2 Day Solo Canoe Camping the St. Marys River | The Bite Nobody Expected

In short: I woke up in the hammock to a quiet morning, cooked a simple breakfast, and started breaking camp with no hurry at all. Then I put a white beetle spin down the banks and the redbreast turned on. It became a back-to-back bite, one hole after another, rain falling and sun shining at the same time. By the time I loaded up to meet Tina I had 19 on a stringer I tied out of two twigs from the bank.

A slow start and a white beetle spin

It was about 7 in the morning, laying in the hammock listening to the nature sounds. No rush at all, meeting Tina around noon. I cooked up what I had, packed up out of some tight quarters, and eased out to fish the morning away. The lure was a white beetle spin, and I will tell you what I tell everybody: it does not matter what time of year it is, they will turn on to that white beetle spin. I ran it tight to the bank and up under the overhanging trees, and the redbreast were right where they were supposed to be.

A stringer made from two twigs

I started with a bucket, but I punched too many holes in the bottom of it and could not keep fish in there. So I pulled over on a sandbar, cut two little twigs off the bank, tied a knot around each end of a line, and made myself a stringer right there. You slip the point through the gill and out the mouth, slide the fish down, and drop it over the side of the boat. They stay alive the rest of the day until you get home to clean them. My knot tying is nothing to brag on, but it held.

Back to back down the banks

Once I got going it did not stop. Two out of the same hole, then another, then another. There were stretches where you could smell the fish, that is how loaded it was. Rain started, the sun stayed out, and the fish kept biting. You cannot go wrong with that. I would throw up under a tree and he would be waiting on it, on it the second it hit the water. I stacked them up hole by hole until I had 19 on the stringer, and I had already thrown back around ten before I ever started keeping them. Then I loaded up and rode home to meet Tina, only about 50 minutes late, which is close enough out here.

Questions about the redbreast bite

How do you make a stringer in the field?

I started that morning with a bucket, but I had punched too many holes in the bottom of it and it would not hold fish. So I pulled over on a sandbar, cut two little twigs off the bank, and tied a knot around each end of a line to hold them in place. That became my stringer for the day. You slip the point of the twig through the fish's gill and out its mouth, slide the fish down the line, and drop the whole thing over the side of the boat. They stay alive the rest of the day until you get home to clean them properly. My knot tying is nothing to brag on, I will be the first to admit that, but it held every fish I put on it. By the time I loaded up to head home I had stacked nineteen redbreast on that homemade rig, proof enough that simple works.

Where do redbreast hold on a river?

They hold tight to the bank, under overhanging trees, and around structure and cover. On this trip I ran the lure right along there and it did not stop. Two would come out of the same hole, then another, then another, back to back down the banks. There were stretches where you could actually smell the fish before you ever made a cast, that is how loaded some of those holes were. I would put the lure up under a tree and a fish would already be waiting on it, hitting it the second it touched the water. That is the pattern out here: find the structure and cover tight to the bank, get your lure right up under it, and you will find them stacked in the same holes, one after another, hole by hole all the way down the stretch.

How many did you catch?

Nineteen ended up on the stringer by the time I called it a morning, and that is not even the whole count. I had already thrown back around ten fish before I ever started keeping any of them, so the real number for the day was closer to thirty. It was a back to back bite for most of the morning, one hole after another, even with rain falling and the sun shining at the same time. I had woken up in the hammock around seven with no hurry at all, since I was not meeting Tina until around noon, so there was plenty of time to work every good looking bank on the way. By the time I loaded the boat and headed in I was running about fifty minutes late, which out here is close enough. Nineteen on the stringer is a solid morning by any measure, but knowing how many more I turned loose is what really tells you how loaded that water was.