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Gaspe - sight fishing for
salmon
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| Ally playing a salmon on the Petit Cascapedia |
The Gaspe peninsula of Quebec extends eastwards some 350
km from the Canadian mainland into the Gulf of St Laurence, bounded on
the north by the St Laurence seaway and on the south by the Baie des Chaleurs.
Mountains reach skywards to almost 1200m along its spine, creating beautiful
rugged landscapes composed of tree lined valleys and fast clear rivers,
carrying glacial water seawards in cascades of rapids and waterfalls to
meet the incoming summer runs of Atlantic Salmon, fresh from their salty
sojourns. This is an area of outstanding scenic beauty and grandeur, at
times breathtakingly so. Its rivers are said to be the clearest in the
world and, having seen them, I have no reason to doubt this.
Gaspe's fishing is fascinating, interesting and unique and what's more
it is accessible, cheap and very enjoyable. So what's the catch? Truth
is there isn't any, or at least there isn't any if you are a true sportsman
interested in visiting a beautiful country, fishing truly great rivers
whilst respecting the rules and the need for conservation. Here the water
is so clear that you can watch the quickening fins of a fish as it sights
the approaching dry fly, appreciating just how graceful and wonderful
a creature the salmon is, (as if you ever needed convincing) and you can
relax in the huge outdoors amidst wonderful surroundings.
Fishing on Quebec's rivers is administered by the province through the
local ZEC, much of it being available on unrestricted zones (beats). Despite
the guaranteed access, fishing pressure is light by any standards. Restricted
zones have only a few rods allowed per day. They offer fabulous fishing
at very reasonable cost, permits being strictly limited and allocated
by ballot. Anyone who has read Lee Wulff's book "The Atlantic Salmon"
will be familiar with the names of many of Gaspe's rivers, some are legendary
in salmon fishing folklore due to the quality of sport and size of fish
that inhabit them. Grande Cascapedia, St Jean, Bonaventure, Petite Cascapedia,
York and Dartmouth rivers are perhaps the best known of the south shore
rivers. I have fished the last four of these and found them beautiful
and fascinating.
York is a lovely river, reminding me very much of some of the classical
pools around Dinnet and Invercauld on the Aberdeenshire Dee with its gin
clear, fast, boulder strewn water. Bankside trees and bushes bore scars
from the "ice out" in the springtime when the frozen water suddenly
thaws sending a torrent of ice and water seawards leaving behind it a
trail of destruction to a height of some fifteen feet above the summer
water level.
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| Playing a York salmon |
In summer, Dartmouth is a spate river, and if due to
a lack of rain the water falls low it can be problematical. Bonaventure
River is a different kettle of fish. Its water is so cold and clean that
it has problems producing enough plankton to feed its juvenile salmon population,
yet out of a total run of around 2000 fish, 900 or so are caught by anglers.
Finding salmon in it is no problem, you simply look for them, they can be
easily spotted in moderate depths at twenty yard's range, which is just
as well because Bonaventure is a large river. Its character reminded me
of the Spey but its size is similar to the lower Tay.
The Petite Cascapedia is a fly fisherman's paradise. Memories of this fantastic
and beautiful salmon river haunt me, after only one morning's fishing I
can understand why Dave Bishop gave up America and his job as a teacher
for this place. It's a salmon anglers heaven, well kept and well cared for
by the ZEC, this must rank amongst the finest salmon fly fishing rivers
of the World. Its larger neighbor the Grande Cascapedia is another great
salmon river that I hope to fish one day. Gaspe's rivers offer exceptional
wet and dry fly fishing, the peninsula is a lovely place, beautiful scenery,
beaches, food and climate, really everything that anyone could wish for
and it's fishing is available and inexpensive. What more could anyone ask
for?
For enquiries about fishing in Gaspe please contact
me by e-mail or phone +44 (0) 1796 473718. The zero in brackets must
be used instead of the international code for calls within UK, it must not
be used from international addresses. |
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