Maritime Fishing

[David Chong]

Just got back from a trip down east to New Brunswick! Went down to Nackawic for the Destination Nackawic Smallmouth Open and had a blast on the St. John River! Huge variety of fish species in this body of water, Smallmouth, Yellow Perch, White Perch, Gaspereau, Chain Pickerel, Muskie & Pumpkinseeds were some that we saw or caught! We caught over 400 Smallmouth Bass in a day & a hold of practice & 2 tournament days! We had an okay result finishing 24th out of 77 teams!

Then, it was off to the Miramichi River& the Miramichi Striper Cup! Fishing was tough because of the early spring & high water temps but we still caught lots of fish in practice! Fishing was even tougher on tournament days due to funky weather & strong winds! We managed a 27th place finish out of 237 teams! Beautiful part of our country with some amazing fishing! If anyone wants more info, please PM me!

[CrowMan]

Very nice fish ! A Chain Pickerel is one of my bucket list fish. Yeah, the Striper fishery is amazing out there. We did a summer road trip out to NB a few years back and fished for them in the ocean...they fight like super-size Largemouth...gill rattling head shakes on the surface !

It's a quicker drive than going to say Thunder Bay...but the food is so much better...Lobster, Oysters, Mussels, Clams..

I know the Smallmouth for the most part are considered an invasive species out there (competing with their precious Atlantic Salmon), so I assume there is no season and those were pre-spawn  ?

[David Chong]

  On 5/29/2024 at 1:47 PM, CrowMan said:

Very nice fish ! A Chain Pickerel is one of my bucket list fish. Yeah, the Striper fishery is amazing out there. We did a summer road trip out to NB a few years back and fished for them in the ocean...they fight like super-size Largemouth...gill rattling head shakes on the surface !

It's a quicker drive than going to say Thunder Bay...but the food is so much better...Lobster, Oysters, Mussels, Clams..

I know the Smallmouth for the most part are considered an invasive species out there (competing with their precious Atlantic Salmon), so I assume there is no season and those were pre-spawn  ?

Expand  

Food is almost as good as the fishing! Yeah, the Atlantic Salmon folks are not big fans of Smallies but they gaining in popularity, they more concerned about Largemouth & Crappies coming Maine nowadays! The Smallies were prespawn and the seasons are very interested down here. I do believe that no tournaments are allowed during the spawn for a couple of weeks but you can still fish for them.

[Barry Willis]

Awesome as always David. Man, you sure know how to make a guy envious.  In my books you did very well in the tournaments. That's a lot of competition to go up against. Very nice looking chain pickerel. I used to catch them when ice fishing for perch. 

Edited May 29, 2024 by Barry Willis

[akaShag]

  On 5/29/2024 at 1:47 PM, CrowMan said:

A Chain Pickerel is one of my bucket list fish.

Expand  

Stripers are on MY list!

Doug

[David Chong]

  On 5/29/2024 at 8:02 PM, akaShag said:

Stripers are on MY list!

Doug

Expand  

Well, this is great place to scratch Stripers off your list! Lots of awesome guides there as well!

[aplumma]

Thanks for the report Dave, it looks like you are off to another great year. 

 

Cheers

 Art

[David Chong]

  On 5/29/2024 at 7:46 PM, Barry Willis said:

Awesome as always David. Man, you sure know how to make a guy envious.  In my books you did very well in the tournaments. That's a lot of competition to go up against. Very nice looking chain pickerel. I used to catch them when ice fishing for perch. 

Expand  

Thanks Barry! It's just that my expectations are always high! LOL As for the Chain Pickerel, disappointing because it happened during a Smallmouth tournamnet but also exciting as I don't catch a lot of those! Still took time to snap a quick pic before release!

[Spiel]

That doesn't look like any fun at all Dave.
But I will state (enviously) there's a few of my bucket list fish in your post and no, Gaspereau is not of them. 

Cheers





 

[David Chong]

  On 5/30/2024 at 10:51 PM, Spiel said:

That doesn't look like any fun at all Dave.
But I will state (enviously) there's a few of my bucket list fish in your post and no, Gaspereau is not of them. 

Cheers





 

Expand  

The Gaspereau was cool as we've never seen them that big! Think of Lake Ontario Alwifes...

[Spiel]

  On 5/31/2024 at 9:01 PM, David Chong said:

The Gaspereau was cool as we've never seen them that big! Think of Lake Ontario Alwifes...

Expand  

I did David and immediately thought of cut bait.