flyI4
Fishizzle, I use worms but I'm looking to upgrade!
After a long 14 hr drive back from Canada yesterday I'm dragging ass at work today after a long week. We got in on sunday and Air temps were hot causing the Miramichi River to warm into the low 70's during the day/evening and the fish to not be so active. My boss and I went up with the intention of getting them to eat a dry fly so we stuck with it for the most part during the trip. I knew it was tough to get the full sized Salmon to eat dries, but definitely underestimated how many casts it really takes to drum these fish up. Every day was literally thousands of casts and the fish can really be anywhere so being methodical and working every little piece of water from 10 ft beyond your ft to the far bank is crucial if your going to get them to take on the surface. Overall, the results weren't too bad considering it was my first time fishing for Atlantics and conditions were super tough with very low water and skittish fish that had been worked in the major pools by most anglers over the past few weeks. In total, I landed 4 mature salmon ranging from 12-18 lbs and a couple grilse, all on dries which was a lot of fun. When these adult fish take, its literally like a killer whale is coming up to eat a baby seal and the fish is basically hooked from the take alone.
Guide wise, they really don't do much except spy on you to make sure your not cheating, and occiasionally tell you "try one in close" or if your lucky you might get a bullshit story about Ted Williams and his salmon days. With the weather being bright and warm, one guide we had who supposedly was legend up there kept passing out on a bench, complaining about the sun and wanted to go in early which we refused to do....the guy actually had the balls to complain and say we could have fished the shady side of the river for him(dead serious) and then quit guiding us for the rest of the week. It seemed the guides up there have gotten used to the streamside wine and cigar sessions as they host senior citizen story telling club rather than actually fishing and when you try to cover water, fish a little longer, ect they turn into a bunch of pussies. Taking a break during the day blows too, but there was some nice country around and I hiked a couple small streams during the day to break up the time.
Overall, the thrill of catching these fish on a dry was truly worth all the effort, but its the hardest I've ever worked for a fish in my life. THe game up there really depends on timing too, so its not always in your control whether you catch fish or not. Either way, I can finally check off atlantic salmon on my list of species I've wanted to catch and will likely be back at some point when conditions are better and the fish are a bit more active. Here's a couple pics
Guide wise, they really don't do much except spy on you to make sure your not cheating, and occiasionally tell you "try one in close" or if your lucky you might get a bullshit story about Ted Williams and his salmon days. With the weather being bright and warm, one guide we had who supposedly was legend up there kept passing out on a bench, complaining about the sun and wanted to go in early which we refused to do....the guy actually had the balls to complain and say we could have fished the shady side of the river for him(dead serious) and then quit guiding us for the rest of the week. It seemed the guides up there have gotten used to the streamside wine and cigar sessions as they host senior citizen story telling club rather than actually fishing and when you try to cover water, fish a little longer, ect they turn into a bunch of pussies. Taking a break during the day blows too, but there was some nice country around and I hiked a couple small streams during the day to break up the time.
Overall, the thrill of catching these fish on a dry was truly worth all the effort, but its the hardest I've ever worked for a fish in my life. THe game up there really depends on timing too, so its not always in your control whether you catch fish or not. Either way, I can finally check off atlantic salmon on my list of species I've wanted to catch and will likely be back at some point when conditions are better and the fish are a bit more active. Here's a couple pics
