Gone Fishing

I have gone salmon fishing. Be back around the end of the month.

Cheers,
Steve

Catch More Bass

I took the tube out last night for the first time this year and had a great time. As I thought about writing something for the website, I remembered the article I did last year. I have corrected some typos and spruced it up. It sums up my favourite way to fish Smallmouth Bass.

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Have Fun and Catch More Bass

Well it is that time of year again. The trout have retreated from the heat but bass are still happily cruising and looking for anything they can grab. The place I live is known as The City of Lakes or as the folks down the road call it, The City of Flakes. There are dozens of lakes throughout the city all brimming with bass and trout. I went out last night to do a bit of fishing and ended up just watching the variety of anglers who had gathered on the shore of the little lake next to where I was gassing up before heading out to my Secret Spot.

It was interesting to observe the different skill levels and techniques practiced.

Bass were rising regularly within reach of most anglers. Results varied but it was a very social and pleasant evening. My feeling after watching this diverse group is simply that knowledge is power. Those that take the time to learn a bit about their quarry will have more hook-ups than the chuck it and pray anglers.

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Bass will start to move into a lake's shallower water, over gravel bars and around bushes once the water temperature reaches 60 degrees F. As the top water cools in the Fall they will go back to deeper water where its warmer, to stay within their preferred range. Somewhere between 60 and 7o degrees I think.

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During these hot July days, fishing from dawn until mid-morning and late afternoon until evening will be the most productive and pleasant.

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Concentrate on the shallows - five feet or less-and close to shore and cover. My rule of thumb is: the calmer the water, the longer the cast.
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A popper or bug is simply deadly when bass are surface feeding. If you are fishing to a rise try and hit the rings. The bass is possibly cruising and won't necessarily be in that spot for long. When the bug has landed, do not move it. Let it be still for a long count of ten. One and two and three... at about four the water will erupt beneath your bug.

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No Slack Line!

Many rises to a bug are missed because there is slack line between your rod and the bug. Line control is the secret to bass fishing success and really to all fly-fishing. Maintain positive contact between your fly and your rod to increase hook-ups. It is a thing I work on every time I am fishing.

Back to the Bug

So it has landed in the rings, you let it lie perfectly still and begin counting.
If the fish does not come when you have reached ten, give the fly a twitch and start the count again. If the cast was quick and accurate to the rise, the fish will usually come before the twitch.

Pop the Popper

To perform the twitch or pop the popper, hold your rod tip low -this will speed your ability to strike by helping to pick up any slack, quickly-give the line a short jerk with your gathering hand and flick the tip of your rod.

Let the popper or bug lie still again and start your slow count. Tidy up any slack between you and the fly -without moving the fly- and remember keep the rod tip low.

If you are not casting to a rising fish, use your knowledge of what the fish are doing to choose your target areas. When it is hot and sunny look for shadowed cover such as lily pads or brush then put the popper as close to the structure as possible, even bounce it off if you can. When it lands, remember to keep it still, count to ten - then twitch it.

There are many tricks, which start to make sense as you practice the technique.

I will often land my bug or popper on a lily pad or rock, make a slow count and then twitch it into the water.

I will cast from my belly boat into the one or two inches of water closest to the shore and retrieve towards deeper water. It always amazes me to connect with a big fish within a foot of the shoreline but it happens often.

This is the time of year when big terrestrials are available to the bass, go big and do not be subtle.
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Equation of Survival

I have always figured there is an equation of survival that applies to all hunters.
It is, “the calories burned to acquire the food must be less than the calories provided by the food”.

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That is the thought that shapes my strategy when I am stumped and trying to figure out what to try next. So, think about what the bass is doing to find the biggest, easiest meal he can get.

Have fun. I hope these ideas will help you catch a few fish. Let me know if you have any tips that work for you.

12 Million Honeybees and not a McGinty Fly in Sight

Wow, what an amazing story!

A truck carrying 12 million, that is 12,000,000, honeybees flipped over on the highway in Northwest New Brunswick today. It happened near the town of St.Leonard.

The blueberry farmers in the area need many bees to pollinate the wild blueberry crop so they truck them by the millions from one place to another. These ones came from Ontario and were on their way back after pollinating the fields near Tracadie.

The driver of the truck was not injured in the accident.

Thousands of bees are still clinging to the truck, on the road and in the air around it.
Seven bee experts are on the scene, wearing full beekeeper suits and spraying smoke around to calm the bees.

I am not so sure how well that will work since you smoke a hive to stimulate the bees to gorge on honey in case they have to evacuate, which makes them a little lethargic. It is the same effect as you or I after Thanksgiving Dinner and two pieces of pie. Smoking them when they are just scattered around, well it might just pee-them-off.

What chaos, it must look like a clip from an alien invasion movie.

Anyway, I will bet the old McGinty fly will do some business in that area for the next few weeks.

Success Story of a Salmon Stream's Rehabilitation

Thought you might find this success story of a Salmon stream's rehabilitation of interest.


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It is a report from the Sackville Rivers Association , now in their twentieth year.
Summary of Fisheries and Oceans involvement in the Sackville Rivers Association (SRA) from the early 1980s

• Early 80s- DFO assesses fish populations in the Sackville River
  
• 1986- DFO begins stocking Atlantic Salmon into the Sackville to recover their populations
  
• 1988
  SRA formed (Shane O’Neil - founding Secretary Treasurer)
  DFO supports river clean ups hosted by SRA
  
• 1990- Fish ladder built at the falls at Hefler’s Mill in collaboration with SRA, DFO, and National Gypsum and dedicated to Donny Cox, a DFO Assessment Biologist
  
• 1991- DFO Science assesses fish populations (lead by DFO Science)
  
• 1992-1996 - DFO runs a counting fence along the river at the DND Rifle Range to assess returning salmon adults
  
• 1997- present
  SRA operates a trap at the fish ladder with technical assistance from DFO
  Atlantic Salmon captured at the fish ladder incorporated into the department’s stock enhancement program
  DFO supports students’ and interns’ activities on the river in collaboration with SRA (technical and in-kind assistance)
  
• 1990s and into the 2000s
  About 315,000 Atlantic Salmon smolt and 320,000 parr have been released to restore salmon populations to this river after it was determined the population in the river was extirpated; largely supported with DFO funds and / or in-kind technical support
  Various in stream habitat improvements restore approximately 62,000 m2 of river habitat (Shayne’s Pool established in 2006 to celebrate the tireless work of Shayne McQuaid, Stewardship Coordinator, DFO Oceans, Habitat and Species at Risk Branch to restore the Sackville River)
  Education initiatives in the community and to schools such as River Rangers and Fish Friends are led by the SRA with DFO contributing in-kind and technical assistance and ASF help in the early stages (625 students annually from 25 HRM schools, Grades 4-6).
  
• 2001- DFO agrees to SRA request that the department continue stocking with the use of unfed salmon fry from the Coldbrook hatchery and SRA operates the trap at the fish ladder and collects brood fish
  
• 2003- Some unfed fry stocked for the first time
  
• 2004- DFO stocks salmon smolt to the river because of fish kill (effort funded by industry)
  
• 2007- DFO assists SRA in development of their Ecosystem Plan
  
• 2008, ongoing- DFO has been instrumental in directing fish habitat compensation funds to the Sackville River Ecosystem Plan to support further habitat restoration efforts on the watershed
  
  High points:
  # salmon released - 635,000
  area of river restored to date - 62,000 m2
  # children touched by educational programs - 625 annually since 1990, 11,250 in total
  

Into the future:
Ecosystem Planning (SRA planning initiative to assure sustainable development of Sackville River watershed resulting from collaboration with DFO, other governmental organizations and non-governmental agencies, developers and the community)

Overall result:
Exponential increase in stewardship, care and recovery of the Sackville River since the ‘80s initiated and sustained by SRA receives ongoing support from DFO
SRA is a textbook example of community-based stewardship for Canada’s aquatic resources.

Top Angling Site Award

Steve Dobson's Fisherman's Blog was awarded a "top angling site" award by another website - Land Big Fish.com

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If you click on the trophy their website will open.

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It is an interesting website and I have not won a trophy for a long, long time so I could not resist posting it here. In fact, I did not know trophies even came without the bowlers on the top.