Duncan's First Atlantic Salmon Fishing Vacation
to Newfoundland, Canada
He'll come on the next cast, said my guide, Lawrence with remarkable
prophecy. I cast the large dry-fly again, a Yellow-Bomber using a
'parachute' type cast to avoid any drag, and let the fly drift down
over the salmon lye. The light was fading on that July evening
on the Humber River, but at this relatively close distance it was
still easy to see as the large salmon purposefully rose and engulfed
the fly before heading back to it's lye.
My fishing trip to Newfoundland was already more than I had expected.
The previous day,
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A fine Upper Humber fish held by 6'1" Duncan Hall.
I had hooked and landed 3 salmon in a matter of hours on the Upper
Humber. The largest, a trophy salmon of 30lbs, had been on a 'wet-fly'
and by 'Newfie' standards true salmon fishing was to rise them using
a Dry-Fly.
I had booked a weeks fishing with Bill Bryden, and Eureka Outdoors
and had been told of the large fish of the Humber. Trophy salmon of 30-50lbs
and more enter the river from July and August, and although it's not uncommon
to see these size fish, it's one thing to hook but another to land such
a fish. I'd been advised to bring a minimum of 300 yards of backing,
on a large capacity reel and a 9 ½ foot medium action rod.
The Humber is a massive river, the second largest in Newfoundland which
rightfully claims to have both the largest runs and the largest sized of
Salmon. Since the closure of commercial fisheries in 1992, the catches
of both are destined to increase, but it is the 'Trophy' Salmon for
which this river is really regarded. The river is 160 miles
long divided by Deer lake into the Upper and Lower Humber which by all
accounts behave as two distinct rivers. The Upper Humber above Deer
Lake has a large shale river bed, which is shallower and generally
holds fewer big salmon.
The lower Humber is a truly magnificent river, which is over a100 yards
wide, with depths ranging
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The Lower Humber at Shellbird Island
from 3 to 60 feet. The banks vary from low deciduous vegetation to
towering rock in the lower sections near it's mouth at Corner Brook.
As with all salmon fishing, casting to the correct holding water is essential,
but on rivers of this magnitude a fly fisherman faces a daunting
task unless he is guided to the holding lies. The lies on the Lower
Humber have remained unchanged for decades yet are undetectable, even to
the most experienced angler, as there is little to indicate their location.
Lawrence, my guide, of true ' Newfie' stock, was one of the revered
few, who knew the salmon lies on the Lower Humber from over the 40yrs experience.
The lies are generally found in 3-8 feet of water, often behind
large submerged rocks, and obstructions, or at hidden areas of slackened
water between two current systems. It is only patient observation
over many
years that gives a hint to the location of the lies. The
large 'Trophy Salmon' behave differently from the grilse. These 3
and more sea winter fish, enter the river and move slowly to a fishing
lye, where they may remain for weeks, sometimes they move to different
lie in a close proximity and occasionally even return to sea, before returning
to the river. Lawrence would always be scanning surface of the known
lies for the tell-tail sign of a large salmon rolling; something it may
do only once a week, but that was enough to confirm it's presence. That
evening we would be there.
It had been a hard, long, but as yet fruitless day, casting every fly
in the box, at every angle, without even a pull. I had been using
my 15 foot 'Spey casting' rod, something Lawrence did not quite approve,
but which had proved it's worth the previous day on the Upper Humber. The
technique of Spey casting, originated from the River Spey in Scotland.
It has remained popular in the Europe but the technique has not really
crossed the Atlantic. This is not just a means of casting a long line,
( Scott Mackenzie at the Mustad International Championship 2004 cast
an awesome 59 metres) but is more a method to cast a line whilst avoiding
a back cast with it's inherent danger and to modify the cast, so as to
always keep the fly downwind by means of either the double
or single spey cast.
Lawrence positioned the boat with military precision, using an
ingenious method, (which I was sworn not to reveal),
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Tight lipped Duncan with yet another treat
near the lye where he had seen the large fish roll. Initially Lawrence
instructed me to use a range of large wet flies, size 2-4 all
of which were barbless, the Blue Charm, Blue and Silver, and a Cosserboom,
cast at very gradually increasing lengths of line, perhaps as a preliminary
way to agitate the salmon lying on the bottom. A wry smile
erupted on his face as he opened his Dry-flies.
These were all the same in pattern, only varying in size; medium or
largeYellow-Bombers, or Bugs. The fly was well greased with Mucin and attached
to a 12ft leader of 8 lbs breaking strain Maxima Nylon. Nearly
all Canadians seem to use Maxima, and here was no exception. The
nylon has remarkable elasticity from the commonly used and expensive European
Fluorocarbons which although possibly stronger are less forgiving. Casting
the Yellow-Bomber, (which was developed in Newfoundland), requires careful
placement to avoid surface drag. Although salmon can be caught skating
the fly along the surface, the dead drift is the preferred way, to
ensure hooking a large salmon. Position here is critical, which means placing
a fly within a square foot, not to the salmon's, body , tail, but
between it's eyes' in a river 100 yards wide! Salmon will sometimes rise
to the fly on the first cast but more usually it takes careful
repetition, before it will eventually take.
On this evening as the sun was dropping over the Northern bank,
and the wind had just died, it
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A nice fresh 20 pounder from Ledingahm's Shoals
by bomber, Lower Humber.
was time to upgrade to the Large Bomber. I cast
the bomber to the position Lawrence had instructed and on queue the
salmon rose to take the fly. This was not the fast aggressive take of a
trout but a slow purposeful one, as the salmon, irritated by the repetitive
casting, took the 'bomber' and descended to it's hole. This was the
third and largest of the fish that I had risen to the bomber and as I tightened
the hook, I felt the resistance of a large fish. The fish was played for
10 minutes from the boat and as it was hooked from the left bank, a suitable
gravel bar on the rivers left bank, was selected to land the salmon, ensuring
that consistent pressure remained on the hook. I jumped from the boat,
rod in my right hand and video in my left. I handed my video
to a fisherman on the bank, and I am grateful for him for an excellent
job in capturing the moment. This was a large salmon, which my new
found cameraman labelled a 'brute', I took this in an endearing way, as
it certainly was a fine fish perhaps 20lbs which was only landed
after numerous runs before it succumbed to being tailed in the shallows.
Among my exceptional fishing experiences, that are indelibly retained
in my memory, one must certainly be reserved, for an Atlantic salmon rising
to a dry-fly.
Could things get any better I thought as I inhaled the clean
mountain Canadian air on the last morning.
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A single kill for the week.
Paradoxically I was keen to catch one salmon under the 63cm size so I could
take one fish back the UK; not that I was grumbling at catching only large
salmon. I fished in earnest, every run, over and over without a single
take. The sun was beginning to drop over the steep eastern bank and
my cast were becoming more haphazard. I caught my cast several times in
these waning minutes and Lawrence, a rightful perfectionist, insisted on
checking my fly and leader. With this done he retuned the fly and
line over his shoulder, which was met almost immediately by a leaping salmon,
just behind the boat. Realising a fish had probable taken the fly and
slack liner I tightened just in time to set the hook.
The salmon was subsequently netted and to my now characteristic run
of luck measured 62cm. This salmon re-crossed the Atlantic, this
time at 30,000ft and graced the diner table back home. It really
was the tastiest salmon I have eaten and a great reminder of the wonderful
fishing experience I had had with Bill Bryden.