After a promising improvement mid last week, angling has dropped off considerably.  There are still fish being hooked along the system, but in no great concentrations.  Water levels are dropping and the water temperatures are creeping up, but we are far from a panic mode.  We do need some rain and cooler nights, but are […]

This week was a more positive one than many so far this season. Early in the week, there were better numbers of fish being reported through out the system. The Trapnet at Cassilis on the Northwest recorded 19 salmon and 21 grilse on Tuesday and 19 grilse and 13 salmon on Wednesday. The Millerton Trapnet saw 29 salmon and 30 grilse Tuesday and 40 salmon and 40 grilse on Wednesday. So this is as close to a “run” as we have had so far, and hope id that these numbers continue. The long hot spell had brought the water levels down to fishable along most of the rivers, but another good rain will soon be in order.

Dave Ingersoll and I had the pleasure of fishing with Sebastion Hope, a columnist with the London Financial Times and Serge Collin of Tourism NB this past Saturday. They were staying at Country Haven Lodge just below Blackville. We were fortunate to be in the very capable and knowledgeable hands of guide Gary Colford who was the icing on the cake of a good day. Sebastion caught a grilse and rolled a couple more. Dave lost a grilse and landed a nice 14-pound salmon and I lost a grilse. We also saw several more fish and thoroughly enjoyed the day and hospitality of Byron (Byzie) Coughlan and his staff.

The group also visited several local fly shops and enjoyed the chats with them and their customers. We also met a group of eight adventurous ladies who were staying and fishing at Ledges Inn in Doaktown. I recognized Hazel LeBlanc, wife of Paul LeBlanc who operates the two-story Orvis Shop in Montreal. Many will remember her and Paul from their annual visits to the Dieppe/Moncton Spring Fishing Forums. Mj from New Jersey was still on a high after landing an 18-pound salmon. (Her photo and fish are part of this week’s column). Mrs. Peter Clark was the group’s organizer, and all were enjoying their time on the river.

Let’s start with the positives. There certainly is no shortage of water, and there are new fish moving into the system in reasonable numbers, and anglers are seeing good numbers, even if they are not taking as well as we might like. However, there is sure a lot more excitement along the system, even if this is not “the run” we have been waiting and hoping for. Perhaps the last couple of years have spoiled us a bit.

The trapnets were up for a couple of days last week due to high water, but started fishing again on Sunday. Sunday there were 13 grilse and one salmon at Millerton, three grilse and two salmon Tuesday and nine grilse and five salmon on Wednesday. Generally the counts at Cassilis were about the same.

To date the cumulative counts at both these sites since the beginning of the season are as follows: At Cassilis, 19 salmon and 108 grilse, while Millerton had 75 salmon and 121 grilse. (See the charts near the end for comparisons)