Rain was a blessing for the Miramichi rivr

After a long hot week on the Miramichi and warm water temperatures, the little rain we received was a blessing for the fish. The Main SW Miramichi River raised about 6 inches Wednesday morning and there were a few fish more active in some pools along the river. The North West should be in better shape too as the upper stretches got dumped with 47.8 mm of rain on Tuesday.

Keith Wilson of Wilson Sporting Camps at McNamee said the water was up Wednesday morning app. 3 inches and has cooled down really nice. We had good fishing last night and the boy’s saw more fish on the move. The water is very clear so if you are fishing wet it will have to be on long leaders and tiny flys, one fish was taken last night on a #12 black-bear, another fish was hooked on a large split wing bomber.

Derek Munn of the Ledges Inn said the river is getting down to a very low level and the warm weather has the temperatures up into the high 70′s and as a result DFO has decided to close some of the cold water pools. We did have some cool nights on the weekend and that got the water temperature down in the low 60′s and started the fish moving around. We had very good fishing on Friday and Saturday morning landing over 20 fish. For the most part the majority of the fish caught are MSW salmon in the 16-22 lb range, we are averaging about 3 salmon to every grilse. Anglers who hooked up with us were Premier David Alward and his wife Rhonda, Wes Armour, Lawson Lush, Jacgue Pinet, Earl and Sandy Brewer, Denis Losier, Claude Mingeau, Guylaine Leduc, Marcel Comeau and Laurent St.Peirre.

Up and down the river there are still sections that are closed to fishing due to warm and low water. Hopefully the river will cool down and with some more rain get all these sections of the river fish-able again. River temperatures are still not too bad for the mornings but late afternoons have the river getting over 70 degrees (F).

Flies of choice for the past week have been for wet flies number 8 smurf with white tail, green machine with white tail, shady ladies with a belly and for dries brown and blue bombers.

I expect the fishing to start getting better over the next week so long as the heat stays reduced. Would be nice to have more rain for the river to get the fish coming in from the estuary. Be back next week with hopefully a much better report on the river and fish counts. Tight Lines.

Miramichi pool closures

http://www2.glf.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fam-gpa/cp/ord/vo-om/2012/GVO-2012-054-e.pdf

Miramichi River slowed down the past week

Jim Colbertt of Sussex NB with a Miramichi salmon.

Salmon fishing on the Miramichi River slowed down the past week as river conditions were med to high 60's and surged to 78 (F) in the late day. Many fishermen on the river are fishing early mornings and late evenings hitting the cooler temperatures. The salmon have also slowed up as many started holding in the cold water brooks and deeper water. We are seeing very few if any dead salmon in the river, which is always nice to see when we get this heat. Seems like every summer we get this heat wave and slows the fishing up one time or another for a week or so. So anglers be patient and hopefully there will be a change soon.

Eugene Poirier with 15 lb salmon

At the Ledges Inn in the Doaktown area the past week we have had some good fishing and some bad fishing. But the weather played the big part in both. Early mornings were very good while late evenings were slow and warm. The advantage was we have some cold water pools that the fish stayed very active in the mornings and we managed to hook up some clients to some nice salmon. Barry and Chris Gordon landed a few from grilse to an 18lb salmon yesterday. Dr. Boley went 13 days straight landing a fish or more with guide Derek Munn.








Wilsons Sporting Camps near MacNamee said the water came up about 1 inch on Tuesday .With this little rise and cooler air temps fishing turned on a bit Tuesday morning. Only one grilse landed but they saw fish in parts of the pools that indicate they were moving around a bit again. It looks like a decent amount of rain from now till later Wed and cooler temperatures so maybe this will kick things back in gear again.

Moon Shadow Cottage Rentals in Boistown said they landed a few fish over the past week but conditions were slow and warm. The rain was a much appreciated down pour for the river. They also said with all the dry weather the fish were moving but far and few between.

Curtis Miramichi River Outfitters said things were very slow and water was warm for most parts. There was the odd fishermen in that got a fish but all in all fishing was slow.

Country Haven Lodge also had a slow week and only picked up a few fish  over the past week. Rain or cooler nights was needed to hook up.

Last week we had the honour at the Ledges Inn of guiding some of the finest fisher-ladies from all over North America that are members of the International Women Fly Fishers Organization. This was their first time a group of 7 members came to Eastern Canada to fish for Atlantic Salmon on the Miramichi. The organizer for the group was Sylvie Malo-Clark. Moirajeanne Fitzgerald landed a nice Atlantic salmon weighing 18 pounds with me which is pictured here in this photo. 




The lady anglers visited many of the fly shops in the area and also took in the Atlantic Salmon Museum in Doaktown. The ladies also hoped to return to the Miramichi again. Members of the group were standing left to right Lyne Trudeau, Peggy Brenner, Hazel Maltais, Moirajeanne Fitzgerald, Sylvie Malo-Clark, Elizabeth Shapiro and Vicki Green. If your interested in checking the group out you can go to www.internationalflyfishers.org.

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The results of the 8th Annual Monte Farrell Memorial Shad Tournament from Ralph Goodwins Fly Shop went as follows by overall weight: 1st place Mike Boudreau 3.25 kg, 2nd Ralph Goodwin 3.10 kg,  3rd Emery Vienneau 3.05 kg, 4th Robert Daigle 2.90 kg, 5th place George Collette 2.55 kg. Goodwins Fly Shop is located in Minto and is a suppler of TFO Fly rods and reels www.goodfly.ca.

The weather for the next few days looks like cooler temperatures during the day and nights so fishing should change for the better this week.

Until next week have tight lines.

Salmon fishing on the Miramichi had it ups and downs the past week as warm weather during the day heated the rivers up. The up side was the nights stayed cool and allowed many anglers to hook into some nice fresh salmon and grilse in the mornings. There is starting to be a good run on and very fresh as they have sea lice on many of the fish.

Derek Munn of the Ledges Inn had very good fishing the past week as many men and women were catching some nice fish. We had a group of women from the (IWFFF) International Womens Fly Fishing Federation for a couple days fishing and they hooked into some of there very first Atlantic Salmon. I would think they will also be hooked on salmon fishing now too. Flies of choice seemed to be White Tail Green Macine, Smurf, Shady Ladies.

Keith Wilson of Wilsons Sporting Camps said fishing was superb for this week and river was at a perfect level. They are landing salmon and grilse and some as big as 40 inches in length. He said they are looking forward to the big July Run.

Country Haven Lodge on the lower stretch of the Main South West said they are hooking some salmon and grilse but are not landing many. They were seeing several fish jumping but seemed to be heading one way and that was up stream. Green Machines seem to be the fly of choice.

Anglers' on the North West were still seeing a few fish and more grilse were starting to be caught. River conditions were very good the past week. Anglers fishing the Little SW Miramichi were hooking a few fish and were seeing better numbers on Monday and Tuesday and also starting to see more grilse coming in. Many fish in the NW and Little SW were very fresh fish.

Conditions on all the tributaries were very good this past week as the water level decreased. Temperatures stayed cool in the mornings around the mid to low 60's F and evenings it raised to the high 60's to the low 70's. The odd day we had the river temperature around 73 degrees where it can be very hard to hook into a salmon. Temperatures seem to rise very fast in the hot sun but cools very fast in the evening.

Local fly shop in Doaktown W.W.Doak said fishing was very good as many anglers were landing and seeing fish. Flies were green machines, belly dancers and undertakers.

Curtis Miramichi River Outfitters said fishing was also starting to pick up as many anglers in the shop were excited to be getting fish. Fly of choice seem to be the White Tail Green Machine and a few bombers.

The outlook for the next week is we are starting to get a lot of fresh fish in the river to fish for. The down side on this is were are also going to be getting a heat wave that will keep the river temperatures up. So the best advice will to be to get out on the water very early in the mornings to beat the heat. Try smaller flies and lighter tippets to try and hook up. A good reminder when the water is 70 degrees or more not to play the fish very long as it is very hard to revive them in the warmer water. It's a great time to be practicing pinching your barbs on your flies to help release your catch without harming it.

Fresh Atlantic Salmon runs are arriving on the Miramichi River

Fresh Atlantic Salmon runs are arriving on the Miramichi River as many fishermen are hooking up. Reports of salmon and grilse over the past week have been landed on the North West Miramichi, Little South West Miramichi, Sevogle, Renous and Cains River. Sunday started off slow on the Main South West Miramichi and then more and more fish were seen jumping through out the river as the week went on. Wednesday had runs of fish coming in covered with sea lice straight from the sea.

River conditions were very high for the past week but is starting to get back to a fish-able level. Depending on the area of the river you fish water levels are different. The lower stretch from Quarryville to Cains River is still very high. The middle lower stretch from the mouth of Cains River up to Blissfield has a few pools very fish-able. The middle stretch from Blissfield to Boistown is starting to get very fish-able and should be in perfect condition by the weekend. The upper stretch of the river is in perfect condition from Boistown to Juniper. 

Derek Munn of the Ledges Inn in Doaktown said the water is slowly dropping and are seeing more and more fish daily. Water has cleared up a great deal and the fish are on the move. Derek said most of his guest are landing fish with some being grilse and salmon. Average size is around 12 to 15lbs. 

Guides Andrew Anthony and sports landed a salmon 17lbs and a grilse on Tuesday and Wednesday using an Ally Cascade. Myself and Marc Bedard and Steven Palmer landed a 15lb salmon and 2 grilse. Dr. Bolie limit out on Tuesday with 4 grilse. Lloyd Lyons and sport landed a couple grilse and a salmon. Guide Vembrose Watson sports landed 2 grilse and lost a salmon.   

Country Haven Lodge are also hooking fish through out the river. Salmon and grilse are also being caught and pretty much the same sizes from 10 to 15lbs. They also hooked a salmon on the Cains at Salmon Brook. 

Wilsons Camps in McNamee said the river is still a foot above normal but the salmon and grilse are here and with the cool nights the river should stay very good. They are catching a few in the 30 to 34 inch range.

Black Brook Salmon Club near the Mouth of Cains River are also hooking a few fish. Guide Donald Colford said water is still very high and they are fishing from boats and wading. 

Fishermen should have a good weekend as many fish are running from the high tides we are having. One thing that always seems to play a good factor is the full moon in July always seems to bring a nice run of fish in. 

Flies for the week seems to be the old faithful  White Tail Green Machine, Undertakers, Glitter Bears and Alley Cascade and also a few bombers. Black and green flies are most popular this time of the season but always try a fly that just maybe will catch you that fish of your dreams. 

Until next week have Tight Lines.

Rodney Colford