TIME FOR TROUT AND FIDDLEHEADS!

    The weather is finally moderating here at home on Salmon River and, as usual, this spring was another nail biter. With the large amount of snow we received this year, we were especially vigilant around the first of May. That's usually the time of year when Salmon River peaks at our place and fortunately she didn't spill her banks this year and was more or less a "normal" freshet. Traditionally, waterfowl arrive here around the third week in March but this year they were a couple of weeks late and I noticed the first ones on the 8th of April. No doubt this was because of the extended stretch of cold weather we experienced this year.
    At this time of the year, we like to walk down to the shore at my place and watch the river as it rolls by and see what has floated in on the high water. Sometimes we are cleaning up the blowdowns and tending a small fire. This spring we were hard at it right during the peak of the freshet and had just stopped for some beverage refreshments when my phone rang. It was an old buddy of mine, Jake Doherty. I thought he called to talk about the upcoming fishing season but instead he said he was outside in the yard. I looked out towards the road but I told him I couldn't see him and he told me to look behind me and there he was floating along talking to me on his cell phone. I nearly fell over! Jake is an avid kayaker and fisherman and because of his daring nature, he decided to run from the covered bridge on Gaspereau River to my place on Salmon River during this years peak of the freshet. That float is NOT for the inexperienced or the feint of heart! Here is a photo I took after he landed.

 It was later in the evening and it caused the photos to come out a little dark. Jake told me he was quite stiff from sitting in his kayak that distance and it was still cool in the evenings. I told him to sit and visit for a bit and I would get him a hot toddy.We had a great visit and I later loaded up his boat and gave him a lift home. Here is a photo of Jake's transportation that night.

 These photos make the Salmon River look quite calm but actually there is a pretty good current going there. I wouldn't recommend this run to anybody at this time of the year but Jake is a very experienced kayaker and he seemed to enjoy himself. I will say he has more nerve than me. All's well that ends well and he made it home safe and sound and that's what counts.

 We had a pair of geese stop in for a visit and they announced their presence with some noisy honking as they warily eyed our dog. Here is a photo of Donna with the geese in the background.

 These photos were taken a few nights after Jake's visit and we had a nice sunset on that evening. The next photo captures that moment.

 

 

    The spring salmon season on the Miramichi River was surprisingly good this year. A lot of sportsmen thought because of the poor returns last year there wouldn't be many fish around. Most of the reports I got said it turned out to be a good to average season, depending on who you talked to.

I was also told by a couple of locals that there was a late run of salmon that came in and missed the counters last fall and that ties right in with the fish being in very good condition this spring. They spent less time in the river so they were quite "bright". By all accounts, there seemed to be more salmon than grilse caught by those anglers who braved some very cold days during this past season. This was the first season that was total hook and release and several friends on the river told me that there didn't seem to be as many fishermen this year, for whatever reason. Cold weather was probably a factor as well as the fact that many anglers were anticipating a poor season because of the low runs in 2014. I have been getting my reports from friends and guides so far this season because of a bad knee that makes it very hard to get around and then I got a good dose of something and was sick for the last three weeks. I'm hoping to get healed up enough to get out for some sea trout in the next week or so. They are just getting started on the Miramichi and my buddy Jake Doherty told me he got a few nice ones in the 10-12 inch range out of a small tributary of Salmon River. This next photo sums up what spring means to many New Brunswickers.

 I can't help but think back to the great fishing trips I took with my dearly departed old friend wee Alan Davidson. We did well fishing sea trout the last few years he was alive and those memories are vivid in my memory yet. Here is my favorite  photo of Alan that I took on one of our trips.

 Here is another photo of Alan with some sea trout we caught at the Trout Hole on the MSW Miramichi River a few years ago.

 I wanted to include this photo to show my readers just how big our sea trout get in in some of our larger rivers. This fish would represent the upper limit of sea run brook trout here in New Brunswick but there has been the odd one up to 7 lbs.

    The striped bass run has been kicking in big time on the lower Miramichi River and many anglers have been flogging the water with all types of gear and having great success! Stripers have been getting lots of attention lately and there is a big tournament this year with some very nice prizes. This species has been taking a lot of heat lately because of their large presence in the tidal waters of the Miramichi River. They are voracious eaters and will devour just about anything that gets in their way, including smolts and parr. You can just imagine what a salmon fisherman thinks of that! Everything has an up side and fishermen both young and old have enthusiastically embraced this fishery that has developed on the lower Miramichi River. They are easy to catch and there are lots of them around when they are running. They are being caught from shore, off of docks and from boats of all sizes. That adds up to a lot of fun!
    The Hargrove Clan took a trip over to Red Bank recently to visit relatives and had a nice visit with a bon fire and beverages in the evening. They also caught a good mess of trout and some very nice stripers. This photo shows Kenny and his dad, Wesley with a nice keeper sized striper.

 Not to be outdone, Jamie hooked into a big 14 lb'er that almost spooled him. It took him down the shore a ways but he finally horsed it in. Here is a photo of that fish.

 That is a nice striper but this species can get very large and 50-60 lb'ers  have been taken from Grand Lake and the Saint John River systems.

    The sea trout are just getting started but the warmer weather this last week in May will get things going . The gaspereau are in and the shad have started so the trout fishing should really start in earnest this coming week-end. Around the first week in June the white perch run will be in. This is always a big hit here at home and we have a lot of fun when this tasty species is running.

 

    The turkeys in our area seem to have survived last winters onslaught rather well but I suspect they had a little help in many areas. I got a couple of photos of a flock at a feeder near Chipman last month. Note the big fan tail.

 These next photos show a wider view of the flock.

 

 I received a nice photo of the albino buck that lives up around Carrolls Crossing near the Lyons camp. He was around all winter at one of the feeding stations and caused quite a sensation.

 

    The bear season is starting to heat up and already I've seen and heard some nasty stuff with regard to this years hunt. I'm not going to dignify that aspect of the newly changed bear hunt with one word. I'll just say I'm not a fan of the regulations as they are. New Brunswick's spring bear hunt is still pretty much a slam dunk and you couldn't pick a better location to hunt these black ghosts. Trophy sized black bears require a lot of scouting and then you must have the patience to wait him out. If a hunter can do those two things, your odds of taking a nice bear in New Brunswick is very good.

    I took a drive out to one of Kenny's bear baits to see if any of those big, old boars was coming in again this year and that bait was being hammered. Ken took a very nice bear off of this site but there was a much bigger one also coming in. All of our active baits have multiple bears on them. A couple of years ago we were chasing them off of the road going in and shooing females and young bears off of the bait. It was crazy! The down side of this was the large amount of bait we used at that site. It was still a great show and well worth the cost and effort. We only took one bear off of that bait and the bigger boar was still around.

    As I was driving back out from the bait I was checking, I suddenly found myself surrounded by a familiar but always soul stirring sound. To me, these singing sprites, these nocturnal nymphs evoke something spiritual in my memories of many spring evenings in the backwoods of New Brunswick. These were times of my youth and that song was still special then but not like it is now. It's the memories and times that become attached to that song that makes it special for me today. It's a good feeling. I like it and I hope you do too!

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

33rd NEW BRUNSWICK ICE FISHING TOURNAMENT

    The long winter is slowly coming to an end here at home on Salmon River and what a winter it was! A Nor'easter just blew through last night and it was a good one. The winds were high and a good dump of snow made for terrible conditions. I have heard that storms like this even have a name. Sheila's Brush is the name given to late storms in March around Saint Patrick's Day. I'm Irish on my mothers side and this is the first I have seen reference to it. Now when I curse the bad weather at this time of year,  I can put a name to it. Old Mother Nature has the last call and I guess with the type of winter we've had this year, she decided to give us one more kick in the pants. Usually, by the middle of March the weather starts to moderate and although it may be messy, the snow pac is starting to melt with above freezing temperatures during the day time. Let's just hope that we are now heading in that direction.

    The 33rd annual New Brunswick Ice Fishing Tournament was held at the Key-Hole at Grand Lake this year after being post-poned for a week due to poor ice conditions. I'm not sure things improved much over that week because there was still a lot of snow with 6-8 inches of slush under the snow wherever it drifted a bit. It also turned very cold and when we stepped on the ice the temperature was -26 C. That's quite chilly for older folks and kids but there was still a good crowd on hand for the 10:00 AM start. The next photo shows the weigh-in station/headquarters for the tourney.

 If you look closely, you can see how slushy the ice was that day. That photo was taken from our location during the tournament.  Even being that close, it was very difficult travelling and there were a few people who ended up with wet, cold feet. That can really take the fun out of an otherwise great day. The next photo shows us fishing our spot.

 After drilling a few holes we packed down the slush with some snow and made a frozen bridge to walk around our area. It worked quite well and as long as we stayed put, it was great. But if we had to go to the weigh-in shack, it was back to slogging in slush.

    This tournament has always been a popular event and has evolved over the years to its present form. I know one thing for sure. Events like this are successful because of the volunteers who dedicate time and energy to bring it all together. Two of the long time volunteers for this tournament are Brian Glenn and Jack Trembley and without them things probably wouldn't run along quite as smoothly. Councillor Dwain Barton and Lisa Duncan are also fellow committee members. This family oriented tournament is usually a great day in the outdoors even when the fishing is a bit slow. There are hot dogs and hot chocolate for all the participants and that part was well appreciated on this frigid day. 

    We set up in roughly the same spot this year as we did last year. We had good luck in this spot before so we stuck to the same game plan again this year. We wouldn't be disappointed. I was waiting for a start signal and I looked at my watch and it was 10:10 AM so I told my son Curt and the others that we were good to start fishing. I barely got my line down the hole and gave it a couple of pulls when I heard Curt give a whoop as he set the hook on a big pickerel and promptly snapped the line trying to get it up the hole. As this was happening he looked off to the hole nearest him just as the rod and all was going down the hole. He gave a leap towards it but was a second  too late. Things settled down for a minute and he lowered his line down another hole and immediately he had a nice fish on. Curt quickly brought this one in and checked the time. It was about 10:15 and Curt had a fish to register. As he slowly made his way to the weigh-in station I could see it was a nice fish. From that point on we all caught fish as if we were taking turns. Here is a short video clip I took half way through the tournament.  One of our team members, Chris Pollick, caught a bullhead early on during the tournament and as the day progressed added two more pickerel around 18 inches. The fun really got going when my grandson Jackson started whooping " I got one, I got one". The trouble was, he had been saying that since the start of the tourney so nobody was really paying too much attention until I looked and saw that his rod had a significant bend in it and Jack was struggling a bit. His father, Gary, rushed over to give him a hand and up through the hole came a pickerel that measured about 18.5 inches long. Everyone was pretty excited to see Jackson land his first fish through the ice. After things settled down a bit my daughter Chrissy landed a nice pickerel. Here is a photo of that fish.

 The bite was on for our crew at intervals all day long. When the horn went to signal an end to the tournament, I think our total was six pickerel and one catfish. We also lost two or three fish at the hole. We registered four fish and only one got bumped out which was an 18 inch pickerel. Minto Mayor Eric Barnett and Councillor Derrick Quigley were on hand to help out with the hotdogs and beverages. Their help was much appreciated by all those in attendance.

    As I said earlier, conditions were pretty rough on tournament day but there was still a pretty good turnout. Mayor Barnett took on the job of handing out prizes and the kids all got something to take home along with the memories of the day.

After all the tabulations were done, first place in the 16 and under category went to Jacob Barton with a 23.5 inch pickerel. Second place went to my grandson Jackson Bauer- LeBlanc with a 21.75 inch fish and third place went to Tyson Sypher who also registered a fish of 21.75 inches. Jackson registered his fish first so he took 2nd place.. In the 17 and over category, my son Curtis took first place with a pickerel that came in at 22.25 inches. Second place went to Johnny Egers who registered a fish that was 21.25 inches long. Third place went to yours truly with an 18.75 inch pickerel. There were also prizes given out for the oldest and youngest tournament participants. After the ceremonies were done, we posed for pictures that will be looked back upon with fond memories in the future. It was a special moment for the Bauer Boys, having three generations in the winners circle and the next photo shows us posing with our prizes.

 Again, this is a great family tournament and everyone always has fun even if the fish aren't co-operating but that doesn't happen too often. If you reside within a days drive of Grand Lake I would encourage folks to make the trip down to the lake for next years tournament. You won't be disappointed.

 

All of this snow has made it hard on the animals as well as humans. The coyotes had a very hard time this winter and I'm sure the population suffered significant losses. You won't find people in New Brunswick shedding too many tears over that fact. Coyotes wreak havoc on our deer herd during this time of the year when the crust freezes and they travel on top of the crust and deer are punching through into deeper snow. But when it comes to fox, most folks have a soft spot for these small dogs and I include myself in that group. I have been feeding a couple of fox most of the winter because I thought they were having a hard time getting a bite to eat. I don't mind having fox around as long as they are minding their P's and Q's. They take a lot of vermin as part of their natural diet and I like watching them as they go about their daily routine. Here is a short video clip of me taking a little grub out to the feeding station where I feed Reddy Fox. 

 

 

 

As we head into spring, most outdoorsmen are looking forward to the April 15th fishing opener. I think it's safe to say there won't be much fishing before the 1st of May this year because of the heavy snow pac and cold temperatures we have been experiencing. I guess we will just have to wait it out and see what Mother Nature brings in the near future.

 

I am expecting  a delay in the spring bear hunt also this year for obvious reasons that have already been mentioned. That doesn't mean the spring bear hunt will be poor, just a little late getting started because things have to warm up before bruins get moving around good and hitting the baits on a regular basis. New Brunswick has made a few changes to the bear hunt. Hunters can now take two bears per year in an effort to curtail the growing population here in our province. Personally, I don't like the way our government has set this hunt up because I feel it will ultimately hurt the bear population. I think the hunt would have been better overall with a split season of one bear in the spring and one in the fall but it is what it is.

 

I would like to remind non-residents that this is the time to apply for a coveted moose tag. We have a very good moose population and a high success rate especially for guided non-resident hunters. If any readers are interested in applying for a tag just follow the links on our web site or here http://hargroveandbauer.com/hunting/ You have about a one in seven chance of being drawn. Those are pretty good odds in a lottery type draw.

 

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

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.