News:Atlantic salmon arena on the Gaspé

4/2/2010

In the Atlantic salmon arena on the Gaspé, ice out on the Restigouche River is just around the corner. This process usually begins about the 25th of April to the 1st of May. Just after the ice out, the Atlantic salmon which have wintered in the river start to return to the sea. The ice out triggers a number of things, the smelt enter the rivers to spawn, the sea run brook trout enter the river to eat the smelt, and the Atlantic salmon return to the sea gorg-ing themselves on smelt. The good Kelt fishing lasts only for a short period of time, usually for about two weeks. It is not unusual to catch 7 or 8 salmon a day with some weighting 20lbs or more. I caught one about 10 years ago („net? weight of 36lbs), so there is the op-portunity of catching some really big fish. We run a spring special which includes daily wa-ter fee, no kill license, lodging, meals, guide and boat for only $325.00/day based on double occupancy. The Restigouche River is a New Brunswick river and guides are mandatory. The water is huge at this time of year and boats are an absolute necessity. There is also the possibility of catching a fresh or silver fish just coming in from the sea. These fish are all very large often in the 20lb+ range and some as large as 40 lbs.