DOG DAY'S,THE BITE AND VINTAGE OUTDOOR STUFF

    Summer is slowly winding down here at home on Salmon River and what a summer it has been! Endless days of sunshine and warm weather has made most vacationers very happy. Of course,there has to be a down side to this great weather and that would be the situation our salmon rivers are in. Not good! A summer of low water and warm temperatures does not bode well for wild Atlantic salmon trying to enter our rivers and survive in these extreme conditions. The conditions on the Miramichi and other salmon rivers in the province have been poor all summer and the long range outlook for the fall run isn't looking very good either. Our rivers need rain desperately! Word has it,there are fish waiting to come in when the water freshens and raises but is that going to happen? Only time will tell.

 This is a photo I took of Salmon River last year around this time. As you can see,there was quite a bit more water around last year.

    Although our cold water species of fish have been suffering this summer,the warm water species are loving every minute of it! The pickerel fishing has been hot this summer,especially this past month. When the habitat shrinks back and the pickerel beds stand out,the bite really turns on for these toothy predators. We have been on the water most of the summer and the fishing has been very good for both pickerel and perch. We usually target pickerel but there are days when the bite drops off ,so we usually switch over to smaller gear and toss spinners and worms for perch. Salmon River is full of white and yellow perch and I think you could fill a boat with them,if it was legal!

    My son Curtis took Sgt. Ryan Cains out for a day of fishing on New Brunswick Day again this year and they had a great day. Curt said they landed about twenty and lost as many during the course of the day. Sgt. Cains hails from Cape Breton and is stationed at CFB Gagetown and he likes to fish with us once or twice a year. The next photo shows Ryan and Curt with a couple of pickerel.

    Ryan and Curt practice hook and release on pickerel and after a day or two to heal up,these exciting fish are ready to strike again.

    I recently had the pleasure of guiding Art Barthe of Hamilton,Ontario while he was down here on vacation. Art loves to fish pickerel and he never misses an opportunity to get out on the water whenever he is home on vacation. Art had a very narrow window of opportunity to fish this year but I told him we could still catch some fish. On most days,fishing at mid-day is not that productive because the wind usually picks up and the heat of the day is starting. This was the only time Art could go out but I said we would try and get a few. As it turned out, we caught a few right off the hop but the bite stopped just as quickly as it started. After the first hour,we couldn't buy a bite. Art was still happy with his fishing trip because catching a few was just a bonus after being out on the water and soaking up the beautiful scenery we have on our section of the river. The next photo is one of Art while we are cruising down Salmon River. The next photo shows a pickerel being brought to the boat while fishing with Art.  The pickerel bite will continue to be good right up to the middle of September before it starts to drop off. As the water starts to cool,the fishes metabolism starts to slow down and they start to get a little sluggish. Until then,we will continue to pursue those toothy predators every chance we get.

    The next big event we are planning for is the 2012 moose hunt which occurs the last week in September. The boys will be setting up for the early goose season but the real focus has been on scouting for moose. We have some salt licks out and the moose have been making good use of them this summer. Wes and the boys are set up on the Harley Road again this year but are hunting in a different area than last years location. Ol' Wes has full confidence in Kenny and the boys scouting because they always seem to be in the right spot at the right time. Wes got a dandy bull last year and he's hoping to do the same again this year. There are a lot of moose in their area but the weather can play havoc with even the best made plans,as it did last year. It was very tough hunting because of the heat but we persevered and we all got our moose. I was second gun for Wanda Doherty last season and we had a great hunt! Good company and we got a moose for Wanda, so everyone was happy! I will be hunting the same location as last year in the hopes of seeing one of the large bulls travelling my area. I had one answering but he wouldn't move from his cows side and I wasn't going into that hell-hole chasing him. Hopefully ,this year the weather will be cooler so the moose will be able to move around more. We're all keeping our fingers crossed.

    I was lucky enough to pick up a couple of hard cover books recently to add to my library. The first one I bought at a flea market and although I already had a copy,the price was right. Books by New Brunswick author George Frederick Clarke are in great demand and whenever I get a chance to pick one up,especially on salmon fishing,I always do so. The title of this one is The Song of the Reel. The next photo shows the copy I bought.

  The next photo shows a book I have been looking for over the past few years. I finally found one on E-Bay and I was thrilled to have the chance to own a copy of this book again. This book has special meaning to me because it was the book that taught me the basics of freshwater fishing when I was a twelve year old boy. Although there was a wealth of information in the book,it was the color plates of the many flies used in fly fishing that caught my attention and got me hooked on fly fishing. I would study the flies and if I fancied one,I would try to buy one to use. I recall using a newly acquired Grizzly King to catch a fifteen and a half inch trout from the Newcastle Stream that year. Not bad for a twelve year old kid with his new fly rod. The next photo shows a copy of that book.

  Finally,I bought another outdoor magazine with a great cover depicting a scene from days gone by. This outdoor life magazine has a gentleman bird hunter receiving quail from two setters while his hired help,a black man,holds the horses. The next photo shows the magazine. 

    In closing,I would invite any readers wanting a day or longer out in the bush or on the water chasing trophy sized fish,to give me a call or send me an e-mail for more information on how to book a trip with us. Until next time,this is Dale Bauer saying"Happy Trails to You.....Until we meet Again"

HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME!

    The weather this month can be described in two words-hot and dry! This weather is loved by most vacationers but if you are a trout or a salmon fisherman,you are probably wearing a frown and praying for rain. The long range forcast isn't showing much relief in the coming week so the salmon fishermen will just have to wait it out or target other species. The DFO has closed many of the cold water pools and this is a good thing. Our salmon are in survival mode at this juncture and they don't need the added stress of fishermen pounding flies over them during this hot,dry spell.
    Although the fishing has been poor for our cold water species this month,the pickerel bite has been red hot!We have been out nearly every evening casting lures over the pickerel beds and catching dozens of nice, trophy sized pickerel. These fish have been smashing just about everything thrown at them but they are showing a preference for gold spinners and double- tailed leeches,as usual. Many times the pickerel prefer dark colored leeches but we have been having the best sucess with orange colored ones.The following photo shows a nice fish taken with the rig I have just described.

  As you can see from the photo,we are catching some very nice pics during our outings. This size fish is quite common in our area and we encourage all fishermen to catch and release most of their fish,other than an occasional one for the table. It takes 4-6 years to grow a pickerel to this size and it's a shame to keep them just for bragging rights. Thats what your camera is for! Take the picture and put your fish back to catch another day. After all,the fun is in the catching,not the killing! The next photo shows Donna A. with a very nice pickerel taken one evening last week. We have really been taking advantage of the hot weather this year by swimming and sunbathing on the sand bars and small beaches during the heat of the day and fishing the pickerel beds during the cooler mornings and evenings. The calm period just before dark has been a very productive time to get lightning strikes from large pickerel on top water lures and shallow running spinner baits. The next photo shows Jamie with a nice pickerel taken while fishing with his girlfriend,Brooke.Lately,Brooke has been outfishing everyone but not on this night. Jamie caught a dozen or more and lost as many on that night and Brooke was having equipment problems.Kind of.  I'll have to give her credit though.She's either got a whole lot of beginners luck or a real good guide. I'm thinking maybe it's a little of both but whatever the reason,she has been catching some very nice fish. The next photo shows Brooke with a nice trout she caught in one of the ponds we fish close to home here on Salmon River. Brooke kept this fish for ol' Wes and he was very happy to have it. Wes just loves wild fish and game but it's hard for him to get out now because of his age but the younger ones always bring him a feed whenever they get some weight in the game bag. This short video clip shows one area we fish on Salmon River. We have also been fishing for eels at night and we have a ball doing this every summer. We usually fish from my shore and have a nice bon fire,along with some food and beverages. This is a laid back type of fishing and we usually fish three or four rods baited with fresh fish or a big gob of worms. We just cast our lines out and check them every so often to see if a fish picks up the bait. We usually catch both eels and catfish using this method. The following photo shows an eel we landed one night last week-end.  Our day trips on the river start at eight a.m. and run until twelve noon. Your lunch is provided from eleven until twelve.You are on your own to explore,swim,suntan or just relax in the shade until four p.m. when your guide will pick you up and provide your supper before taking you out for the evening fish. Your trip officially ends at eight p.m. but sometimes everyone is having so much fun, the time runs a little longer,especially when the bite is really hot. This is a great adventure and the cost is very reasonable,especially when you consider the fee covers two people.

The 2012 moose draw results are in and again this year there is joy in the Hargrove and Bauer camps. Wesley Hargrove got his tag again this year after getting a tag last year. Wes and the boys had great luck last season and they are hoping to fill two tags like they did last year.Wes' son-in-law will be joining the hunt this year and I'm sure they will do well. Ol' Wes wasn't the only one to have a little luck this year. I drew a tag for the first time in thirty-five years! I nearly forgot to enter the draw when Brooke reminded me I could still put in on-line before midnight. I'm sure glad she did because I had been waiting a long time for another tag. I've been fortunate enough to be second gun on a few hunts and last year I took Wanda Doherty out and we got a nice cow on the second day. There was a couple of nice bulls in the area so I think I will hunt the same place as last year and hope that the weather will be a little cooler this year. The Hargrove clan plans on hunting the Harley Road cuts. They have taken some nice moose out of that area,including the two they took last year. Watch for updates on the coming 2012 moose hunt in future blogs. The signs are pointing to another very good year.

    The white-tailed deer population in our area and parts south are showing an increase in numbers. We are seeing many more yearlings and this years fawns in our travels and if we could manage a couple more mild winters,our numbers would really be on a rebound. Lets keep our fingers crossed!

    We are seeing a lot of ruffed grouse with large clutches of young ones. This usually means more birds in the fall and better chances of running into large flocks of young of the year birds. Jamie is in the process of breaking his English setter and he figures there will be on a lot of woodcock and partridge this fall. Jamie has lots of covers he can hunt that we have found through the years and I'm sure he will be into lots of birds this coming October.

    I got a visit from a friend that picks antiques and collectibles and he sometimes has some good stuff that I'm interested in. He had a great little camping stove that he picked up and he thought I might be interested in purchasing it. I looked it over and it didn't take me long to seal the deal.This little camp stove is in great condition. As far as I can tell,all the parts are there and in good condition.The following photos show just how good the condition of this little item is.

 This little camp stove was manufactured in the Fifties.

    The next item I picked up this month was a nice cast iron panel that I believe was part of a box stove. The panel depicts a woods scene with animals,birds and woods workers. I am not sure of the age or manufacturer but it would display very nicely in a camp or man-cave.

 If any readers are in our area and would like a guided day on the water or in the bush, just contact me at your convenience to arrange your trip.

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

TROPHY BLACK BEARS,THE BITE AND VINTAGE OUTDOOR STUFF

    The month of June is usually very nice here at home on Salmon River and this year was no different. We had a few days of unseasonally cold weather at the first of the month but after that we had successive days of bright skies and warm temperatures. Right now we are looking for some much needed rain and the weatherman is calling for showers and rain over the next few days. This will help to freshen the water in the different drainages and hopefully get the salmon runs started. Because of the low water conditions in the Miramichi system,the salmon have only been trickling in. Salmon River,on the other hand,still has lots of water especially in the area from Gaspereau Forks down to Grand Lake. It looks to me like the gaspereau are dropping back out of the river and the shad will soon follow. After these fish are gone the river will be back to a more normal pattern and the pickerel fishing will pick up.
    The New Brunswick black bear season is over now and it was a memorable one for Ken and I. We had some huge bears at our baits. I think that's what surprised me the most this year was the number of large females that were hitting our baits.We had three different females that were  well over 300 lbs. and there were some nice boars hanging around with the sows waiting for breeding rights after the yearlings were chased away. Ken told me he wanted to kill one more bear and he wanted it to be a big one. I told him to go ahead and take one if he wanted one of the big boars that I knew were hitting some of the baits. He told me one of the baits he was tending had around a dozen different bears coming in and there were a couple of old smashers in the mix.

    We have found that when you have a lot of different bears coming to a bait,the bears can get quite competitive when trying to get to the bait first. The bears at this bait that Ken was going to hunt were sticking very close to the bait and Ken couldn't get near it without running into bears when taking in the bait. They were all over the road leading in to the bait and many times we had to chase them out of the way when re-baiting. Ken figured this hunt was going to be a cake-walk but even the best of plans sometimes go awry. He asked if I wanted to sit with him one evening to see if one of the big boars would come in. We knew the big sows would be there because they rarely left the immediate area of the baits. Ken decided to sit in a ground blind because I was with him and we barely got sitting when the first sow came out with a yearling cub. She was a good size but the next female that came out was  well over 300 lbs. A younger boar came in next and Ken and I were just sitting back and watching the show when I looked down the road towards the bait and noticed the old sow and and the yearling were on high alert and looking off into the bush. Ken was fiddling with his scope when all of a sudden the two bears that were on the bait suddenly lit out for cover away from the bait. Now Ken and I were set up about 100 yards from the bait because we were on the ground and didn't want to be set up too close but just moments later out pops a BIG black head out of the bush between us and the bait and as soon as that bear came out he turned away from the bait and started up the road towards us walking all pidgeon-toed and tossing his head back and forth trying to wind us. As he kept coming I noticed the angle was bad for Ken and he was shifting around trying to keep on the bear as it slowly worked its way towards us. Remember now,we're sitting in a ground blind and this huge boar is still coming at fifty yards,tossing his head trying to get the wind. Now Ken is starting to take deep breaths while trying to contort his body into a position to take the shot. Suddenly, the big boar spun broadside and looked as if he was going to bolt and just then Kenny's shot rang out. With eyes as big as silver dollars,Ken said 'Listen for his moan!' I grinned to myself and told Kenny 'Don't bother. You never touched him!' Kens jaw dropped and he said 'No Way!' I replied 'Yup,you found a way!' Poor old Kenny was flabergasted! After checking for sign and not finding any, Ken was still in a state of disbelief. 'I'm checking my gun to see if it got knocked out'. He then proceeded to center punch a target at the same distance he missed the bear. Not good. Ken just couldn't figure out how he missed but to the observer, it was quite evident he rushed the shot and, combined with the jitters he had,he overshot the big bear. Now Ken was angry and he wasn't going to let the situation stand like that for very long. He said he would hunt out of the tree stand at the bait and a couple of days later he took a nice New Brunswick black bear and redeemed himself. Normally I wouldn't tell a story like that but Ken is good natured about things such as that. I guess I just wanted to try and convey the excitement that goes along with having close encounters with trophy black bears. If a vetern guide such as Ken, who has run sixty baits himself for an outfitter in White River, Ontario, can get the fever then I would say just about anyone can. The size, strength and speed of a trophy sized bear is astounding. The following pictures show the bear Ken took.

  Although Kennys bear wasn't as big as the one he missed,it was still a nice sized boar. We had lots of bears at our sites that were bigger than the one Ken took. The site that Ken took his bear at had so much bear traffic it was difficult to keep your feet out of the dung.When Kenny registered his bear,the ranger asked him how many bears he saw during the season and Ken replied'About thirty,but I only hunted a few days'. The ranger just looked at him with a sceptical look and said' No way you saw thirty' Kenny just said'You asked me and I told you',to which the ranger just shook his head. The following photos show some of the bears at our bait sites. This is one of the big sows that was a regular at one of our bait sites. This bear was quite brave until he heard something he didn't like!  One of the trophy sized bears sneaking in for a snack during shooting hours. Ken and I both thought there were about eight different bears at this bait site. This is just a sampling of some of the trophy bears that were coming to our baits this spring. As you can see,these bears were not shy about coming into the baits during daylight hours. If a sport hunts with us and has the patience,he has a very good chance of taking home a nice New Brunswick trophy black bear. These trophy bears are here for the taking. Just shoot me an e-mail or give me a call to arrange a spring or fall black bear hunt with Ken and I.

The best bite we have had lately here at home on Salmon River has been the white perch. They have been running all month and we have been getting some real jumbos' lately. If you have never had a feed of white perch fillits,do yourself a favor and catch a stringer of these great fish. They have a nice,white flesh with a delicious flavor that makes for great fish and chips. My son Curt,brought over a couple from Fredericton to try to catch some white perch last week-end and although Josh had never caught a white perch before,he caught a beauty on his first cast. White perch can get quite large,especially the females and Josh and Curt managed to get enough for a feed in about a half an hour. The next photo shows Josh with his stringer of white perch. These fish were all taken  by casting small hildebrant spinners and worms from my shore. Brooke M. and Jamie were also fishing off my shore and were catching a variety of species such as white and yellow perch,sunfish,pickerel and fall fish. The next photo shows Brooke with a sunfish she caught. Later that same evening,Jamie caught a nice pickerel using a technique we use when the gaspereau are in the river. Pickerel are usually hard to catch during this time period but through trial and error over the years,we have discovered a method that works very well on large pics at this time of the year. The next photo shows Jamie with his trophy size pickerel. The next evening,four of us went to a hotspot down river and filled a five gallon pail with nice white perch. We usually try to get enough to feed a crowd and we will have a big fry of fillets and wash it all down with our favorite beverage. Note the bucket of perch we caught that night.

    This month was also a time for fishing derbies and I attended the annual Chipman Fish and Game derby that was held at Bruce McLean's campground on Salmon River. This is a fun tournament that focuses on kids and getting them into fishing. The derby is always well attended and everyone has a lot of fun. It's great to see the thrill these kids get when they catch their first fish,large or not. Along with the prizes for different catagories,all of the kids get a prize to take home and everyone has a lunch of hot dogs, potatoe chips and pop. The next photo shows little Kadence Wellwood wth her first fish. Her Dad and Mom brought her over from Doaktown so she could fish the derby and she was very excited to catch her first fish.

 The next photo shows the awarding of the prizes at the end of the day. Note the yellow trucks that belong to the sponsor of this derby,J.D. Irving. Not only does J.D.I. sponsor this derby,he also provides support staff to help things run along smoothly. A tip of the hat to Mr. Irving.

    Another derby that was held in our area was the Monte Farrell Shad Tournament. This fishing derby was held earlier in June on the upper Salmon River. Although the rain made for a damp day,the sports turned out and caught some nice shad. The following photo shows the winners with their fish. Minto was well represented in the winners circle,with all but one hailing from the Minto area. I want to mention the fact that Ralph Goodwin and Sam Daigle do a great job hosting this derby every year and I'm sure their efforts are well appreciated by all the participants.

    As you can see from the previous photos,the fishing has been hot this month and I would say the best bite this month was the white perch. I also want to report that anglers are catching landlocked salmon in the area of Newcastle Center on Grand Lake. One Minto resident reported having good success casting a red devil spoon. The next photo shows Donna A. with a bucket of white perch she caught one evening.

    We are getting some much needed rain as I write this and hopefully the raise of water will get the salmon running in the Miramichi watershed. The timing is perfect for the start of the summer runs and I know I'll be on the water in the coming week.

    I continue to pick up outdoor related items and if any readers have read my previous posts,you know I like cheesy Japanese ornaments. I'm not sure why I like this stuff,maybe because it is relatively cheap to purchase these items and there seems to be lots of it around. Anyhow, I hope I'm not the only one who likes this type of ornament. The following photo is one of a decorative plate featuring a group of deer. This japanese plate is marked ESD,Japan and it dates to the late Fifties or early Sixties.

 The next photo shows an ashtray with a cub bear as a decoration.This item was made in Japan in the late Fifties or early Sixties. The last photo is one of another Japanese ashtray. This one has a squirrel sitting on its haunches. I would date this item to the Late Fifties.

    In closing,I would like to invite anyone looking for a day on the water or back in the bush to contact me by e-mail or give me a call and Ken and I will do our best to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable visit to the Grand Lake area. Until next time this is Dale Bauer saying'Happy Trails to You,Until we meet Again'