One more day till trout season!

April 15th in New Brunswick is sometimes called Fishmas.   It is the first day that most rivers, brooks and streams are open for fishing here in the province.     This means anglers from across the province will be calling in sick to work, out enjoying the sun that is in the forecast, and trying to catch their first trout of the season.

For all anglers, please take the time to look through the regulations for your area in this years fish book located here.    You don't want to be caught doing something illegal when you didn't realize you were doing so.   The regulations for certain areas of the province, especially the various salmon rivers, are often a bit different.   Be sure that not only the river you fish, but the section of the river you are fishing is in fact open!

Interesting to note, the regulations for smallmouth bass has changed this year for many areas.   Generally speaking the retention limit has been increased to 5 smallmouth ranging in size from 10 cm to 60 cm.  However in 'managed waters', those where smallmouth are to be more protected, the retention limits are far more restrictive.   Be sure to know the rules for where you are fishing if you are one of those anglers looking to keep smallmouth for a meal.

For those of you fishing in tidal waters, there are still rules and limits in place, especially around fish like trout, bass and salmon.   Do not assume that because you are in tidal waters that you have free reign to fish for and retain anything.  

I encourage everyone heading out this weekend to be good stewards of the environment, and never litter.  In fact, make it a goal to bring back any garbage you may spot while out fishing!    

Easter Weekend Sturgeon Fishing

During Easter, we are typically dealing with a mess of snow, slush and ice here in New Brunswick.   The river is still in the midst of trying to thaw out and the only kayak fishing we can do is in our dreams.   However this year, with the mild Winter and early Spring, I was able to get an early start on guided kayak fishing for sturgeon.

On Saturday I hit the water with a pair of friends from Fredericton, then a day off on Easter Sunday, leading to another day on the water with three more friends from Moncton.    Wouldn't you know it, the best weather of the weekend fell on Sunday, but what can you do!

Saturday we got out at a brisk -3 degrees and it eventually warmed up to about +2.   Combined with the wind, it was a pretty chilly day, marked by the continuous freezing up of the top eyelets on our rods.   Normally I wouldn't have stayed out very long, but Nathan and Pat are pretty hardy guys, and the temperatures didn't phase them at all!

On Monday, it was a little warmer, and as the day wore on became downright comfortable as the wind stayed down and the temps got up to about +6.   If the sun broke through it would have been downright balmy!

Overall close to 100 sturgeon were caught between myself and the guys that I took out for their first sturgeon fishing experience.... which is a remarkable number!

Here are a few videos captured from over the weekend of Nathan, Jeff and Cliff.