Each year I find myself travelling more and more to fishing destinations around the globe…… Some might say my life is one big fishing trip. But I am talking, fishing outside northern BC for species other than Steelhead and Pacific Salmon. Every spring I travel to the east coast of Canada for early season Atlantic Salmon in the Gaspe region of Quebec. This is the one trip I can’t miss. No matter how good fishing is here at home. As soon as the trees start leaf out I get Atlantic salmon fever. I am completely haunted by those big early season salmon that sneak up rivers like the Matapedia and Restigouche just after ice out. This is not a game for most anglers. An example of how tough it can be. My good friend Bryan fished 18 days over two years before he finally hooked one of these fish. It was a 35 pounder covered in sea lice. Which in my mind and his, worth every second he spent on the water. This year I am extending my trip with an extra 10 days of fishing in Newfoundland. I will be targeting an area with several rivers that have the highest percentage of MSW salmon on the island. To say the least I am excited.
A trip like this takes allot of preparation. Nearly twenty days of fishing in two very different locations.
There are allot of variables to be considered.
For my trip to Gaspe. I have been there many times and have a pretty good idea of what to expect. I know what the rivers look like, the water type I will be targeting, how the fish behave and what they like to eat. I start my fly tying, focussing on what worked in the past. I keep very detailed notes from year to year. i.e. Water temp, water level, weather, dates, flies etc. I want to paint a picture from year to year showing the factors surrounding the successful or un-successful situations. Keeping notes is a very important thing to do. If you are visiting an area once or twice per year. It is easy to forget the actual details if they aren’t written down. Once I start tying flies I focus on 2 or 3 patterns/colour combinations I believe in. From there I tie the flies in sizes to deal with all water levels. From extreme high water to extreme low water. So flies more than 15cm in length down to 3cm. Depending on water clarity, sun, temperature you might need them all in the same week.
For my trip to Quebec. I am relying on the fiery brown and orange colours of the phatakorva and flies tied in Chartruese and black. Here are my reasons. The fiery brown and orange blends well with the water colour of the river I am fishing. It is slightly tannin stained. Plus the large orange fly is a favourite early season fly there. As for the Chartruese. I believe any fish that is feeding on fishes in the ocean. i.e. Herring, smelt, alewife etc. are drawn to chartreuse. Most importantly I have landed large salmon on both colour combinations.
Here is a photo of my flies for Quebec.
Newfoundland is a completely different story. I have never been there before. It is hard to find really good info about this area online. I try to gather as much information about the rivers. i.e. Water colour, clarity, river sizes etc. my favourite source of info is scientific papers, written about studies that were carried out on the rivers or feeding habits of the salmon in the ocean. This is great info because it doesn’t have the fisherman twist on it. It’s as close to fact as you’ll find. I also try to talk to everyone I can who has even the smallest knowledge of the area. From this I paint a picture of what things look like there.
Once I have the picture in my mind. I start to look at what the locals are doing. Then I look at other similar rivers around the world and what works there. From this I start to tie my flies. Being the first time I will have a much broader range of patterns and colours with me. I will also take along a tying kit to deal with anything I am lacking.
Newfoundland Flies
As it gets close to go time. I constantly check water levels and weather forecasts to get an idea of what the rivers are going to look like. I make sure my fly selection covers the conditions I expect to see when I arrive.
I think for this trip I will have over 300 salmon flies with me. I hate to be caught with the wrong flies.
The preparation for these trips is as much fun for me as the trip itself. You can always show up with a dozen of the local fly and do very well. But what fun is that.
