High water slows the fishing for a day or two

Conditions on the Miramichi went from warm and low water conditions to very high and muddy conditions.

As the heavy rain subsided the river raised and raised! Trees, benches and even a few boats were on the free flow in the murky water.

The last couple days before the rise saw the river (SW) have great reports of hook ups. Many fishermen were saying that fresh fish were being landed with sea lice.

Miramichi Salmon Association and Atlantic Salmon Federation both had good comments that good returns are in the rivers.

The river started dropping Saturday evening and a few fish were already reported being landed in the Doaktown area.

Flies for a few were GP'S size #2, yes a fall pattern some would say? But, fish them they will work is what I say!

Well got to get back to reading some more Salmon Country. A Great book if you don't have it by author Doug Underhill. Find his site on my link section and get his amazing book.

Until next time keep your reels screaming on the river!

Rodney Colford

Fish Hitting On The Miramichi

Miramichi Fishing Reports for Colfords Atlantic Salmon Fishing by guide Rod Colford. The conditions on the SW Miramichi River is improving very well over the past week. Anglers are reporting several huge salmon being hooked and now starting to hook more and more grilse. High numbers of fish are reported in the head waters going through the barriers and most are huge salmon says the Miramichi Salmon Association. There are good numbers also going through the counters where they usually get about 5% of fish heading up stream. Today alone they estimated about a thousand salmon & grilse heading up stream, that should keep fisherman very happy for a few days.

The past few days I have saw mostly grilse on the lower stretches of the Miramichi River, unfortunately I only rolled a few and hooked none! not a nice word to say for any fisherman or guide. But other anglers have been telling me they are hooking some nice salmon from the 15 to 25 pound range. We had a 22 pound salmon landed this morning on a shady lady at the lodge. Kenny Walls in Blackville landed a salmon. Don Roy of Fredericton had a buddy with him that landed two fish up in the Cains River on the lower stretches of the river, so much for the Cains being a fall river eh! If the water is up the fish will be up the Cains all season.

Ron Steeves landed a grilse on the NW Miramichi. Shelly Gildert landed her first of the season. Her father Dale Gildert also hooked into a few. And Dale Steeves hooked a few on the NW Miramichi.


Hopefully we will not get to much of a raise from the rain we had this morning and the fishing be tight lines for all. The fish on the lower stretches are starting to hit the dry flies more and more so dig some out of your box and hook into one of those 25 plus pounders. And with only a few showers tomorrow and no rain until the weekend it should be an awesome week of fishing. So if your looking for prime times to fish and you are only a few hours away this would be the week to get out on the water.



And for keeping fisherman happy, Mark Hambrook of the Miramichi Salmon Association kicked off the 2009 Salmon Classic today at the Rodd in Miramichi. Along with Casting Instructor Joan Wulff attending and another 160 fisherman from all over the world. There were lies being told even before the start tomorrow morning! And who says fisherman don't lie. After hearing several lies we all settled down to another amazing dinner. There were lots of new and old fisherman from the last 3 years classic's to this years classic.There were several guides that donate there time to this special event to help MSA raise some funding. And for beginners that have attended this event it has turned some into salmon fisherman that not only hooked there first fish but hooked there self into a sport of a life time to keep coming back for that great take of the Atlantic Salmon.

Good luck & tight lines!

Rodney Colford
www.ColfordsGuiding.com

News from the ASF about Farm Salmon

Colfords Atlantic Salmon Fishing.

Feb 11th 2009, I just received this news letter from the Miramichi Salmon Federation and wanted everyone to have a look. For more information please go to there web site at the below link.

News from the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF)

In the past week, there have been significant happenings regarding the governance of the aquaculture industry and the need to better protect wild salmon from salmon farming impacts.

A decision by the BC Supreme Court that the province did not have the right to manage aquaculture, and had 12 months to oversee the transfer jurisdiction back to the Federal government, will have repercussions for east coast salmon aquaculture operations. This judgement that determined that the BC provincial government does not have the authority to regulate fish farming or sign MOUs will set a precedent that will cascade across the country.

To read more on this judgement, go to: http://asf.ca/news.php?id=334