September 24th, 2023
This week seemed to be, what has become, a typical one for this season on the Miramichi River with a few good days of fishing with falling river levels and then another rise of water and slower fishing, as was the case after Hurricane Lee blew through. While there was grave concern anticipating the storm’s arrival, thankfully the impacts on the Maritimes proved to be minimal although we did receive a lot of rain which amounted to more than 90 mm over the Miramichi system. This amount of rainfall after a rainy summer resulted in new river height highs for the season registering 4.5 meters on the Blackville gauge which is roughly 3.5 meters higher than a good fishing height for the lower section of the river. In fact, the river heights reached spring freshet levels which is something that few have ever seen for this time of year!
With the extraordinarily high water, there were no anglers pursuing salmon for a few days but when the river began to once again drop, a few anglers braved the high water and each day the the hooking improved. Andrew and Nancy Moy from Tightlines Fly Shop in New Jersey returned once again this week and many returning guests enjoyed their time on the Miramichi, whether hooking fish or just taking the daily boat trips on the upper Cains in search of fish. Above all else, in spite of Mother Nature, our guests found a way to laugh and enjoy their time at the lodge, jousting with the gals in the kitchen and already eagerly talking about their return trip next season! There is no doubt with anglers that hope rests eternal and we are so very fortunate to have such wonderful returning guests year after year, many of whom are like family to us. Andrew & Nancy Moy were off to Nova Scotia for a few days but then heading back to Country Haven thereafter to host their 2nd group of the season when they will conduct spey clinics and hopefully hook into some nice fall salmon as the conditions continue to improve! The flies of choice this past week were Ally Cascades, Ally Shrimps & the ever-productive Undertaker.
The water heights now on the Main SW Miramichi tributaries are finally shaping up once again but the main river will still take a few more days to drop further to permit better conditions. Anglers are now seeing more fish again however and having more action with each passing day and with an extended weather forecast that implies fair weather well into October & a full moon on September 29th we remain hopeful for a good end to the season. We encourage you to get out and enjoy the remaining two weeks of the Atlantic Salmon season and spend some time visiting our wonderful local fly shops including Curtis’s in Blackville, W.W. Doaks in Doaktown, and Syd Matchett’s Trout Brook shop … they can equip you up with some lucky fall flies that may lead to a salmon of a lifetime during one of the most spectacular times of the year on our waterway!
