WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE!

    Usually at this time of the year I am writing about fishing black salmon on the Miramichi River but not this year. This springs freshet is turning into a bit of a pain in the neck for a lot of people. For many river folks, it was business as usual but for some unfortunate souls it was nothing short of a nightmare. People in the town of Sussex, sixty miles to the south, had flooding in areas never touched before. This was caused by a large rainfall that prompted some of the heavy ice to break up and jam and the water took the path of least resistance right into the heart of Sussex. It was a devastating scenario with heavy flooding right into the business section of town and the damage is estimated to be in the millions of dollars. Things have settled down quite a bit but the clean-up will continue for most of the spring.
    Closer to home, the Salmon River and the Grand Lake system had a large raise of water but there was much less damage to property. I'm assuming the large Grand Lake basin allowed the water to dissipate through the system and not pile up as it did in Sussex. We still have a lot of ice in Grand Lake and the lower end of Salmon River and we are getting a rain event as I'm writing this. I know I will be keeping a close watch as this rainfall unfolds and I can only hope the river doesn't come up too much. This rain and the accompanying melt may push the river over it's banks in the Chipman area. There has already been a couple of camps washed away up river and heavy damage sustained to others. As it stands in the Chipman area, the water had been starting to drop slightly but it will likely rise again with this rain. The next photo shows the river in front of my house on the April 15th opener. Note the three geese that appear to be lost.

 The ice has broken up since this photo was taken and we have open water above Chipman. The Burpee Bridge on Gaspereau River took a beating and lost a few boards but the bridge didn't seem to sustain any real heavy damage. Many people were worried that we would lose yet another covered bridge because the Cherryvale covered bridge was floating down the Canaan River last week and we came very close to the same thing happening to our bridge.

    The ice has cleared out of the upper Miramichi River except for one stubborn jam above Boistown. A recent report says that  jam is ready to give way with the raise of water we are getting after the rainfall that occurred over the last couple of days. This season has been a bad one for the outfitters on the Miramichi who rely heavily on a good spring season to help maintain their bottom line. One thing I will say is that most outfitters weren't taking any chances and were staying off the water until conditions improve. No fish in the world is risking a life over even though sports may be willing to take a chance on getting out in such poor conditions. I did see a report of a guide and sport who landed a large salmon but I wouldn't say it was a smart move on either ones part being out in those conditions. Here is a photo of Nelsons Hollow looking down river towards Doaktown.

 Residents who live along the shore near the bridge in Doaktown were under a voluntary evacuation order last week but that has been lifted since then with the receeding water levels. My good friend Glen Davidson was getting nervous but decided to ride the situation out as water and ice threatened to invade his property. His road was closed for a week or so but things are pretty much back to normal now. Here is a photo taken last week during the worst part of the flooding when the road was closed.

 I have been getting some reports of fish being caught by sports in the Blackville area and a smattering of fish in the Doaktown area. Overall, the fishing is still a week away from being decent and by that I mean warmer temperatures, lower water levels and less ice running. The Miramichi River on cold days and in high water is not a fun place to be. My advice is always "better safe than sorry" when poor conditions prevail such as those we have now.

 

    Here is a photo composite of Pops Point on Grand Lake West that was flooded by a huge wall of ice. As you can see from these photos the ice was very thick this winter on the lake. 

 The Village of Chipman is still not out of the woods as far as flooding is concerned. Water in the lower Salmon River remains very high and at near flood levels. I have been surrounded on two sides by high water for nearly two weeks now here at home and my pump has been running for about the same length of time. This is always a nerve -wracking time but on a year like this, it's especially bad.

 

This post was mostly about the weather but that's what most folks have been dealing with for the past month. Ken and I have put most activities on hold but we will be getting out next week for some fishing and we will be putting bear baits out the week after that. Next month should start to bring things along nicely and I'll have a little more to talk about. In the meantime,  I'll give a short synopsis on what to look forward to this coming year outdoors.

 

    Look for good runs of sea-trout and salmon this year. A late spring with lots of water is a good news scenario for these species and there should be good numbers around by mid June. The run of white perch on Salmon River could be delayed this spring because of the persistent thick ice in Grand Lake. Normally, these fish run up river from Grand Lake about the first of June but all bets are off this spring. The same goes for the run of shad that runs up salmon River. The local shad tournament is scheduled for June 7th so keep your fingers crossed!

 

    Our deer herd had a terrible winter this year and the latest numbers bear out this fact. Preliminary numbers released put the losses at between 20-25,000 head lost. The bulk of these deer were young of the year and old bucks past their prime. If anyone is planning a white-tail hunt this fall in New Brunswick, you would do well to stick to the southern half of the province and stick to private ground. The big forestry companies and the government have done everything in their power to destroy our deer herd on Crown land and citizens are fed up especially since the dirty deeds that have gone on in the past have been brought to light. The first protest is scheduled for May 13th in the capital and it should be an interesting event!

 

    The two bright spots are the numbers of moose and black bear that roam New Brunswick's forests. Both these species are at an all time high and trophy animals can be found in all sectors of the province.

 

    Woodcock and grouse numbers are still up in the air because good nesting conditions determine whether there will be a surplus of birds or not. The same goes for our duck numbers but if I were a betting man I would say the ducks should have good nesting conditions this spring because of the abundance of water. 

 

Hopefully, next month will show improving weather conditions and we can hit the bush running. Until then, this is Dale Bauer saying "Happy Trails to You.....Until we Meet Again"

 

   

  

SPRING HAS ARRIVED........I THINK?

    Spring has just officially arrived here in New Brunswick but I don't think anyone told the big guy upstairs yet. This winter arrived early and is determined to stay until the last bell. The weather has been staying cold and now we have another storm coming that promises to pound areas of the Maritimes. I've been crossing my fingers hoping that this system will slide by the Grand Lake area without leaving too much precipitation in its wake. It seems things are running about two weeks late at this point and we have already postponed our trip to the Miramichi River for the spring salmon opener on the 15th of April. There is no way the river will be open by then. It's still frozen from bank to bank the full length of the river. This causes considerable problems for outfitters and guides alike because of cancellations and delays and it shortens the spring season which translates into lost revenue. Hopefully, the weather will moderate soon and give our deer herd AND citizens a break after this long winter.

    Although most people are hoping for warmer temperatures, this winter has been great for the ice fishermen. Most of the locals have been taking full advantage of these cold temperatures and have been hitting the hard water with enthusiasm. One of my fishing buddies decided to put a shack out on McLeod's Pond this year and he had a little help from a couple of other friends. This location proved to be a good choice because the village of Chipman kept the area ploughed and sanded and that helped with getting off of the road and getting on and off the ice. There is certainly lots of ice with about two feet measured on the pond. This is a photo of George P. in his shack that I took when I stopped in for a visit.

 George and his fishing partner were having a hard time catching fish so I asked him what they were using for bait and he motioned to a can of corn nibblets. When I seen that I exclaimed "George, don't you know that fish aren't vegetarians!" George and his partner "Dag" got a good chuckle out of that and Dag mentioned that he had a bottle of power bait and I told him that would be better than corn nibblets. Dag baited up with the new bait and started jigging. I then asked if they were chumming and they replied that they were...religiously. I looked down at the holes and saw some French fries and some other assorted fast food and took into laughing. "You've got these fish spoiled George!" I said and just at that moment Dag says "I've got one." I told Dag to haul it up and what came up through the hole caused us all to explode in laughter. Here is a photo of Dag with his catch.

 Poor old Dag got an awful ribbing on that one. It turns out it was a sack full of salad of some sort and I told Dag that mess would be better off in the garbage. He dumped the mess and continued fishing as George and I teased him mercilessly. I have always found that some kind of natural bait such as angle worms or minnows work well when ice fishing. Cut bait can also work well for certain species. One thing I DO know is anything vegetable or canned doesn't work.

    McLeod's Pond is a fairly small habitat and I asked George if he released the fish he caught and he replied "What fish" and we all got a good chuckle over that. All joking aside, these smaller areas can be fished out quickly as we have seen these past few seasons as this area gets more popular with fishermen from away. Catch and release is definitely the way to go for a sustainable fishery. I asked Dag and George if they had anything else  that a fish might eat and they replied that they had some power bait worms. I told Dag to try a couple of those so he tied a couple on and started to jig. After a few minutes Dag whooped " I've got one". Yeah, right. George and I were waiting for Dag to haul up another salad plate or maybe an old boot but lo and behold, up comes a pickerel! I guess Dag had the last laugh that day. Here is a photo of the pickerel Dag got.

 This pickerel wasn't trophy size but on a slow day it was a good fish to break the ice. George and Dag picked up a couple of perch later on and decided to call it a day. George asked me if I would be interested in setting up a little local tournament next year because he said the village offered to keep the area ploughed and sanded and would support a local tournament. I told George I was definitely interested and we would plan an event for next season.

    At the other end of Grand Lake,  Matt Banks and his fishing buddies were running around pounding holes in a couple of different areas but final settled in at a spot on Maquapit Lake. Matt and his buddies take their ice fishing serious and have a permanent shack set up on Grand Lake and use a good portable to travel around to other areas. These guys are rigged with electronics and live bait and a good knowledge of the four lakes area so they usually do quite well on their fishing excursions. Matt and the boys fish for a variety of species but seem to like pickerel fishing probably because pickerel will usually co-operate when you find them and offer up the right bait. Here is a photo of Matt with a very nice trophy sized pickerel taken at Maquapit Lake.

 This fish represents the upper end in terms of the size of fish caught in the four lakes area. Matt wanted to keep some for a feed so he kept two of the bigger ones and he asked me how he should do them up for the pan. I told him the easiest way was to clean and scale the fish and just steak it up and fry the portions up with seasoning. Another option is to fillet the fish but that takes a bit of skill to avoid the Y bones that pickerel have. Here is a photo of the two fish Matt and his fishing partner kept for supper.

 These two fish show what size pickerel are available for fishermen who know where to go and what bait to use. fishermen shouldn't expect to get fish this size on every outing but 20 inch+ fish are usually taken every time out, if they are taking.

    The New Brunswick Big Game Club held an antler show and scoring session recently at the bowling ally in Chipman and it was very well attended with over three hundred people through the doors. This was a fund raiser for the Chipman Fish and Game Club and the Chipman Bowling Ally and according to the organizers it was a great success. There were lots of volunteers on hand to help with scoring and many other chores but because of the large number of racks brought in, some didn't get scored but any heads that looked promising were given priority because the club wanted to get as many new additions for the book as possible. The last count I heard was thirty new moose and deer heads were entered into the New Brunswick record book. That's pretty good considering the size of the geographical area they were drawing from. The best in show went to Bob Northrup with his father-in-laws non-typical deer head that was taken in the Bronson area. This head was taken by the late Bill Davidson who is a former Mayor of Chipman and a brother to my good friend Allen Davidson. Billy's rack scored in the 180's non-typical which is a pretty good score but Allen scoffed and said that deer didn't hold a candle to his 302 Lb. dressed buck that he killed many years ago in Cumberland Bay. Allen said that the deer was so old his horns were starting to rot! I seen a photo of this deer that Allen had and the deer was on the back of a big old Pontiac car and it was hanging over both ends and it dwarfed Allen who was posing beside it. If I can ever get a copy of that photo I will post it on my blog. The next photo shows some of the nice deer heads brought in for the show.

 One of the more impressive sets of moose horns was brought in by an old friend from Minto who killed a tremendous bull on a hunt with his brother. Roger "Spunk" McGraw and his brother |Morris harvested this bull in the Bronson area a few years ago and just had it scored and I believe it placed in the top ten in the province. Regardless of its placing, this is a very impressive set of horns and after viewing the photos of the hunt, I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say this was a 1200 lb. bull. The butcher that did their moose up said it was the biggest moose he had done in 25 years. Spunk told me they had 710 lbs. of meat after it was all said and done. That is one BIG moose! Here is a photo of that set of horns.

 There were several large sets of moose horns brought in including a nice one that was taken by Sam W. last season in the Bronson area. This area was a veritable game haven at one time. It held good numbers of deer, moose and birds but lately it seems the moose are the only species to survive and thrive after the heavy wood harvesting done over the last twenty years. A group of hunters from the Moncton area have been setting up in the Coy Brook area each season and pretty much stay for the length of the season. They don't seem to be taking many deer but they do pick up a few birds and seem to enjoy the camaraderie of their group of hunters at their little encampment. The next photo shows Sam W's. 19 point moose rack.

 The next photo shows one of the odd non-typical racks that was brought in for display. I'm not sure whose rack this was but it drew considerable interest because of its odd configuration.

 As I said, this was a great show but due to the large number of racks,  they didn't all get scored. I brought in three sets but I only got one set scored that went in the book at 168 and change. The other two sets were retrieved from a barn and I brought them in more for display but at least one set would make the N.B. book as a typical. The new book published by the NBBGC is the fourth edition and is a very well done addition to the previous ones with many color photos and stories included. I can't give the club members enough credit for their efforts and I would be remiss not to mention George Chases name as well as Bill Hanson. These two gentlemen are considered the Deans of the deer hunting fraternity here in New Brunswick and these accolades are well deserved. Kevin Burgoine is one of the younger hunters continuing the tradition that George and Bill started and Kevin has two animals in the book and he's just getting started! Here is a photo I coaxed out of George Chase

 and he was kind enough to take a few seconds to pose for me. George and his crew worked tirelessly all day and are to be commended for a job well done.

    The government recently announced it is providing a substantial amount of wood to be made available to the big forestry companies for harvest in the near future. This announcement was greeted with mixed reviews because the wood is coming from buffer zones and deer yards because that is about the only wood that's left that hasn't been utilized. I'm not going to get into the whole thing because I have worked in the industry for longer than I care to remember and I'm not a hypocrite so I'll just say if you want to do any research into the subject don't look to the mainstream media but look at YouTube and the Internet if you want to get the facts on this issue.

    Looking forward, I am recommending would-be spring salmon fishermen watch the weather forecasts and keep an ear out for what the locals are saying concerning the timing of ice out for the Miramichi River. We have already cancelled the week of the 15th and if I were a betting man, I would be looking to the end of April for the spring break-up if I were a sport planning a trip this spring. Ken and I have some very nice bears waiting safely in their dens for the weather to warm up and rouse them from their deep sleep. Again, I would expect the season to be a week or two late in getting started so please keep this in mind when booking a hunt this spring for bear here in New Brunswick. I have my eye on one particular old boar that has BOOK written all over him.

    If any sport is looking for a guided trip for any of our species at a very reasonable cost please shoot me an e-mail or give me a call at my contact information and we will iron out the details for a trip to the beautiful Grand Lake region for the adventure of your choice.

    Until then, this is Dale Bauer saying 'Happy Trails to You.....Until we Meet Again!'

ICE FISHING AT THE KEY-HOLE ON GRAND LAKE

    We have had a mixed bag of weather this month here at home on Salmon River. Our snow pac had dropped to a manageable level and then we got a couple of snow events back to back that pushed the snow level up to three feet+. It's turning into one of those winters that starts early and holds on to the last bell. That's OK though, we are on the downer side of this tough Atlantic winter and in another month a lot of this bad weather will be behind us.
    In the meantime, there is lots of hard water fishing in the Grand Lake area and we have multiple species to pursue. Personally, I like fishing for pickerel, burbot and smelt. The last two species can usually be fished at the same time but for pickerel the ice fisherman must find some shallow water and weed beds. These toothy critters hang out at the edge of the weed beds waiting for some unsuspecting forage fish to swim by. Smelt and whitefish,as well as land-locks, are taken by jigging fresh bait in a little deeper water. The burbot will move into the shallows to feed in the evening and a gob of bait or a live minnow right on the bottom will take this freshwater version of the cod fish. Burbot make excellent table fare and I love having a feed deep-fried in batter with French fries. Many ice fishermen think you must use live minnows to catch pickerel but that is not the case. We proved that during the annual ice fishing tournament at the Key-hole on Grand Lake this past week-end.

    I have been fishing local tournaments for over forty years in the Grand Lake area and the one held recently by the village of Minto was one of the better ones I have attended. I haven't figured out if that's because we did so well at the tournament or if it's because of all the folks having such a good time out there on a perfect day that had temperatures running up to +7 degrees Celsius. I was particularly impressed with how many kids were there and how many doting parents and grand-parents were on hand for the fishing fun,  hot dogs and hot chocolate. The following photo shows the registration booth and the hot dog stand.

 I like to get out early and when I arrived the master of ceremonies was the only one on hand so I chatted up Mr. Glenn for a while as he got things prepared for the arriving fishermen. I've known Brian Glenn and his family all my life, having grown up in Minto and he had a brother who was my age so I know him quite well. I was impressed that Brian used his own equipment to ready the fishing area and was using his own muscle power to sand the hill. We had quite a discussion about why Grand Lake is so underutilized,  yet is the largest lake in the province and a very beautiful one to boot! Overall, I would say Brian and his volunteer helpers did a good job organizing this tournament.

 

    

 This photo shows some of the fishermen and one of the snowmen built by the kids when they got bored by the fishing. Or was that the parents? No matter, everyone was having a lot of fun and the fishing was pretty good. The next photo shows my grandson Jackson with the little perch he caught right at the start of the tournament. That was his first fish taken through the ice so he was pretty excited!

 Our team included myself, my son Curtis, my grandson Jackson, his father Gary and two young bucks, Matt Banks and Chris Pollick. Matt and Chris did a good job drilling holes and helping with the heavier work. The next photo shows Matt and Chris drilling a hole at the start of the tournament.

 It's good to have some younger guys on hand when participating in these outdoor activities because it doesn't take long for a guy my age to tucker out lugging equipment and drilling holes. We had a great team that day and it sure made the day more enjoyable having some help getting set up. This is a short video clip I made as the tournament was getting started.

 

    Some of you may ask how good was the fishing? It was that good that I hooked a fish on the first line as I lowered it down the hole! I was just checking the depth of the water when I felt that familiar tug and before I could get him up the hole he was gone. No matter. I knew he would be right there handy and I would probably get another shot at him. I was right! I had action in that hole all day long during the tournament and we were catching most of our fish in the holes around this first one. I had been told leading up to this tournament that the pickerel weren't taking well and the only chance you had was fishing with live minnows. Well, I didn't swallow this and I just stayed with my game plan and it paid off, in spades! We had action right off the hop and this continued until the last bell. The next photo shows Matt Banks with a nice fish he landed.

 This fish was 22.75 inches long and is considered a nice sized pickerel. We all caught fish and they were all over 20 in. except for the perch we caught. The fish were coming so quickly at one point that we didn't get photos of all the fish we caught but we did get a few of the biggest ones like the one my son-in-law Gary is holding in the next photo.

 We figured we would be in the winners circle somewhere with the fish we had landed but when my son Curt hooked a big one and just got it up the hole, it came off the hook. I knew as soon as I seen the fish it was a big one so I yell at Curt "Get that fish!". Curt immediately dove face first into that six inch puddle of water where the hole was and scooped the fish out of harms way. Talk about a fellow moving fast! The whoops and war cries soon followed and we were all excited including little Jack. Now, Curt and I have caught and released hundreds and hundreds of pickerel during our lives on the water and we are very good at estimating the size of these fish and I immediately said "That fish is 24+ inches long" and Curt chimed in with "I'm saying 26 inches Dad". We would find out later that someone else disagreed but I will get back to that later on. Here is a photo of that fish and please note that Curt is holding the fish close to his body as you can see by his bent arm.

 THAT is a trophy sized pickerel in any one's book! This fish was certainly the biggest fish we caught that day but we kept on fishing until the siren went to end the tournament. Our team fished hard but we took a short break for some hot dogs and beverage. We were all having a ball, including little Jackie, so when we got a moment between the action I got Mattie Banks to get a photo of my son Curtis, my grandson Jackson and myself. The following photo is the one Matt took and I'll be keeping this one in a frame.

 Note the heavy slush and abundance of water where we drilled the holes. It was pretty messy but if you had good footwear like rubber boots, you could keep dry. The registration area was like a small lake and you definitely wanted rubber footwear if you were registering a fish or getting a hot dog for a snack. The following short clip shows the registration area as the tournament was wrapping up.  I had been fishing one hole pretty steady but I had another hole nearby that I was also tending. As I stepped away from jigging my other hole, I noticed my Rod was gone and I said "That's great, a good rod taken down the hole". I quickly rigged up another rod and never thought much about it again when about an hour and a half later a pickerel took and I hauled it out of the hole. After I landed that fish I looked down and there was my missing rod with all the terminal tackle still attached! We were not only catching lots of big fish, we were also catching missing rods! What's the chance of that happening? The next photo shows Curt and I with the pickerel AND the rod I caught along with it!

 

 This was a good tournament and it was a beautiful day to be out on the pond fishing with friends and family. As the tournament was winding down we had registered all of our fish and when Gary and little Jackson registered Curt's big pickerel there were some ooh's and ahh's from the onlookers, with some exclaiming "There's your winner". It was put in the measuring box and the measurer said " That's 25 inches...no, wait we have to get this precise, it's 25 .25 " and a little cheer went up. The lady scorer then told Gary he could put it back down one of the holes drilled near the registration area. Gary obediently pushed the big fish down the hole and made his way back to where the rest of us were waiting. As he approached our group, I noticed he wasn't holding the fish and I immediately got a sinking feeling and I asked Gary where the fish was and what did it measure. He told me that they told him to put it back down the hole and that it measured in at 25.25 inches, which was confirmed by Chris Pollick who was with him during the registration. I was disappointed that he put the fish back because I wanted to get some more photos and confirm the size of this nice trophy sized pickerel. Oh well, all is good,
 so Gary and I took a short beverage break and when we returned later Matt Banks told me that a bigger fish came in while we were gone. I was quite surprised because I knew this pond only held a handful of fish that compared to the one we caught and since only about one- third of the pond was being fished, I felt that the odds of someone getting one bigger were very small. I asked Matt how big the fish was that surpassed ours and Matt replied that it was 24 inches. I made a face and said "That's not right, ours was 25.25. to which Matt replied that our fish was down at 23.75 inches. I was shocked at first and then I could feel my face getting red. This wasn't good. This all unfolded near the end of the tournament so I told Gary to go check it out and he returned and said that it was down at 23.75 inches . By this time I was getting upset and I said maybe I should go talk the situation over with the officials. My son Curtis, who had caught the fish for our team, spoke up and said "You know Dad, we had a great day out here today and Jack is sure to be in the winners circle,  so lets just let it go because we don't have the fish and we will look like sore sports" I thought for a moment and then I agreed with him. When I thought about it later I was very proud of my son for taking the high road on this issue and the more I thought about it, the prouder I got! I guess my boy was paying attention to his father when I was trying to instill the virtues of good sportsmanship over the years. Jackson ended up with second place overall and he was very happy with that placing. All he knew was that he was a winner and I got to thinking we were ALL winners on that beautiful day. The following photo shows Gary and Jackson with his plaque for second place.

 

 

As I said, it was a good tournament and it was a great day to be on the ice but I did notice a couple of things that the tournament organizers should address. There was no porta-pottie on site so women, children and old folks were left to their own devices when they had to use the bathroom. It made for a difficult situation. Also, there were no rules, written or spoken , that participants could use as a guideline during the tournament. I know this caused considerable confusion among our team members as well as others who were participating. A hand out sheet when signing up would have been very helpful or even if the rules were listed during the advertising of this event, it would have cleared up some of the confusion. I know personally, I thought it was a fun tournament for kids and seniors but I found out later that this event is taken quite seriously by some fishermen and that there were cash prizes awarded for the top place finishers in three categories. We knew none of this and if we had,  we would have done things a bit differently. I would much rather fish a tournament without any money prizes because I have seen how other contests have turned out over the years. One tournament in particular has been notorious for the cheaters who want in on the money and will do so at any cost. All this does is make for bad feelings and actually defeats the purpose of having these contests. Nothing is perfect in this world and hopefully someone reading this blog who is connected to this tournament will pay attention to these discrepancies I have pointed out and take steps to correct them.

 

Before closing, I want to show my readers a very nice piece of art work I acquired recently of an etching of a trophy moose done by Maritime artist M. Ladds. This beautiful piece of work is signed and dated by the artist and is sure to appreciate in value over time.

 I am in the process of selling this piece so it will no longer be for sale.

 

Ken and I look forward to any and all correspondence about our guide service so please don't hesitate to contact me regarding a trip to our hunting grounds or a fishing trip on any of our beautiful waterways. Until then, this is Dale Bauer saying "Happy Trails to You.....Until we Meet Again!"