Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Salmon fishing shows vast improvement

Salmon fishing and river conditions on the Miramichi have improved greatly over the past week.

Colder nights have put the water temperatures in the 50F (10C) range and the height of the river is very good for the lower stretches, but could use a bit of rain to raise the up river levels.

Everyone is asking if the fall run is here?

Well there are some big hook-bills landed and even some fish landed with sea lice. Last week at Black Brook Salmon Club they reported landing 114 Atlantic salmon and many were sea lice covered fish. There was a report of a 40-pound salmon being landed at Vickers Pools this week.

Troy Adams from Dieppe landed a 25 & 28-pound-plus hook-bills on Tuesday. Richard Lac from New Hampshire fished with me this week. The first day we saw lots of fish from many sizes, but could not hook up. Then on Tuesday Richard landed two grilse weighing about five pounds each on a Ally Shrimp No. 8 single hook at the Half Bar pool.

On Sunday, Jim Corrigan landed a grilse while his buddy Axel raised several fish on Ally Shrimps at the Swett Pool. Damir Sehic landed two grilse on Saturday at Pool 66.

Ken MacLeod landed a grilse at the Nash Bar pool on Sunday and lost another on Monday. His friend Jeff Mosher also landed his first Atlantic salmon on one of my yellow body bombers at Pool 66 in Howard. Then on Monday he lost a 25-plus salmon as he took his fly in the very first run. Bill Moore and Ron Falusey each landed a grilse and Clark Hallman landed two grilse at the Swett Pool all on Alley Shrimps.

A great story of a young man's life being ruined by fishing Atlantic salmon this season as Jason MacCallum from Moncton was introduced to salmon fishing by Andrew Clark (also of Moncton) and has the fever very badly as he landed a fish each of his three times out fishing.

Andrew said it's nice to ruin someone's life with instilling the passion for salmon fishing on him. Way to go guys and thank you for the update.

Other rivers like the Cains River is still fishing slow as fisherman are not seeing many fish from above the Sabbies River. Reports from the Northwest Miramichi had fishing improving over the last week and water levels were still pretty good with river temperatures in the 50sF.

The race is on for Canada's Ultimate Fishing town on the WFN on. So visit the site and vote for Miramichi as your fishing town (http://www.wfn.tv/ultimate-fishing-town/miramichi). Lets go New Brunswickers and get back in this race for the best fishing town in Canada. We only have 6,642 votes so get going and vote.

Also register soon for your booth at the Dieppe Fly Fishing Forum 2011 at http://www.flyfishingforum.ca/info_exhibitors.htm and contact Ron Godin.

Let me know of that fish of your dreams caught on the beautiful Miramichi. So keep your rods high and your reels screeching until next week have tight lines.

* Rodney Colford is a third generation salmon-fishing guide on the Miramichi River and has been guiding fishermen ranging from greenhorns to some of the finest fly-fishermen in the world for 27 years. His fishing reports appear every Thursday in the Times & Transcript.