CASTIN' & BLASTIN' !

We are now done fishing salmon and trout for the year and what a glorious ending we had to the season! As usual,we finished up on the Cains River and once again,we were not disappointed! There is only one other place that comes close to the experience of fishing the Cains River in the fall and that might be fishing in the Cape Breton highlands in Nova Scotia. But here in New Brunswick,the Cains is the place to be in October. Not only is the fishing world-class,but the scenery,with the fall foilage in all it's splendor,is absolutely beautiful. My good friend and fellow guide,Allen Davidson,and I fished the last two days of the season and had some very good luck. Shawn B. of Fredericton also shared some of that luck as you can see in the photo of Shawn and Allen with his 15lb.+ hen salmon.I had just released a nice hook-bill about the same size when Shawn hooked his salmon. I must say,I have never had a salmon fight like that big hook-bill! It just wouldn't stop jumping! I know it jumped at least a dozen times and maybe more.I was holding him quite tight and that may have made him jump more than usual,but whatever the reason,that fish gave me the fight of a life-time!
Shawn and I got these two salmon on the day

before the closing. I returned the next day and landed two more hen salmon almost identical to the one Shawn got the previous night.all these fish were taken on a relatively new pattern called a Slime.These flies are tied with maribou feathers and there is something about the undulating movement of this fly that causes salmon to strike very aggressively when presented properly.Many fishermen were bemoaning the fact that there wasn't as many fish as last year,but there were good numbers of large salmon present and these salmon are a little fussier than a grilse and the Slime is just the ticket for them.I might mention that these fish had been fished over by a few different fishermen and they would only come to the slime. I know my fly box will always have several on hand for use in the fall when those big hook-bills get moving up river to spawn. The two patterns I used were a Pumpkin and a Fireball. A big bonus when fishing fall salmon on the Cains is the fact you usually catch some very nice trout while fishing. This is usually enough to keep even the most jaded of fishermen interested in pounding the water.I got a nice one of about sixteen inches and a few smaller ones as well. We also had a great opening day for ducks.I shot with Jamie and Dallas,as I mentioned in a previous post and we had a great time on the marsh with the three of us taking seventeen ducks.Whiskey,Jamie's Golden Retriever, fetched up all of the birds and did a great job finding the ones in the grass.I must confess,I had my hands full trying to keep up with these two young fellas! Talk about quick reflexes and straight shooters! We sure had a great day and I'm looking forward to shooting with these boys again next year. We are setting up for our deer hunts now and although we will be concentrating on the last two weeks of the season,we will be getting out and hunting over bait for the first two weeks. We are changing our hunting area and are travelling further to the southern end of Grand Lake.Our deer herd on the crown land have taken a beating lately and I will be commenting on this in future posts.I will have some photos of some nice bucks in my next post,including Dwayne Hargroves' two biggest bucks. It's still not too late to book a hunt for white-tails this year,so if any of my readers would like to get out and about,just shoot me an e-mail or give me a call and we'll get right to it!

TIS' THE SEASON!

New Brunswick held its annual moose hunt last week and by all accounts, it was a success

There were 2,436 moose killed this year and that represents an eight per cent increase over last year. Hunter success rate was also up,at sixty-nine per cent,overall. In my mind,these numbers represent a well-managed moose herd that is increasing in size.If you travel New Brunswicks forests any at all,you will surely have an encounter with one of these giants of the North Woods! The photo shown is of a last minute bull taken fifteen minutes from the village of Doaktown. These guys called the cow out in the last half-hour of the three day season and the bull reluctantly followed her and thats when he was downed.Talk about a happy bunch of boys! Now the bull in this photo is a trophy animal in anyones estimation,but there were dozens of moose as big or bigger taken this year.One of the biggest I heard of was a thirty-three point monster taken outside of Oromocto. Our group only managed to get one tag drawn,so Randy-Micheal,his father and Dallas were the ones to actually go on the trip,but when they needed a hand we would all pitch in as needed.And they did need a hand! The area they chose to hunt had several moose in the surrounding bogs and choppings and for the first day and a half,they listened to a cow call,especially at night.The moose actually started calling the week before the season started. I stepped outside of the house one night and I could hear one cow bawling steadily and one or two more off on the distance answering.The problem Randy and friends had was they didn't have an experienced caller with them.There was lots of moose in the area,they just coulden't get one out in the open.Enter, Kenny to the rescue! Kenny is a very good caller,having many years of moose hunting experience in Ontario,as well as here in New Brunswick with his father,Wes,and the rest of his uncles.Kenny likes to call just with his hands and his cow call is a long,high-pitched whine.His bull grunts are also rather high-pitched,short barks.Kenny doesn't like to call too loudlybecause he likes to go to the moose.Any how,Kenny took a drive out to their area and at the first place he set up to call,he brought out a nice young bull at one hundred yards and coming to them. Randy-Micheal was ready and waiting and up to the task.This photo shows the boys with the moose after getting it out of the bush and on the pole.These boys know how to handle big-game and they make short work of the task at hand.Congratulations Randy on your first moose and kudos to Kenny for bringing him to the gun. Randy is like most local moose hunters in the fact that they just want to get a moose,any moose in such a short season. That young bull will be the very best of eating!Thats for sure! The boys also had a good morning hunting geese in the fields during the early season.They found some birds and set up the next morning and Jamie Dallas and Randy Micheal got eleven honkers by lunch time.The photo shows Dallas and Randy showing old Wes their take for the morning. The geese and ducks are both down slightly this year,but if you did your home-work,there were birds to be taken.Scouting and getting access are the keys to good hunting for honkers in the fields. We are on the eve of the first day of duck season and all the Hargrove clan has gathered for the annual hunt.I'll be shooting with Dallas and Jamie and Whiskey dog,the golden retriever. We will shoot in the morning and then have a big lunch and wait for the night hunt.Then the big supper,along with all the stories and tall-tales and the laughter.Thats what it's really all about.The comraderie,the friendship,the good times.And it's there when we all get together,doing something we all love to do,travelling the woods and waters of the Grand Lake area of beautiful New Brunswick. This time of the year, the trees are ablaze with all the fall colors and some of the sunsets are spectacular,like the photo of the peculiar cloud formation taken from my shore on Salmon River. We finally got the rain all of the salmon fishermen have been waiting for.This past month has been quite dry and many of the fish were waiting for a raise of water so they could move up river.The water is up about eighteen inches and there are reports of large fish moning in the Miramichi and there has been some movement on the Cains River and the word is the annual fall runs of salmon have begun.There is some fantastic fishing to be had during this late season and its one of the prettiest times of the year to be on the water. Although the trout season is done,some large brook trout are caught while fishing for salmon and they must be released but they are still fun to catch! So if any of you sports would like to take a trip to the woods or waters of our beautiful area,just shoot me an e-mail or give me a call and we'll get out there and do it!

DOG DAY'S OF SUMMER

The Grand Lake area of New Brunswick has just gone through a couple of weeks of very hot weather. When the hot summer sun beats down relentlessly for days on end in the month of August,it's commonly called "the dog days of summer.When this weather hits,the salmon fishermen normally take a break and go golfing or try to catch up on some chores around the house or camp.The salmon will lay in at the cold water pools and are very hard to bring to the fly.Persistent anglers using small size #10 wet flies or big bombers with white tails will sometimes entice one to take,but normally there is a lot of fishing and very little catching in these conditions.Brook trout,as well as sea-trout,will also hold up in front of the spring brooks.Many times they will lie in the same pools as the salmon

but when they do,they will usually lie up closer to the mouth of the brook,ahead of the salmon. These trout will take many times early in the morning or the last thing in the evening.We usually use small white Wulffs or a Muddler Minnow pattern and we usually manage to hook a few.Sometimes when conditions are slow for one species,conditions can be very good for other species.During the "dog days",the water is usually low and this concentrates the pickerel in their habitat and makes them much easier to catch.This is the time to haul out the top water lures and treat yourself to some really exciting fishing for pickerel.They will absolutely smash a surface lure at these times and I must admit,we really enjoy fishing for these great fish.The first photo in this post is one of Mcleods Pond at day-break looking from the park out towards the small island.I was driving by and I thought it looked so nice with the sun coming up and the rising mist,I had to get a photo.That's the nice thing about this area of Salmon River/Grand Lake,there are dozens of photo ops.around every corner! Not only are you GUARANTEED to catch fish,you will be doing it in some of the nicest scenery around.If anyone takes a day trip with us ,you will get great photo ops.for eagles,osprey,many species of ducks and shore birds as well as beaver,mink and sometimes the larger mammals such as moose deer and bear. You will get a historical overview and explanation of the fishing and logging that used to take place on the river in days gone by,as well as how some of these professions are worked today.Guests will also be treated to a delicious shore lunch and Ken and I will make sure everyone leaves with a full belly! Half-day trips in the morning or evening for two people is $130. All inclusive. Any one interested in one of these trips or a hunting or fishing trip for any of our native species,just give me a call or send me an e-mail and we will make the arrangements in no time.I will be making reports on fall salmon fishing and the moose hunt in my future posts.I will also try to post trail cam photos of some of the deer and black bear we will be hunting this fall in my future posts in the coming weeks and months.Until we meet again.....Tight Lines and Straight Shootin'!