Wilson’s on the Miramichi River is so impressed with the new Orvis Helios rods that we are teaming up with the Orvis company to bring you what we firmly believe to be the “best damn rod on the market today” ( Karl Wilson – fifth generation Miramichi River guide ). Wilson’s guides are the real pros and after putting numerous Helios rods through the paces fly-fishing for Atlantic Salmon on the Miramichi River in 2008 , they are convinced that every angler should have one of these fantastic rods in their kit . Check out the Orvis link for details on how you can own one of these beauties FOR FREE.

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Atlantic Salmon fly-fishing conditions on the Miramichi at McNamee as of August 27th . At Wilson’s in the McNamee area , which is 30 miles upriver from Blackville the river is down to a perfect fishing level and we have tons of both fresh and summer run salmon . The water is still a little high for the large Big Murphy Pool but most other pools are fishing well . (more…)

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Take it from someone who lives and breaths fly-fishing , always listen to your guide . Last week I was writing about the hazards of fishing with a trout rod and the problems you run into when hooking a large salmon , well last night I did it again , I ended up with my 5wt. trout rod in hand and that was not bad on the first four fish hooked , they were all grilse . But right at dark when I should have been heading home I rolled a fish four times (more…)

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Atlantic Salmon fly-fishing conditions at Wilson’s on the Miramich River July 5th . The water is still high and dropping slowly . The aquefer ( underground river ) that stretches far out under the islands allong the river as well as the inland swamps and brooks are fully soaked with water now, which will help keep the river up over the coming summer months . According to world renowned hydrologists Robert Newbury ,who conducted university studies here a few years ago on the river , says that there is almost as much water under these islands during normal summer height as what there is in the river , this is crucial in maintaining a healthy watershed . This is why it is so important not to strip these islands of the precious top soil that protects the aquefer from evaporation . It took thousands of years for the top soil to build up and it takes only a few hours with a tractor and loader to destroy . Luckily for the Miramichi , and other NB rivers land owners are regulated by very strict laws that protect this riparian area from destruction . Air temps at 6:30 Am are around 10c. so water temps are ideal . During the afternoon this last couple days air temps warmed up but with the above average height and cool nights the water is good . We started seeing a lot of fish again yesterday , most of which are grilse so this is obviously the July run on its way in . With the high water we are still fishing only a few pools but these pools fish best in high water anyway .

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Sometimes big water requires big equipment in order to operate efficiently. We are fortunate to have two of these beautiful cedar strip canoes for getting around in all river conditions . These vessels are designed and engineered to work perfectly on this area of the Miramichi . They are unique by the fact that they are 28 feet long with a square stern and pushed by a 25 hp jet outboard , they will skim over just 8 inches of water with two anglers and guide aboard so we can navigate the river all season . The bottom of the boat is finished with a kevlar mat and heavy hardwood keel , inside is smooth clear epoxy over 1 inch wide cedar strips . Each boat is also set up with electric start on remote controls and a stick steering system that places the guide app 8 feet from the stern , this puts all the weight in the middle of the boat . Having these boats on site provide anglers much more convenient access to our five miles of river therefore increasing your chances of hooking the big one .

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Just when the river was getting down to the perfect level we get hammered with rain and really high water . It dumped on us big time Saturday night , most of Sunday and then again this morning . The water was still coming up as of 6:am this morning so fishing will be tough for the next few days . On a positive note this is good for the river and good for the fish and with this big run of fish on the move there will still be fish taken in some areas . We will focus our attention on island sections that have wide slopeing beaches that will be covered in one to three feet of water , this will be the travelling lane for the salmon and if you get a fly over one it will still take . So not all is lost we just have to change our tactics and be content with three or four pools instead of twelve to sixteen .

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Our spey casting camp is going very well this week . We are getting into some decent fishing and as you can tell by this photo some folks are enjoying a shot of Scotch as well . Note the fly box , it is obvious this guy did not want us to see what he is using for fly’s , he shows mostly fall patterns here , so some things never change . We are most encouraged by this cool wet weather and the fact that we are seeing plenty of fish moving through . Nancy W caught her first ever Atlantic Salmon yesterday on her new Orvis Zero Gravity 7wt rod , needless to say she was the first body at the breakfast table this morning , with her new rod still in hand .

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June 23rd – 28th is Spey Casting week at Wilson’s . Doug Hintzman and Pete Humphrey are two of the best spey casting instructors on the water today and they are bringing their expertise and talent from Michigan to the Miramichi to help our guest’s, as well as our guides improve their abilities at this age old approach to fly fishing . It has always been our goal at Wilson’s to not only take you fishing but to also teach you all the techniques to help you catch more fish . We still have a few slots open for next week and big discounts to boot . If there are any NB residents who would like to come in for just the instruction portion ( less meals and lodging ) we can arrange that as well . Doug and Pete will have all the necessary gear with them so you don’t have to worry about a new rod , yet . The water and weather is perfect to move fish up the river this week , setting the stage for some great action during our spey casting week .

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The two anglers posted here are Caitlyn Munden and Chris Munn . Chris and Caitlyn recently dropped in to Wilson’s for a few hours of Salmon fishing , a nice evening on the water but no-hook ups this time . Chris is proprietor of Fredericton Outfitters , a full service Orvis store conveniently located on Route 8 ( 285 Canada Street ) in Fredericton New Brunswick , phone

506-450-4044

. Anglers travelling from the US to the Miramichi pass right by his door , so there is no excuse to show up on the Miramichi River empty handed . Fredericton Outfitters is set up in a beautiful historic building with large spacious rooms and well displayed Orvis fly- fishing and upland hunting gear . In addition to his well stocked store , everything you see on line at www.Orvis.com Chris can get for you or have it shipped directly to your door . If you miss Chris in Fredericton , Wilson’s in McNamee also has a basic Orvis supply in our shop and again Wilson’s can order and drop ship any product the Orvis sells .

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Atlantic salmon fly-fishing conditions and report for the Miramichi River at McNamee on June 5th . We had another small raise of water early this week so the river is in superb condition for mirgrating salmon . We have had several reports from further down river of a few Rocky Brook Run salmon being caught . C. Gilks landed a beautiful 25lb. salmon just yesterday , what a beauty . These fish are tough to catch but if you put your time in on the water the reward will be well worth the effort . I have been on the water each night this week for an hour or so but no luck yet . The big sea-run brook trout have been on the lower Cains for a few days now so with this good water I am certain the entire Cains system will be producing some real trophies over the next several weeks . This is a picture of Geoff Giffin’s huge sea-run brook trout taken last year on the Cains , Geoff is hitting the Cains again soon for a try at another big one, good luck Geoff hope you succeed .

New for 2008 we are hosting a one week Spey Casting – Atlantic Salmon Fishing School . Professional quality Spey casting instruction with expert guided salmon fishing during one of the best weeks for early summer- run Atlantic salmon . The school’s group and individual instruction will benefit both novice and experienced casters . Beginners welcomed ! (more…)

Flyfishing ~ April 1991, Vol. 14, N. 1
The Miramichi: Legendary Salmon River
By Adriano Manocchia

A fall fishing trip for salmon on the Miramichi Rover in New Brunswick , Canada evoked excitement, anticipation and the possible answer to a long-held curiosity as to why it is regarded a classic and historic salmon river. I had read plenty of articles and books about the Miramichi and had viewed many older paintings done on this river. Now I’d have the opportunity to fish, sketch and paint it for myself.

The trip north was a last-minute arrangement. I had just gotten back from research trips to Canada and the Rockies to paint wildlife and sporting scenes of different areas. I anxiously awaited the return of winter so I could get back to my easel and away from the airports, hotel rooms and customs inspectors. However, and opportunity to fish the Miramichi could not easily be turned down, so I loaded up the car once more and headed north. Bill Taylor, manager of Public Information Service for the Atlantic Salmon Federation, would make the necessary arrangements for our stay at the Wilson ‘s Sporting Camp in McNamee near historic Doaktown in New Brunswick . We’d spend three days fishing there during the last week of the salmon season. I left New York quite apprehensive. It had been a few years since I headed out on an assignment without having every possible angle planned under complete control. Here I was driving 10 hours to Canada based on the promises of a stranger who assured me a memorable experience! Was I nuts? What was I thinking of? Perhaps I was thinking of he potential 34-inch Atlantic salmon and the opportunity to paint a classic section of the Miramichi. That was enough to take a chance.

As we pulled into Wilson ‘s Camp, it was raining hard. I felt the anxiety build up inside me. Bill Taylor, whom I had finally met only 30 minutes before in Fredericton , assured me again that everything would be great. I should relax, things were under control. “But Bill, it’s pouring! I just drove 11 hours!” I exclaimed. Keith Wilson, Bill and Lloyd Lyons, who would be our guides for the next three days, all laughed.

He’s definitely a New Yorker,” Keith said. “Put your clothes away, get your gear ready and sit down for lunch.” Relax? Lunch? This wasn’t southern California , this was New Brunswick . I had just driven 12 hours and it was pouring outside! Or was that 13 hours? If I wanted rain and miserable weather I could have stayed in New York !

I was ushered into a rustic and charming dining room. One immediately got the feeling of being surrounded by history. On every wall were photos, letters, memorabilia from the many years that the Wilson family have been part of this sport of salmon fishing. Keith is the fourth generation of Wilsons to run the camp, and you could sense it was more than a business for him; it was his heritage, and he was proud of it. Lunch lasted over an hour, and it was now time to get down to some serious fishing. Keith had set up a schedule. Today, we would fish the home poop till 4:00 p.m. , giving us about three hours. Cutting the fishing time to 4:00 p.m. gave the locals a chance to fish the river. As I walked outside, I realized it had stopped raining and the heavy clouds were beginning to break up. Bill didn’t say a world. We piled into the pickup waiting for us in front of the lodge and headed for the river. A few minutes later we came over a crest in a hill, and the Miramichi became visible for the first time. It was vast. The river seemed over 300 yards wide; the water was crystal clear and moving fast. Lloyd parked the van close to an embankment which lead to a 50-foot drop. Bill and I quickly climbed out of the vehicle. As we made our way down the hill, Bill grabbed my arm to stop me. He pointed out towards the river. Suddenly you could see them. Salmon were jumping everywhere. They were large, and they were leaping two to three feet in the air. Bill laughed when he turned and saw the expression on my face.

Three days before leaving for the trip, I’d made a call to Tom Rosenbauer at Orvis in Vermont . I wanted tot know from Tom what gear he suggested for this trip. Tom is an accomplished fisherman, writer and manages the Orvis fishing and hunting catalog. He assured me these fish were no 14-inch trout; we would be dealing with heavyweights. I mentioned to Tom that I was interesting in using a light rod and reel, maybe a 5 or 6 weight on this trip, taking these fish on light tackle, really making it a challenge. Tom on the other hand suggested I go with a 9 weight set up. I took his advice. Why look fro trouble?

While I was fiddling with tying my salmon fly on the leader, Bill had made his way out 100 yards to the center of the river and was casting across at a 45-degree angle. On the way to his destination, he did mention that he would be hooking a large salmon quite soon and I should be ready with my camera. He also assured me he’d catch the first salmon in our party. No sooner did I get my line out in the water that Bill cheered. “First of the day!” He yelled.

“Already?” I mumbled. Lloyd laughed. The cheer of “first of the day” brought back memories of an Italian friend of the family I knew from Connecticut who loved his wine. Every time we would refill his glass, he’d lift it and say, “first of the day!” After the fourth and fifth time of announcing this though, it would become quite annoying. By the end of the day I began to feel the same way about Bill.

I quickly reeled in my line, passed the rod to Lloyd and ran out to Bill as fast as the moving water would allow me. This would be a great opportunity to get photos of a fisherman landing a nice salmon and then releasing it. But Bill decided o show off.

“No new, Lloyd. I can do this one by hand,” he said. Except this 30-inch salmon wasn’t about to cooperate. A few fast, hard slaps with his body, and he was sailing out of Bill’s hands. “Don’t worry, I’ll get another one.” Bill said. And he did. In fact, he caught quite a few that day.

The three hours on the Miramichi passed quickly. Everything was happening so fast that I wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as I had hoped to. The fish were jumping everywhere. They were attacking the flies with strength. I had already used quite a few rolls of film, and my head was swirling from the excitement and possible painting I could create from the day’s fishing. As we headed back to camp for dinner Lloyd assured me tomorrow would be even better.

It was about 6 a.m. when we left the lodge he next morning to head upriver about four miles by car. Plans were to take two canoes down the Miramichi, stopping at different locations to sketch and photograph Bill and Lloyd fishing. A blanket of fog sat on the water. It would last only a half hour. It allowed me enough time to shoot a roll of film of Bill in his canoe as he gently threaded his way over the pools and shallow areas. But the weather changed fast. Layers of heavy clothes began to come off as the sun broke through the mist. The sun began warming the air. By the time we reached out first stop, Duff Pool, we were down to shirt and fishing vest. Further down river at Dudley, we met up with another local guide and two gentlemen from Massachusetts who were taking a “ten o’clock coffee break.” They proudly described the action during the morning hours and how well they had done. Our journey downriver continued.

It was at this point that the colors of the changing leaves and the spectacular blue sky began to hit a peak. The river sparkled with the brilliance that was indescribable. They were the kind of colors that one almost dreads to paint on a canvas. The colors would seem “phony” – too bright, too strong.

We reached a spot on the river which was quite deep where the river narrowed a bit. Bill shouted that he could see a large salmon moving away from one pool to another as he passed over them with his canoe. We were some 10 yards ahead when I saw a huge maple, leaves burning with the bright colors of orange and vermilion. I asked Lloyd if he could manage to stop us about 10 yards ahead of Bill. I yelled to Bill to anchor to the best of his ability about 20 feet away from the shore and give the spot a try. The image was magical. I clicked through a roll of film and grabbed my sketch pad to make some notes on color when Bill’s line tightened then began to unwind from his reel. He has hooked a large salmon. He was standing in the canoe and you could see he was definitely having a time playing the fish and keeping his balance. This was great. I dropped the pad and shot more photos.

The battle lasted quite awhile. Lloyd was able to get our canoe further upriver closer to Bill. By now the fish has been tired out enough for Bill to get him near the boat. He gently removed the hook from its jaw, and we watched this majestic fish swim back to the deep pole not far from the canoe. It had been pure magic.

We pulled anchor and continued downriver, talking about the fish and the action we had just witnessed. It was close to 12 o’clock , and plans were to stop at Big Murphy’s for lunch.

The last day at the camp saw the rains come back. I was completely content with the material I had gathered during our stay. Lloyd and Keith felt I should take advantage of the poor weather and concentrate on some fishing back at home pool. Get out on the water for a few hours and give the fishing a try myself since I had not had much of a chance the day before. It took about 30 minutes to finally coax a nice 33-inch fish to take my Taylor Special. The Taylor Special is a little green salmon fly created by Bill a few years back. The fish leaped and ran and leaped again and again. It dove deep and fought with the strength of a survivor, and finally I acknowledged why they are called the “King of Fish” and why the Miramichi is so magical.

I haven’t completely recovered from the experience of the fall trip to this piece of heaven. The people, the river, the fish are all part of this magical land. I’ve painted two oils from this experience for far, and I have two new canvases stretched and ready to begin new images from the Miramichi. I haven’t completely gotten it out of my system yet. I don’t know when I will stop painting these scenes, but I do know I plan to go back there.

After many hours discussing with Bill the future of the river and the salmon, I hope that we as fisherman will be concerned enough to keep this land as pristine as it is now, that the salmon will continue to proliferate, for future generations to enjoy such and incredible fishing trip.

It’s time to get back to the easel and get some work done. I hope I will be able to remember this fabulous experience for a long, long time.

Canada’s Classic Fishing Lodges,
Text by John St. Louis & John Townley

Wilson ‘s Sporting Camps Ltd. is one of the oldest fishing lodges and outfitters in Canada . The Wilson family has been in business at its unique location in McNamee , New Brunswick , since 1928, when Willard Wilson and his wife, Sarah, began outfitting and accommodating anglers lured by the famed Atlantic salmon runs of the Miramichi River . An outfitting and guide service was a natural fit for Willard, as his ancestors had been fishing and guiding on the Miramichi River since the mid – 1800′s. Willard’s great-grandfather John Wilson settled on the same property in 1803, just a few hundred yards from the banks of the tempting Miramichi.

In the early nineteenth century, salmon from the Miramichi provided an important source of food for the isolated early pioneers of the area, in addition to providing great sport. Perhaps John Wilson was the source of his family’s affinity with the river. He was an “inspector of fishing” on the river between 1810 and 1814, and subsequent generations of Wilsons have embraced the family’s traditional reliance on the Miramichi River and the woods surrounding it, including its current proprietors, Keith Wilson and his wife, Bonnie.

Before the arrival of their first guest in 1928, Willard and Sarah ran a country store from their house. Possessed of an entrepreneurial spirit, Willard also provided amateur veterinary and undertaking services for other citizens of the isolated community. It is uncertain if Willard simply fell into the fishing business or if it was a calculated move; however, it is known that the first guests of Wilson ‘s Sporting Camps came as a result of hearing tales of the opulent salmon fishing from Willard’s daughter, Marie Grace. Perhaps it was Marie Grace’s enthusiasm that drove her father into harnessing the bounty of the river.

As a registered nurse, Marie worked at Dick’s House, the infirmary at Dartmouth College in Hanover , New Hampshire . It was here that she met many doctors and professors, some of whom were avid anglers. The first “sports” (as fishing clients are affectionately called in the eastern provinces) to make the trip at Marie ‘s suggestion were Dr. and Mrs. John Gile. Other early guests were Harry Wellman, professor of marketing at Dartmouth ‘s famous Tuck School ; Halsey Edgerton, treasurer of the college; and Nat Burleigh – all of whom became frequent and loyal guests. They each paid a fee of $8 a day, which included legendary home-cooked meals, accommodations and guide services provided by the Wilson ‘s sons, Murray and Thomas.

Here, Thomas Wilson describes hooking a fish with early guest Harry Wellman:

Harry went around the ledge and got into the boat and we started fishin’. It was a pretty deep pool and we fished maybe an hour and by and by he hooked this fish. That would be about eleven o’clock . Well, we played it for quite a while and he says ‘By God, Tom, that’s an awful salmon.’ And I said, ‘Yes, it just put you in mind of a pig jumpin’. And it did – you know, when he came down in the water with a big splash. I says ‘I don’t know if we’ll ever land that or not.’ But there was a rock down below us about 60 feet and what did that salmon do but went right around that rock and the line went around it, and he come up on the other side. And Harry says ‘I’m caught.’ I said ‘Don’t do a thing. I’ll wade out there and see if I can trip him.’ And I did. And boys that salmon went. He was jumpin’ then and we played him there for four hours and fifteen minutes. Harry hung right onto her. He was so played out the next day he couldn’t fish. Finally I waded out by this rock – the water was over it. So when he could get the fish dropped down by the rock I had a pretty good chance to put the gaff in him. When he did come down, I put the gaff in him and started and he started and took me right off me feet. I went right down in the water on my knees but I held it to him, and then I got him around and got him in on shore. We were both played out. I think that fish weighted 38 pounds and some ounces. We won the Rod & Reel prize that year.

Tales of the phenomenal fishing quickly spread throughout Dartmouth College campus, and Dartmouth staff and faculty came in ever-increasing numbers. For the first decade as an Atlantic salmon camp, Wilson ‘s was essentially the college’s private fishing club. Strong friendships emerged between early Dartmouth clients and the Wilson family. In 1934, at Professor Wellman’s suggestion, Willard Wilson Jr. returned to Hanover with him and enrolled in high school, as there were no secondary schools in the Upper Miramichi area at the time. James Wilson followed three years later with Halsey and Mrs. Edgerton. Both boys went on to graduate from Dartmouth College . While at Dartmouth , the Wilson boys followed in their sister Marie Grace’s footsteps in the role of campus direct-marketing agents for Wilson ‘s Sporting Camps.

For thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans, New Brunswick’s Miramichi River sustained and nourished communities of Mi’Kmaq Aboriginal people who called the river Lustagoocheehk, meaning “little goodly river.” Today, the name Miramichi, meaning literally “Mi’Kmaq Land,” is believed to be a Montagnais word and the oldest Native place name in eastern Canada still in use today.

While the Miramichi has certainly lived up to its reputation as the generous “little goodly river,” this sadly hasn’t been reciprocated by the beneficiaries of the watershed’s bounty. Destructive clear-cutting of timber in the watershed and massive commercial over-fishing of Atlantic salmon in the ocean near the river’s mouth have taken a serious toll on salmon stocks and their habitat. In 1785 Benjamin Martsen, the first sheriff of Miramichi County , prophesized in a letter to the government that “unless the salmon fishery is attended to [by the government], it will be ruined by the ignorance and avarice of those concerned in it.” It took one year less than two centuries to heed this advice, and while the commercial netting of salmon in the Maritimes has been banned since 1984, returns of salmon today are still a shadow of their historical levels.

Today, the majestic, serene beauty of the southwest Miramichi disguises the impact of man. There are 26 primary tributaries fed by the over 7,700 streams that comprise the 13,600 acres of salmon and trout spawning habitat that is the Miramichi River watershed. Despite the fact that historic returns estimated to have been as large as a half a million fish have been reduced to 30,000-50,000 salmon, it is believed that more salmon make their annual pilgrimage up the Miramichi than in all rivers in Quebec combined. It is a tribute to the resilience of the river and its hardy fish that the Miramichi remains one of the greatest salmon rivers in the world.

In July 2001 we had the pleasure of sojourning at Wilson ‘s Sporting Camps. Time stands still on the Miramichi, and this reflected in the relaxed and patient disposition of all local residents that I encountered, especially the fishing guides. Tranquility prevails in McNamee, on the banks of the Miramichi, and it is contagious. Worries or stresses that arrive with anglers quickly vanish in the clam of this sleepy rural town. The main building of the camp is the original Wilson family homestead, built by Keith Wilson’s great-great grandfather, John Turnbull Wilson, in the late 1800s. Running through the house between the den and the kitchen there still exists the sawdust-insulated structure once used as a refrigerator and built over a trough through which ran a constant flow of cold spring water.

The main house has been immaculately preserved and stands proudly yet inconspicuously as the heart of this commercial camp on the sleepy stretch of road in this small town of only fifty houses. A tractor trail winds between two old barns behind the house, down a small hill next to a farmer’s field, towards the river a short distance away. Directly across the small road, in front of the main house, are five cottage cabins that house the majority of guests. These unpretentious cabins are built in a semicircle formation next to a covered storage area where many gleaming 20-foot Chestnut-brand green canvas canoes are hung to dry. While these canoes have been essentially retired in favor of the lighter and more durable Kevlar canoes of today, Keith Wilson obligingly takes one or two of the Chestnut canoes off their hooks each summer so that an old customer may enjoy the same ride as they did tears ago.

Tradition is entrenched in the psyche of many of the guests who have been coming to Wilson ‘s for years. For numerous guests, the journey to the camp and time spent on the river is an important annual ritual. Approximately 80 percent of Wilson ‘s guests are repeat customers, several of whom are second generation. Fishing the Miramichi and staying at Wilson ‘s is a family tradition for many. The possibility of fishing a week without catching a salmon is understood by all visitors and is testimony to the fact that the intrinsic value of salmon fishing on the Miramichi is of broader scope than simply catching a salmon. This unique place allows devotees to convene with Mother Nature in solitude, or to share it with close friends. The surging spring freshets change the course of the river slightly each year. How the water moves differently over and around rocks compared to they year before, or curves at a bend, are all of interest to a Salmo salar fly-fisherman. Keith Wilson embodies this philosophy and believes that Wilson ‘s “isn’t about selling salmon. It’s selling the sport, the beauty of the water, the camp life and the joy of having a salmon on your line.”

This is such an important part of some people’s lives that it is not unusual for Wilson ‘s to host the families and friends of guests who pass away. They come to retrace the deceased’s steps, to see the place and water so precious to them when they were alive, and to leave ashes on the river, where the soul is left to fish a favorite stretch of river for eternity.

Each cabin has its own porch, where anglers spend lazy afternoons resting, smoking, telling tales or sipping whiskey between shifts. Three of the cabins, Church, Arenenson and Lukehart, are named after loyal guests who over the decades have made annual pilgrimages to the lodge. The only sounds are those of the wings of birds, crickets, bees and dragonflies.

During our stay, each morning after a hot shower we strolled across to the old dining room on the ground floor of the main house for a hearty breakfast of farm-fresh eggs, bacon and sausages, and homemade bread. The room catches the early morning sun.

Robert Barnwell Roosevelt, uncle of American president Theodore Roosevelt, ate in this same room in 1862, during a trip to Wilson ‘s that he later wrote about in his book entitled The Game Fish of the Northern States of America and British Provinces . Roosevelt started his trip in New York , traveling by ship to Saint John , New Brunswick , then on to Wilson ‘s by stagecoach. It cost him $306.69 for himself and a friend, including meals and lodging, guide service and transportation. He included a cost of $10 for “delicacies”, which perhaps came from the country store that the Wilsons used to operate in the same building.

After breakfast, Keith Wilson enthusiastically gives the guests a routine briefing on the stretch of river each will be fishing that day, as did Keith’s father, Kurt, every morning when he ran the lodge, and his grandfather, Murray, before him. Keith Wilson endeavors to limit the impact on his stretch of river by allowing just ten rods a day. This ensures that each angler can fish three new pools per day.

Lloyd Lyons, our guide, arrived shortly thereafter in his pickup, and in his thick, Miramichi Valley drawl shared the virtues of the day’s fishing pools with us. Lloyd has been guiding on the Miramichi for 37 years, an indication of the dedication that is not unusual for a guide at Wilson ‘s. Ernest Long, the head guide at Wilson ‘s, has over 50 years of guiding under his belt – a virtual Ph.D. in fishing and river experience. A photo of Ernest hangs in the Atlantic Salmon Museum in nearby Doaktown, commemorating his induction into the Atlantic Salmon Hall of Fame. The five primary guides at Wilson ‘s have, combined, over 145 years of guiding experience on the southwest Miramichi. If there were a university faculty of fly-fishing for Atlantic salmon, these guides would be the professors.

My spirits were buoyed by the knowledge that more Atlantics are caught by fishermen on the Miramichi River every year than on any other river in eastern Canada . But past experience has taught me that Atlantic salmon glory is never a given, so I looked to Ted Williams, of baseball fame, for inspiration. Ted was a diabolical fly fisherman and fished the Miramichi extensively, mostly at his private camp. In 1978 he earned the prestigious Triple Crown of angling by catching his 1,000 th Atlantic salmon on a fly, having previously caught and released 1,000 bonefish and 1,000 tarpon on the fly. If 1,000 salmon could be caught by a single man, surely I was good for at least one.

Over four days we fished many of the best of sixteen pools that Wilson ‘s owns, over 5 miles of private water. Lloyd, determined not to let the fish win, drove us over miles of back-country gravel roads and poled us fearlessly, from the stern of a river canoe, through several traditional staging pools and runs such as Hovey’s Front, Dudley Pool, Harvey ‘s Front, Little Murphy, Buttermilk and O’Donnell’s Landing. The sun blazed mercilessly on the river, reflecting off the millions of bright-colored pebbles that make up the riverbed and turning the water an eclectic lime-green color.

Guests can elect to fish from the canoe or from shore. With the water so low, casting and wading were a breeze, so we always elected to fish from shore. And cast we did, our Orvis 9-weights punching out thousands of feet of line each day. Every fly in our fly vests had its turn. Bombers and Wulff patterns, Copper Killers, Green Machines, Silver and Rusty Rats, and Crossbooms in all sizes and colors. Even an emergency visit to celebrated fly-tackle outfitter W.W. Doak in Doaktown, where we purchased additional flies, didn’t change our luck. Seeing the fish porpoising and thrashing the surface at times made it all the more frustrating for us.

As it did on the fish, so too did the sun take its toll on us, necessitating frequent trips to the shade of riverside trees or an occasional dip in the river below where the fish were holding. Sweat-soaked from casting and wading in the hot sun, we’d sit down heavily on riverbank logs for an evening “lunch” of fresh sandwiches, cake, brownies and drinks. “Dinner” at Wilson ‘s is served at 12:30 p.m. and is always a delicious, hot, home-cooked meal using decades-proven recipes created by the Wilson women, such as Ethel Wilson’s renowned cream-of-fiddlehead soup. With my muscles conditioned to making constant micro-adjustments while wading, I could still feel the river’s current flowing around me and pushing me off balance as we sat on shore watching the heat rise, creating a mirage that turned the gravel bars upside down over the river below us. We absorbed the serenity of the ancient river and basked in the luxury of our own solitude. This is one of the true gifts of flowing water running over its native rock bed. Lloyd entertained us with stories of finned monsters that past clients had the glory of catching. After dinner, the schedule at Wilson ‘s requires all anglers to willingly retire to their cabin porch for a well-deserved siesta before heading back to a new stretch of river in the late afternoon.

Due to the timing of our visit, we missed out on the famous shore-lunch experience enjoyed by Wilson ‘s guests who come to fish the unique black or “spring” salmon fishery of early spring. Just after ice-out in mid-April, the Miramichi River salmon fishing season commences, with anglers fly-fishing for hungry salmon that spawned the previous fall and wintered-over below the ice. After months with little or nothing to eat, the salmon feed ravenously, aggressively attacking flies as they slowly make their way back to the ocean. The weather is cool and the river high and often raging at this time of year. Shore lunches then center around a blazing wood fire where guides prepare hot coffee, fried potatoes and vegetables and grilled salmon.

The dust behind Lloyd’s pickup settled quickly with the weight of the morning dew as we drove down a gravel road to our favorite, and one of Wilson ‘s most famous pools, Coldwater, a popular holding pool for salmon, especially during warmer water temperatures. The pool lies just below the confluence of the southwest Miramichi and the cooler waters of Stewarts Brook, and in addition is shaded for much of the morning. These two forces combine to keep the water temperature a precious few degrees cooler than in most other sections of the river. Immediately above Coldwater the river runs wide, swift and shallow, allowing oxygenation and posing a hurdle during low-water conditions. Up to three anglers can easily fly-fish this water, and there are many fish in the pool, mostly at the head of the run feeding it. Fish rose and jumped often to laugh at us. Overhead, an osprey flew, gripping a large fish tightly in its talons. We saw the same osprey several times during our stay, mostly flying over Coldwater Pool, and it always had a fish. But it was not to be for us. Despite the many libations of golden single-malt poured into rivers and lakes across the country, our homage to the river gods went unheeded. The relentless blaze of the sun and the low water conditions had put what salmon were in the river into a state of narcolepsy. No wonder Wilson ‘s has such a long history of repeat visitors. Revenge.

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When you think Atlantic salmon fly-fishing, the first place to come to mind is the Miramichi River, and when you think top quality private fishing pools and the best possible guide service you should automaticaly think Wilson’s Sporting Camps. The same goes for our World Class Upland Bird hunting. You will not find better service, better dogs or better covers than right here at Wilson’s.

For almost a century and a half the Wilson family has been in the business of providing great Atlantic Salmon fly fishing, hunting and outdoors adventure to discriminating clients from around the world. We are located in the Miramichi River valley of New Brunswick, one of the most scenically beautiful places in Canada. A pristine, “just as God made it” place that offers some of the finest Atlantic Salmon fly-fishing and wing shooting on the North American continent.

The Miramichi is known as “the mother of all salmon rivers” for hosting the largest runs in the world of Atlantic salmon, “the king of game fish”. Wilson’s owns and leases more private water on the Miramichi than any other outfitter or individual – a total of 16 pools, many of then among the rivers finest, which means that we can provide our clients with Atlantic Salmon fishing virtually unmatched for variety and quality in all of Atlantic Canada.

We are offering groups exclusive access to the entire operation in order to maximize privacy, service and comfort. The king of game fish, The Atlantic Salmon and other local attractions such as the Old Mill Pond Golf course, walking trails, museums and miles of open wilderness helps make Wilson’s a favorite destination among world travelers.

 

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Dear anglers and friends ,
The Wilson family is pleased to announce our new affiliation with the Orvis Company . We are proud to say that we are now an Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Lodge , which will mean new services and a guarenteed higher standard to our operation and products being offered to guests . Beginning in 2008 visitors to Wilson’s will see a complete line of Orvis equipment on site for their testing and use while in camp . We will also stock a limited supply of equipment in our small shop for sale and will be happy to arrange quick delivery right to your door of all other items that Orvis sells . Orvis catalogues and computer access to their web site will be made available for your shopping convenience. In addition you will be able to take advantage of Orvis’s travel department and huge network of other high quality fishing lodges and upland hunting lodges worldwide.

Our guides will be well versed on Orvis equipment and will also apply their years of talent and expertise on our water to help make your fishing more enjoyable , but most of all more productful . Our goal is to help you catch more Atlantic Salmon and good quality equipment is the first step.

Orivs has a reputation of making some of the finest Fly-Fishing and Upland Hunting gear available on the market today , and Wilson’s has a reputation for having some of the best service and some of the finest Atlantic salmon water on this river . We view our new formed partnership with Orvis as a positive step forward , we hope you do too.

Sincerely yours,
Keith Wilson

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Keith Wilson’s "Miramichi River Report"