30th April 2008

08:30 hr. Miramichi River high and rising due to overnight rains, approaching flood conditions. Fishing remains slow with boats checked in the last two days reporting none to one fish per day.

27th April 2008

19:00 hr. tried the Miramichi for about an hour, (1) nice large salmon, (1) very thin grilse, had a couple of nice strikes but that was it. Dog jumped in after the salmon so had to bring him ashore.

Talking with some of the locals and the fishing for the past few days, well in reality, since the river opened has been poor, some have touched no fish in days. Informed outfitters are blaming the extremely cold water 37 degrees and promising a spring season yet. I personally get a little concerned when there seem to be more large salmon around than grilse, the grisle usually are the first out.

In this area the deer out number the fish at the moment.

25th April 2008

08:00 hr., the Miramichi River has dropped approx. 4 inches overnight although it remains silty and difficult to fish.

4 outfitter boats tucked in behind McCarty's Island, looking cold with very slow fishing.

24th April 2008

Raining and Miramichi River continues to raise, water very silty, not many boats on the river other than die-hard sports getting in every last minute before heading home.

On the optimistic side the water should start dropping and there is still time for the big salmon that are last to move to start filtering downriver.

23'd April 2008

09:00 hr. water is up approx. 4" overnight and continues to rise from snow pack melt, extremely muddy with lots of debris (grass, sticks, etc.) This does not make for good fishing although there are boats on the river.

22nd April 2008

Water remains dirty making it hard to keep your fly clear of debris. It doesn't look like a lot of activity, although we tried it for about (1) hour, Wendy picked up a grilse and had another strike. The rest was grass and sticks.

We had to cancel a party due to ice run, that has now cleared and we are opening the cottage for rental starting this weekend with a party expected in the first of the week for some fishing.

In response to all those questions on when is the best time to come for fish? I can provide 2007 dates but with water and temperature fluctuation's plus temperamental fish they are only a guide.

In 2007, as it pertains to this area:

May 31st into first couple of weeks of June, "sea trout" & Rocky Brook salmon run.

Mid June the "main summer salmon run."

If you want a daily check, have a look at past posts.

21st April 2008

Beautiful day, very little ice run in the river, safe to put in the boats. Water remains a constant, the snow melt doesn't seem to be making much of a difference at this point, probably melting into the ground, what ice there was in the river was mostly snow pack.

Wendy & I tried our luck for a couple of hours, water is still very dirty and hard to fish, Wendy picked off a salmon and grilse right where I showed her to catch them :(

There is black hatch on the water and last night salmon were taking the hatch, maybe we should start dry fly fishing in the spring!

20th April 2008 Water level remains about the same and has yet to reach normal spring run off levels. Steady stream broken ice floes, a nuisance for boats.

10:00 hr this date checked Hayesville (Tugtown), a clear channel is now through that ice jam, must have run during the night. There is a lot of ice in the back channels which will either melt in place or run if we get a significant rise in water level.

River open to Doaktown Bridge and below. Catching a few fish Doaktown area, too much continious ice in upper stretch for boats.

19th April 2008

A major portion of the ice has run, however there are still miles to come from upriver including at least one major ice jam from the Tugtown area, so with the warmer weather there continues to be frequent periods throughout the day of ice pack working down river and that does interfere with any fishing.

As for fishing in this area, a single boat on the river yesterday, dodging ice floes all day, touched no fish but having a great time in the sun.

Water remains low for spring although rising slightly each day.

17th April 2008

The main ice has run from Boiestown to below Porter Cove Bridge with sections continuing to break off and work through from above Boiestown. A check this date, finds deteriorating ice and open sections Porter Cove to Holtville Bridge. Heavy Ice jam since December in the Tugtown area above Holtville Bridge, so up river ice will behind it and may take a few days before that jam releases.

In short there are local areas one can fish if they continue to watch up river for heavy ice runs and position themselves so they can leave the river quickly if using a boat.

Water level is not high but slowly rising.

In this area little shore ice but 2-3 feet snow on the ground and in the fields making river access difficult. One easy access area is from the driveway of our cottage (Moonshadow), down the steps and into the river with little to no shore ice at this time. DO NOT LEAVE BOATS ALONG SHORE LINE OVERNIGHT, much ice yet to come.

And don't forget, Spring Fishing 2008, barbless hooks.

15th April 2008

Ice is still holding in the river. From Boiestown to Doaktown there are open stretches here and there, however for the majority the river is still iced in. Speaking with Doaks, Blackville to Doaktown still appear iced in. The water is not at spring level and two feet +/- of snow remain on the ground in the Boiestown area which will make it difficult to access the river for those wishing to put boats in.

10th April 2008

Can we put a boat in yet? The answer is "no."

Although numerous glades in the sunny areas and it looks like there is little holding ice in, the river is still solid Norrads Bridge upstream with only segments open along the shores toward Doaktown. The water has come up a few inches but not enough to start any type of ice movement.

If the weather holds, we should evaluate again toward 19th-20th April.

Deer can still be seen picking their way back and forth across the river daily, although much more carefully.

6th April 2008

Spring is arriving: Lots of migrating birds showing up, Canada geese, robins, red wing black birds, ducks etc.

Snow is melting away still fair amount in fields but roads for the most part are clear. River has lots of glades along the shore and in this area not much holding the ice, it doesn't appear too thick in this pool but may have some depth in the deeper pools and there was an earlier ice jam up river which will have to work it's way through.

At this point in time if the weather holds we may see the river open well before the end of April depending on what the melt situation is down river.

The deer are still picking their way back and forth across the river around the glades.