City Limits Smallie, S01E02

Time/Date: 1815 AST, 26-Jul-11
Location: Back home in ol' Freddy Beach

Dear Redington, Rio Products, and Chris Buckingham,

A quick note to say your fly rod, fly line, and bead-head wooly bugger all work splendidly. Much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Mat

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Below are 3 of the 8 smallies caught & released in probably the most epic 75 minutes of fishing I've ever experienced. I probably had close to two dozen takes. Gettin' all book-smart on bass fishin' paid off. Now just to improve my hook-sets :-/

ALSO: these were all caught within a 3 minute drive of the fly shop, in (what I proclaim to be) the best angling city EVER!!

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City Limits Smallie

Time/Date: 1640 AST, 23-Jun-11
Location: Fredericton

Well, it's no muskie...

But for 15 minutes invested (in extremely difficult casting conditions), it was a great way to get a quick fix on a 5wt fly rod.

Hooked, photographed, released. That's how my friends & I roll...

I tied that #8 black-on-black Clouser with chartreuse flash less than a week ago. It's taken about 10 smallies already. Can you say go-to fly??

Here's some more music:

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City Limits Muskie

Time/Date: 0950 AST, 23-Jun-11
Location: Fredericton

Well, I didn't catch it, but I was there to help net it & photograph it.

Congrats to my buddy Pat on his first muskie of 2011!!

After the quick pic, it was safely returned to chomp another lure in the future!

My muskie trip was cut short right after that, but I got my fix later on with a couple (small) smallies on my 5wt. As I've been saying for the past week: They. Are. FUN!

But I would've rather a muskie...

Here's some music:

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Location, location, location

Time/Date: 1000AST, 21-Jun-11
Location: Fredericton, NB

Imagine a town with:

You could be fishing & living here...

• smallmouth bass fishing within walking distance.
• muskie fishing within walking distance.
• river-run striped bass fishing within walking distance.
• sea-run brook trout within biking distance and/or 25 minutes' drive.
• pickerel fishing within 20 minutes' drive
• world-class Atlantic salmon fishing within an hours' drive.
• striped bass in the salt in an hours' drive.
• brown trout in an hours' drive
• even more epic salmon & striped bass fishing within 4 hours' drive.

Add in decent (and growing) local music scene, a couple decent coffee shops, a few good pubs & clubs, reasonable rent & real estate...

And a pretty kick-ass local fly shop...

Where is this place?

I'm not telling. 

But if you can figure it out, you're more than welcome to visit.

(This is a basic IQ test: if you can't figure out what town this is, you're too dumb to be here. This is to prevent you getting elected to the provincial government.)

Here's some of that (sort of) local music I speak of. I say 'sort of' because, while not necessarily from here, he visits. Often. In fact, this summer, at FredRock.

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Home Water: Nashwaak River Love

Time/Date: 1825, 01-Sep-10
Location: Still in Ouaga...

Seems my lovely Nashwaak River has been getting some press while I've been gone. Some of it is good (salmon counts), some of it is bad (littering. And more littering).

As a semi-active member in the Nashwaak Watershed Association, I spoke to the president regarding the issues of overuse & littering. I applaud the group's efforts of trying to educate users of the river system and putting forth the idea of designated access points.

I'm hoping this winter the NWAI will accept my offer of improving their website and online presence in a bid to increase membership & further raise awareness of the river system. But that doesn't mean I'm raising awareness of my fishing spots. There's 113 km of river out there, get a map, like we did.

I'm all for fun & shenanigans, but I hope some of the tubers will become active stewards of the Nashwaak. There is no place for littering anywhere in the year 2010.

Some pics of my home water & a musical interlude are below, enjoy!