The Atlantic Salmon Fly Passion

Fresh from the lake released minus lamprey Roderick Haig Brown was one of the first anglers to bring atlantic salmon flies and fishing methods to the west coast for steelhead fishing. Atlantic salmon hairwings have evolved from the classic salmon patterns of the Victorian era. North American anglers substituted hair from deer, moose, squirrel, for the hard to acquire exotic feathers to recreate some of the popular European patterns. A few classic low waters Mr Brown , through his experience with atlantic salmon fishing was one of the first to make hairwings popular for steelhead. Although atlantic salmon and steelhead  swim at opposite sides of the continent, they do behave in similar ways. Thankfully for us atlantic salmon anglers, we can use these flies and methods if we are lucky enough to wet a line in a beautiful West Coast river or a Great lakes tributary. My last visit to N.Y. state's Salmon River saw very low flows and clear water. The big Spey,Dee, and cla...

The new ebook, "Flies for Connecticut Atlantic Salmon - How to Tie & Fish Them"  by Ben Bilello is an excellent reference relating to the Connecticut salmon fishery and the flies used to fish for them.  75 patterns are listed with their recipes including 11 step by step instructions on how to tie them. The author also includes detailed tips on how and when to fish these flies.  but don't let the title fool you. These flies and methods can be applied to all atlantic salmon fishing around the world. Ben Bilello also has an excellent Blog  with lots of info on salmon fishing where you can also purchase the ebook.

After a last minute cancellation of my yearly spring trip to the Restigouche & Matapedia rivers, my salmonitis seemed to turn chronic.  The upcoming Canada day holiday gave me the window I needed to alleviate my symptoms, at least for a while. A 48 hour lottery draw to fish a limited rod sector on  the Malbaie river proved to be fruitful. A quick call to my good friend Lorenzo, who has also been burning the candle at both ends, confirmed our 2 rods for sector A of the Malbaie River on July 1! Sector A on the Malbaie River  We left Tuesday evening and arrived just before the rain started coming down. We set up the pickup truck tent and managed a couple of hours of sleep. Lorenzo's pick up tent                               We awoke to a slight drizzle and perfect conditions to keep salar happy and playful. We were greeted by a couple of salmon jumping on our arrival to our s...

A good friend and passionate atlantic salmon angler has started a spark and we need to help it burn....... fellow Salmon fisher folk Quebec provides 7 tags for a salmon fishing licence Salmon worldwide are in serious decline .Therefore there should be an immediate moratorium on killing Salmon for this summer The majority   both the board of directors and the majority of the general membership are for Catch and release . Herein lies the problem   .  Amongst  the board members that report to Minister Lessard , in my opinion  are not conveying that wish to the minister ( IF Quebec goes status quo this will be VERY evident ) . The season starts on May 15th on some rivers and on June 01 for the majority . A mere stroke of Lessard's pen and  remise a l'eau could be instituted immediately before it is too late  . Recently New Brunswick ,Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Is...

a nice buck with an unfortunate lamprey scar  There is something magical about landlocked atlantic salmon fishing that just can't be put into words. I have wondered why I am so drawn to the sport. It could be the beautiful classic featherwing streamers we tie to seduce them to take or the mysterious, dark, swift waters in which they hold. Maybe it's their eagerness or lack of to take a fly or is it their acrobatic displays once they do? Preassembled wings drying Carrie Stevens' style featherwing streamers A big part of my allure are the flies we tie and how we fish them. Landlocked atlantic salmon or Ounaniche, main food source are forage fish such as smelt, shiners, and alewife. There are many patterns one can tie to imitate these forage fish. From the elegant Carrie Stevens' patterns like the Gray ghost to trout streamers like the Mickey Finn. Swinging or stripping a streamer across the tail out of a pool gets the heart pumping! Mickey Finn ...