The water is still high on the Cains which is great for the trout and occasionally you might hook into something like this . Dale does a great job bringing this 20 inch beauty to the net. We had no luck on top , as expected , but did convince several big trout off the bottom with a #10 brown buck bug . Even with the poor fishing on the Cains it is still really nice to see the water at this height to help the trout have a stress free start to the long summer ahead . I noticed trout rolling right at dark this same night in the most unlikely locations , they still wouldn’t take a dry though .

Keith:
Here is the one picture I managed to take before I dropped my camera in the river. It is of the first fish I caught – the small salmon. Then came the 16lb hen, then the 20-22 lb hen and finally the grilse.
Truly a great time. If I had been e bit more proficient I think I would have caught 4 on Saturday night as I had 5 other hard takes!
I will get back to you on dates for next year in June.
Eric

The water remains high and is dropping slowly , which is about perfect going into July . Some pools are still too high while others are at the perfect height . It is cool at night and warming up just slightly during the day but it sure looks like summer with “fresh run” salmon in every pool and if you watch Big Murphy pool for more than ten minutes you will probably see a salmon jump or roll . Joe and John saw a good number of fish in the Landing Pool last night and bumped a couple and landed one nice 10 lb. hen . Karl and Keltie had fish all around them at Dudley but no takers . Based on local reports it sounds like the Dungarvon River has the best fishing going right now . The Dungarvon is a much smaller river with many pools that fish best in this height of water .

Writer’s Note: Scroll down to the bottom for additional notes on salmon returns. Special: Penobscot passes 2,500 milestone!!! What is it about Atlantic salmon that hypnotizes us? This week I have watched families at Big Falls on the Humber, holding … Continue reading →

Close Encounters of the Atlantic Salmon Kind

Atlantic salmon fly-fishing conditions for the Miramichi River at McNamee for June 27th . The water is dropping slowly and there is a terrific run of salmon and grilse on the move . Eric L and EJ landed a 20 pound hen last night and Karl got into several fish . Still using larger flys . Garrett and I tried to fish the lower Cains Reserve last evening but the water was way too high . Perfect conditions for the health of the trout but tough on anglers .

Atlantic salmon fly-fishing conditions for the Miramichi River at McNamee for June 26th . No surprise to see the river coming up again this morning . We are probably twelve inches above normal height but this time it is not dirty . But, there is a terrific run of salmon on so you just have to get to a pool or run that slows them down a bit . Despite the big water and rain last evening we still had great fishing. We had one angler using an intermediate sink line while the other used a floating , it did not seem to matter what line nor did the fly choice as long as you were getting over fish . One local guide told me he had good luck fishing from the boat and casting to shore just like the spring season approach, again key point is that he was getting over a decent lie where the fish were slowing down a bit . My fly choice for today would be a #2 or 4 green machine with white tail , tied slim .

In Newfoundland, the conversations are equally passionate about moose on the road and the state of the Atlantic salmon runs. This week, travelling north from Port aux Basques to St. Anthony’s provided a snapshot of the rivers flowing at very … Continue reading →

Following Newfoundland Salmon – North by Northeast

WHAT A WEEK. In Quebec there are good indications of many strong runs. Check out the Matane’s doubling. Meanwhile in Maine the Penobscot has broken past the 2,000 milestone for salmon reaching the Veazie trap. And in NS and NL … Continue reading →

Salmon Returns – Continued Optimism for the Runs

Exploring the Margaree The Margaree River in Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton is such a rich, intriguing river – not just because of its Atlantic salmon runs but also for its heritage, and not least for the great, steep-sided cliffs that … Continue reading →

Margaree – Green Valley of the Salmon – and the Dec. Flood

Hi Keith,

Not too many reports of large Sea-Run Brookies being caught this year….. so I thought I might chime in! This big buck was caught last night and quickly released. Anybody wondering if they are there, they are, just keep showing them a fly with a very delicate presentation and remember, keep your eye on the fly!

Tight lines!

Chris L

Hi Chris – Thanks for the great pics. Wildcat is available for you just let me know what night . I have only been on the Cains three times with mixed results , high water maybe eh! Last night I made it to the lower reserve with no expectations of doing anything . Being on a tight schedule and with the 5 pm sun on the water my hopes were low . But holy shit , hooked my largest ever , did not land it but I guess in the 6-7 pound range . It took the fly and just headed off down river out of the pool and over the shallow bar , everytime I put the brakes on hard it would just roll on top of the water a few times then continue going . Finally when it was app 100 yards out it finally came off . I did not get it to the net but what a monster and the best fight ever .
Regards, Keith

Impressions of people and rivers while driving from St. Andrews, to northern Newfoundland.

Atlantic salmon need people who care deeply about the species, and as part of a trip to Newfoundland, I have been visiting a few of these individuals to see some of the approaches they are taking, projects they are working on and rivers they care about.

Yesterday there were four.

Bill Yarn – Cobequid Salmon Association, Truro, NS

Bill Yarn – with deflectors in Stewiacke

Bill Yarn likes to see things done. From a senior position in charge of ferries and land vehicles with the NS Provincial Government he has learned the skills of marshalling resources, and knowing how to assist projects towards completion.

The Cobequid Salmon Association has a very active membership, and have a reputation for seeing to completion, many, many projects, as well as helping with conservation education.

Bill Yarn showed me around a project on the Stewiacke River where boulder deflectors were emplaced last year. “These have had a major effect in clearing out the silt that was on the bottom,” he notes.

The Stewiacke looks like a healthy river. No signs of algae build up, and quite clear in this area, although somewhat reddish with tannins and carrying a bit of silt due to the recent rains.

Bill Yarn surveys the site, pointing out not only the rocks emplaced at intervals down the river, but the bridges built carefully so that the equipment used did not impact the stream. He is passionate about Atlantic salmon.

“I started fishing in the 1970s, but it was a trip to the Miramichi in 1987 that turned this into a reall commitment,” he says. “You might catch 1,000 trout, but just one Atlantic salmon outshines them all. You remember everything about that experience.”

As part of this, Bill Yarn is a committed salmon conservationist, seeing the rivers and their fish as being important to all of us.

Joanne Mailman – St. Mary’s River Association, Sherbrooke, NS

Joanne Mailman – June 20, in St. Mary's River Assoc. Museum

Nova Scotia Hwy 348 is best left to someone else to drive. From near Stellarton, in theory it meets up with the St. Mary’s River near its headwaters and follows it down to the sea. In practice it is away fro the river, and is a one-time adventure in broken asphalt and bumps to set teeth on edge.

Eventually it comes out on a better road at Melrose, just a few kilometres north of the St. Mary’s River Assoc. museum and education centre. The Association dates from 1979, but built their museum around 2001, and since that time Joanne has been the manager through each summer.

The museum itself has an array of rods, reels photographs and other items from the history of this magnificent river. The association also provides a leadership role in conservation, undertaking water quality monitoring, assisting with population sampling and understanding of the population dynamics of the river.

“We have also come to appreciate all the other wildlife that helps make the St. Mary’s River special,” she says. “We also have other activities reflecting the interests of members.

As we look at a collection of flies, a photograph of Babe Ruth is spotted – he fished the St. Mary’s. So too did Michael J. Fox, although in a more discreet, quiet manner.

St. Mary's Rive: mid-afternoon June 20, 2011

Off and on through the rain, the river roars by on the other side of the road. In recent years the numbers of Atlantic salmon returning have dropped, principally through mortality at sea, and this year there is not a live release fishery on the river.

With the water high this year, it has proven to be a difficult spring, with debris affecting the smolt wheel that was deployed.

Eddie Halfyard and the Lake Ainslie (Margaree River, Cape Breton) Smallmouth Bass

Eddie Halfyard – Eliminating Smallmouth Bass in a Doubly Good Cause

Edmund Halfyard is well known to many in the Atlantic salmon community for his work in documenting the tremendous impact the liming project on West River-Sheet Harbour has had on bringing back the life in that river. He has also been involved in some of the ocean tracking work.

But this time he is being more inventive. He is leading a smallmouth bass fishing event on Saturday, June 25 in Lake Ainslie.

Here is the background – around 2000, someone introduced smallmouth base, a non-native invasive species, into Lake Ainslie, part of the incredibly important Margaree River system, and in the long term putting its salmon in jeopardy.

Eddie has organized a smallmouth fishing event with a twist – Anglers Helping the Hungry will see the fish going to Feed Nova Scotia, an organization focused on food for the needy of Nova Scotia.

Such a beautiful combination to take a good crack at an invasive species, and to see the results go to a socially important cause.

Lake Ainslie – Blowing Hard on June 20, 2011

On Monday Lake Ainslie was blowing and the wind was howling, bringing rain. The mood fit for an invasive species that could do great damage unless controlled or eradicated.

After all the adventures in travel, it was a pleasure to enter the Margaree valley, where more adventures awaited in the mist and rain.

Margaree River Valley – Changed by the Great Floods of Dec. 2010

Margaree River Rising – 6 PM on June 20, 2011

The rain increased as I drove up the Margaree Valley, and once reaching the unpaved road, the potholes were brimming over with the continuing rain.

But what was truly amazing was the extent of changes in the river due to the great flood of Dec. 15, 2010. The river has changed, massive new gravel bars have been formed, and the question is not whether, but how much this flood affected the Atlantic salmon redds in the river. More on this tomorrow.

Atlantic Salmon and the People Helping Them

Well , there is nothing like having a good raise of water in June to help move salmon into the system , but this is a little too much . The river came up yesterday then last night we got hit with severe thunderstorms again so this morning we are washed out , again ! It will not hurt the fish but we don’t expect to be back to decent fishing conditions till Tues or Wed . Of course the big trout on the Cains are loving this , cool high water with tons of food on the bottom and no anglers around to nag them .

Nova Scotia: The Morgan Falls Fishway on the LaHave River reports today 122 grilse and 46 salmon – a great increase from last Friday’s numbers.

Newfoundland: DFO now has their NL counting page up and running, although the numbers are as of June 12, and it needs to be remembered that Newfoundland runs tend to be later. Among the interesting numbers:

• Harry’s River: 65 this year vs. 14 in 2010
• Exploits River: 62 this year vs. 172 in 2010
• Conne River: 238 this year vs. 178 in 2010

There is nothing yet for the Torrent or Western Arm Brook up the Northern Peninsula.

Note that officially three of the five most productive Atlantic salmon rivers in North America are in Newfoundland – The Exploits, Gander and Humber.

NS & NL Fishway Updates

Welcome to the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s River Notes.

We are using a new format for reports of Atlantic salmon returns, plus other “field notes” that come through travels, research field work and from those who personally are involved with the wild Atlantic salmon.

In Newfoundland, Don Ivany reports optimistically on early runs in some rivers:

“The early run rivers in Bay St. George got off to a pretty good start.  A long cold damp Spring meant water temperatures were cold on all rivers and all rivers had medium to high water levels.  There were also many anglers on the rivers considering the season opened in the middle of the week.

“I spent a few hours on Southwest Brook on opening morning  and released two fish (one about 7lbs and one about 5lbs) and lost another.   I received reports of about 20 fish caught on that river yesterday.   There were a couple of fish hooked in the 12-15 lb range, along with a number of grilse and a few fish in the 5-8 lb range.  SPAWN Director Barry Sweetland and his party of four hooked seven fish between them on Crabbes River,  and SPAWN President John McCarty and his party of 4-5 hooked ten fish between them (mostly in the 10 lb range) on  Crabbes River and  Robinsons River.”

In Nova Scotia, the Cheticamp is fishing well with strong runs, and locals are saying they haven’t seen such strong runs since the 1980s.  The Margaree is a bit behind Cheticamp, but so far the returns are very positive. On the LaHave River as of June 9, 57 grilse and 34 multi-sea-winter salmon had returned, placing the returns on par with last year.

New Brunswick’s Restigouche River appears to have good numbers of large salmon, and in the Southwest Miramichi there are good signs of incoming large salmon and some grilse.

Quebec’s Grand Cascapedia is experiencing a very large number of salmon from mid-teens to 35 plus pounds, 90% hens in perfect, mint condition. No First Nations nets is allowing what may be a record June. Salmon are being caught upstream in the wading pools. Fourteen salmon were landed in the Lake Branch in one day. A new record

Maine’s Penobscot River is having a glorious year, with 1,559 Atlantic salmon having returned by June 14, way above the returns in recent years (as of that date). With the cool, wet weather, here’s hoping for an absolutely great year for this most important of Maine rivers.

A biologist with Maine’s Dept. of Marine Resources put it this way:

“The salmon just keep coming. For the last week we have averaged 111 new Atlantic salmon per day. The last time we handled over 100 new salmon in a single day was 1997. In 1996 there were two days with catches over 100, but you have to go back to 1990 and 1986 to find a stretch of multiple 100+ days (9 and 7 days, respectively).”

RESEARCH ACTIVITY UPDATE

Strait of Belle Isle - The acoustic receiver array that detects smolts and kelts migrating through the Strait of Belle Isle is being deployed by ASF staff this week. Smolt with transmitters are now on their way across the Gulf of St. Lawrence from the Miramichi, Restigouche and Cascapedia, plus kelts from the Miramichi.  This will be the seventh year ASF has had this array in place, and consistently Atlantic salmon from different rivers pass through the strait between about July 10 and July 17.

New Reports on Salmon Runs, Research Activities and other Salmon Matters

From: Allen, Kurt

Whats the story on the Sea Trout on the Cains??? Any sign or has the high water sent them right on through?

Kurt Allen

Hi Kurt-
Three of my buddies fished the crown reserve and open water last week from Wed through Monday with very poor fishing . Got into a few big ones just at dark . I fished the open water with a couple of guest’s that saw no big fish . The water was high and cold , good for fish moving and bottom feeding but no action on the top . Great conditions for the trout but not so good for anglers . They need a break anyway after the heat-wave last summer .

Regards, Keith