St. Mary's River Report June 2008

publication date: Jul 4, 2008

The promise of a few warm, sunny Spring days was enough to convince me it was time to go fishing. Truth is when the salmon are running on the St Mary's River in Nova Scotia I don't require much persuading. I arrived at the river mid-morning on June 20. I spent several hours getting some exercise clearing winter deadfall from the property lines of my newly acquired riverfront acreage. I was itching to get a fly in the water so I knocked off around 2pm and headed downriver a few kilometres to Silvers' Pool.

Named after Doc Silver (as is the Silver Doctor salmon fly) this is probably the most famous pool on the river. Located at the convergence of the St Mary’s’ East and West branches, Silvers Pool holds salmon returning to both as they contemplate which branch is home. For more than a hundred years this has been a great place to hook fish. I was surprised to find I had the pool to myself. Granted the time of day was less than ideal with a bright sun directly overhead but on many occasions I have hooked salmon in such conditions.

I began fishing the run flowing out of the East Branch with a small red butt butterfly. The brook trout found this irresistible. I caught several in the riffle including two potential keepers measuring about 12 inches. I decided to release these expecting bigger and better things. I was not disappointed. When I reached the bottom of the run I had a strong strike. The fish made a splash but did not come out of the water. By the weight of the tug I felt it was likely a grilse. I worked the butterfly for 15 minutes more without success. Then I heard another significant splash. I saw the remnant of the break but once again did not see the fish.

At that moment my dentist ``Dr. Greg`` appeared on the bank across the river.

There are few people I know who are as avid about fly fishing as Dr. Greg. The walls in his operating room are not covered with pictures of smiles but with photos of fish. Once or twice each year I recline in his chair with a mouth full of dental apparatus learning about Dr. Greg’s fishing experiences past and planned around the globe. Of course he asks lots of questions to which I can only grunt a response. He is not deterred by the one-sidedness of the conversation. Dr. Greg’s drilling and filling continue unabated while he enthusiastically describes his fly fishing adventures. Stories are frequently interrupted to remove relevant photos from the wall so Dr. Greg can hold them in front of my nose for better viewing.

This day we are on equal ground conversationally and he tells me that he arrived last evening and while he has not raised any salmon he did catch a couple of very nice sea trout. I inquired where he caught these fish and on what fly. He told me, wished me luck and continued his wade downriver. In a few minutes Dr. Greg had vanished just as quietly as he had appeared. I looked in my fly box and found the fly he mentioned. The Green Machine is a ``bug`` that in the right water can be fished both dry and wet on the same cast. I tied one on and went back to the spot where I had the strike.

I made a few casts trying different presentations and thought I saw a silver flash under the fly just as I began the retrieve. I cast again and this time made a fairly big downstream mend just as the fly was about to complete its dry drift. The belly in the line created by the mend allows the retrieve to come directly across the current for a couple of strips. In my experience sea trout often take when they sense their prey is trying to escape. An aggressive fish had the fly before I could make the second strip in the retrieve. This sea trout was approximately 2.5 pounds and put up a very spirited fight.

Slightly disappointed that I wasn’t fishing a grilse I went back to the car and fetched my favourite trout rod. With a thee-quarter ounce Orvis fly rod catching 2.5 - 4 pound sea trout is great sport and I spent a very entertaining afternoon. I kept two of these beauties for dinner! Delicious.

Early that evening I still had the itch so I put on the waders and headed back to the river. I felt like some company so decided on the Ford Pool just a short drive from Sherbrooke. When I arrived around 7pm there were seven other fishers fishing from both banks. It was a beautiful evening, warm with very little breeze. The crowd was revved up because a couple of salmon had been released just before I arrived and several other fish had been raised.

This evening those fishing were an international group with representatives from Denmark, Germany, United States and a couple of token Canadians. Just as I got my turn to go a gentleman from Germany fishing the bank directly opposite me hooked a grilse. A couple of minutes later the guy next to me hooked a big salmon. Both fish made several jumps and runs to the delight and multi-lingual cheering from those watching on the banks. These fish fought hard particularly the big salmon which was hooked on a long cast in fast water near the bottom of the pool.

When things settled down I decided my best chance was to fish a fly completely different from those being fished by the others. I tied on a small green butt, black hair wing fly and added a riffle hitch. The water in the Ford pool is mostly a wide slick, perfect for fishing a riffle hitch. I skipped the fly across the current and on the fourth or fifth cast I raised a grilse. This fish raised three more times and on each occasion made a serious splash behind the fly. I concluded this fish was not a “taker” so I moved along through the pool.

About 10 paces downriver I raised another fish. Two casts later he picked my little fly off the slick and came almost completely out of the water making a great show of the take. The fight featured two significant runs downriver and three powerful jumps. After a strong ten minute scrap one of the Danish contingent expertly tailed and released a fresh, fat grilse that I would guess weighed six pounds. Awesome!

The action was not over. Within the next twenty minutes two more salmon were hooked and released. Several others were raised. During the two hours I was there a total of six fish where hooked by six different fishers using both wet and dry flies. I have not seen salmon fishing like it since my experience on the Eagle River, Labrador in July of 1998.

Early Saturday morning I set out to discover a new pool. I enjoy walking through the woods, along the banks and experiencing a river by wading. The St Mary’s has many kilometres of fishable water. Getting to certain pools requires a good walk which tends to keep the crowds down. I arrived at the Red Bank pool at 9 AM. This is a great looking piece of water. A long fast run flows into a deep pool under a cut bank perfect for dry fly fishing for at least 200 metres. During the next hour I fished several different flies wet and dry of various sizes. I hooked several brook trout but did not raise a salmon nor see one show.

The water looked perfect so I felt confident salmon had to be holding there. I decided to try the butterfly that had worked on the sea trout yesterday afternoon. I also thought it would be interesting to try a riffle hitch just where the run starts to enter the deep pool. After several casts I was thinking about changing the fly when during my retrieve the fly just stopped. It seemed I was snagged on something.

I gave a good tug on the line followed by a couple flicks but it didn’t budge. I came onto it even harder causing a good bend in the rod. Suddenly it just took off and then started coming directly at me! I was reeling in for all I worth when a magnificent, fifteen pound salmon leaped out of the water less than twenty feet away. This fish gave me all I could handle for at least fifteen minutes as I chased it up and down the pool. In the end she made one last angry jump and shook the fly! Perfect!

As I was standing there enjoying the moment I heard a heavy whoosh, whoosh, whoosh right behind and above me. I looked up just as a huge, mature bald eagle with a six foot wing span flew over my head so close I could have touched him with the tip of my rod! I felt the rush of air being displaced by his wings. He was flying low probably hunting the fish I had just hooked. He no doubt had watched the fight from high above and then swooped down in the hope of picking up a wounded soldier. The eagle flew slowly over the pool and then perched on a big pine tree just above me where he remained until I left.

It won’t be long and after a days fishing I will be heading back to my lodge just upriver from the Red Bank pool. Hopefully next summer it will be under construction. This summer I intend to cut the trees required to build a timber lodge at St Mary’s Riverside. Life is good.