Our fall salmon run

The beautiful fall colors are coming into affect on the Miramichi River and so are our fall salmon run. The last few days we have saw several fish moving throughout the river system. River levels are about perfect for fishing and boating from pool to pool when required. And even with the few warm days the river temperatures stayed very good around 60 (F) and is almost perfect for Miramichi salmon fishing.

Some good size hook bills are being caught throughout the river. And many anglers are happy to see the fresh fish or at least have the fish moving again. The past couple weeks the fish seem to stop taking the fly and us fishermen call it lockjaw when this happens. Well this week they seemed to open there mouths or eyes and started taking some of the flies we threw at them. I was thinking it was my fly tying that was the problem for a moment; thank the fish Gods for getting them on the take again.

          In the Doaktown area we have saw many fish moving though out the river. The pools at The Ledges Inn are full of fish. You can look down or up the river as far as you can see in some places and see fish jumping, what a sight. Jay and Carol Fargher of Sarnia, Ontario had some great fishing. Carol landed a few grilse and a huge hook bill weighing 16lbs. Jay landed several fish too and one weighing close to 20lbs. Todd Youmans landed a nice 16 to 18lb hook bill. Dr Ed Baker landed a few grilse and a salmon this past week at the Ledges pools. I hooked 4 salmon in the Home Pool of the Ledges Inn and landed two of them for the first ever landed in the Home Pool, something great to remember. I fished with Dr Scott Bolie this week for an evening that had landed a salmon on Tuesday with head guide Derek Munn of the Ledges Inn. Total fish for Tuesday was 16 hooked and 12 landed at the lodge, pretty good after some hard fishing the past couple weeks. For photos of these fish check out our new Facebook page The Ledges Inn.

             In the Boistown area at Tuck-away Lodge Gary Tanner had a good week landing a 37 inch 20lb salmon, a 12lb and a 10lb using his new pattern the Celtic Beauty. 

             Cains River is still fishing well as my father Gary Colford is hooking and landing fish almost every day at Moore’s Pool near Shinnickburn. Richard Lac of Connecticut landed 2 grilse on Monday and Tuesday with a white tail green machine at Moore’s Pool. The River is getting very low on the Cains and we need a little rain to improve the fishing for the rest of the season and get some monster fish up there.

           Fishermen near the Quarryville Pool are still seeing lots of fish and hooking a few too. There are a few hookbills being seen one fisherman told me and still lots of grilse. Anglers are hooking a few on the Renous River the past few days. Country Haven Lodge had been hooking some almost everyday on the Renous, Cains and Dungarvan Rivers.

             Pool 66 is fishing very well as Zachery Colford landed 3 this week on dry flies. Damir Sehic landed a few also on wet and dry flies. The pool was getting to be a perfect level and some big fish were there.

            Weather the next week is looking good for fishing as some rain on the weekend should bring 15 to 20ml if we’re lucky enough to get it and bring the river up a little. The Cains River really needs a raise to get a few more fish up and have good water levels the remainder of the season.

             Well if you’re planning to get out on the water the last few weeks of the season now could be the time. Fish are in the river, levels are good, temperatures are good and the weather is great what else could you ask for. I could tell you what kind of flies we are catching the fish on which is a little help for you. Flies of choice is the Christmas tree wet fly the summer version, White Tail Green Machines, Shady Ladies, Tippet Shrimp, Copper Killer (old school fly), Purple Grape and dry flies were Black Bomber with white tails, Orange and black hackle, brown with brown and white ends and the Blue Bomber with white ends.

            Good luck out there fishing this weekend be safe and tight lines and don’t forget to send me your pictures for my blog at www.miramichifishingreports.blogspot.com and a little note about the catch.

Fall fishing is starting

Fall fishing is starting to be fun and very colourful once again on the Miramichi and tributaries. As the river is starting to get back to normal levels and temperatures perfect for salmon fishing, the fish are still not very interested in taking the fly on the perfect cast. Every now and then one manages to hook a fish or roll a few but there has yet to be any great fall run of salmon for the month of September. One has to think that just maybe after such a great season they all have come in already or let’s hope there late for the fall season perhaps.

The North West Miramichi River is still having some good fishing as water and temperatures are great. Anglers are hooking a few big hook-bills and some grilse. Flies of choice are ally shrimps, GP’s and LT Specials.

The past week on the Sevogle Troy Adams of Dieppe had very good fishing as he released 6 grilse at Squirrel Falls. He hooked them on some bombers he got from me he told me, and some wet flies like the blue smurf pattern.

Renous River is still fishing well too as guide Gary Colford of Country Haven landed a grilse and lost a salmon in the middle stretch of the Renous River. Flies of choice were the shady ladies and Red Francis.

Cains River is very low as it did not get the big raise in water like the Miramichi did. Cains was fishing very good the last week as we had very good luck at Moores Pool. There were days we would hook 6 fish and land 3 while other days land only 1. Most days we did not see many fish but as most fishermen know about the Cains is you usually don’t see them until they hit your fly and run you out into your backing. My father Gary Colford landed several fish this week on the Cains the same fly the shady lady.

The lower stretches of the Miramichi is still a little slow but there is a few fish being caught in pools like the public areas like Grey Rapids and Mods Pool. There are a lot of fish near the Mouth of Cains and Black Brook area but seem to be old fish that have been around for awhile as they are very dark in color. Pool 66 fishermen are landing the odd one and having some fish roll for their flies.

In the Middle Stretches of the River around Doaktown fishermen are hooking the odd one. At the Ledges Inn we are only hooking a few per day and not seeing many fish the past week since the big raise in water. I lost 2 in our Home Pool and raised several more while the water was up on a green machine with white tail. Irishman Terry Coleman landed a 20lb salmon the past week with us. He also landed a few more and some were on tube flies such as the Willy Gun pattern. Andrew Anthony and his client broke our camp record with their 18lb salmon putting us at the time to 797 fish landed this season. The same day head guide Derek Munn and his clients had very good fishing on the Cains. The flies we were using the past week were Green Butt Bear Hair with jungle cock eyes, Undertakers, Red Francis, GP’S, Comet Tube Fly and a Orange Bug that looks like the Green machine.

Upstream a bit near Sutters Salmon Club head Guide Shawn Betts and clients were also hooking a few fish. They had a few spey casters in and were enjoying their day on the river.

So the past week of fishing was not so bad on our Great River. The color of the trees on the hill sides is very beautiful while fishing and to be fishing in the frosty mornings with the fog lifting from the water is Priceless. So get out on the water somewhere before the season ends on October 15^th and give it a try you will be shocked of the scenery in your back yard of New Brunswick Rivers.

You can leave me a comment on my blog at miramichifishingreports.blogspot.com and send me your photos of your great salmon catch. Until next week tight lines.

Fish still seem to have lock jaw

Salmon fishing on the Miramichi the past week is still a little slow. Fish still seem to have lock jaw most days but there are the few that take the fly. The weather is staying very good and river levels are starting to get down to better fishing conditions. The water temperatures are staying in the low 60’s (F) and even down in the 50’s (F). You would think with the conditions we have that we would be landing lots of fish, but I have saw this before and if you know salmon fishing they will only take when the salmon decides to take the fly.

At the Ledges Inn this week we had many fish in most of our pools but yet again the fish were very selective to what they wanted. We had one evening where my client hooked a fish on a LT Special and across the river another client with Derek Munn hooked one on a purple marabou and another on a tippet shrimp. Andrew Anthony and clients were using very opposite patterns and more summer like flies, like the undertaker and a Conrad pattern I tied with jungle-cock eyes. Andrew had one salmon almost 20 pounds this week. We are also hooking and rolling some on bombers.

Mountain Channel in the Blackville area is seeing a few fresh fish but water is still very high for the most part. They have been fishing the Cains River and the far side of the river.

Country Haven Lodge is also hooking a few fish both on the Miramichi and the Cains River. Country Haven was landing fish almost every day in the Shinnick Burn area at Moore’s Pool. Alley Shrimps seems to be working best Kenny Vickers said. Gary Colford fished a couple days also this week and clients landed a salmon and grilse. Gary said he saw a lot of hook bills jumping all over the river the last couple days and said the fall season is here.

For more up to date reports check out the Fly Shops at Curtis Miramichi River Outfitters in Blackville and W.W.Doaks and Sons in Doaktown or on my blog at www.miramichifishingreports.blogspot.com. 

Heavy rains hit the river

Fishing on the Miramichi River over the past week has gotten to be a challenge on many parts of the river. Heavy rains are becoming to be a well mentioned topic on my river reports as once again we were hit by lots of rain to raise the water to like spring levels. And with a 2 to 3 foot rise in water on top of which was high water to begin with really put the pressure on guides and fisherman to hook up with the king of sport fish “The Atlantic Salmon”.

Many fishermen were turning to larger flies and sinking tips, many have to use boats as most pools are just too high to wade at this height with so much water. Fishermen are also starting to use a mixture of patterns and the fall patterns are being mentioned more and more.

Up around Doaktown at the Ledges Inn we are starting to hook a few fish again. Tuesday was a bad day as we did not hook a fish. Yesterday Wednesday we fished again from boats and landed a few. I was guiding Steven and Tami Gross from Atlanta and they hooked their 3^rd grilse using a night hawk. Head guide Derek Munn hooked his 2 salmon on a GP. Before the raise in water we were having very good fishing landing in double digits on some days.

Canoe Missing: This time a 18 foot cranberry red chestnut poling canoe. If anyone has saw the canoe please contact the Ledges Inn at 506 365 0168.

Fishing is starting to pick up again in the Blackville area as a few fish were hooked near the mouth of Cains River and Pool 66.

Cains River is starting to fish again with a few fresh fish moving through. We have landed a few at Moores Pool up near Shinnick Burn on the Cains. There were also a few landed at the Brophy Pool on the lower end of the Cains.

The next week is looking good for fishing with a little less rain in the forecast. Be safe fishing in the high water this fall.

Tight Lines,

Fishing going good on Miramichi

Well we got lots of water for fishing and canoeing on the Miramichi River after Hurricane Irene dumped heavy rains on the Miramichi and raising the river up several feet the first of the week. It is dropping off fast as it dropped about 4 feet on Tuesday night on the lower stretches of the Miramichi. The river is very clear but still spring high and very dangerous for wading, so be careful when you’re out there fishing.

If you’re trying to find a place to fish in the high water take advantage of the smaller rivers like the Renous, Dungarvon, Bartholomew and the Cains River where you can find places to fish and with the high water will make it good for fishing salmon.

The fish started taking again on Tuesday on different stretches of the river.

The Doaktown area of the Miramichi was starting to fish again on Tuesday. Derek Munn of the Ledges Inn said they were hooking some out of boats and the river had dropped about 2 feet. He also said this should bring some new fish in and gets the fall run coming. Bill Ensor hooked a few fish while at the Ledges and when I was fishing with him he hooked one on a number 4 stone fly. The Ledges Inn also done there web site over and it looks very good so check it out.

Wilsons Sporting Camps above Doaktown said the water was too high and looks like a bust for the week or so. Things should pick up by the first of the week.

The lower stretch near the Mouth of Cains River had been fishing very well just before the raise in water and now that the water dropped down it is starting to fish again. Some anglers are starting to hook up again on the lower stretches of the Cains too.

We had great fishing at pool 66 before the raise in water. My son Zachery Colford and myself hooked a few nice salmon. And Damir Sehic of Fredericton landed a salmon. John Vickery and Larry Vanpeurson both landed several salmon. All our fish were mostly hooked on bombers but a few were hooked on wets too.

The weather looks good until Sunday as it looks like another storm is going to hit us with more heavy rain. We don’t need any more rain at this time as fishing would be wiped out for several days if we get what there predicting and there predicting 40 to 70 ml over 3 days.

I am still looking for more reports on the different river areas everyone fishes. Please get the word out to anyone you know and email me the reports and I will gladly post them for you. Thanks again for the reports I received so far.

Tight lines,

Rodney