Reports

The way it works out there is that the rivers are broken into sections or beats. You pay to lease a beat on the river and have the right to fish. The number of rods allowed on each beat varies depending on the length of the beat and the number of pools the beat contains. Most sections are limited to two rods, while some allow as many as eight. With the exception of one day on a beat that allowed six rods, we never saw another soul on the river. A paved road runs the length of the York allowing access to all the beats. Some pools are a mere 50-yard walk while others require a five to ten minute hike through the forest. A vast, mountainous wilderness area surrounds the rivers. The scenery is beautiful and the surroundings are peaceful. We had decent weather with daily highs in the 60s and lows in the 30s and 40s. We did get some rain on Monday, but could have used more. The rest of the week was partly to mostly sunny.

Monday's fishing started on Zone 9, the uppermost section of the river still open to fishing. There are a total of 6 pools in Zone 9, three of which were holding fish. At this time of year, the Salmon are close to spawning. The fish are pooled up, gathering in the larger holding areas on the river. My long time fishing pal Tom Wermuth and I began the day's fishing on Pool# 61, Montagnard. It's a small pool that was holding around 40 fish. My buddy Tom started working the top of the pool with a wet fly and I worked my way up from the tail out, fishing a dry fly. Only 30 minutes into day one, I had a nice Grilse (juvenile Atlantic Salmon) come 5 feet for my dry. I missed the fish - AHHHH! Rule number 1 in Salmon Fishing - never set the hook until the weight of the fish loads the rod ... a missed opportunity. That was it for that pool.

The third pool was the charm as we made our way to Pool#58, Keg. The pool was heavy with fish. The numbers of fish were not as impressive as the size of some of the fish we saw.

ous Grilse of around 5lbs. What the Grilse lack in size they more than make up for with their tenacity. Shortly thereafter, we called it a day and headed back to the Adams for a hot meal and a good night's sleep.

Day two had Tom and I on Zone 3 on the York. This section of the river contains just two pools, only one of which was holding fish at the time. We spent the day fishing Pool #11, Mississippi. We fished hard all day with only a couple brief hook-ups to show for it. The fish were just not in the biting mood. But that was OK, as the river and surroundings are beautiful. It's so quiet up there and the fresh air was a welcomed change.

Our booking agent, Ann Smith, called us just before we drove the 16 hours up to Gaspé with some great news. She had made some calls and worked some moves the days previous and she managed to get us a day on some very exclusive, private waters. So, Wednesday morning at 7AM we were met by our guides for the day, Austin and John. We were fishing on our own up there on the York but Guides were required on the private waters of the St. Jean. Gary and I went with our guide John to the famed Pavilion Waters on the upper reaches of the St. Jean River. I now know how the upper class lives! What an amazing river. Without a doubt, it was the most beautiful river I have ever laid eyes on.

The St. Jean is nearly 100% ground water fed so the water is the clearest imaginable. You could count the pebbles on the bottom of a 25-foot deep pool. The flow was good for this time of year and the pools were full of Salmon. The St. Jean is known for its remarkable water clarity and great number of fish. While it does not have the number of big fish that the York has, it does produce some large fish on occasion. Gary and I fished two pools in this Zone. It was a very rough ride into the river. We had to drive just over 30 miles of old logging roads to reach the pools. It was an adventure that lasted an hour and a half. We met several Grouse along the way.

The first pool was Little Indian and was only around 80 yards long. It was holding around 80 fish and with the gin clear water, you could count every single one of them. After working the pool for two hours with no interest from the fish, we decided to head over to the other pool, Big Indian.

Gary and I worked the pool over and the only action came when a 15lb Buck Atlantic came up and nosed my Bomber dry fly. After resting the pool a bit and eating lunch, we went back at it. As the afternoon went on, the fish became more active, jumping and chasing each other. They also became more interested in our offerings. Finally at around 1:30, I had a Grilse turn and follow my size 8 Orange Phantom wet fly (tied on a Mustad 80525BL)

After a few minutes, I had the 5lb. buck in hand and released. The colors of these Salmon in their spawning dress are impressive. A few minutes later Gary had a take as John and I watched the fish turn on the fly. The ocean bright 12 pound fish spat the hook just as John was ready to tail it.

Over the next three hours I hooked up four more fish, landing a nice 12lb Hen and another Grilse of around 7lbs. Both fish cartwheeled around the pool. What a day!

Tom and Rich Rose fished a lower section of the river with Austin and also did very well, landing three fish. Two were Grilse, one of which was taken on a dry fly and the other was a big Buck of 37.5 inches and around 23lbs. Yes indeed, the Private waters

OThursday was yet another new Zone on the river for Tom and I, Zone 2. This zone contains only one pool. Pool# 10, Grande-Fourche, is a long pool of around 300 yards and was holding around 50 fish. For some reason, the fish in this pool did not hang in the faster head of the pool. Instead they preferred to scatter out along the middle portion of the pool in moderate current, over a slate bottom. Only an hour into the morning I had a good fish take an Orange Blossom wet fly, but setting

Friday was our last day on the water and little did I know just how good of a day it was going to be for me. Tom and I were back fishing Zone 9 again. We started the morning out at Keg. There were plenty of fish in the pool, including some real bruisers. Nobody showed even the slightest interest in our offerings though, so on we went. We moved on to Montagnard. Tom managed to get a BIG male to take a look at a fly a couple times but the 25lb+ fish just would not commit.