Reels Screeching on Miramichi as the weather warms up.

The reels are still screeching on the Miramichi as fisherman from far and wide are hooking up with the silver leapers. But as the reels are heating up, so does the maritime weather as

temperatures reach the high 30's and putting the river temperature in places up to a high of 25C ( high 70's F). And with very hot weather over the next week, and very little rain in the forecast the fishing will start to slow down unless we get rain or cooler temperatures.

This week I fished again from the Blissfield area of the Main SW Miramichi river to lower Blackville at the Nash Bar pool.

I had some great story tellers and very talented fisherman from Nova Scotia fishing with me. Jim Gourlay President of Saltscapes Publishing and his dog Nickie, Bob Short who owns a B&B on the banks of the Margaree river and who was also Mr. Winchester for Canada for many years. And also long time guide, fishing, hunting and tourism ambassador Bill Bryson. We canoed and fished several pools in the area and saw many fish during our travels. As Bill Bryson lost one and rolled many he took it very easy on Jim and Bob as they both got a couple fish each this trip. They saw hundreds of fish and said they loved the canoe trip too all the pools they fished. My father had a family from North Carolina Dr. Ed Baker, Diana and son Charlie as they all hooked 1 fish each on there 3 day fishing trip.

Pools on the Main South West Miramichi from Boistown to Quarryville were fishing extremly well and many fish jumping and rolling.

Fisherman at the Mouth of Cains river were hooking fish and some double and as many as four fish on at once! Tyler Coughlan was fishing at The Foot Bridge Pool in Upper Blackville and said anglers landed over 20 fish last Friday. The Blackville Pool was fishing very well as local fisherman said they were seeing lots of grilse and a few nice salmon too. Anglers were starting to see some fish holding in the deeper water and in the brooks which has a little colder temperatures.

The Solar Haven Club was hooking lots of fish which were mostly grilse near Upper Blackville. Wilson's Sporting Camps above Doaktown had good fishing and saw lots of fish in all of there pools. Dry flies were the fly of choice later in the week which took a few nice salmon. The Hershey club had a great week hooking fish and the fly of choice was the green machine. The Black Brook Club also had a very good week of fishing and flies of choice were the green machine, undertaker and bombers. Curtis Miramichi River Outfitters said the fishing was very good and still very good canoeing and kayaking. Fly of choice was green machine, butterfly, shady lady and brown bombers.

Public Water activity was very good as Pool 66 action near the mouth of Cains River was hooking lots of grilse and salmon on mostly dry flies. The Quarryville pool was fishing very good with many anglers lined up from all over the province to fish the pool. The Stop Sign Pool was also fishing pretty good, but anglers said the fish were moving through very fast and that the pool needed a bit more water. The Grey Rapid pool which is a very fast water pool was fishing very well. You can find all of these public pools and many more very easy if you have the map book which the salmon museum sells in Doaktown. The public pools are all listed in red and it makes it very easy to locate by seeing each named pool on the SW Miramichi.

Other tributaries that were catching salmon were the Renous, North West Miramichi, Sevogle and Little South West Miramichi. No reports on the Cains River but I expect to hear that there is fish getting up over the shallow gravel bar at the Mouth of the river.

Most fishermen were hooking there fish on the top fly again the white tail green machine. Other flies like the undertaker, shady lady and a mixture of bombers are still very strong competitors.

Tip of the week: With the warm weather in the forecast for the next week and a few late showers fishermen should think when hooking a big fish. Maybe use a lighter leader so you could break him off after a few minutes of play. The hook will come out in a few days and the fish will swim to catch again someday. Also using this lighter leader will help in the clear water with smaller flies.

Until next week Tight Loops,

Rodney Colford