Thursday October 25th, River Report.
It is hard to believe another angling season is behind us.............and what a season it was? I remember the first weekend of June seeing salmon jumping here on the lower section of the river. The weather at that time was cold with rain and the river was up nice for canoeing. One would never have thought at that time that by July 5th our cold water pools would be closed for the remainder of the month and most of August do to a heat wave. Things started to change though quite fast as the temperatures cooled down and by September we had reports of fresh salmon coming in quite regularly. The last 3 weeks of the season was really quite good fishing for a lot of our customers.
It is now 10 days after the season has closed and we have snow on the ground. The leaves are well past their peak colors and most are dropping quite fast. I have been watching for salmon spawning but fear I might have missed them this year.
As I meet anglers these days we generally reflect back on the season and how different it was due to the heat wave. Quite a few feel our salmon are coming in later and are still coming in long after the river is closed for angling. Most cain't understand why something isn't being done to protect our river and the salmon returns. This is a question that is justified. If we consider that the small mouth bass are still in Miramichi lake after how many years? We still have no salmon management plan other than hook and release. No one knows what the striper bass management plan is, and it is really quite embarrassing if one considers what is being done provincially. Our past provincial governments haven't been engaged at all considering this is one of our largest industries here in northern New Brunswick. Federally, what can I say? They are the ones who have managed things to where they now exist.
Thankfully we continue to have a reasonably good run of salmon here on the Miramichi and conservation groups pushing to save this precious resource. I continue to encourage anglers to support our conservation groups. In most cases any improvements to save the salmon here on the Miramichi is due to their efforts in trying to force our governments to be more proactive.
Have a great Fall and Winter and we look forward to seeing everyone again in the 2019 angling season.
Our store is closed for regular hours during the off season but we continue to serve many of our customers. Just send us an email or give us a call and we will help you out any way we can. Thank you once again for supporting our business. We really appreciate being a part of this industry here on the Miramichi. Until next year, all the best. Take care.
Cathy, Norma and Brock.
Curtis Miramichi Outfitters.
Friday October 12th, River Report.
Conditions today are much different than two days ago. After yesterdays rain our rivers are all up in the watershed. I just checked river levels here at the park in Blackville and they are at a nice level. An angler on the south side of the river was casting for salmon. Not sure if he was having any luck. Most of the anglers coming into the Tackle Shop today were commenting that the river was a bit dirty and the fishing has slowed down. Most feel though that this rain and raise in river levels could bring in more fresh salmon. The river will clear overnight and it should be good fishing tomorrow. We should also get a day or two of good canoeing.
Although anglers are buying Fall flies we continue to hear of salmon still being caught on dark flies like Bear Hair patterns,Undertakers, Green Highlanders,etc.
We should see some good fishing these last few days of the season. Enjoy! I will update as I hear more.
Thursday Oct 11th, River Report.
We are in the last few days of the angling season here on the Miramichi. River levels remain low and salmon have tended to bunch up in the larger pools providing good fishing in some areas. Even though the tributaries are low I continue to see schools of salmon on the Dungarvon and anglers are hooking salmon on the Cains. There are large amounts of rain in the forcast and this will really change the fishing. We should see more salmon move upstream and into the tributaries over the next couple of days. Will report more as things change due to the large amounts of rain forcasted.
Monday Oct 2nd, River Report.
We are enjoying the the best of the Fall colors at this time on the Miramichi and salmon fishing too. A lot of anglers have been enjoying the fishing here on the lower section of the Miramichi and we are also hearing of salmon being caught upriver. The salmon fishing has really been quite good since last week. We have had reports of salmon moving up the Renous and Dungarvon while others are enjoying the angling on the Cains. Rain is in the forcast tonight and tomorrow and this should help to continue the good fishing for some time. I will post as I hear more.
Tuesday Sept. 25th, River Report.
In yesterdays report I mentioned the possibility of fresh salmon moving upstream during the full moon phase. Our experience today at the tackle shop verified that. We have a lot of anglers in the area at this time and those coming into the tackle shop are mentioning hooking into fresh salmon today. This is the word here on the lower section of the river. Quite a few of the pools are holding fresh salmon.
Flies that are popular are undertakers, preachers, and orange Fall patterns.
Just a reminder that hunting season has started here in New Brunswick so visible orange vests or caps should be considered if hiking any distance through the woods.
Good luck and enjoy Septembers beautiful fishing.
Monday Sept. 24th, River Report.
This is probably one of the most popular times of year to be angling on the Miramichi. For some reason the allure to be on the river or in the woods during late September seems to be strongest for a lot of us. The leaves are not quite at their best color but the change is noticeable every day now, and it is always nice to be able to watch this change take place.
While all of us are enjoying the Fall colors some are enjoying the fishing. It seems to be quite good fishing in some pools while others have fussier salmon that are not as easily tempted to take on the fly. Maybe things will change for everyone over the next few days. The full moon is tonight and generally we see positive changes as fresh salmon move in from the Bay and make their way upstream. We also have rain in the forcast over the next couple of days. It is often harder to entice a salmon to take a fly in the Fall. They are there but we usually have to work a bit harder to make that hookup.
Just a reminder that Moose hunting season opens tomorrow so keep it in the back of your mind if you need to hike through the wood for any distance. An orange vest or cap might be wise to wear.
This is election year in New Brunswick and today we vote. There have been so many promises that I cain't remember them all. I am hoping though that maybe there was one promise that the fishing will be excellent for the remainder of the season. This would be as realistic as some of the promises I remember hearing. Ha! Ha! Enjoy the river and good luck fishing.
Friday Sept. 21st, River Report.
Since my report on Monday we have had a raise in river levels between 6" - 8". Not enough to canoe the tributaries but enough to improve salmon angling. River temperatures are quite cool, in the 56F range.
During the past 2 days we have been hearing from more anglers of fresh salmon moving upstream. Some anglers are commenting on seeing salmon jumping and are hooking into nice size fish. Fall fly patterns are starting to work for some of the anglers.
More anglers will be on the river over the weekend and this will generally lead to more hook ups on the fly. I expect we will start to see good fishing for the next few weeks as these salmon that are coming in are probably the beginning of the Fall runs. Enjoy the angling and I will update as I hear more.
Monday Sept. 17th, River Report.
The last day of summer is approaching and the forcast over the next few days is leaning more toward early Fall weather. Those early signs of Fall are now showing a little more each day. The leaves are showing signs of color and along the river this really adds to the angling experience. Quite a few anglers are here on the Miramichi enjoying the Fall fishing experience. Tomorrow has rain in the forcast and a substantial amount for Friday. We haven't been hearing of large numbers of salmon being taken on the fly. Anglers seem to be focused on the low water levels and the need for rain. The rivers are quite low. Most would agree a good raise in the rivers could change things up. This may happen after Fridays rain.Those who are hoping to get a last canoe run down their favorite tributary may get a chance after Fridays rain. The main river can be canoed but the tributaries are just to low. Lets hope the rain in this forcast finds us.
Monday Sept. 10th, River Report.
River temperatures have really dropped over the weekend. We are down to 14C this morning. There seems to be some salmon in the lower section of the river as they have been catching salmon over the weekend and a few camp owners saw salmon moving up the river. I checked out some of the tributaries on the weekend and the Dungarvon is showing salmon in various pools. The forcast is showing rain for Tuesday. I suspect these are early signs of the Fall runs starting to move into the system. This is always an exciting time as some of the best fishing is about to start. Along with the Fall colors it is really a nice time of year to be angling here on the Miramichi. We should hear more at the tackle shop over the next couple of days. Will post any further developments.
Evening addition to report: This morning when I wrote my report I felt we would be getting some positive reports on the river and that is the case. Since this morning some anglers have reported limiting out with their catches while others have been hooking a grilse, salmon, or both. The river temperatures have really made a difference and the fishing seems to continue to improve as evidence by the amount of hook ups anglers are experiencing.
Wednesday Sept 5th, River Report.
We have seen things slow down a bit this past week in regards to salmon numbers hooked and released. Warm water temperatures probably played a role in this as the river temperatures were above 20C for quite a few days. We did hear in the past few days though of a few salmon being caught on the Miramichi and Cains.
The forcast is for much cooler temperatures especially during the evenings. We could use rain but when I reflect back on river levels this time last year we were quite low then too. At that time we were seeing Fall salmon runs starting into the rivers even though the water levels were low. As things cool down we should see better fishing. The cooler evenings and days will make a difference quite fast. As we hear more I will post any changes though I do expect things to be much different in a couple of says.
Friday August 31st, River Report.
Today is the last day of August and things are going to be cooler for the weekend. The forcast is showing lower temperatures over the weekend, especially the evenings. It is around 8C this morning here in Blackville. River temperatures have dropped below 20C and this should make things much better in the next couple of days. We didn't get the raise in river levels this week that we were hoping for but cooler river temperatures was the primary concern. With that in our favor we should hear of some positive changes on the river. Enjoy the weekend.
Monday August 27th, River Report.
If you were on the Miramichi this past weekend you would have enjoyed watching the moon each evening. River conditions being good, and the full moon Sunday evening, generally is encouraging for anglers as it is a time salmon runs will move up the river. This seems to be the case as quite a few reports of salmon and grilse caught in the last few days had sea lice on them. Other reports from anglers of those salmon that had been holding up in the cold water pools during the heat wave have moved on, either further upriver or into the tributaries.
So, the hot spots this past week tended to be above Blackville and on the Cains. Quite a few anglers have been very successful and even some rookies out there for the first time were hooking into salmon. Our canoers all saw salmon jumping below Blackville though, so there are salmon here in the lower section of the river too. There is rain in the forcast in the next few days. I expect we will continue to hear of salmon being caught with sea lice on them in the future.
Thursday August 23rd, River Report.
Last night we had heavy rain here in the Blackville area. Along with cooler temperatures this continues to create very good fishing conditions.
I thought it would be interesting for some readers to have a look at the Sonar numbers here in Blackville. These were posted today by ASF Rivernotes. I find the numbers interesting at this time, especially with the amount of heat waves we had this summer. As they point out and keep in mind, some fish counted could be Bass and American Shad.https://www.castsalmon.com/main-southwest.html
Tuesday August 21st, River Report.
Just a quick update. The warm water protocol for the 26 salmon pools closed due to high temperatures has been lifted today at 4:00PM. This is good news for anglers.
We have been hearing today of grilse being caught in the Blackville area on the lower section of the river with sea lice on them. River levels are really good. It seems as though we may very quickly be into good salmon angling.So, normal conditions are finally here. For those of you who have been missing the river it is time to get back out there and chase your favorite fish. Good luck and ...........enjoy!
Monday August 20th, River Report.
I didn't get a chance to check this mornings water temperatures but was able to get down to the river at 3:30 PM this afternoon. My gauge was showing 21C - 22C. Not bad for the time of day. The water actually felt cold. I noticed quite a raise in the water levels. Probably a 2' raise. We must have had a good rain in the upper watershed as we didn't get much rain down here. The Cains river is also up.
Anglers are talking about seeing grilse and salmon showing on different stretches of the river. More anglers are on the river now and we should be hearing of hook ups soon.
Lower temperatures during the day and cooler evenings are starting to lower the river temperatures. As one angler mentioned" we have good conditions out there now".
Sunday August 19th, River Report.
With the river conditions improving daily I am only focusing on river temperatures at this point. Most of us are waiting for conditions to improve to see the 26 cold water pools opened again. Once this happens the river will be back to normal fishing for all anglers.We need 48 hours of water temperatures below 20C before this happens.Anglers are now seeing salmon jumping again and are back on the river.
Yesterday I took the temperatures in Upper Blackville in early afternoon. They were 24C. This morning they are showing 18C here in Blackville. The trend in water temperatures is slowly coming down. Tonight the forcast is for 9C. That will also be good for the river.
The rain we were hoping for didn't hit this lower section of the river liked we hoped for. If we had of received more rain the water temperatures would probably have dropped even more. Things are improving and anglers are seeing salmon and the odd one is being caught in certain areas. Lets hope for cooler evenings and normal day time temperatures.
Friday August 17th, River Report.
I checked the river temperatures last night and they were showing 24C. This morning they are showing 19C. This is the first time in weeks the river temperatures have been below 20C. Cooler temperatures are really changing things fast ,especially these cooler evenings. The forcast is showing mid 20's during the day and low teens in the evenings for the next few days. Cool air temperatures tonight with rain in the forcast for tonight and tomorrow will also have a cooling effect. We need 48 hours of consistent river temperatures to have the 26 pools now closed to be reopened. This could possibly happen within the next few days. In the mean time fishing should start picking up with the river temperatures dropping. Especially morning fishing. Remember 90% of the river is now open to normal fishing hours.
As they say"change is in the air". We should have a nice weekend for fishing.
With things changing daily on the river I will try to post anything new that I hear. Enjoy the weekend.
Thursday August 16th, River Report.
What a change we are seeing here this morning along the Miramichi Valley. Over the years I have often heard anglers call this weather " salmon fishing weather". Those who I am seeing outside walking, and going about there daily business early this morning ,are wearing long sleeves or fleece. It is actually cool out. The temperatures here at the tackle shop are showing 16C. It is cloudy and you can tell rain is in the air. River temperatures have already dropped a couple of degrees. Here in Blackville the river temperatures are showing 21C on my thermometer. River levels have dropped but the forcast is for rain today, tomorrow, and saturday, plus the temperatures are to be much lower especially in the evenings. That is exactly what we need.
With the forcast showing lower temperatures during the evenings and throughout the day and rain over the next couple of days, we should see quite a change on the river.If you are one of those anglers who after a long period away from the river, and just want to be out there casting for salmon, the conditions are looking very good. I would predict that over the next couple of days we are going to see some positive change here on the Miramichi. Get out and enjoy!
Friday August 10th, River Report.
We have good news today for the river. The Miramichi river system is now back to normal fishing hours. The cold waters pools are still closed but we can now fish throughout the day in the open water areas.
River levels are nice for fishing. The rain yesterday really improved the water level conditions. I checked the temperatures along the shore at mid afternoon here in Blackville and they were showing 23C. As I indicated in previous reports the rains seem to bring the temperatures down a bit. With cooler evenings they will hopefully drop even more.
For those interested in canoeing you will find the river in good shape for the next couple of days.
I haven't heard of anything on fresh runs of salmon coming in but people are seeing salmon jumping along the river. We really need normal summer temperatures with cooler evenings. This seems to be in the forcast over the next couple of weeks. So, things are starting to get back to normal. Water levels are up, we just need cooler temperatures. Enjoy the weekend. Will post any changes.
Wednesday August 8th, River Report.
The forcast is showing more rain for tomorrow. The rivers have been holding well this past week and should continue to stay up for the coming weekend. Water temperatures seem to drop during some of the rains but then bounce back up again. Some people are taking advantage of the canoeing opportunities the higher water levels provide.
The odd salmon is being caught. We haven't heard much in this regard lately, but it seems with each rain water temperatures drop and the odd person is hooking into a salmon. Most of us are hoping for cooler evenings and hopefully this weather change will come soon.
Saturday August 4th, River Report.
Just a quick update here on the river. I am anxious to bring some positive news from the river and with the rain this evening I thought it might be time to report what we are experiencing here along the Miramichi at this time. It looks like our long spell of hot dry conditions are changing.We woke this morning to showers and this continued off and on throughout the day. By late afternoon we have had mostly steady rain and at times it is coming down quite hard. At this time it is continuing to rain hard and the forcast is showing heavy rain at times throughout the night. This is a welcome change in the weather as the rain will be good for the river. In fact everyone who we talk to have been commenting on the fact that we need a good rain to bring our rivers up and cool them down.
The forcast is for 30C temperatures for early week then things seem to be changing for the better. The raise in river levels from this rain will insulate the salmon better through any hot temperatures in the next few days and then we will hopefully start seeing normal conditions soon. Most of us want this heat wave behind us and a return to normal conditions. It is finally looking like we may get our wishes later next week.Most of us are getting an itch to spend some time on the water fishing with normal conditions for both the salmon and the angler. The sooner the better. Have a great long weekend and lets hope to get some positive river reports soon.
Tuesday July 31st, Fishing Report.
The river is up quite a bit after rains a few days ago further upriver in the watershed. The Dungarvon and Renous have also come up a bit too, although the Bartholomew here in Blackville didn't get any raise to speak of at all. A few people have commented on seeing fresh schools of salmon coming in on the Southwest Miramichi. We also had an angler tell us he caught a grilse Monday on the lower section of the Dungarvon.
Canoeing has been O.K here on the lower section of the Miramichi but with this raise in water levels it should be quite good for the next few days.
The full moon over the past few days and raise in water levels has brought sightings of salmon moving in the river. The forcast is for another week of warm weather. We should be getting a break soon and hopefully things will cool down. When that happens I expect the fishing will pick up quite fast. Will post as I hear more.
Sunday July 29th, Fishing Report.
Fridays rain didn't add up to much here in the Blackville area but further up in the watershed it must have had a good rain as it did bring the river levels up a few inches. This morning it is cloudy with showers and thunderstorm warnings are out for this area.
A group of us did our annual evening canoe run Friday night under the full moon. A beautiful evening with lots of activity on the water. Hatches, beaver, cottage owners sitting out on their shores with camp fires were all along the river enjoying a summer evening under a full moon. We didn't see any salmon moving but that doesn't mean they aren't coming in. I wasn't around yesterday to talk to the anglers coming into the tackle shop. There are still lots of sightings of salmon at the mouth of cold water brooks.
The forcast is showing a break in this heat wave in another week. Hopefully we will get that break to cool things down. I will post as I hear more.
Monday July 23rd, Fishing Report.
We just got word all rivers in the Miramichi watershed will be closed between 11:01 AM - 6:00 AM. For the time being we will only be able to fish early mornings.
Todays weather is quite muggy with rain. The humidity is high and will continue according to the forcast for the next couple of days. The rivers are low and the bump in heights from last Tuesdays rain didn't last long. We continue to hear from anglers and canoers of seeing Salmon all along the river at the mouth of brooks, springs, etc. Rain is also in the forcast later in the week. We also have a full moon friday night so most of us are hoping for a change in weather and fresh runs of salmon. We seem to have had a steady trickle of Salmon coming in so far in the month of July so it will be interesting to see if during a full moon we will continue to see this trend. I will post if I hear more.
Friday July 20th, Fishing Report.
Last evening I had a look at the river and it is still up from the rains Tuesday. We had good rainfall upriver and it has brought the river up and some customers are commenting they have been seeing salmon moving. Though we didn't get as much rain here it did rain quite hard further up in the watershed. We haven't heard anything on a change in the fishing yet. As we get anglers coming in today and over the weekend we will probably hear more on that. The next two days are going to be warm. The river temperatures were 20C this morning. With higher water it will help during any warmer weather. I will post when I hear more. Have a good weekend.
Tuesday July 17th, Fishing Report.
We seem to be in another heat wave. Although last week the forcast was for rain and cooler temperatures for this week we didn't get it. River temperatures are raising and water levels are dropping making the fishing slow. There have been a few reports of anglers hooking into Salmon but with the major cold water pools closed we are not hearing of much action on the river.
Last week we heard of a lot of sightings of Salmon moving up the river and quite a few happy anglers. (Myself included).The cold evenings we had made for good fishing in some pools. The fish are there but we need rain and cooler temperatures. Most of the anglers we are talking to are hoping for rain and cooler temperatures. Guess we will just have to wait this one out.
The Blackville Splash Down is this coming Saturday. (An annual canoe run put on by the Blackville Fire Dept.). This is a relaxing run in support of the Fire dept from Mouth of Cains to the Park in Blackville. This is a great event where locals and cottage owners along the river come together and enjoy the river. Will post if I hear more on the river. Enjoy the week.
Real Time Hydrometric Data, DFO, Province of New Brunswick
- Northwest River at Trout Brook
- Little Southwest River at Lyttleton
- Catamaran Brook at Repap Road Bridge
- Main Southwest River at Blackville
Miramichi River Environmental Assessment Committee Flow Data
- Southwest Miramichi River at Doaktown
- Little Southwest River at Upper Oxbow
- Northwest Miramichi River at Wayerton
