AN OLD-FASHIONED WINTER

     Snow, snow and more snow. We have been getting a lot of snow and cold temperatures here at home on Salmon River this past month and many folks are getting tired of it. I can't say I blame them. There must be nearly five feet of dry, fluffy snow down now and it is costing citizens more money and hardship just to stay ahead of it. In many cases it really affects a persons bottom line and their ability to get around while doing chores and participating in outdoor activities.
    Even the snowmobilers have been complaining about the snow conditions. After you leave the groomed trails, be prepared to get bogged down and stuck. The deep fluffy snow is making it very difficult to get around especially with a short track on your machine.
    The ice fishing has been very slow this year due to the tough conditions but fishermen that did get out managed to land a few fish. I've been getting reports of a few trout and smelt being caught and the odd land-locked but most of the catches have been pickerel,  perch and a few burbot. One lucky angler landed a thirty-three inch burbot while fishing Grand Lake recently and this is considered a large burbot on our lake. this is a photo of Mike T. and his fish.

 Pickerel and perch may be your best bet for actually hooking up but don't overlook burbot if you are fishing Grand Lake for other species. These freshwater cod or ling may not be pretty but they sure are tasty! That's another good reason to target burbot. They make for the best fish and chips. There are lots of good areas on Grand Lake to fish for burbot but keep in mind they are largely nocturnal so fishing early or late will be the most productive times. Try to fish coves or inlets with at least eight to ten feet of water. Many times they will move into shallow water to feed or breed especially at this time of the year. Another tip I will give novices is to use a large hook with a good-sized gob of bait and fish it just off the bottom. Burbot have a big mouth and gullet and they subscribe to the "bigger is better" theory. An egg-sized bait would not be too big or a large live minnow has been known to work well when fished near the bottom. Remember, all lines must be tended and it is illegal to set lines overnight unattended.

 

    This is tournament time and after much difficulty, the annual tournament at the Key-Hole on Grand Lake will be held on Saturday, Feb.28th. This is a fun tournament that sees kids, adults and seniors all trying to catch the biggest pickerel. This tournament is sponsored by the NBIFT and is always well attended. Hot dogs and hot beverages add to the festive mood.

 

    Because of the late start due to weather and ice conditions, I cannot make a report on the tournament at this time. Please stay tuned for details and results on this years tournament in a follow up post in a few days.

WINTER HAS ARRIVED!

    Winter has finally arrived here at home on Salmon River and we are getting a good dump of the white stuff as I write this. For a while there, I thought we might be getting off easy but Mother Nature soon shows you who is boss! I don't mind a little snow but when we start getting storms that leave behind over a foot of the white stuff with blowing wind, that's just getting nasty. Everything slows to a crawl and folks just buck up and dig their way out and get ready for the next one.

    It makes getting to ice shacks and good fishing spots a lot harder in many cases. Fortunately, we have access to some very good fishing right handy to home on Salmon River. Most coves between Chipman and the mouth of the river where it flows into Grand Lake at Salmon Harbour can provide good fishing for several species like pickerel, burbot, perch and smelt. It helps to have a snowmobile if you really want to get to the best spots when the snow pac starts to get deep. 
    So far this month there are some reports of large pickerel being caught at French and Maquapit Lakes. There has been a couple of 10-12 inch brook trout caught on Grand Lake. Smelt catching is off to a slow start with just a few being caught so far. There have been a few burbot caught in some of the coves but things are just getting started on the hard water in our area. We just got some good ice and then we were hit with a big storm that slowed the fishing down a bit. I'll have more to report next month when the fishing gets a bit better and the tournaments start.

    I do have a photo of a nice ice fishing print I picked up recently. I get these prints whenever I can because there aren't many of them around. This print is from the 1930's or thereabouts.

 I was also checking my tackle box after reading an article on antique tackle and remembered a box of old tackle I bought in Lakeville Corner many years ago and thought I would dig some out. Here are some photos of those lures. This first one is a wooden floater with a shallow running lip dressed in red and white. This lure has glass eyes and is in fished condition. Still pretty good shape for a lure over 60 years old.

 This next lure is a jointed "pikie" lure made by a lure manufacturer in Ontario many years ago. This one also has glass eyes.

 The next lure pictured is a very unusual one made of hard plastic with attached metal wings with a yellow and red body. The name of this lure is a Heddon"Crazy Crawler".

 Finally, this last lure is the oldest and most valuable lure in my small collection. This lure is called a "Tin Lizzy" and was actually made as a casting lure but would really be a great jigging lure for perch, smelt etc. when ice fishing. I was tempted to use it a couple of times but thought better when I realized I would be using a lure that sells in the range of $150. This lure was manufactured around 1929 in the U.S.

 I will have a more detailed report next month on the ice fishing around Grand Lake as conditions improve.

 

    Until next time, this is Dale Bauer saying "Happy Trails to You....Until we Meet Again"

MORE 2014 NEW BRUNSWICK BUCKS

    As I predicted in my last post, the deer kill this year was below 7,000 coming in at 6790 animals taken. This number would have been much lower if we didn't have snow and colder weather during most of the 2014 deer season. Our deer herd was just starting to rally a bit when we were hit with a brutal winter last year in 2013. Unfortunately, our province is near the northern extreme of the whitetail deer's habitat and due to extensive logging on our crown forest and industries spraying of succulent hardwoods, deer face an uphill battle during the winter. Many folks think that deer need a mature canopy of forest cover to survive in the winter but I think access to a food source such as cedar is much more important. Mother Nature equips animals with coats that allow them to survive freezing temperatures but without food they certainly cannot survive. That is why I am a strong advocate of planting cedar adjacent to our buffer zones. Whitetail deer in our province flock to cedar instinctively as soon as the temperature drops whether there is snow on the ground or not. I am hoping that the QDMA and hunting fraternity in our province can exert enough pressure on government and forestry companies to implement a cedar planting program to assist our deer herd in growing and sustaining itself. This is at the top of my Christmas wish list and I think it will stay that way until a positive change happens before it is too late for our whitetails.

    Despite having everything going against them, hunters still manage to bag some beautiful bucks each fall here in New Brunswick. Our herd has the genetics and potential to produce trophy bucks but unfortunately we lack the numbers to make for good deer hunting. I have gathered some photos of deer taken in the southern half of New Brunswick this year and I'm sure my readers will agree there were some beautiful bucks taken again this year. The following photo shows a well known hunter from the Sussex area with the nice buck he took this year to complete a New Brunswick Grand Slam.

 The next photo shows his 2014 black bear.

 Finally, here is a photo of his 2014 moose he took in his quest for a NB Grand Slam.

 This is quite an accomplishment for any hunter and I extend congratulations to this young sportsman from Sussex. WTG Brad!

 

    I've got a few photos of some heavyweight bucks taken last year. Two brothers from the Woodstock area took two dandies in the first week of the season. The first photo is of a 260 lb. buck taken on the first day.

 The second brother took a beautiful 14 point buck that dressed out at 265 lbs.

 The next buck dressed out at 255 lbs. and had ten points. It was taken in zone 16

 This buck was taken in the Miramichi area, sported a beautiful ten point rack and dressed out at 235 lbs.

 The next photo shows a nice buck that dressed out at 231 lbs.

 The next 2014 buck dressed out at 215 lbs. and had a nice 12 point rack. This buck was killed in southern New Brunswick.

 The next photo shows an 8 point buck that dressed at 210 lbs.

 Next is a photo of another buck with a nice 8 point rack taken in the snow during this years season.

 This buck dressed out at 220 lbs. and had a nice heavy ten point rack.

 This 2014 buck was a heavy racked eight pointer and dressed out at 220 lbs.

 The next photo shows a hunter with a trophy buck that he hunted for three seasons and finally killed it this year. This deer was taken near Fredericton Junction.

 

 This next photo is a little bloodier than I prefer but I wanted to include it because this buck was a real hog at 255 lbs. dressed. Big swollen neck on that boy! It also had a beautiful fourteen point rack. A true New Brunswick trophy buck!

 This next buck sported a nice rack and dressed out at 210 lbs.

 The next photo shows a massive fourteen pointer that dressed out at 245 lbs. This guy must have been wearing his lucky underwear when he took this buck!

 This big buck was taken near Riley Brook in the northern half of the province. This area was famous for its hardwood ridges and the big bucks that ran them back in the day. I guess there is still a few left. A nice ten point rack that was twenty-five and a quarter inches wide.

 Here is another nice eight point buck taken this year.

 This buck had a nice ten point rack that dressed out at 200 lbs.

  This next buck was one of the heaviest racked bucks to be taken in zone 17 in 2014. Taken by a hunter from Minto just on the outskirts of town.

 The next nice buck had a rack with split brow tines.

 The next photo shows a buck killed on the Trans Canada Highway in southern New Brunswick this past hunting season.

 This next buck was a very nice trophy that came in over 200lbs and had a great rack. That's one happy hunter right there!

 This next photo shows a nice buck that dressed out at 220 lbs and grossed 165 B&C points. Not too shabby!

 Another big racked 2014 buck.

 This nice ten point buck was taken in Coles Island near to the Pioneer Lodge. This is all good deer country down that way.

 The next buck dressed out at 200 lbs. and had a heavy basket shaped rack.

 This heavy racked buck had everything that trophy hunters like!

 The next photo shows a group of resident hunters with the bucks they took during the 2014 season. Nice!

 This big buck has been photographed in good taste and shows it as the true trophy that it is.

 Another great racked New Brunswick buck!

 The next photo shows a nice buck taken on the last day of the 2014 season. Couldn't end any better for this hunter!

 I saved this photo until last because it was one of the better bucks killed this past season and the photo of this buck and the hunter who harvested it exemplifies the thrill and honor of being able to harvest a buck of this calibre. This trophy buck was killed in Charlotte county and had a heavy eighteen point rack. What a buck and congratulations to the resident hunter who took him! 

 

 

As you can see from the photos in this piece, there were some great bucks taken during the 2014 deer season. I have shown some of the nice bucks taken in our province last season but by no means all of them. It isn't an easy feat to kill a dressed two hundred lb. buck nowadays here in New Brunswick. I really don't expect that to change a lot in the near future but that doesn't mean we shouldn't start trying to help them along in any way we can. Especially on crown land. If you look at New Brunswick's official coat of arms you will see that two of the most prominent images on our shield are the whitetail buck and the Atlantic salmon.

I find it disturbing that two of the creatures that lie at the very core of who we are as a people and province are in serious trouble because of low numbers. Is this because of neglect or is it that we just don't care? Due to recent developments in New Brunswick's social consciousness, I am seeing a glimmer of hope for the future of our beautiful province. You might say I'm cautiously optimistic. After all, this is the year of the Green Parties entry to the Legislature and a moratorium on Fracking by the newly elected N.B. Liberals. More and more over the last few years I've noticed that residents of this province are awakening to the fact that change is within their power in our Democracy. This can only be a good thing, in my opinion.

 

From all of us, to all of you, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

    This is Dale Bauer saying " Happy Trails to You.....Until we Meet Again!"