June 21st, 2023
This past week on the Miramichi we experienced cold and rainy weather which resulted in another 2 ft bump in the river height which kept the fish running straight threw. The anglers that were lucky enough to be in right place a the right time had the best success and our anglers landed a few nice salmon and got a few others close to the net. The majority of the success this week has been on a blue charm fly and one was hooked on a unique and colourful pattern called a Franc N Snaelda which was being fished by group of anglers from England!
Some anglers have also had success on the Dungarvon River this week and there was a report of the first grilse being caught which we hope may be the start of a good run this season after recent years with lower numbers of grilse. Many feel this is in part due to the mismanagement by DFO regarding the over population of striped bass which has many salmon anglers, both local and from away, incredibly frustrated. The vast majority of salmon anglers are not anti-bass as others may think … they simply don’t want top see the Miramichi salmon to become endangered and would like to see an acceptable balance of species in the ecosystem. This year in particular seems to have extreme numbers of stripers throughout the entire watershed and in the tidal area anglers are still landing high numbers of stripers. Many salmon anglers including sports from abroad are beyond frustrated when hooking striped bass miles and miles above the tide water and witnessing spawning activity so far inland! The stripers are now gorging themselves on the Gaspereaux and Shad spawn and consuming other smaller species. DFO is long overdue producing a management plan for the overpopulation of bass and a plan to support all of teh other species in the Miramichi watershed!
With several big raises of water this June, making the best out of good conditions when they occur is key when targeting the salmon! Weather is now turning hot the remainder of this week but the higher water will is helping to keep the river cool as it gets to a good fishing height for our stretch of the river. Hopefully this coming weekend some salmon may start to hold up more as pools begin to take shape with the narrowing the river in the lower stretch of the Southwest system. In turn we look forward to seeing a few more fish being hooked by anglers throughout the system! Tight Lines!
