July 23rd, 2022
For a week that started off with some massive heat waves across the province, the savior was the heavy rain that we received on Tuesday which brought water levels up 4 ft on the main river and tributaries. While it made for a day or two of challenging fishing conditions we are very thankful that rain fell in order to help protect the salmon. The heat is something anglers prefer not to see but summer does produce some hot days and we simply need to accept that. On the the bright side, the high water only slowed fishing down briefly, and we saw lots of salmon making their way up the rivers. This past week “Wild Bill Mather” from Ontario landed several grilse, including one 15 miles above tide water which had sea lice on it which goes to show that the salmon are moving up river quickly this season.
Many fish this past week were caught high up in the system on many tributaries including the Cains River. Although the Cains is typically known for its fall run, Country Haven’s hall of fame guide Gary “Mr. Cains” Colford always says that when we have early high water raises that the salmon will be on there and sure enough this season they have been! This week we only had a couple of anglers in camp assuming the warm weather might impact fishing however with the raise of water those guests ended up with great fishing and hooked into multiple fish daily. Some were hooked on butterfly, bear hair flies and peach bombers which marks the start of dry fly season!.
With the last week of July upon us we’re all hoping for a few good bumps of rain and some cooler temps ahead as nobody likes the crazy heat, especially not the salmon. And always remember to use extreme caution playing fishing when water temperatures begin to rise and revive and release salmon with proper handling techniques. With some thundershowers in the forecast hopefully it’ll keep the system cool enough for coming weeks and that we can continue to see some great fishing conditions.
It’s wonderful to see that all throughout the Miramichi watershed that there is an opportunity to catch Atlantic salmon and this time of year is a great time to be on the river with family and kids, making wonderful memories!
