Spring salmon fishing being enjoyed by many

We're into the second week of spring salmon fishing on the Miramichi and the sounds of the reels and roar of the engines are filling the air. And with excellent fishing in all the tributaries anglers are reeling them in by the boatloads.

Marcus Wilson here with his first salmon!! WTG Marcus!

Starting on the lower stretches of the river in Quarryville, fishermen were catching great numbers of fish. Local fisherwoman Cathy Léger landed a nice trout close to the 5-pound mark. Many other fish were hooked during the week.

Also on the lower stretches of the river, Country Haven Lodge camp owner Byron Coughlan said fishing was excellent. Fish were hitting better from the cast but a few were also being hooked while trolling. Most of the fish his guides saw were still near shore and he thought the fish were still sticking around as to when you see them jumping in the middle and working their way out of the river. Flies of choice were the Maggot Smelt and Alewife Matura pattern.

Up river further, at Vickers Salmon Pools, fishing was also very good as a few fishermen from Maine were catching their limit on some days. Guides were telling me they had hooked many fish on the Green Slime, Red Eagle, and Golden Eagle.

And also in the same area of the river, at Keenan's, local angler Donnie Keenan saw his four-year-old grandson Marcus Wilson landed his first ever salmon.

In an area near the mouth of the Cains River, I was hooking most of my fish on a Christmas Tree pattern and a Renous Special. Zachery Colford, Mike Levine and myself landed several salmon and many grilse during the last week and all the fish we landed were in very good shape and very silver in colour.

Many of our fish were taken on a cast close to shore. Mike landed two nice salmon - one at 42 inches and the other 37 inches. And even though we took many on the cast, a fair share were taken by trolling which is a big topic up and down the river from the Boiestown to Quarryville area.

In the Upper Blackville area, fishermen were hooking lots of fish and casting and trolling were the ways they hooked up. Larry Vanpeursen of Bangor, Me., hooked all of his fish by casting while my son Zachery and I fished with him on Saturday. Larry did hog the best fishing and hooked more fish on my flies.

Wilson's Sporting Camps fished the Cains this week and hooked a few on the lower stretch near Sabbies. Keith Wilson's youngest son Garret landed a nice salmon.

Allan McCormack in the Boiestown area was out with his kids and Sarah, 12, landed a couple and her brother Matthew landed two. Allan said the water was good and the fish all took in the fast water sections of the pool.

The North West Miramichi was also fishing very well as many fishermen were seeing great numbers of fish hooked. Kevin Gillespie and a few buddies limited out several days in a row using Renous Specials, Black Ghost and Golden Eagles.

Dale and Debbie Norton of the Upper Oxbow Lodge said fishing was great and their clients were having great success on the Little South West Miramichi River. Though the North West was a bit dirty, the Little South West was clear and fish were hitting their flies. Flies were Black Ghost and Golden Eagles.

The weather for the weekend looks not so bad for fishing but the conditions are a bit dirty with some grass and small sticks grabbing the fly. And with the rain and warmer temperatures and all the snow still in the woods along the Miramichi system I think we will have some high water yet.

While you're on the water this weekend keep an eye out for the bald eagles, ospreys, blue herons, ducks, geese and lots of other wildlife along the Miramichi River.

Now keep our fingers crossed for the weekend and all you anglers waiting for Friday to come, let's hope the fish gods will be with you and you catch one of those fish of a lifetime.

Until next week keep your lines tight and your reels screeching on the Miramichi.

* Rodney Colford is a third-generation salmon guide on the Miramichi River. He has been guiding fishermen for the past 28 years. His column appears every Thursday.

The Wait Is Almost Over, Lets Fish!

One day remaining and it’s just like Christmas and watching the kids wait for Santa Claus, except this time were waiting for a strong Atlantic Salmon to hit our fly. Not as strong as when they’re running in from the sea but after such a long winter and just to have the opportunity to hook a salmon makes it well worth it for us kids and parents. And if your kids are like mine for the past week it’s all there talking about is getting out and hooking a fish.

Now for river conditions on the NW Miramichi up past the Wayerton Bridge. Outfitter Roger Sorel of Miramichi North West Lodge said ice was gone on down to Sunny Corner on Tuesday and without any flooding. River was starting to come up a bit from the rain and warm weather.

River conditions on the SW Miramichi improved very well. Warm weather and heavy rains on Monday got the water up and made boating a little easier for us to get around for opening day. And with high water comes lots of debris from the spring clean up of the river. Meaning be careful out on the water as ice and trees and debris from the shore lines will be making its way down stream.

Local outfitters on the river like Keith Wilson of Wilson Sporting Camps in the Doaktown area said the river was up on Tuesday. He also addressed being careful on the water. Keith will be fishing the Cains on the first couple days so let’s hope we get a good report back from him for next week for the river.

Local shops in the area are very well prepared for all anglers coming in to get there gear.

George Rutledge of George’s Fly Shop said he expects to see lots of fisherman in during the first week.

Curtis River Outfitters also are very well prepared to meet there customers needs and with well known fly tyer Cathy Colford on hand to help you out.

Doaks Fly Shop in Doaktown is always ready to help out and has many good products available from Sage to Simms gear.

In Miramichi Area, Miramichi City Surplus has lots of fly fishing supplies available. Also like I said last week drop into any of these places for updates of the river and they will help you out.

Anglers Awareness Night was held on the 7^th and 12^th in Boistown and Renous with very good topics from Mark Hambrook of the Miramichi salmon association and Debbie Norton president of the Miramichi Water Shed Committee. Bass was the biggest concern and if there was going to be a season to fish for them. The answer was NO there was not a season as of now and the numbers were too low, even though the NW Miramichi is being over whelmed with bass. Many anglers, guides and outfitters were very worried about the numbers of bass in the system and the effect they are having on our salmon. There were also talks about where they spawn and we were told that there spawning all took place on the North West and only the NW Miramichi.

Well a few anglers said the different and saw the strippers spawning in more or all of our rivers on the Miramichi system the past couple years. Mark agreed and said he also saw them spawning in the SW Miramichi and a few other rivers in the system. The awareness of what the bass were eating was also brought up and salmon smolt and lobster was a main food source in the system. DFO was not at this meeting so most that Mark could help with was good but it would have been nice to hear from Department and Fisheries and Oceans on the bass topic. A few prizes were given out last night and too name a few that won were some of our young anglers and or future guides of the river were Logan Brophy, Alex Hallihan and Zachery Colford. Other guides and Anglers that won were Gerald Hallihan, Aubrey Buggy, Duncan Manderville, Larry Munn, Eugene Donovan, Emery Brophy, Tracey Harris and Keith Gallon.

With many more topics to talk about I will let you get back to your fishing count down and opening day tomorrow. For more information on the bass check out the Miramichi Salmon Association web site.

And until next week let’s get those lines tight and the reels screeching on the Miramichi.

Tight Lines Rodney Colford

After affects from Earl on the Miramichi River

Colford's Atlantic salmon river report from the Main South West Miramichi. With heavy rains hitting us from Earl we have yet to see that much of a raise in the river. The lower stretch of the SW Miramichi only got about a 6 to 8 inch raise so far. I talked to Syd at Trout Brook Fly Shop and he said the NW Miramichi only raised about 4 inches. Syd said there is not many anglers fishing but the few that are have saw fish around. The same goes for here on the Main SW river there are fish moving around the pools now from where they were before holding in cold water spots through out the pools.

This is a photo looking up towards the mouth of Cains river.

Today is very windy for casting and a lot of slim floating and making it hard to fish wet flies both casting and your drift/swing of the fly. The temperatures were very good this morning in the mid 60's F. I landed a grilse on a brown bomber, while James Vickers from Moncton landed a grilse on a green machine. Merle Colford lost a grilse and landed one on brown bomber also. There were a few other fisherman that hooked a few fish too around 10:00 am on dries.

I hope this fills you in a bit for the river conditions, I will post more later today or tomorrow if there are any changes.

Update from tonight: The river raised another 6 inches from this morning and looks like it is still raising this evening. The fishing was great as I landed 2 grilse from 7:00 pm until 8:00 pm. I witnessed a 40 incher being landed after telling the guy what he should use for a fly. I told him my flies work for this pool so put that one on! then he hooked his fish. Lucky call by me lol! All in all the river is up at-least a foot or better. I will update you again tomorrow.

Tight lines,

Rodney Colford

These are 'tying' times for fishing

On the Miramichi River system this week, there hasn't been much fishing to talk about except the weather. Heat was the topic and early morning dashes to the river seem to be the most excitement for most fisherman during the high humidity.

Most anglers took the time to tell stories on the banks of the river or practise their casting. Others said tying flies at times like this made for better days and gives the fish a break.

We all know the weather is very important topic when it comes to fishing and the heat is not the best topic for Atlantic salmon or us anglers when fishing. But after weeks of dry weather with only a few showers to be heard of, 40 to 50 millimetres of rain (about two inches) are forecast for this weekend.

Well that's enough to get excited about. It gives us hope that conditions will be much improved next week.

If the heavy rains come, what can we expect from our rivers?

With the rivers being so low and the water temperatures so high, it has to be better for the fish whatever precipitation comes from Hurricane Earl.

I would think the first day or two from a raise in water it will be very dirty from all the algae we have on the bottom of the rivers at this time. Let's hope when the rain comes it rises the water and puts lots more fish in from the bay to tighten our lines.

There were a few fish landed last weekend after a couple cool nights on the lower stretches. Saturday and Sunday morning seemed to be the first mornings that the fish wanted to take in a few days. Local anglers at Pool 66 hooked fish with one weighing in at 20 pounds. There were a few more around the 15-pound range and a couple of grilse. Flies of choice were brown bombers and small black patterns for the wet flies.

Black Brook Salmon Club also hooked a few fish Saturday and Sunday morning with the brown bomber with white ends being the fly. They said there were plenty of fish holding at the brook and early morning was the better time to fish as fish moved throughout the pool.

Monday at Pool 66 Steve Smith landed and released a grilse on a blue bomber and was netted by Dennis Grant. Joel Kitchen had a couple friends from Ontario fishing with him and landed a 35-pound salmon at Pool 66. They also lost a grilse. The fly of choice was a woolly bugger. I told him he must of been trying everything he had to get to the woolly bugger. It worked and that is all that counts under these conditions so I think I will dig mine out - if I can find them.

Wilson's Sporting Camps said there are plenty of salmon holding in their pools and are taking very well in the mornings. They urged people to take caution in the heat and to break fish off after the hook-up. Bombers were working best in the pools.

Curtis Miramichi River Outfitters had a good event over the weekend as Dennis Grant hosted a fly-casting school. They had a very good turnout on each day including myself for Saturday afternoon. It was a fun time for beginners to the more experienced casters. They said fishing was very slow but a lot of fisherman were in the shop getting flies. There were a few anglers that hooked fish on bombers and bear hairs but most were waiting for the weather to change.

The Cains River is very low and fish are holding in the cold water brooks. The Renous River is also extremely low and warm with fish holding wherever there is cold water flowing in. The Northwest Miramichi has fish holding in the cold brooks and there are rumours of fish in the tide waiting for a raise in water to get them moving upstream.

I hope this is the last of our hot humid weather and conditions will soon improve for your fall salmon fishing. The forecast for the next couple weeks is below seasonal temperatures so things are starting to look up with the rains we are expected to get. September is always a big fish month, so I look forward to hearing from you for that big fish being landed.

A tip for the anglers who have boats anchored or seats/benches out on a gravel bars - keep an eye out as the water may rise quickly and these items could be gone the next morning.

Let me know of that fish of your dreams caught on the beautiful Miramichi. So keep your rods high and your reels screeching until next week have tight lines.

* Rodney Colford is a third generation salmon-fishing guide on the Miramichi River and has been guiding fishermen ranging from greenhorns to some of the finest fly-fishermen in the world for 27 years. His fishing reports appear every Thursday in the Times & Transcript.

Grilse numbers are huge on the Miramichi

Fishing on the Miramichi over the past week was very good for most anglers up and down the river. Different days we saw fish jumping as we were traveling from pool to pool by boat. And although there was a late decision on closing certain parts of the river to help salmon up and down the system survive the warm water conditions, things worked out very well for most anglers with there decision they made. The weather for the next couple weeks seems to below seasonal temperatures and a couple days rain. If we keep our fingers crossed and temperatures stay low the cold water brooks and pools will stay open.

On the lower stretches of the river from Quarryville to Howard anglers were catching fresh fish with sea lice. Most anglers were having better luck in early mornings when temps were in the lower 60's through to lunch time. The warmer afternoons did get the river back up to some high levels near 78 to 80 F. Before the water dropped off fisherman were hooking up almost every time down through a pool near the mouth of Cains River area. Green machine in the faster water seemed to be the fly. And in the slower pools almost any dry fly was getting there attention. Fisherman in this stretch of the river that hooked up were Glen Keenan, Donnie Keenan, Raymond Clowater, Dwayne Hollier, Alex, Johnny, Jonathan, Donald, Danny, Merle, Pat, Rick and my son Zachery Colford and myself.

I fished last Tuesday with Norman Perreault and son Nick. They both landed a grilse each by 10:30 am.

I fished this last week on the lower section of the Miramichi around the mouth of Cains river. Bob Rebmann and his good fishing buddy John Baird and myself were fishing. As the first day started things were not looking very good as the water was very dirty. We fished for a couple hours before calling it a day and wait for things to improve. The next morning brought some hope as anglers near the mouth of cains river at pool 66 were into fish on almost every cast. Fisherman on the Islands at the mouth of cains were hooking and rolling fresh sea run grilse with sea lice on them. We were fishing up from the mouth as Bob hooked his first salmon and lost it after a few seconds. I told Bob he would hook up again, and when we get the first one it would not be so hard after that. And it wasn't to hard as he hooked into another one which he

landed. We ended up with 5 fish for the day. The next day we also got into a couple fish, and many other locals hooked and landed fish.

At the end of the week the guys from Tennessee Bob Redmond and Author John Baird hooked 19 fish and only two was a salmon with the rest being grilse, most with sea lice. In front of the camp at the Hogan Pool we were hooking a few fish. Joel Kitchen landed four on a number eight blue charm before telling me I think your fly is falling apart that I got from you. I laughed as I told him there not guaranteed for life, but I will replace the wing just because you took your green machine off and hooked four fish on a different fly pattern. I would think after the four fish hooked, that fly paid for it self for sure as we laughed.

Country Haven had a couple very good days as they limit out on Saturday and Sunday and all pools were fishing very well. Dry flies and green machine seem to be the most popular pattern.

Derek Munn of the Ledges Inn was also into fish on all of there pools. Anglers were reporting seeing several fish in the air almost every time you look down river. They also had a couple 20 pound fish but for the most of the fish they were grilse reported being caught.

Keith Wilson on the Upper Stretches at Wilsons Sporting camps were also hooking several grilse. Most of the fish were taking small black flies and green machines, but for the dry fly enthusiast almost any pattern did the work. Keith also said the water was getting up into the mid 70's so they were hooking most in the mornings.

Fisherman on the Renous were also hooking fish and saw several good sign of fish jumping and rolling. Ronnie Steeve's and his brother Dale and Dale Gildert all hooked up last week. There were great reports of fish in Quarryville at the moth of Renous.

Cains River had reports of fish all the way up to Moore's Pool near Shinnick Burn. Salmon Brook, Cold Brook and the Brophy Pool all had fish in them. Anglers were hooking some on dries and wets. Tyler Coughlan hooked a few on dries at the Brophy Pool and more on the Miramichi.

The river reopening came into effect on Saturday, and includes salmon pools located at the confluences of: Gray Rapids Brook and the Southwest Miramichi River, Salmon Brook and the Cains River, Butty's Brook and the Renous River, Morse Brook and the Southwest Miramichi River, Black Brook and the Southwest Miramichi River, Donnelly Brook and the Southwest Miramichi River, Betts Mills Brook and the Southwest Miramichi River, Porcupine Brook and the Southwest Miramichi River, as well as the Southwest Miramichi River surrounding the pump house.

On the maligned Northwest Miramichi River a policy of hook and release recreational angling remains in place on much of the river system, which recorded startlingly low spawning requirements in 2009.

For another week of fishing on the Miramichi lets hope next will be as good as the last. Once again until next week keep your rods up and your reels screeching.

Rodney Colford

Times & Transcript

Hot weather makes fishing a bit tough.

Salmon fishing on the Miramichi River for the past week has been been done under very humid conditions, making the sport very difficult in the hot weather to hook up. Fisherman from all over the world are here in this prime time to catch this amazing fish the salmo salar. Putting this aside the old saying is, you should of been here last week. Or next week is going to be the better week. One never knows when will be the best time, that's why it's called fishing I guess.

I have a few reports for you from up and down the river, some which is good, some could be better. The good news is it can't get much hotter than last week's fishing. The forecast is looking much better this week with temperatures predicted to be in the mid to low 20's and even some clouds and showers.

On the lower section of the river at Millerton they are putting fish through the counters everyday I am told. Quarryville area anglers were seeing lots of fish all week. The water level was very good except for the hot temperatures keeping the salmon from taking there flies. Chris Edmonds rolled a few at the mouth of Renous in the early mornings this week and landed one. I also saw fish jumping this week at Ritchie's Warf in Miramichi city.

Curtis Miramichi River Outfitters said there were lots of anglers in and out of the store with reports of some hookups in the Blackville area. But for the most case the temperatures were a bit high. With the high temperatures it was still very good canoeing and Kayaking. Fly of choice was still the green machine and bombers.

Near the mouth of Cains River fish were piled up at the Black Brook pool across from the public water of Pool 66. Anglers say that these fish are Cains river fish waiting for a rise in water to get up over the gravel bar at the mouth of Cains. Fish hold here all summer since the temporary bridge was taken out at the Mouth of Cains River in the late 70's. Raymond Clowater gave it a try this week at pool 66 with his buddy Roger from Moncton and only fished about an hour before coming back to the shop and saying it was a waste of time in this heat and would wait for better conditions.

Up river in the Doaktown area Derek Munn of Mountain Channel Blackville and Ledges Inn Doaktown said with all the hot humid weather the past week the fish have took refuge in the cold water pools. Before this heat wave we were seeing and catching record numbers of fish. We were catching more grilse than salmon but there were also good numbers of salmon being caught, mostly in the 12-18lb range with a couple over 25lbs.

Wilsons Sporting Camps above Doaktown in the upper stretches said the recent rain brought the river up 6 inches and it has cooled down considerably, but as of last Monday it was still too warm for good fishing. Even though a lot of fish moved out of our cold water areas most salmon are not interested in taking a fly yet.

Fisherman saw a few fish on the Cains at Salmon Brook, Buttermilk brook and the Brophy Pool. Renous river fisherman were getting a few but once the river heated up the fish started holding in the cold water pools and had lock jaw I was told.

The NW Miramichi had anglers getting a few fish but over the past week things were very tough. Trout Brook Fly Shop had a few anglers in that were seeing lots of fish and a couple that had picked up a grilse. Also they had a Spey Casting clinic that turned out very good from there Snowbee Rep. The gathering was small with about 10 attending, but those attending received a good showing of how versatile spey casting can be done and how effective it is. Jim Foster of the Times and Transcript had the crown waters and caught and released 4 salmon on the Crawford Pool and saw several more fish on the weekend. And he tells me he is a poor fisherman?

If your deciding to give it a try in these hot conditions try early hours and very late evenings. Use your smallest flies and long light leaders to help with a soft landing to your fly. And until next week tight lines.

Miramichi Starting To Pick Up!

Atlantic Salmon Fishing on the Miramichi is picking up!

After a great evening fishing last night I decided to get at er early this morning, and it paid off! I landed this beauty at 7:00 am on a dry fly. I raised several more from 4:30 am onward.

If your wondering if there is fish around? you don't have to worry anymore for a few days. There are lots of fish showing on the lower stretch of the SW Miramichi. Last night there was a really big run on that had fish jumping and rolling everywhere.

All for now will be back in a few days with an more up to date report!

Tight Loops,

Rod

Ice Conditions

Colfords Miramichi River Reports for March 17th 2010. First off, A Happy New Year to all and hope you enjoy the reports for another season. With fishing season less than a month away and anglers getting excited for the first cast, everyone is wondering how the ice conditions are on the Miramichi River. I have a few photo's for you from around the area of Blackville.



This is at the Upper Blackville Bridge

The ice does not look like it is very thick in these photos. The mild weather were having appears that the ice may be out sooner than we would want for fishing season. The river is very low and boating may be very hard to get to places this spring as well.

Just a reminder does everyone have there boaters operating card?







This is at the Blackville Bridge.







This is looking up towards Doctors Island.





Salmon Flies: I have several spring & Summer salmon patterns tied if anyone wants an order please email me and I will get them done for you. I have Renous Special, Golden Eagles, Black Ghost, Elmer Specials, Christmas Trees, Red & Green Eagles and Blue Smelts for spring flies.



















I will be back tomorrow with more photos and an update of the ice out conditions.

Tight Lines, Rodney Colford

Heavy Rains Hits the Miramichi Area But Not before the Fish are in the Net.

Colfords Miramichi Fishing Reports For Oct 5th 2009 by Guide Rodney Colford. Its been a fun few days on the Miramichi for David Jap of Germany and Christian Stathis of New York. They both arrived in some of the lowest waters we had this 2009 season to leave to some of the highest in years for fall fishing on the Miramichi. It was a very good week fishing and the catching was not bad too, as you will see from the photo's. The above photo is davids 1st for Sunday of 4 fish hooked for the day.
This is Christian with a 15 plus salmon at Moores Pool on the Cains and 1 of six salmon for his week.
This is a photo of us having a cook-out on the Cains before the heavy rains struck us.

In route to a pool on the Miramichi and some happy fisherman at that.This is Christian casting a single hand rod.David Jap holding one of his 13 fish he landed over the last several days in Canada.He is releasing it back to the Cains, this fish was hooked at Moores Pool on a Ally Shrimp.This fish was caught above the Mouth of Cains River and gave a ver good fight and was out into the backing a couple times before I netted it for David.This is the only grilse we got on a dry fly, and it was a brown bomber orange hackle.This a grilse Christian got and it had sea lice on it and a tag. Caught on the lower stretches of the Miramichi.
Christian Stathis with a male salmon and a great fighter too.
This is a photo of the Moore's Pool on the Cains at 8:30 am Monday morning today. Notice the other pictures of the same pool and after just the night the seat in the photos. The water was raising almost 1 foot per hour all day for a while.Looking down stream this morning on the Cains River.
Last night David with his 3rd fish of the day.
This is me holding Davids 2nd fish of the day. And we caught all our fish on a Ally Shrimp.
This is Randy of Wades fishing in the home pool.
This is some fisherman canoeing before the 2nd raise in water.

.The famous Green Machine and also a beat up one after landing a few fish.
A photo of the Cains before the rise in water.
The home pool in front of the lodge.
Here is a tube fly called a Willie Gun. A very productive pattern.


This is a picture of our Lodge from the Hershey Club on the Miramichi.
This photo of us on route to the Cains. This is guys dad was guiding from Country haven. They were from Maine and were enjoying there fishing on the Miramichi and Tributaries.

The weather over the next few days looks like more showers for the Miramichi area. Lets hope it does not amount to much and maybe things will pick up again.

I have this report from Bob Wallace: Good Morning Rodney, got back from my trailer at Hennessey's on Friday. With the rise of water from the Rain Sunday and Monday, made fishing better, then what it had been. I took a big Salmon on Monday Night on a #6 Cain's River Special and then took two more on the same fly Wednesday night. With the luck that I had, I thought with the rise of water, there would of been more Fresh run fish in the river then what we were seeing. I stopped before the bridge at Quarryville, to see how many fishermen were fishing, and there were a pile of them, so there must still be some fall run fish still in that area.

Another report from Larry Vanperson of Salor Haven fishing club: they were hooking fish and he landed a salmon. Another guy landed a 52 inch fish with them, he said they may have photos on a disposable camera. I will keep you posted if I get the photo.

My father Gary Colford landed a salmon last night on the Cains as well and in the lower parts of Moore's Pool.

The rain brought some high water to us and until dark this evening it was still raising. At times today it was rising at least a foot per hour. It must have raised 8 feet! I expect without rain and debris we may get into fish 24 to 48 hours. Or maybe in the morning EH! ha ha! You got to think positive!! My grand father always told me that? The river was very dirty all day with almost every cast hooking grass and sticks. But towards the end of the day things did look better.

I also want to note that most of the fishing is being done by Spey Rods and anglers are finding it so much easier in the high water conditions to cast. So when coming fishing if you have a Spey Rod please bring it with you and a single rod as well. I do not mention on my web site much about bringing Spey Rods to the Miramichi but I will update that information soon for the 2010 season.

All for tonight and I hope every one enjoys the photos of our beautiful Miramichi River and Tributaries.

Tight Lines,
Rodney

Anglers hooking fish this week on the Miramichi

Colfords Miramichi Fishing Report for the Lower Stretches of the Main South West Miramichi River.

Prime fishing season is now upon us and the cooler temperatures are starting with them. Now all we need is our fall runs of salmon too get us hooked on the fall fishing! But even though the fishing is slow on most parts of the river some fisherman are hooking or rolling fish. Most fish are very dark and little sign of the fall hook bills are being seen.

I fished the Pool 66 mostly all week, and while most of the other pools seem to be empty too fish or fish running through Pool 66 had hundreds of fish holding. And after many many flies being thrown the angler gets lucky and hooks into one!

Fish Catches
Anglers hooking fish this week were Ross Brophy with a couple grilse, Damir Sahic with a grilse, Zachery Colford with a grilse, Bobby Stulze lost a grilse, John Colford also lost a grilse, Danny Colford landed a 15 pound salmon, Gary Colford landed a salmon, Tom & Mark from the Edmunston area lost a salmon and rolled a few more, Louis Cormier and his buddy landed a couple salmon at Hogan's Bar, Emil Sahic lost a grilse, also fisherman from the Black Brook Club had a few grilse and a couple huge salmon one being a 2nd in the last two weeks hitting the 38 pound mark! and another being 25 pound. Both fish this week 25 and 38 were caught by two sisters at the club. So on this little stretch of the river this week the woman were the top anglers. This is a photo of Emil Sahic with a grilse on.

I was also up to Salmon Brook this week and saw several fish there but again no takers. The Brophy Pool on the Cains River was also holding fish and some anglers had rolled a few on dry flies. Moores Pool on the Cains had a few fish holding and we managed too roll one on a bomber.

This is a photo of the famous Pool 66 and anglers waiting there turn at many hundred of fish lying in the section of cool water that comes in from the Cains River and Black Brook. As you can see anglers laughing and telling fish stories to each other and some that just met for the first time. This is a great pool to try when the fishing is slow and many lies that are priceless!






This is a photo of a Osprey that flew into this dead tree and collapsed and hung upside down for at least 3 minutes before coming too and flying away.





Other River Reports

Doug Underhills Miramichi Fishing Report for Thursday
We've turned another page in the calendar and are headed for the home-stretch of the angling season. However, the fall runs have yet to appear. The heavy rains last weekend did not affect the Miramichi system as it did others. Read More.
Country Haven Report
Byron (Byzie) Coughlan's clients hooked a couple fish this week on the Miramichi river. Read More.

Flies of Choice
Bombers of every color pretty much but the blue with white ends and brown hackle seem to be the best. Green machines number 4's were working good with a green or red but and some flash. Some fish were rolling too Ally Shrimp patterns. You should soon see the green slime start to work too. One fish was hooked on a yellow subermarine with white tail, very simular too the white tail green machine.

Weather & River Conditions
As you can see in this photo of anglers fishing in the morning fog the fall weather has approached us. The weather for the next week will be from 16 C to 22 C and lows of down to 7 C. There is some rain expected (10 ml) for the Friday the 11th. The river level from my experience is getting very low and even though the lower stretches requires low water it really needs a raise in the level to help the fish and the pools up stream. Tides for the next week please check the link to the right and you can find the predictions. The water temperatures are in the low 60's which is very good.


That's all for the weekend and hope too have better reports in the next few days on the river.

Tight Lines,
Rodney Colford
Colfords Guiding Service