SPRING BEAR,THE BITE AND VINTAGE STUFF

    This spring has been one of the coldest and wettest in recent memory. We have had only a handful of sunny,warm and rain-free days in the last six weeks and then its been back to the cold and gloomy weather. The spring freshet here at home on Salmon River was seven to ten days late,peaking around the eighth of May this year instead of the normal time around the first of the month. All of this weather has thrown the scheduled arrival of the various runs of fish and the black bears off by a corresponding period of time.The gaspereau are running heavy in the river right now and that means the trout will be coming right behind them. One gent from the Miramich recently wrote that it was his understanding that the sea-trout followed the smelt in their run up the Miramichi each spring and that may well be true for that river but I had always been told by the old guys around here that our trout followed the gaspereau run and one year I found out just how true that old tale was. My brother and uncles fished the Newcastle Stream religiously every spring while trying to intercept the run of brookies coming up from Grand Lake. Many years we would follow the fish as they made their way up the stream starting very early in May fishing the deep, deadwater pools near the mouth and ending up in the headwaters near Clearwater Brook around the first week in June. One day in late May many years ago,my Uncle Gowie and I put my canoe in at the Park in Minto and planned to sail down to the stone bridge at Newcastle Bridge,hoping to intercept the run of trout that we thought would be starting to pass through the area. We fished along for a few hours with just a couple of bites,nothing of consequence.As we were nearing our take-out point,I dropped anchor and Gowie and I had a couple of beverages while we contemplated our lack of action and what had happened to the run of trout. As I was sitting there in the canoe,my line was dangling in the water,just hanging there. As we were talking,I thought I could feel something on my line. It wasn't really a bite that I felt,just a weight on the line that wasn't there previously. I lifted the rod tip and low and behold,there was a nice plump,silvery run brook trout. As I grabbed the trout to take it off the hook,I noticed a lot of fish eggs spilling out of the trouts mouth. Gowie and I looked at each other in amazement and immediately realized we had been fishing way to quickly for these trout that were stuffed to the gills with gaspereau eggs! We started fishing very slowly,not actually reeling,just letting the line and hook hang in the current.We then proceeded to catch trout after trout,quickly limiting out just minutes from our take-out spot. A lesson well learned on that day by a couple of fishermen who thought they had seen it all and had nothing new to learn.

    This is a short video clip of Ken and I fishing some deadwater on Pleasant Brook last year. Ken and I caught and released well over one hundred brookies that day. Nothing real big but it was non-stop action all day long and we had a ball!

After fishing the head of Pleasant Brook for half the day,we headed over to the Gaspereau River to finish the day off fishing some of the spring fed pools located in the upper reaches of the river. Again,we had non-stop action catching small brookies,nothing huge but in large enough numbers to keep us entertained for the afternoon. This is another short clip of me landing a trout on the Gaspereau that day.

The black bears in our area have been late leaving their dens this spring. I'm assuming it's because of the cold,wet spring we had this year but they have finally started hitting our baits on a regular basis. We have areas in our hunting territory that we watch closely early in the season when the bears are just leaving their dens and are foraging for greens to start their digestive systems working. This is a perfect time to take an early spring bear and Ken and the boys always keep a sharp eye out while running our baits for any bear that may be out wandering in the clover fields. Usually,every year one of us will take a nice bear over the fields and this year Jamie was once again able to seal the deal on a nice sow bear. Jamie watched this bear for about ten minutes before he took it to make sure there were no cubs around. This nice sow didn't have cubs for some reason,so she was fair game and Jamie made about a three hundred yard stalk on it. Good job,Jamie! Here is a photo of the bear Jamie took earlier this spring.As you can see,this was a good sized sow and the fur was in perfect shape. We have bear baits in several different areas so we don't overhunt any one spot.That said,we are always looking for big tracks and scat and listening for any sightings of large bears. We have found the home range of many large boars through the years just by paying attention to sightings made by walkers or bus drivers and sometimes the local truckers will tell us of seeing a big one while hauling wood to the sawmill. Of course,we can set up just about anywhere within thirty kilometers of home and have bears of some sort on most of our baits but it's nice to know there is a big boar in the area you are baiting.

    We are just starting to fish for spring run brookies and it's also the time to pick some fiddleheads to freeze or bottle for the coming winter. Fiddleheads and fish is a Maritime staple in many households,especially communities along any of the larger inland watersheds. They all hold copious amounts of these wonderful green ferns and one cottage industry that has sprung up is picking and selling these tasty delicacies to the local market and some of the larger packing plants. But it is not without it's perils.Just this spring two young men from the St.Mary's band on the north side of Fredericton drowned while out on the Saint John River picking on one of the islands. So if you decide to go,do your homework and err on the side of caution because Mother Nature isn't very forgiving.

    The white perch will be starting to show up ,usually by the first of June and this species of fish can provide a lot of action and some very tasty fillets for lunch. Ken and I and all the rest of the boys have a grand old time catching dozens of these great panfish. They are very easy to catch once you find a school of them. We just use a small spinner and a worm on a spinning or spin-cast outfit and cast and let it sink to the bottom and do a slow,stop and start retrieve back. They don't like to chase their food,they are kind of lazy in the way they feed. The key to taking these fish is a very slow retrieve or use bobbers set a foot off the bottom. Follow these tips and you can take a limit in a hurry if you hit the run right and fish the right spot. This is a photo of me and my grandson Tyler with a mess of white perch ready to be filleted out and deep-fried.

    The shad run is just getting started here on Salmon River and we usually get a good run of fish up the river most years. These fish are getting more popular with fishermen all the time.Fly fishermen like fishing them because they can use all their regular salmon gear,other than changing up the flies a bit.Best time to fish shad is in the evening,when they are most active. This is also true of the white perch and another shared trait is that you must fish shad slowly also. Try to let your fly or dart hang in the current where a school has gathered. A word of caution,hang on because a shad can strip a lot of line in a short time,so you will have to reel quickly to stay in touch with the fish after one of those reel-screaming runs. The seventh annual Monte Farrel shad derby is coming right up on June the fourth.Entry fee is $20, with 100% payout. Registration and breakfast is at the Queens County inn

I continue to pick up any nice or interesting items that I see for sale in my travels and it never ceases to amaze me  the amount of great stuff just kicking around until it finds its way to the open market.I've been collecting for a long time now and I don't see any signs of either my passion for finding stuff or the supply of  vintage items to be found slowing down any time soon.So I will continue to share some photos of vintage items as I find them,including this one of a print of hunters at a camp looking at the game off in the distance.

I would date this print to the 1930's,judging by the frame and the subject matter. I love these old hunting and fishing prints that depict some sort of action happening in the scene. I have literally dozens upon dozens of prints from the by gone hey days of the outdoor sporting world. This next item is a photo of an embossed print on copper plate of a great stag. Although this item is a little fresher,I would put it in the Sixties sometime,I really like the style in which this wall hanging has been done.

You don't find this style of work very often and I was really happy to add it to my collection. If any readers of this blog see something that they are interested in,please feel free to contact me via e-mail and we can discuss the item and see if we can come to terms.

The spring bear season is just getting started and we will be running day trips on the Salmon River soon,so give me a shout for a day out and about in the beautiful Grand Lake basin. Until next time,Happy trails to you,Until we meet again!

SPRING SALMON,BLACK BEAR AND VINTAGE STUFF

    The April 15th fishing opener produced some good fishing for some and some cold and stiff fingers for others.As usual,I was on the MSW Miramichi with friends and family fishing from Doaktown to Carrolls Crossing and nearly everyone who could stand the brutal weather conditions caught fish. I will be the first to admit that I am a fair weather fisherman and I just don't enjoy fishing in the kind of weather we had the first few days of the season. On the other hand,wild horses couldn't keep me from the river on the first day of the season! The first morning started off a little slow but by the afternoon the water had dropped a bit and it seemed to put the salmon in the mood to take. I only fished for about two hours in the afternoon of the first day but I did hook a fish on the very first cast of the season. What a way to start things off! I didn't land that fish and I never landed the next two fish I hooked but some of my friends from Storytown and Chipman did manage to land a few while fishing at Big Hole Brook. I fished the opposite shore and watched the Beeks and their crowd catch several fish both from boats and from the shore. These boys always have a good crowd on hand and their howls and whooping whenever someone hooked one or lost one could be heard echoing up and down the river. As I said,I only fished for a short time and had to continue my journey upriver to Carrolls to meet some more fishermen who were arriving. I pulled the boat into the bogan just as one of the local guides was pulling in with his grandson and when I asked him how the fishing was he replied it was the first opener in memory that he didn't hook a fish! Now, I know this guy quite well and I know he is a good fisherman but  neither he or his grandson could get a strike that morning. I will say in his defence that they were calling it a day just as the bite was starting to turn on but it just proves that angling for atlantic salmon is not a slam dunk at any time,under any conditions. I spent the night in Carrolls Crossing and was up the next morning looking at the thermometer and I said to my fishing partner for the day that we should go to Tim Hortons and get a bite before we ventured out in that brutal cold. Usually,the day warms up towards lunch time and you don't get the guides freezing up as bad but not on this day! We hit the water about ten o'clock and we fished until about four with limited success. I managed to boat two grilse in the back channel at Sutter Pond but I really had to work for them. The fish were there and they were taking if you could keep your fly clean of debris and get it down deep to where they were holding. One sport caught about four or five while fishing in front of us farther down the run and I notice he was getting caught on bottom occasionally and I mentioned to my fishing partner that he was getting down to the zone and that was contributing to his success. His guide also had him well positioned and that was also helping with his success. This is a short clip of me landing a grilse on the second day.

I usually don't keep a spring salmon unless old Wes wants one or Donna A. wants to make fish cakes, so the grilse I caught on the second day all went back in the river. In days gone by,we would always keep a fish or two for a shore lunch or supper on the first day but nowadays keeping a grilse is frowned upon and many elitists will shoot you a look of disdain if they see you carrying a tagged fish. Although I am conservation minded,I don't find anything wrong with keeping a fish once in a while as long as it's a legally tagged fish, especially if it happens to be a persons first salmon.

    I would like to comment on some of the antics I see every year on the river with regards to boating ethics. It seems that more and more boaters are being very inconsiderate when operating their crafts in the area where sports are fishing. If you want to troll,head down river where there is more room and this method of fishing is  more accepted. Up river,there just isn't the room and it usually raises the hackles on both sports and guides who are fishing in the traditional manner for that area and I can't say I blame them. Crowding and boats flying by fishermen without slowing down was also quite evident on the first few days of the season. Nobody,sports and guides both, likes this kind of behavior and people have to start using common sense and some courtesy before it gets out of hand. Here is another short clip of me playing a grilse on the second day of the season.As you can tell by this video,it was a cool day to be on the water and you really must be dressed for the conditions if you want to enjoy your outing.After all,even the best

fishermen have gaps in the action and that's when the cold will start to settle in your bones! 

    With bear season just around the corner,Ken and the boys have been out scouting already with hopes of finding some good bear sign.Last year at this time we had grass sprouting and bears starting to roam around grazing on grasses and weeds while getting their digestive tracts active again. During this stage,black bears don't respond to a bait because their guts just can't handle solid food that soon after emerging from their dens. A couple of years ago,Ken took a beautiful bear very early in May and it was one of the nicest bears I have ever seen taken. We had an early spring that year and the bears were active very early in the season. Ken spotted the track of this bear while out scouting and because of the location,he decided to try and take this bear so he could concentrate on getting the rest of the baits out. He killed this bear on the first evening in his stand and he was a little surprised at how quickly it came in. The fur on this bear was absolutely flawless,full and plush,like an expensive carpet. Again,Ken was able to take this bear so early because we had an early spring and he did his homework and found a bear that was ready to start feeding a little. Here is a photo of that bear.Ken and the boys always try to take a bear early so they can concentrate on the baits we put out for any sports who may want to hunt with us and they are definitely meat hunters and they don,t wait it out for a trophy sized bear. These guys were raised as meat hunters and they would much rather have a nice piece of meat than a big old black bear with meat tougher than boot leather! This works well for us because that leaves the larger bears for our sports to hunt. We had some really nice bears on our baits last year that we got on the trail cams that weren't taken and we are anticipating we will have some of these same bears showing up again this year. This is a photo of just one of the nice bears we had hitting our baits last year.

Our hunting territory has some very large bears roaming around and for those hunters looking for a real trophy,if you have the patience,you stand a very good chance of bagging one of these large bruins. Here is another photo of a nice bear on one of our baits.

As you can tell by these trail cam photos,we have some very nice bears hitting our baits and these are the calibre of animals we are setting up for.

    I have been busy searching for vintage items related to hunting and fishing and I have been finding some very nice pieces while travelling around southern New Brunswick. One of the things I recently acquired is a magnificent painting of two herd bull elk locked in mortal combat that was done by the late Moses Weaver. I have spoken of Mosey in past blogs and I was stunned when a picker I know visited my home with one of his paintings that he wanted to sell me. To say I jumped at this chance would be an understatement. This painting hung for a couple of decades in a smoking home and I am in the process of having it cleaned and when I get it done I will post a photo of it in a future blog, so be sure to watch for it. In the meantime,I will show my readers some photos of some other nice items I have picked up. This photo is one of a milk picture made in the style of Royal Bayreuth with a transfer decorated body of a stag in various poses. This item dates to the early nineteen hundreds.

The next photo shows a framed print depicting deer grazing on the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River.This item dates from the Fifties.

And last but not least,a photo of a very fine piece of chalkware modelling the bust of a doe and fawn. I'm not sure of the year this item was made because  the very good condition of this item makes gauging its age difficult. I have seen another one in a collection but it was nowhere near the condition of this one but if I had to make a guess,I would say this item was produced in the late Forties or early Fifties.

    I hope my readers of this blog enjoy seeing these items and I will continue to show photos of my finds as I acquire them and at some point in the future I will be displaying most of these items in a separate area on our web site to make them available for purchase. In the meantime,if anyone is interested in any of the items you see depicted in my blog,feel free to contact me through my e-mail address and we will see if we can come to terms. For now,this is Dale Bauer bidding you adieu and wishing you Happy Trails.....until we meet again!

SPRING IS HERE,THE BITE AND VINTAGE STUFF

    Spring has finally arrived in our part of the country and most folks around here are very happy to see the snow pack starting to melt. We had quite a bit of snow this year around Chipman and to the north and east of our location but other areas to the south and west had a very good winter,with less than normal snowfall. I took a drive to the southern end of Grand Lake this past week-end and I was surprised at how much less snow fell in that short distance from Chipman to Scotchtown. The fields are pretty much bare and the white-tails are taking full advantage of the new shoots that are popping out already. I counted roughly two hundred deer in the fields between Douglas Harbour and Indian Point. It was a pretty impressive site and it gave me a "feel good" moment to see that many deer that survived another New Brunswick winter. It never ceases to amaze me how much of a difference exists between our Crown lands and the areas of private ground. The southern end of Grand Lake is for the most part private ground consisting of large farms and woodlots and the hunting pressure is kept to a minimum.That,coupled with good forest management,seems to be the key to allowing the deer herd to prosper in that area.I know they have their fair share of coy-wolves in that area so that can't be the factor that tips the scale in favor of the deer.If our government and the boys from the DNR would pick up the gauntlet and run with it,we could see an increase in our deer numbers on crown land also. The latest word from the government is that the large corporate woods operators will be given a cut of 53% of the existing DWA's and protected areas in 2012. This has outraged sportsmen and conservationists alike and has resulted in a huge backlash and letter writing frenzy in an effort to stymie this crass piece of work. The biggest problem I have with this proposed cut is the fact that it is slated to occur for the simple reason that government has allowed the big corporations to over cut for the last thirty years.This should never have been allowed and it was only pure greed that allowed this to happen. OUR crown lands were to be managed to allow for a sustainable cut in perpetuity.The government and big business has failed in that mandate and the deer as well as woods workers AND private woodlot owners are suffering as a result.It will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the near future.

    The ice fishing season has come to a close and most locals finished off the season by attending the Paul Gallant Memorial Pickerel Tournament. The tourney was a great success with over one hundred participants fishing French Lake and Indian Lake. Maquapit Lake resident Ralph Atyeo was the overall winner with his two fish as well as winning the lunker prize with a fish measuring twenty-four and five-eighths inches. The second and third place winners were tied at forty-seven inches for their two fish and Bailey Dorion won the toss for second place.Raymond Thibodou won third place by default. A great time was had by all with many prizes and trophy's being provided by the many sponsors of this yearly event.
    The smaller streams and rivers are slowly starting to open up and we are looking forward to the April 15th opener of the regular fishing season. As usual,we will be fishing for black salmon on the main Southwest Miramichi on the opener,if the ice has run out by then. Here at home on Salmon River the ice has started to move above Gaspereau Forks but is still holding solid below this point. The following photo shows a spot below McLeod's Pond just starting to open up.

We are expecting to have more water this year than we had last year for the opener because of the heavier snow pack but you never know what Mother Nature will throw at you. Many sports and guides like to see lots of water for spring salmon fishing but I am one who rather likes low water conditions, like we had last year. It makes it harder to navigate the river but the fish are concentrated in the deeper holes and it makes it a little easier to find fish in this type of water.I love being on the Miramichi at this time of the year because it's usually a time to get together with family and friends and get the season off to a good start. I will be fishing with Donna Aguillon again this year and if we even do half as good as we did last year,it will be great fishing! Good friend and fellow guide Allen Davidson will also be fishing with us,as well as several of our friends and guides from the Chipman and Doaktown areas. Last year Donna hooked a huge salmon,the largest I have ever seen and after playing it for about forty-five minutes or so,the hook fell out of its mouth.I estimated that fish to be five feet long and forty lbs.last year and in retrospect,I have to say that I stand by that estimate. The funny thing about that fish was we had been fishing the run for a while without any hits and Donna said she wanted to change flies.I told her to go ahead and pick one out so she tied on a marabou pattern and she didn't make two casts when she hooked that monster! I have become a real fan of the marabou patterns the last couple of years,having caught good numbers of salmon during the spring and fall seasons. They are especially deadly on large salmon.I am not the only one who has taken a shine to these great flies.Derek Munn,head guide for the Ledges Inn,seems to like them too according to the posts he made in his blog last year.The photo below shows a few Marabou patterns commonly used on the Miramichi.

They say size DOES matter and after last spring I firmly believe that the size of your fly must match the height and clarity of the water conditions if a fisherman is to have any success fishing for Atlantic salmon.With the low water conditions and clear water we had last spring,fishing the smaller marabou patterns was the key to a successful day on the water.A good guide will recognize what the water conditions are like and this will govern his choice of flies. Another pattern that is earning a following is the tandem rabbit strip flies.I haven't used any of these flies yet but I will definitely be trying some this spring and fall.The photo below shows a couple of this relatively new pattern and just the look of them spells fish.

I expect that both the marabou and rabbit strip patterns will do well on the sea-trout on the Miramich and the Cains River so be sure to include a few of these flies in your arsenal when you hit the water this year.

    I have been picking up some very nice art work this winter during my travels and the following photo shows a painting done on a slab of wood.This has been a popular way to produce art work for many years and this one is twenty years old and looks as if it may have come from out west because of the subject matter.It is signed and dated Angie "91".                                                                                                                  

The next painting shown is done in a similar fashion but this one dates back to the late fifties or the early sixties.This is just my estimation because it isn't dated but it is signed by the artist. I really like this painting of a fawn deer and the artist did a great job in portraying how fragile looking the small deer is.

The last item shown this month is yet another lamp.This one is modelled after a nice white-tail buck and is similar to another one I have except this one is more of an end table lamp because of the design,having a rather large shade.

I hope the readers of my blog enjoy seeing these vintage items as much as I enjoy finding them,so don't be afraid to leave a comment if the mood strikes you.Be sure to check out next months blog as I will be updating the spring salmon fishing and preparing for the spring bear season,which is just around the corner.We had some huge bruins on our baits last year and we got some of them on the trail cams,so be sure to drop in again. If any sports would like a day on the water or a week in the bush here in the beautiful Grand Lake area,just give me a shout and Ken and I will fix you right up. This is Dale Bauer signing off for now and wishing you Happy Trails-Until we meet again!