River Report (June 23 – 30, 2013)

Our friends from New Hampshire arose very early Sunday morning and departed for home at 4:00 am. Our new group of anglers arrived on the noon flight from Toronto. Mr. Govan is new to salmon angling but was keen to learn and had read some material on salmon fishing by Gary Anderson. His guide, Percy Annett, was on hand in the afternoon to give some casting instruction. Mr. Govan did well and later that day released his first Atlantic salmon. It was a fourteen pound fish that was taken at Roughwater pool, on a large Tiger Ghost.

Monday was the warmest day we have had so far this season and the temperature at 10:00 am was 30 degrees Celsius. Mr. Govan took the opportunity to see more of the Saint John River and did the upstream canoe trip that morning. He enjoyed it immensely and was rewarded with a twelve pound fish, taken from Countess pool on the same fly, Tiger Ghost. Anglers have been doing very well upstream recently, with fish stopping regularly in Clandeboye, Countess and Consul. With the lower water level some fish have of course moved out of pools below the Club. Guides this week see fewer salmon in McDonald and the current is much slower in Curtis. Mr. Stevenson did however release a nice twelve pound fish at Curtis on Monday. It was hooked on the new fly, Teacher’s Pet. Eric fished the upper pools that afternoon by walking through, and released another twelve pounder at Clandeboye.

Skies were covered on Tuesday with much cooler temperatures and a forecast of rain for the preceding days. Mr. Govan went to Roughwater to give it a try and immediately hooked a great fish, which gave a lengthy battle. He was using a number 2, Tiger Ghost and the salmon was estimated to be twenty-eight pounds. That afternoon Mr. Govan decided to fish Clandeboye by walking up again via Lady Hamilton. Fresh moose tracks were observed on the trail and when angler and guide were crossing the river at the tail of Countess, noises were heard in the woods. Soon a female moose and calf came from the woods and went out into the water. Following close behind was a large male black bear, who must have been after the calf moose. Mr. Govan was capturing all this on video and quite naturally he and his guide became worried. Barton decided it was time to exit the scene and Mr. Govan, who is a physical education instructor, says he has never seen anyone ever move that fast. Mr. Govan unfortunately fell in the water and dropped his fishing rod and got his camera wet. They returned to Camp and the rod was found the following day around Lady Hamilton.

Mr. Govan left on Wednesday a very happy angler, along with Miss Livingston. The new team for the last half of the week was two gentlemen from Toronto. The temperature on Thursday morning was a chilly 5 degrees Celsius and the water was a bit warmer at 9 Celsius. Henry did very well that morning by releasing a twelve pound fish at Curtis on a Crystal Ghost. Mr. Stevenson hooked a large fish at Roughwater on a Sunray Shadow. It was extremely strong and gave a terrific fight. Upon releasing it was estimated to be twenty pounds. On Friday morning after breakfast Mr. Turnbull and Mr. Stevenson saw a salmon break water on the far side of Home Pool. Mr. Stevenson tied on a White Stonefly and hooked the fish, which again gave a good fight, before being returned to the river. The twenty-four pound fish had some injuries on its sides and damage to the fins. Mr. Fiorillo did great on Friday also, with a twelve pound fish at Clandeboye in the morning and a second salmon at McDonald that evening. Both were caught on a fly which has done well this week, the Dutot Blue Charm. The group had a wonderful week and released a total of fifteen fish.