Last week on the Miramichi

Last week on the Miramichi was eventfull. Fresh salmon are in parts of the system and the trout fishing picking up as well. I will be writing more on this. Stay tuned. Good luck with the coming season.

The Pollett River Run 2008

Pollett River Run 2008.

I was looking forward to the Pollett River Run this year. George, an experienced canoe man, with two of his friends wanted to hit the Pollett. Brianna being 16 years old, I felt that she was old enough to experience the Pollett River Run for the first time. The last Saturday of April arrived, which for the past 25 years, is the day of the Pollett River run. The timing was good because the river was high, it was 10 degrees, and I was recovered enough from the cold I was battling to make the trip.

George left his van at the takeout on the Sanatorium road. My jeep and the blazer carried us and our gear to the put in at Elgin

We skipped the traditional breakfast at the community hall and opted for an early start. We set sail around 09:30 A.M.

George has a loud voice that carried half way down the river. He told joke after joke to people 150 yards away. Brianna and I laugh our heads off for many hours of this day. George kept us entertained for sure.

George was not only a good joke teller and canoe-men, he was good at rescuing. One guy about 50 years old in a rubber boat hit a tree that was leaning across the river. He found himself in fast deep water holding on to the tree not wanting to let go. George got out a throw line and after a second attempt landed the line near enough for the poor man to grab hold and pull himself to shore. He was almost crying in fear and that he lost everything. This was a bad way to start the trip because this tree is only about 5 minutes down from the put in. This tree caught many people off guard especially the rafts that could not manipulate around this outreached tree.

About 2 hours into the run, I forced Brianna to take the stern. With a little teaching and practice, she quickly learned the tricks of the trade and guided us through the rapids, around rocks and bridges like a pro. We never did flip and she save our ass by having her paddle in the water. We hit a side current which nearly knocked me out of the canoe and nearly flipping us but she had her paddle in the water and I felt the force or her counter action stable the canoe. I though for sure we were going for a swim. I had people upstream say “ooooooo close one”

After about three or four stops along the way we came to a water falls on the river right. We pulled the canoe in on river left for lunch. This was a great spot for lunch for there was a big dry field sheltered from the wind. The sun without the wind felt warm and we enjoyed many laughs with these first time canoe partners. George proved himself to be a great outdoor cook as well as a canoe men, joke teller and rescuer. The salmon he cooked was incredible.

After lunch we nosed our bows into the current and headed down river. We stopped at a camp where many people were socializing. A canoe came down the river and didn’t make the turn. It hit a rock and dumped its cargo and passengers into the cold water. One girl had trouble getting to shore. Brianna had to go help drag her in. After looking at the injury, it appeared her leg was broken. After getting her comfortable and knowing there were many good people there to help, we once again pushed our canoe to the rapids and continued our trip.

Brianna navigated her way down stream to the takeout on the Sanatorium road. At the takeout, there were about 1000 people partying. The major event was the mud bogging. Big truck and 4 wheelers cracked their engines wide opened through the deep mud holes. Much of the field was muddy so there were drunken people slipping and doing face plants.

It was about 07:45 P.M. when we finally got back to Riverview. We unpacked and sorted the gear and bid farewell to our canoing partners.

Brianna missed her soccer tryouts but she had a good time and was tired so she jumped in the shower and shortly thereafter headed to bed.

It was Brianna’s first voyage of type. Hopefully there will be many more and hopefully she will cherish these trips like I do.

Pre fishing season thoughts

I sit on dinner break at work. We are experience the end of another one of our many snow storms this winter. Damien and I never got together to go fishing last summer. We are both so busy that cooridinating the time is not easy. Our day is coming old boy. Don't you worry! Until then I will just keep tying flies and will make sure I won't sell them all.

The salmon are holding in their winter homes under the ice of the upper reaches of various Maritime rivers including the Miramichi. The salmon have their privacy spawning this winter. The ice and snow is protecting them from most preditors. With the incredible amount of snow this winter, it certainly looks like we are going to have high water levels for the early part of the coming season. Time will tell.

Canoe Flipping

In early summer of 2001 a three day canoing/fishing trip was the cure for the long ache of a cold wet spring. The canoes we used for most of our upper Miramichi fishing trips were 21 foot freighters. They were stable and we grew to trust them. Marvin, Damien and Scott were in one canoe floating over a deep hole. Damien spotted some big trout and when the other two inexperience canoe men decided to lean over the same side to see the fish, the canoe flipped. Denis and I were upstream about 200 yards. We had a good view of their pitiful faces as we glided passed. A site for sore eyes alright. They sat in the canoe filled with water, their fishing rods and gear floating around. They were wet, cold and Damien’s pride was hurt. He repeatedly commented on how he never flipped a canoe in 20 years. I suppose some would say it was crewel of Denny and I to start laughing at them. After we recovered our breath from laughter, we helped dump the water out of the canoe and gather the gear and beer. Damien’s two week old cell phone which he bought at a cost of $500.00 was sitting on the river's bottom. I am not sure where all the fishing tackle came from but there seemed to be a fair amount of it floating down the river.

Salmon

When the leaves fall from the trees in fall, the salmon settle into their winter home on the upper reaches of the salmon rivers. They spawn and house themselves under the shield of the winter’s ice. In spring the adults head down river to the ocean and feed for the summer. Some make their way to the coast of Green Land then back to the very spot where they were hatched. On the way down the river these fish are easier to catch because they are hungry and feeding at every opportunity. They are referred to as black salmon or slinks, etc... because they are dark in color due to water staining and skinny because of the lack of winter food supply and their spawning ritual. These black salmon heading down river do not fight as good as a salmon that just returned from the sea because the black salmon are worn out. If you decide to fish these worn out salmon I highly recommend you try to capture the salmon quickly, take a picture and release it back in its realm as quickly as possible. A speedy capture and speedy release helps ensure the fish’s survival; they are already in a week state so a lengthy fight on the end of a line will surely be it's death. A quick capture and release gives it a chance to survive and maybe next year you will catch it again after it gains 15 pounds.

A Shot in the Dark in the Summer of 2000

We arrived at Jewel’s house (Damien’s father) in Juniper in the middle of the afternoon. Damien’s family and friends gathered around the yard. The yard became dotted with old fast cars and big trucks which seem to be a big favorite in these parts of New Brunswick. A few beers and a bit a whiskey was had and plans were being discussed of getting up early and heading up river. Denny, Damien’s cousin, showed up excited about all the fish at one of our favorite pools upstream. Learning of the fish excited us to the point where we decided to head up river that night. It was a about a 3 hour trip in the dark. The dark and the rocks and the shallows were bad enough, but the bats swooping at us was the real challenge. I didn’t think Damien was scared of anything but trapped in a canoe having to pole over the shallow rapids in the dark with 500 bats touching your hair proved to be the real challenge. As Damien swung the boat pole wildly at the bats, the boat lost its position in the current and floated downstream and up against the bank. I thought we were goner but somehow the canoe stayed upright. Loosing the gear in the dark was not in the plans and I am glad we didn’t have to deal with that in our condition.



This book will surely kindle your sense of adventure!

Deer Ville

Spending time deep in the woods has its benefits in getting great nature pictures. This one was easy because the fawn was running along the highway near Sussex, N.B. I slowly drove beside him for 500 meters before he got discouraged from crossing the busy highway. Perhaps his plan was to reunite with his mother who may have been on the other side of the road.