Just yesterday, a friend phoned up for advice. He had a week free and he wanted to Salmon fish abroad. He didn't want to pay a fortune and he wanted something different, something interesting and something he knew he would actively enjoy. Well, you can only speak as you find and, given the parameters, I had no hesitation in recommending east coast Canada's Miramichi.
Why? Well, it's exotically different but it's only six hours flight from Gatwick. The river heaves with Salmon, often very big ones. The landscape can be stunning. But, above all, the Miramichi is just a joy to fish. The pools are so endlessly inviting. This is Atlantic salmon fishing to drool over.
There are other things, too. Of course, you can head for the Miramichi with your traditional thirteen, fourteen or fifteen foot double-handers. But, you can also tackle the river the Canadian way with single-handed eight and nine weights. The Hardy Angel and Swift are really considered hot over there and, on my trips, they've really done the business. I've watched a forty pound Miramichi Salmon fight for fifteen minutes on a ten foot Hardy Angel and, believe me, you'd be wanting some of that!
On my trips, the fish have been constantly showing and that's great for morale. I've sat on a rock and just watched one big Atlantic silver after another passing upstream in front of me. At times, at a rough guess, I might have had a dozen fish over thirty pounds in a single pool before me. And that doesn't happen often in my experience anywhere else in the world.
If this isn't enough, the Miramichi also offers fabulous sport on the Bomber. These massive, bushy dry flies for one reason or another drive the Canadian Salmon crazy. It truly is one of the most exciting sights in Salmon fishing to see a genuinely massive fish coming up to a floating fly, inspecting it, mouthing it and making off with it, the line drawing steadily tight before the explosion of contact. What makes these Miramichi fish so happy to take off the surface remains something of a mystery. But the fact is that they do. It's not unusual on a single drift to have three or even four fish lazily come up to the surface and roll around the Bomber. It's heart-stopping stuff this and if you do get yourself to this fabulous river, it's a technique you must get to grips with.
In my experience, there's only one address you need for Miramichi Salmon fishing and that's www.flyfishingatlanticsalmon.com. Byron Coughlan has put together a Salmon fishing operation which is actually far better than this magnificent website even suggests.
You've got everything here. Fabulous accommodation and food. Some of the best and private beats just yards from the lodge. The friendliest, most welcoming guides I've ever fished with anywhere. An experience that's pretty near faultless.
There's endless variety if you find yourself out there but my tip is to get yourself a day on the Cains River. It's probably one of the most scenic rivers I've fished. Intimate, beguiling and running through the most virgin of forest. Slide in there in a canoe and you feel for all the world like Davy Crockett!
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