28th September 2009

Heavy overnight rains. The water didn't start raising until around 1pm and then came up about 5 inches, it's a bit brownish at the moment. Calling for rain on and off for the rest of the week, may reduce any fishing.

On the positive side I'm getting reports of fresh run "bright" fall fish being picked up in the area, so it looks like that fall run is starting to come in.,

27th September 2009

The day started our dull and overcast, we saw a few fish moving.

Darcy tied into 4 salmon to add to the one he hooked into yesterday evening, a 15 1/2" trout and a 18 1/2" trout.

Aaron after much swearing and cursing at near misses finally took Darcy's advice which landed him a nice 31" salmon just at dusk on a blue charm.

As Aaron put it, his Miramichi curse is now broken, now he has to establish a new record over that 31" salmon - always a challenge.

Darcy remarked that he was relieved that Aaron caught a fish otherwise it would have been a very quiet and miserable trip back to Nova Scotia.

They are calling for heavy rains - we will have to wait and see what that does to the fishing.

26th September 2009

-6 degrees this morning, with a West wind that came up late morning and lasted until dusk. Aaron & Darcy arrived mid afternoon from Halifax, hit the water early evening. Darcy hooked into a salmon and had a couple of hits, Aaron was satisfied with just hits. His explanation was "well they were so big I would have had to put them back anyway."

Word is that there are some major partying going on in the Dungarvon area tonight - celebrating the moose hunt - mind you - it doesn't take much of a reason to party and celebrate our great fall season.

25th September 2009

High today 10 degrees, burr and supposed to go down to 1 degree tonight. Looks like the moose hunt in this area was relatively successful. Most of the hunters we know got their moose and we saw a number on trucks and trailers along rte 8.

Water came up slightly and is chilly. Saw a number of fish this evening but they have lock jaw for the moment, typical fall fishing.

We had a query about putting a boat in for fishing. With the current water level we would have to take the fish out to put a boat in. The best fishing gear for the moment would be "chest waders with felts or cleats" the rocks being a bit slippery. You can still get to the fish with hip waders but will be somewhat restricted reaching those greener pastures.

With the fishing being hard and deer season yet to open there is nothing wrong with bringing the wife or girlfriend and a nice bottle of wine. The trees are just starting to colour up and there are lots of books in the cottage for those who enjoy getting away and reading. I priced the new Dan Brown book today at Chapters, $39.00 Canadian plus tax, that's hefty, so I suggest Herb Curtis' book "The Americans Are Coming."

24th September 2009

!st day of moose season. Heard trucks headed back into the woods well before dawn. Lots of excited hunters - great for the Irving Garage coffee counter. The Irving garage in Boiestown seems to be the main meeting center for various groups visiting the area to hunt.

Nice morning, sitting on the deck with a coffee watching fish play in the pool.

23'd September 2009

West wind all day but nice and warm. Yes Brian, Mark did get his fish a 22 inch grilse. He appreciates you folks having left some for him.

The raccoons are partying all night in our oak trees eating the acorns and driving Ben (our dog) nuts.

22nd September 2009

Another gorgeous fall day. Starting to see a bit of colour in the leaves.

Lots of fish making their way up river. Very hard to hook into. Landed and released a 7 lb. +/- salmon around 16:30 hr. on a small brown Mudler. The fish took the fly so deep I had to use long forceps to remove the hook.

20th Spetember 2009

Today was a lot nicer than the past two days. The guys in fishing were basically lashing away in a hurricane and unfortunately saw fish but couldn't entice one to take.

No wind this evening and although there were no rods on the water the pool was alive with fish showing all over the place.

Had some folks in who drove across Rte. 123 and told us they saw lots of game, so Mark, when you folks come through be careful and especially for anyone travelling Rte. 123 after dark it can be hazardous this time of year.

18th September 2009

Well this wasn't the nicest day - west wind and on/off again rain.
Some fish showing and moving but not taking. I checked up river and down, same story. I did hear that the Mill Pond in Doaktown saw some action for a short period of time. Typical fall fishing, more like trout fishing, they will only take when they feel like it.

I've been hearing reports of the downriver pools filling up with fish but have yet to see any bright fall run fish in this area.

16th September 2009

Frost last night but missed our garden. The river water is cooling off nicely. Again not many fish showing but they are there, warm evening with lots of hatch, every once in awhile a salmon would take a hatch off the top of the water, problem is that there is so much hatch that they would only take a dry fly by accident.

Raised two and hooked into one tonight by dragging a black bug & modified shady lady across slow water. Of course once they lured me into the slow water at 7:35 pm a decent run of big fish went through which would have been better fished in the faster run, happens every time. They are not showing in the fast water as in past years, lots of playing in deeper pools. I can move the fish around the pool simply by walking on the shoreline.

We have a couple of fishermen coming in early tomorrow morning and more on the 18th so will see how they make out?

I see some trailers moving into the area for the moose hunt. The cottage got grabbed by fishermen for those dates so we will have to wait for deer season before we start getting together once again with our hunters. Check out our calendar to see if there are any dates available you would like. Our rates go into "off season" November 1st.

15th September 2009

Great day for a bike ride, looped down through Renous and back via south side of the Miramichi, just the right temperature.

Hadn't seen much in the way of salmon showing, it appears the fish may be holding up during the day and moving through the night. I did go out for about 30 minutes, hooked into a salmon on a "green machine/white tag" and saw a half dozen more, couple of large fish. They appear to be staying in the flat water and not working up into the runs.

We have Canada geese headed in every direction, I notice a very large flock below the Doaktown Bridge and we had a flock in front of the cottage this morning. (1) humming bird, probably waiting to hitch a ride on the back of a Canada goose.

Last day of trout season :(

13th September 2009

The Miramichi water level continues to drop, we could use a bit of rain, however, the salmon's instinct continues to move them upstream no matter the water level. A number of salmon in the pool last night, ignoring the fly so switched to fishing trout that were taking hatch off the surface and hooked into a number. There are some very nice trout in the river as they drop out of the brooks.

This morning saw about 20 salmon showing and this time some are moving upstream, hooked/released a grilse on a black bug. Trout were not showing or taking.

11th September 2009

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Why can't the Fall season lastt longer ?

Water is very low but those fall fish are determined, a few showing this morning, Lika picked up one shown here being released and hooked into another, all on a black bug.

For those who were wondering "sea trout" are "sea run brook trout," of course coming directly in from the sea they are in great shape, good fighters.

These days, “sea trout” in eastern waters can include introduced brown trout (Salmo trutta) or transplanted rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Sea-run rainbows are called “steelhead” in Western Canada. Browns and rainbows were introduced in the late 1800s. Both species have established breeding populations in parts of the east. (Eastern Woods & Waters)

9th September 2009

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Cool night, warm day, a typical Fall day and the fish are moving. Saw a fair amount of activity in the pool around 7am which tapered off as the sun got higher in the sky.

Steve picked up this salmon on a modified "shady lady". They also pulled out a few trout. We are still waiting to hear some noise about the expect Fall salmon run coming in, those will be brighter fish. Most fish we are seeing at the moment are small salmon with very few grilse.

7th September 2009

My favourite time of year - look at how clear the water is, just a mite warm but 3 degrees colder than yesterday 15C. We are still playing with the summer fish working up from cold water pools and dark. Saw a few this morning but an early wind came up and stayed most of the day, died down toward evening and around 7pm looked like it was worth a try.

Sorry Enrico, I have to rub a bit of salt in the wound, you left this one in the pool all day and it was getting a bit annoying, jumping around bothering the other fish, so I helped it get past the rock and it's now moved up river. At one time this evening there were at least 8 salmon lounging around. By the way if your son is missing a dinosaur I found one in the driveway and Wendy found a giraff.

2nd September 2009

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Beautiful Fall day, cool night warm days and a few fish moving.

Yes Jason, Steve picked up this 26" salmon on a # 14 sparse tied hair fly, lost another and caught a 14 inch trout. Lika lost a salmon. The fly doesn't really have a name and it's hard to convince other fishermen that you can hold a large salmon on a small fly and lite tippet. I tied it for low slow water using 5-6# test tippet and over the last few years have taken a number of fish in late summer and throughout the Fall including a 34 inch salmon. When using this fly you should have a pair of needle nose pliers or forceps handy as the fish seem to take the fly deeper in their mouth. A #10 or #12 modified "shady lady" is still working, the modified version has a tendency to sink below the surface where the bug style rides on top with a larger wake.

Steve introduced his new Toyota truck to our deer population last year, the truck lost, so as we drive by the same area and he is reminding me of the incident today, three deer jump out in front of his truck, mind you when you are so paranoid that you now only drive on our roads at 5 km/hr there is not much likelyhood of too severe an incident :)