Gaspe conditions

[jiffyjump]

We are leaving Cold Spring Camp below Glen Emma and above Tobique Camp on Saturday the water has risen 12-18 inches in the past three days to 38" this morning at home pool and fining off, but another thunderstorm this evening made fishing Mann pool dangerous. One fish 13lbs was taken in upper Marry's this evening.

Glen Emma's book shows several fish per day over 20lbs plus several 10-14 fish.With rising water Cold Spring only had several in the teens over the past three days but several 30+ fish were spotted moving up. The Matapedia book includes Tobiqe and Glen Emma and showed fish all week but going from low water to 24 plus inches has caused fish to run up and keep moving. Water color is off but should clear by Tuesday and fishing should get hot with the combination of the July Moon tide and lots of fresh water moving in to the the bay to bring in waiting fish.

My advice; public water will be very good Wednesday on next week and I wish I could stay and talking to guides the run still has not really happened here.

Please post up your results.

Cheers

Bill G

[Salar-1]

Bill
Any sign of Saprolegnia on the Matapedia ? My concern is that it's present on the Causapscal ( Did you go up the to the Marais to observe a very sad sight ?) AND has been seen on the Patapedia and the Restigouche . I'm currently using two pairs of waders and boots ,one for the Gaspe and one for the Northshore and NB/NS.

[carlislert]

Water is wayyyy up on the Bonnie, after almost record lows a week or so ago, the river has swelled to the high 70's (m/s3) and has stabalized. With fish in the river, fishing should be good in the next while...

[monsterfish]

So we are 5 days in to our gaspe trip and have been fighting rising water everyday. Water is now going down pretty good. Hope to see a big run come through this week .

[SteelheadJunky]

I've heard the Miramichi River is very high after a good pounding of rain for almost a week.
Hopefully it will be perfect when the guys from Idaho get there.
Wish us luck.
I hope to take at least one on a dry.

Best wishes and tight lines for all your future trips.
DC in Idaho

BTW
Here is a link to 50+ year old photos of my family and the Madison river fish before the earthquake in 1959.
My entire family could have been there Aug. 17, 1959.
Somehow none of us could make it to that part of Montana.
http://www.dclann.com/Craigs_World/1950s.html

[jiffyjump]

We saw several fish but one particularly huge salmon with Saprolegnia at Whitehouse several weeks ago. In fact at 200 yards away the 40 plus fish had a spot on its tail the size of a one pound coffe can and the zec confirmed over twenty dead fish had dropped back into the net below the sanctuary.

Jim Rusher and company saw one fish in Routhierville with the spot but only one, as of last week.

Seems to me that changing boots and waders is the way to go but the Zec and Faunique are behind the curve. Bleach stations should be mandatory at this point.

Cheers,

[Salar-1]

Originally Posted by jiffyjump

We saw several fish but one particularly huge salmon with Saprolegnia at Whitehouse several weeks ago. In fact at 200 yards away the 40 plus fish had a spot on its tail the size of a one pound coffe can and the zec confirmed over twenty dead fish had dropped back into the net below the sanctuary.

Jim Rusher and company saw one fish in Routhierville with the spot but only one, as of last week.

Seems to me that changing boots and waders is the way to go but the Zec and Faunique are behind the curve. Bleach stations should be mandatory at this point.

Cheers,

Thank's Bill
Not only is the the ZEC behind the curve but the ASFand particularly the FQSA are also. One of the directors of the FQSA mentioned on the French site that the rivers were still " in good health" The MRNF biologist and 2 assistants WERE down on the York with the divers checking things out 2 weeks back . They were supposed to do a count last week but with the rains I believe they'll wait until the river drops sufficiently

[hitcher]

People are still killing salmon on the York! The management at the zec register the fish with smiles on their face.

Guides & people who care about the York are furious that they, at least, have not made C&R mandatory.

There are NO cleaning stations for waders & boots. NO signs or information explaining the situation to anglers who might not know. NO, info on how they can avoid spreading this to other rivers by cleaning their equipment.
NO direction.
They had a chance to do the counts, but find excuses to prolong it. Maybe its because we are in primetime & the Zec seems that it does not want to scare off potential anglers to buy their access passes.
We will only know the true impact in a few years, but if the runs diminish significantly, they will lose alot alot more anglers. That, of course, will hurt local business.

Our group saw fish with Saprolegnia on York, Dartmouth, St. Jean, & Grande. Heard reports of dead fish in the Pabos.

Brian, you are right about the ASF & FQSA being behind the curve.

People are still killing salmon on the York.

[hitcher]

A good reference..

http://www.rockymtnflycasters.org/ar.../disinfect.php

[Salar-1]

John
One or two dead Salmon were seen in the estuary right in front of the ZEC office and some were seen at the Marina ! FYI the count was done this week and I invite anyone interested to call or email the ZEC to confirm the # .

On a brighter note, someone from the shallow end of the gene pool put three nets across the Bonaventure River !!!
Two different reports from the Matapedia are that fishing is doing well .

[caddisfly4]

hitcher thanks for posting the gear cleaning instructions, big help. Salar we just came back from the Bonaventure fished it for two days. Never hooked a fish and never saw anyone else hook one including the guys we saw in the canoes. We stopped and talked to people all along the river in sections A, C and D and only one guy told us his brother caught two and that was on Sunday. Our plan was to fish 4 days head home and then return the last week of July. We ended up cutting our trip short and as of this morning we might have to rethink the whole return trip thing. We did hear about the nets that were put up, that should put a dent in things. I was under the impression that practice had stopped. No information on the cleaning of gear at the river or the Zec office.

[Salar-1]

If the rest of your crew is retired also ,I'd wait for another bump in the levels . You might have to wait until September with the Hurricane season When Katrina hit in '05 we had incredible fishing from late August through early September .Same thing in '08 in mid September . I was very busy on the Petite and Matapedia while a friend of mine was up on the York. He had his best fishing EVER on the York and on one day he nailed 4 fish in the upper teens and lower 20lb class in one morning !!!!!
back in the late 1980's, or was it '90 or' 91, the York had a bad start to the season but became VERY alive with fish in the end of the 1st week of September . IMHO the Gaspe ZEC did the right thing by waiting for optimum levels to do the count .The divers know at what level they can SAFELY float the river !!
It's really too bad that some f##khead put nets in the Bonnie because that river is extremely well managed by the ZEC

[hitcher]

Can't go wrong with Brian's advise. Another option, if you do go back in july, are the Mitis, Matane, & Matapedia rivers. Decent runs & good catch %s according to a few friends that have fished these recently.
Have heard of reports of the fungus in the Matapedia & Causuapscal rivers, but nothing on the Mitis & Matane, though I assume they must have it.
Sorry to hear about the poor fishing on the Bonnie.

[YAMMY-CA]

63 salmon rivers have been closed on the east coast.The mainstream Humber is open.

[Salar-1]

Originally Posted by YAMMY-CA

63 salmon rivers have been closed on the east coast.The mainstream Humber is open.

That's 63 rivers in Newfoundland .