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Update Bonaventure, Petite and Grand Cascapedia

2K views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  Gaspe Salmon 
#1 ·
Hello again folks!

Off for the FIRST time ever during the summer and thought before I hit the rivers that I would fill you in on the goings on here in this area of the Gaspe Peninsula.

A lot has changed since my last report, especially on the Bonaventure, where things have improved quite a bit. In my last report I wrote that sector B was a disaster and it was EARLY SEASON, HOWEVER, things have improved somewhat and there is no need for Wide Spread Panic, other than listening to it on your CD player. Truth is, I hit sector B4 the other day and had a great time hooking into 5 fish and rolling a few to the dry. Reports tell me that the other B - beats 1-2 & 3 are doing well and that the bottom beat on B has fish around as well. I have not been there myself but this is what I have heard. I know from fishing in C and D and from other guides that there are lots of fish to fish over in both of these sectors. All we could use now is a bit of rain to spark our fish up a bit. Water levels are low but I have seen them a lot lower than this before so it is not so bad. The water temps are generally good as well hovering in the upper 50's to the lower 60's.

As for the Petite and Grand Cascapedia Rivers, where I have spent more time in the last few days I can tell you that I have been fishing over fish everyday. The Petite is a bit slower than the Grand which is full of fish, however I have been seeing and catching bright fish with sea-lice on them out of the Petite. The water temp yesterday as we released a 20-pound fish was 56 F. A lot of action yesterday on the Petite with our 20 pound fish, two other 40-inch fish released on dry's by one of my friends and Rene from Camp B released a 20-pound fish as well. This was all before noon! The nice thing about the Petite is that there are fish in quite a number of pools despite the normal lower water for this time of year. Sector C is also seeing some fish but not as many as we will see if we get a rise in water, which would be really nice to see. I am not sure if the water moved last night but I heard it pouring last night around midnight and see a bunch of big puddles in my driveway this moring. Still overcast skies so I am hopeful for more rain and as I no longer believe any weather-people, I have to stick to looking up if I want a weather report.

For those of you who like trout fishing... all I can say is the Nouvelle and the Petite west and east branches are doing better than they have in recent years. Fish counts are up and the size of the fish are impressive!

Although the Grand Cascapedia is low at the moment, the Lake branch has still been holding quite a few fish. I fished 3-days last week up there and always had fish to fish over and some darned big ones to boot! The salmon branch is the only place that I have not fished for a while and I can see when I cross over on my way up to the lake branch that it looks low. Cannot do too much about Mother Nature now can we? Once we get a rise in water I am sure that both branches will be bonkers! The days I fished in the Lake branch this week had me fishing over lots of fresh fish which I thought a bit curious for Mid July but it is a fact. Out of the fish I saw, half were fresh to fairly fresh and quite active on the surface. I would have no problem fishing up there even in this lower water and like I said, if we get even a small bump of water, we are going to be in business!

The main river reports I am getting from other guides is that they are fishing over a lot of fish in most sectors but are having a tough time catching them. This seems to be the trend just about everywhere although every once in a while we seem to have a great sinlge day catch then things go a bit slow. I am not sure if this has to do with the hot weather we had last week or if the fish are just taking a bit of time off from fly biting. One thing is for sure, anglers coming to this area over the next two months will have PLENTY of fish to fish over while they fish some of the most beautiful water found anywhere in the world.

Remember this little fact folks, salmon fishing is tough and unpredicable and should always be measured by the pleasure you get from being out on the water, not by how many fish you have on your line. Mother nature is in control of the water levels and the weather so you need to roll with the punches. Salmon seem to be able to pick out flies from anglers who are fishing with a positive attitude over those who tend to be complaining about the conditions. If it were up to me and the other guides in Quebec, we would provide overcast skies, a dash of rain and full moon phases all summer long!

To sum up, plenty of fish just about everywhere you go, lower water but not critical, water temps are generally good and are hovering in the low 60's to mid 50's.

Dave is off for a week and will leave the salmon alone for a while but he WILL go and catch some trout!


Keep a smile on your faces and your fly in the water!

Best to you all,

David
 
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