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.