Organizing my first kayak/canoe tournaments!

2013 held a lot of cherished fishing memories for me, but few more memorable than two fantastic paddling focused tournaments here in New Brunswick. The NB Paddler's Derby and the Hammond River Classic are two friendly, participation-oriented tournaments welcoming to everyone; amateur or pro, young or old alike.   They are also the only two tournaments of their kind in all of the Maritimes!

The website I've put together for both of these tournaments is at: http://www.nbfishingderbies.com

These catch & release, multispecies tournaments are helds at fantastic locations that offer a vast diversity of species, and thus one needs to be able to adapt to several fishing techniques to have a chance of doing well. But more important than that, these tournaments off the chance for so many new anglers to catch a fish they handn't caught before, and go home with memories that will last a lifetime.

Money raised from these tournaments go towards community associations that focus on eductation, restoration, conservation and preservation of our fish habitats and river systems. Without these organizations, we would not have such pristine water ways to hold these great tournaments in.

One new twist for this year, which I hope will bump our numbers, is adding the option for parents to use a canoe or 2 man kayak and bring their kids (up to the age of 10) and have the kids fish with the parent as a single entry. There will be no extra cost, and the kids can participate for just an hour, or the full day as they wish. If a parent has 2 young kids, they can be interchanged mid way through the day so that both can get some fishing in and win a special kids prize at the end of the day.

Organizers from previous years who have devoted a lot of time and energy into growing these events have needed to step down this year, so I've volunteered to try my best to keep the events alive. Fortunately the key sponser, Eco-Logical Adventures in Oromocto has committed to again offering up a kayak to raffle away to one luck participant at each of these two derbies. With this key sponsor in hand, the rest of the pieces are falling into place.

With increased advertising, new sponsors, and some effort, I'm hoping to grow the attendance to 100 participants between both derbies. The goal, as we have had in past years, is for everyone one (especially the kids) to go home with a prize that will grow their love of fishing and keep them hooked into the sport. For this to be realized, I'll need to really hit a home run with the sponsors!

Dates have been set, sponsors are starting to come in and the website is up! I invite you to take a look, and if you have any feedback, suggestions, or ideally sponsorships to help grow the prize pool, please let me know.

Again, read more on the website, and be sure to register at: http://www.nbfishingderbies.com

Aquateko Gear has Arrived!

Today I received a wonderful package of InvisaSwivels and knottable titanium leader called 'Knot 2 Kinky", perhaps my favorite fishing product name to date!

Aquateko's InvisaSwivel is a revolutionary innovation that gives anglers the ability to dramatically increase their stealth factor. InviaSwivels are manufactured of Fluoro-Clear plastic and are nearly indestructible! InvisaSwivels were developed specifically for avid anglers who want to increase their score, especially with easily spooked species.

The Knot 2 Kinky wire is a knottable, extremely kink resistant, superelastic alloy which can be stretched more than ordinary steel leaders without permanent deformation. The perfect formula of Nickel and Titanium alloys creates a kink resistant property which allows a fish to apply an enormous bite. The Knot 2 Kinky wire stretches and recovers while steel leaders snap under the same conditions.


I've received lots of various sizes and strengths for both these great products and will put them to great use this summer.  If you are interested in getting your hands of some of AquatekO's great products, be sure to check out their website and ask your local favorite retailer if they would get some in stock!

New tackle from Lyman Lures!

Today I received a shipment of great looking handmade wooden poppers from Lyman Lures!    Much thanks and appreciation goes out to Lymans not only for their support, but also for making such a wide assortment of colors.   Most experienced fishermen know that the color of the lure that attracts fish is very dependant on the weather, time of day, and lighting conditions.   With this assortment of lures, I'm confident I'll be able to report back some great catches this year using these lures!

Received tackle from Owner Hooks!

Today I was very excited to receive a shipment of assorted tackle from Owner Hooks!   Much thanks to Owner Hooks for supporting my angling up here in New Brunswick this year and I am confident this absolute top quality set of fishing tackle will find itself embedded solidly in many prize catches this year!

Owner Hooks is based in California and has been making top of the line fishing tackle for nearly a decade now.   They have several revolutionary items in their collection that really stand out as potential game changers for anglers in New Brunswick which is what attracted me to approach Owner Hooks back in January.

One of the items I am anxious to get out and make use of is the Jig Rig.   It is a hook designed for soft plastic baits to be rigged weedless, and includes a built in slim profile drop weight which will allow the angler to move the bait across the floor of the pond/river through weeds and other impediments.   This allows you to get your lure down deep where any bottom feeding bass, pickerel or other species you may be targeting with soft plastics may be lurking.



Another fantastic piece of tackle unique to Owner hooks is the Boa Rig.    This 2 hook rig is adjustable to allow the angler to set the length of line between the two hooks exactly as is needed for rigging up live bait.    I could have used a few of these this past weekend when fishign for hake using smelt as the bait.

A could of other items that will work together to add a lot of  convienience when fishing for trout using worms is the Drop Shot adjustable weight and the wacky rig specific hooks.  The Drop shot is designed to be easily moved up or down your line so that your suspended bait (using a worm blower) will suspend at exactly the height above the floor you wish.     I'm expecting to land my fair share of trout out at First and Second Lake this year using these great products!

As I try out the many different items received from Owner Hook today, I'll be sure to post reports, opinions, pictures and reviews.   Be sure to check out Owner Hook's website and look into getting some of this great gear yourself!

Daddy, I want to catch a shark!

So ever since I started taking Rowan(my 3 year old) fishing, he has consistently said, "Daddy, I want to catch a shark". Well the boy has the right spirit that is for sure! Up till now, I thought that was only the dream of a little boy with a great imagination.

Until today.

Ice fishing with several friends on the Kennebacasis River for hake, I caught one fish.... a 34 inch dogfish shark!

Running several tip ups and waiting for one to show some sign, any sign really of life, one of the tip ups collapsed out of the blue. Knowing, with no wind at all, it had to have been a hit, I rushed over, and sure enough, there was some resistance. I could tell it was something, though I didn't think whatever it was would be much more than a 15 inch hake.








After hauling up about 90 feet of line, and with 5 of us gathered around the hole in anticipation, we finally seen the end of the line, and a white flash of tail. "A shark!" one of the guys exclaimed. "No way I thought" as I tried to figure out how to get it out though my 5 inch hole. The tail came by the hole again and I grabbed it and managed to just barely slide it up through.

Sure enough, we were staring at a 34 inch dogfish shark! While between us only one other fish was caught, a small hake, we all were overjoyed at witnessing a very, very rare catch in these waters. Dogfish were more common here 20 years ago, and once every couple of years you hear of one being caught, typically around 24 inches. To bring up a 34 inch dogfish was really quite remarkable, and something none of us, especially Rowan, will forget for a long time.



Here is a video from J.C  (Stroover) of the adventure!