"CANADA DRY", published by Trout & Salmon

Sep 2007



In 1967, so New Brunswick folklore has it, keen local fly-fisherman Reverend Elmer Smith tossed his cigar-butt into the twinkling waters of the Miramichi River and watched in wide-eyed amazement as one of the river’s abundant Atlantic salmon emerged from the depths to nail it.

Our hero rushed home to “match the hatch”, fashioning a crude imitation out of deer-hair. His fly was an instant hit, and although initially named the cigar-butt, it soon became universally known as the now legendary “bomber”. The fly quickly developed into the first line of attack for the Miramichi’s huge summer run, and remains so to this day.

While the bomber will catch fish on other rivers, it is usually skated over fish, producing slashing, bow-waving chases similar to the takes you’d expect on a riffle-hitched fly. On the Miramichi, the fly is dead-drifted, and the take comes out of nowhere. Imagine that! I’ve always considered the sight of a trout taking a dry fly to be worth ten on the nymph, so the sight of a big salmon – and the Miramichi fish can run to grand proportions – popping up and wolfing down a big dry has always seemed like a very tantalising prospect indeed.

In mid-June of this year, normally prime time on the Miramichi, I was invited to fish the river’s prolific middle reaches around Blackville. Our group contained some of the best Spey casters in the business, including the likes of Scott McKenzie and Gary Scott from the world-championship winning Scotland Spey-casting team, as well as some extremely talented anglers. Our guides, G.R Colfords, have been guiding the River for the best part of a century & know it back to front. What could go wrong? Big numbers of large salmon seemed a formality. Unfortunately, as so often happens, nobody had remembered to tell the fish. Global warming had created a freak ice-jam off of the coast of Newfoundland, resulting in the frigid thermocline around New Brunswick. This temperature barrier acted as a barricade to the fish, and saw them resolutely staying out to sea.

In a week, we collectively made countless casts, tried every fly in the box and caught precisely no salmon whatsoever. Long evenings drinking indecent quantities of cold beer and good scotch, watching the sun set on the lush silver birch forests that shroud the valley and talking fishing with great company in the handsome timber lodge at Bown’s Camp more than made up for the lack of fish. Nursing a large tumbler full of Famous Grouse and listening to Jim Patton, Davie MacDonald and Bobbie Teasdale lustily dusting off the great Scottish ballads was a singular treat. Hearing those wonderful songs, immortalising the “oh so rare” occasions when the Scots gave us Sassenachs a bloody nose or two at Killiecrankie and so on, I was reminded that, in the words of the old cliché, there is far more to fishing than catching fish.

During the day, I’d pass the long hours of waiting and hoping by doing my best to hone my spey-cast on the wide dreamy pools of the Miramichi. It is a humbling experience to throw what you consider a perfectly respectable line and then to see Scott McKenzie’s magnificent tracer bullet of a cast go whistling out literally twice as far. Gary Scott, while not throwing the astonishing distances that Scott is capable of, casts with an elegance and style that leaves me for one feeling clumsy and wooden. With the exception of Messrs Fairgrieve and Drury, I’ve rarely had the privilege of watching such graceful spey-casting, and Gary’s presentation is immaculate, the line coming down poker straight and the fly and leader turning over and dropping gently into the water time after time.

Unfortunately, it all counted for nothing – the week rushed past and suddenly the fat lady was clearing her throat. Rodney Colford and Paul Michaels, our hosts, were distraught. “I so wish you could have seen the fishing the way it should be this time of year” Rodney apologised. We all commiserated with him, and told him not to worry, we’d had a great time, notwithstanding the lack of fish. All experienced anglers know how fickle salmon can be, but as we stacked the KIS cases onto the back of the truck and prepared for the drive back to Halifax, I couldn’t help feeling just a little cheated – here was a place where salmon – BIG salmon – could be caught in a unique and heart-stopping way, and through a freaky little hiccup of nature, we were going to miss out.

Four days after I got back, wading through the misery of my quarterly VAT return, e-mail popped up on my laptop. It was from Rodney, and showed him holding a magnificent, paint-fresh 25 pound salmon. The fish had arrived in numbers and would I like to come back for a few days? I looked around my office at the mountain of receipts and invoices and made my decision in a heartbeat. The next afternoon I was digging Gary Scott in the ribs and laughing like a schoolgirl, as I sank my second gin and tonic and we peered out of the window of Air Canada’s flight from Heathrow to Halifax, not quite able to believe our luck. We were on our way back to the Miramichi.

As it turned out, it was to be Gary’s triumph. I have little doubt that his consistently precise casting style and the resultant superior presentation of his fly at long range was the reason for him catching three beautiful Miramichi salmon of 15, 16 and 28 pounds, all on dead-drifted dry fly. I could tell you that I spent most of the time behind the camera, but in truth, I fished hard and managed only to roll three fish that never quite seemed intent on eating the fly. Gary’s former personal best is 24 pounds, and it was great to see an angler of his ability rewarded with such magnificent fish.

I tracked Gary’s bomber for long hours with a long telephoto lens, but when the take finally came, it was like a magic trick. The fish didn’t head and tail like a trout – it simply sucked the fly off of the top without ever seeming to more than dimple the surface. One second the big green bomber was there, and the next it plainly wasn’t! As the rings subsided, I took the camera away from my eye to see what had happened and found myself looking at a cart wheeling 28 pound salmon six feet in the air!

One great thing about the Miramichi is that, once you’ve hooked your fish, no matter how big, you shouldn’t have too many problems landing it. The river has a stately, gently flowing character and its boulders are smooth and rounded, offering little by way of line-snagging hazards. Gary patiently played his trophy, letting the big double-hander and the hefty Hardy drag gradually take their toll. Apart from a couple of flying leaps early on and a rather hair-raising moment when Rodney’s trusty hound, “Buddy”, went ploughing into the water, apparently intent on chewing Gary’s fish-of-a-lifetime clean off the hook, all went to plan.

Rodney’s father, Gary Colford, a lovely guy who was guiding on the river before I was in short trousers, deftly netted the fish and I clapped Gary Scott heartily on the back, telling him succinctly and colourfully just what a lucky man he was. In truth, he’d earned every ounce of the enormous fish wallowing at our feet, and we were suddenly grinning and giggling like schoolgirls again as we gazed down at the huge brassy flanks in the folds of the net. Tucked neatly in its scissors was Gary’s imitation cigar-butt.

Although Gary had his fish a good way out into the river, on most of the pools the locals tend to fish at moderate range with single-handed rods. Presentation, not distance, is the key. Rodney’s 12 year old son, Zach, catches his fair share by casting maybe eight yards to obvious lies, and watching his bomber like a hawk. Unlike classic wet-fly technique, salmon on dead-drifted bombers need to be struck hard and fast, and a short line is much more efficient in this regard.

As we sat on the plane, headed home again, Gary and I got to talking about what a perfect “classroom” the Miramichi would make to teach people salmon fishing. The wading is easy and safe, and the river rewards good technique, but often at short range, thus putting well-coached beginners in with a great chance of a big fish.
The river’s beautiful maple and birch-forested valley is populated by moose, eagles, beavers and black bears, and all put in an appearance now and again. Add to that the fact that from May of next year, you will be able to fly from Gatwick to Fredericton in six hours, and be making your first cast on the Miramichi ninety minutes later, and a long weekend seems perfectly feasible. We stayed at Bown’s camp, a beautiful timber lodge on the banks of the river, and the accommodation was warm, cosy and appealingly informal. Our meals, served up by our lovely cooks, Peggy and Ruby, consisted of delicious and hearty home-cooked fare served in almost grotesquely large portions.

Best of all, the Miramichi offers the opportunity to emulate the legendary American, Lee Wulff. It is, without doubt, THE place to enjoy a thrill that, as Gary Scott for one will tell you, will all but make your hair stand on end: catching a large Atlantic salmon on a dead-drifted dry-fly. God save the Queen!!!

Contacts:

Rodney Colford represents the third generation of the Colford family to guide on the Miramichi. He has an intimate and comprehensive knowledge of the river, and is also great company and a remarkably talented caster and fly fisherman.

GR Colfords
790 Howard Road
Howard, New Brunswick
Canada E9B 2C9
telephone: 001 506 843 6031
UK contact: 0774 779 3333
fax: +1 506 843 0003

http://www.guidenb.com

Paul Michaels and his wife, Charlotte, fell in love with the Miramichi after fishing the river in September 2006. They have shown faith in the quality of the fishing by making significant investment in the region, joining with the Colford family, and buying up some excellent lodges and a large number of named pools on the river.
Paul represents GR Colfords in the UK and can be contacted on 0774 779 0003.

Gary Scott is a consummate caster and fly-fisherman. His easy manner and warm, affable nature, along with a comprehensive and passionate knowledge of his subject, also make him an excellent casting instructor with both single and double-handed rods. I watched him teach three burly rugby players, the legendary English world-cup winner Richard Hill and his hugely talented Saracens teammates Kevin Sorrell and Simon Raiwalui, and the results were astounding. Despite all three being rank novices, Gary had them all casting with consistency and style in very short order.

Scott McKenzie should need no introduction, suffice to say that over and above his ability to put a line way into the middle of next week, he’s also a thoroughly likeable guy, a great communicator and an excellent fisherman. A DVD featuring Scott explaining his own special Spey-casting techniques will be available fairly soon.

Gary and Scott are aiming to start hosting instructional casting and fishing courses on the Miramichi in conjunction with Colfords, and I would thoroughly recommend them. Contact Gary Scott on 07734 387 775 or e-mail gary@fly-fishing.uk.com

Contact Scott McKenzie at: scott@spey-casting.com>


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