Fishing Friends Great news from the Miramichi! On May 31 Jason Curtis, fishing in the upper end of Campbell’s Pool, caught a 12 pound hen salmon on a lime green Green Machine fly tied by Ashley Hallihan. This is our first May salmon since 2013.  Here is Jason’s account of the catch:  Brad, I rolled her twice on a black ghost. First time really powerful roll next one very deep. 15-20 more heartache casts, …Read More →

Fishing Friends As of May 25th I have neither seen nor heard of a bright salmon yet on the Miramichi, but that is by no means unusual. Miramichi angler Bob Bowser e-mailed me that a friend of his had fished the NW Miramichi daily for salmon during the last week but had seen and caught nothing. The NW is usually the first place to produce one. The gauge in Blackville has been working off, …Read More →

The start of the Atlantic salmon fishing season in New Brunswick, normally scheduled for April 15 was delayed until May 1. Then quite by surprise the opening was moved up to Friday afternoon the 24th of April. This was certainly welcomed by anglers, and conditions were excellent with a comfortable height of relatively clear water and good weather. Jason Curtis said that he went out just across from his home in Blackville and in, …Read More →

Fishing Friends – I want to alert you to an opportunity to take some action that could add greatly to the Miramichi River system’s fishing opportunities. As you know, at the right times brook trout are found in just about every stream that flows in to the Miramichi. Generally these are not large fish, and only a very small percentage live to be larger than 12 inches. An even smaller percentage of all brook, …Read More →

Fishing Friends – I received a fair education on the history of Cains River brook trout fishing when I was researching On the Cains.  One thing that I was quite surprised to learn was that many of the largest sea run brookies caught in the last century were actually caught within the last ten or fifteen years.  As recently seven or eight years ago some very good catches of brook trout of Labrador proportions, …Read More →

With the current state of world affairs, and the shelter-at-home situation that we now find ourselves in, I thought I’d start a blog that I will keep open until the ice is out of the Miramichi, tracking the progress on a ongoing basis.  I may not bother you with a notice every time I post a new picture of the river, so just check back every now and then to see if there is, …Read More →

  Fishing Friends – How quickly things can change. Three weeks ago I was packed and ready for my annual salmon fishing trip to the River Naver in the northern Highlands of Scotland. The news about the corona virus had been building, but cases of it were still quite rare outside of China. My daughter Caroline, a registered nurse who is finishing up her nurse practitioner degree didn’t like what she was hearing, though,, …Read More →

Atlantic salmon fishing friends – I spent much of the day on this past Friday 2/16 listening in to a Miramichi Salmon Association board meeting that took place in Fredericton, New Brunswick. In this meeting there was discussion about the very poor returns of salmon last year to the Miramichi, a discussion of the probable reasons, and what the MSA’s plan is to slow and reverse the downward trend. The plan is not completely, …Read More →

Fishing Friends – State of the Miramichi Atlantic Salmon Population:  The Canadian ocean fisheries branch of the government, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans or DFO, has completed a report of the Miramichi and Resitgouche River fisheries for 2019. The full report is not available to the public yet, but highlights of it have been released to the press and stakeholder organizations. The bottom line for the Miramichi is that the Atlantic salmon population, …Read More →

Fishing Friends – Your salmon fishing schedule for 2020 Have you planned your Atlantic salmon trips for 2020? I have, almost, but I’m leaving a couple of things open. I’ll start on the River Naver in Scotland during the first two weeks in March as I have for each of the last 10 years.  This early in the season it is never fast fishing, but I usually manage a couple of bright fish each, …Read More →