More and more Mainers travel into Canada each spring to take advantage of the inexpensive yet prodigious Atlantic salmon fishing. Aroostook anglers have been traveling the two to two and a half hours to the Miramichi, Matapedia and Restigouche for decades, but now the word is spreading throughout New England like spilt milk on a tilted table. Even novice fly fishermen can enjoy hooking and playing several fish in the 10- to 20- pound class during the mass exodus of the salmon from each river back to the sea.
Beginning in June, the pools on these New Brunswick and Quebec waterways revert back to private ownership and may cost $500 to $1,000 a day for a boat, guide, lodging and fishing access to cast over bright Atlantic salmon arriving from salt water. Spring fishing, or black salmon fishing as it’s called during late April and throughout May, runs about $250 for a pair of anglers to hire a guide and boat.
Many anglers will already own most of the equipment necessary to fish for spring salmon. A nine-foot, 9 weight rod and a sturdy reel that holds at least 100 yards of backing as well as the line and offers a fairly sturdy drag system will handle most fish in the heavy spring run-offs. The line however, may need to be searched out and purchased. A full sinking line will be needed to get the fly near bottom in the swift current or at least a 10- to 15-foot length of a fast-sinking shooting head to be looped to the end of a floating fly line.
Flies need to be extra large, sizes 1/0 to 5/0 are common for high, murky water conditions. I recommend a Renous Special, red eagle, smelt, Governor, rainbow, silver rider, Mickey Finn, or golden eagle, most are available at local sports shops or from outfitters or stores near salmon camps along Canadian rivers. Most are fairly simple to create if anglers tie their own flies and can find single hooks in the needed sizes. Referred to as black salmon, slinks and kelts, these Atlantic salmon entered their home river during the summer and fall, then spent the winter. While they do lose some of their bright chrome shine and perhaps up to a third of their weight, these fish are still great fighters. On the plus side, salmon don’t eat when they arrive and spawn, so are far more difficult to entice into striking a fly, but when leaving the river in spring these fish are hungry and hit flies well.
As spring salmon “back down river” they tend to work their way along shorelines and rest in eddies or slow runs below islands, boulders or other obstacles that divert and slow water flow. For this reason, even moderate ability fly casters can easily get the heavy fly and line the 30- to 40- feet from the canoe to the nearby shoreline. In most cases the strike will be subtle and it’s necessary to set the hook, but as the river warms and sunlight shimmers across the surface, I’ve had fish engulf a fly just after it hits the water and attempt to rip the rod from my hand.
To hook and land one bright, summer salmon a day would be reason to brag, but I’ve actually enjoyed days of spring casting when I’ve hooked and released twenty salmon. I’d gauge an average day of April or May fishing to be about half a dozen strikes per angler. As the spring season progresses, more and more salmon leave their respective rivers, it’s all water and weather related, but I’ve found the last week of April and first two weeks of May to be top rate.
Probably the simplest way to investigate outfitters, individual guides, lodging, fishing shops and other black salmon information for the three closest rivers: Restigouche, Matapedia and Miramichi, is the internet. While local fishing options tend to be limited for the next three weeks, perhaps a short drive for a new experience is worth investigation. More and more regional sportsmen are trying black salmon fishing, and for most it becomes an annual tradition. Check it out, I’ll look for you on the river!
