little water on them, and then pull the lines to ensure the Knights hold still.

One final fly fishing tip that, while unrelated to knots, is essential to having a successful and enjoyable fishing trip: make sure to purchase fly fishing waders, which is a special type of clothing to help you stay dry while out on the water. Without this, if you do happen to get wet while fishing, particularly on a cold day, the rest of the trip will be miserable.

General Fishing

First, what is fishing tackle? This is the equipment you’ll need to get your bait out there. You don’t need to spend a fortune on it, but what you should do is get the right products for your needs instead.

The Rod And The Reel

The most fundamental product that you need is the rod and reel. For a beginner, go with a lightweight choice that has a spinner reel on it. You can even purchase them together. As for length, go for about six feet for the adults and four to five for your child.

Next on the list is fishing line. It is also called filament. You’ll need to know which weight to get. This is called the pound test. The larger the pound test number is, the stronger the line is. Depending on the type of fish you are after, you’ll need to choose the line that is about the weight of the fish. For a small, light rod, go with up to six pound test. If you are using a large sized spinning reel, go with a stronger line. For bait casting reels, go with six to thirty pound test. The most popular options are the eight to sixteen. Don’t always think that heavier is better though as many of the fish will be able to see the line and won’t go near it.

Also in your equipment, you’ll need a fishing net. This will help you to catch your bait and can help you bring the fish in.

Options In Bait

There are many options in bait that you’ll need in that tackle box. First, we’ll talk about which live choices you have. Go with earthworms to start. You can dig your own or get them from the bait shop. You can go with mealworms or grubs as well. Depending on the type of fish you are after, you are likely to have a type of bait to use to catch them. Ask your local anglers for information about which seem to work the best for your area.

There are several other products that you will find that you’ll need in the way of tackle. Here are some of them and what they are good for.

Bobbers. These are floats that you’ll attach to your line to dangle your bait in front of the fish. They give you some extra weight when casting. They will sit at the top of the water. Small is a better way to go and make sure it is just enough weight to keep the bait from dragging.

Hooks. You’ll need to choose the right size for the job at hand. When using live bait, buy sizes from six to ten. For bullhead or catfish, you’ll need larger hooks. For catch and release fishing, look for fish hook barbs that can be flattened. To choose look for the size that is about the right size for the mouth of the fish you are trying to catch. Too large and you won’t get a bite and too small will leave you with the hook in its belly.

Sinkers are next. These are weights that come in a wide assortment. They are used to keep your line from floating under the water. Split shot sinkers are tiny and they are by far the most popular. But, some weights can get up to a pound in weight. Make sure that they are lead free though when you purchase them.

Leaders. These are small metal pieces with an eye on one end and a pin catch on the other. The pin is used to slip a hook or lure onto it. You’ll then thread the line through the eye and knot it. They are helpful when it comes to changing hooks and lures. You may want to consider them when you are after muskellunge, walleye, or northern pike as they’ll keep the fish from biting through your line.

Swivels are used instead to attach hooks and lures without a leader. There is an eye on one end and a pin clip on the other. The same process is done as with a leader except that the pin clip opens much like a safety pin. They protect your line from tangling as your bait moves in the water.

In your tackle box, fill it with several very important things. For example, you’ll need a good quality fishing knife. This will help you do many things from cutting tangled line to cleaning your catch. Also, make sure to have a pair of needle nose pliers in there to help you remove hooks safely. It is wise to have a first aid kit on hand as well and make sure it includes antibacterial lotion. In fact, the tackle box itself should be organized with all of your gear and kept clean. Some will even come with the artificial bait you may need.

The best place to find all that you need in fishing tackle is through the web. You’ll find some of the best products here. Not sure what to purchase? Ask a local professional to help you to know what works well in your area. This can lead to some excellent fishing experiences.

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I will cast to the shallows close to weeds and bring it back to the deeper water. And if the water drops off quickly I will pull it right along the edge of the weeds for really explosive strikes.

It wasn’t until I moved to New Brunswick that I experienced smallmouth bass fishing and later chain pickerel fishing. Before that it was strickly trout and salmon.

That’s when I started buying a few crankbaits, spinnerbaits and plastic worms.

Fishing Crankbaits

My fishing buddy Roland and I were in my boat on Lake George just past Fredericton, it was really windy, so the top water baits weren’t doing much so I switched to one of my brand new crankbait.

Fishing A Brown Shrimp Crankbait

I remember it was brown with some darker brown stripes going down the sides. It cast a country mile and would float until I started cranking on it. Then it would dive anywhere from 3-7 feet depending on how hard I cranked it.

On my first cast the crankbait was smacked hard and then again on my second and then it seemed like I couldn’t use it without getting strikes.

Guess how many of those I purchased?? Just one because I bought a variety of lures that day and just one of each. Roland didn’t buy one of this particular crankbait and I didn’t have one to loan him.

I kicked his bass fishing butt royally that day.

The crankbait quckly became one of my confidence baits and still is today. I went and bought another two, one for the tackle box and one I just incase Roland didn’t get a chance to buy one.

I used that crankbait until all the finish was worn off, leaving it a matte silver colour and it was still caught bass, which I found strange because I had a silver one that didn’t catch anything much at all.

Then one day I made a very long cast, probably the longest cast I ever made. It went straight across the water and into the trees on the bank somewhere. Never did find it. Guess I didn’t tie that knot as well as I thought.

That crankbait had hooked hundreds and hundreds of bass and pickerel and lasted for a few years before I lost it.

The second crankbait lasted for many years as well until one day Casey and I were bass fishing Lake Petit and on the very last cast of the day I lost it, the same way I lost the first one. The line snapped and it went so far I couldn’t find it. Bummer

A couple of years after I started bass fishing we gave chain pickerel a go and I used the same crankbait in open water along weed banks and found that they love that crankbait as much as the smallies do.

Check out the Rapala Crankbaits on FishUSA.com

Related articles

• Bass Fishing Tips : It’s A Bass’ World (stepbysteptips.com)
• Hot Lake George, New Brunswick Smallmouth Bass on the Fly (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• Fun Fishing in New Brunswick Canada (thejoyofflyfishing.com)

I have looked for a nice portable fish-finder since but never saw anything that I really liked, until this morning.

It’s getting close to Christmas so I was looking through Amazon to see what was there and found this cool little wrist mounted fish finder, perfect for float tube fishing adventures.

Humminbird Smartcast Wrist Mount

I remember fishing Lake George New Brunswick, along with a few other larger lakes in the area, from both my canoe and boat. It was nice to have a fishfinder so we could located active spots we could come back to. We must have fished Lake George a hundred times and always seemed to hook into a lot of smallmouth bass.

I’d say it was mostly because of the Humminbird fish finder keeping us on the right locations.

I remember so many times I wished I had a fishfinder for my float tube so I could find those great spots again.

Here are a few specs for the Humminbird Smartcast RF 35 fishfinder.

First, Humminbird is using wireless technologies to the Smartcaster rf35 so you don’t require a wire going to the sensor. Just attach a length of fishing line and give it a toss out on the water and you’re ready to go fish finding.

The Remote Sonar Sensor has a separate, lithium battery that is non-replaceable , that has a lifespan of three years and will work for somewhere around five-hundred hours in the water.

Note: It’s always good advice to clean your equipment after a day on the water and it goes the same for your remote sensor. Keep it cleaned and it will keep going on keeping on.

Related articles

• Hot Lake George, New Brunswick Smallmouth Bass on the Fly (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• Jiggin’ For Smallmouth Bass (thejoyofflyfishing.com)