Friday, July 16, 2010

Hot weather makes fishing a bit tough.

Salmon fishing on the Miramichi River for the past week has been been done under very humid conditions, making the sport very difficult in the hot weather to hook up. Fisherman from all over the world are here in this prime time to catch this amazing fish the salmo salar. Putting this aside the old saying is, you should of been here last week. Or next week is going to be the better week. One never knows when will be the best time, that's why it's called fishing I guess.

I have a few reports for you from up and down the river, some which is good, some could be better. The good news is it can't get much hotter than last week's fishing. The forecast is looking much better this week with temperatures predicted to be in the mid to low 20's and even some clouds and showers.

On the lower section of the river at Millerton they are putting fish through the counters everyday I am told. Quarryville area anglers were seeing lots of fish all week. The water level was very good except for the hot temperatures keeping the salmon from taking there flies. Chris Edmonds rolled a few at the mouth of Renous in the early mornings this week and landed one. I also saw fish jumping this week at Ritchie's Warf in Miramichi city.

Curtis Miramichi River Outfitters said there were lots of anglers in and out of the store with reports of some hookups in the Blackville area. But for the most case the temperatures were a bit high. With the high temperatures it was still very good canoeing and Kayaking. Fly of choice was still the green machine and bombers.

Near the mouth of Cains River fish were piled up at the Black Brook pool across from the public water of Pool 66. Anglers say that these fish are Cains river fish waiting for a rise in water to get up over the gravel bar at the mouth of Cains. Fish hold here all summer since the temporary bridge was taken out at the Mouth of Cains River in the late 70's. Raymond Clowater gave it a try this week at pool 66 with his buddy Roger from Moncton and only fished about an hour before coming back to the shop and saying it was a waste of time in this heat and would wait for better conditions.

Up river in the Doaktown area Derek Munn of Mountain Channel Blackville and Ledges Inn Doaktown said with all the hot humid weather the past week the fish have took refuge in the cold water pools. Before this heat wave we were seeing and catching record numbers of fish. We were catching more grilse than salmon but there were also good numbers of salmon being caught, mostly in the 12-18lb range with a couple over 25lbs.

Wilsons Sporting Camps above Doaktown in the upper stretches said the recent rain brought the river up 6 inches and it has cooled down considerably, but as of last Monday it was still too warm for good fishing. Even though a lot of fish moved out of our cold water areas most salmon are not interested in taking a fly yet.

Fisherman saw a few fish on the Cains at Salmon Brook, Buttermilk brook and the Brophy Pool. Renous river fisherman were getting a few but once the river heated up the fish started holding in the cold water pools and had lock jaw I was told.

The NW Miramichi had anglers getting a few fish but over the past week things were very tough. Trout Brook Fly Shop had a few anglers in that were seeing lots of fish and a couple that had picked up a grilse. Also they had a Spey Casting clinic that turned out very good from there Snowbee Rep. The gathering was small with about 10 attending, but those attending received a good showing of how versatile spey casting can be done and how effective it is. Jim Foster of the Times and Transcript had the crown waters and caught and released 4 salmon on the Crawford Pool and saw several more fish on the weekend. And he tells me he is a poor fisherman?
If your deciding to give it a try in these hot conditions try early hours and very late evenings. Use your smallest flies and long light leaders to help with a soft landing to your fly. And until next week tight lines.