For over 10 years now I’ve worked on, advocated for, and paddled down some of New Brunswick’s greatest rivers and never once have I fly-fished. A sin, I know. It’s been on my bucket list though for a long time and on Friday I casted a fly line for the first time.
I took up a friend’s offer to go spend the day on the Cains River, a part of the Miramichi watershed. Howie is an enthusiastic salmon angler and conservationist, fly tyer, NB Salmon Council volunteer and a really great guy. He and his brother-in-law, Brad, rigged up canoes, shuttled vehicles, shared their precious rods, and guided myself and our communications director, Jon, down some of the best salmon fishing river in the province.
We paddled and chatted about salmon. Howie was not short on fishing stories! We talked about how he got into fishing; the almost magical nature of the salmon life-cycle; his concerns for its decline and even some potential solutions; how every New Brunswicker should have the experience of hooking a salmon in their lifetime; and how once you do you will never be the same.
We pulled up to a gravel bar and it was time to let out the line. I was a bit nervous; I perceive the act of fly fishing to be graceful and I am not sure I would call myself graceful. Howie demonstrated that when you bring the line back over your shoulder you should form a “D” to your body, then flick it back out to the center of the river, watch the line trail downstream, then bring it back up again. He made it look so easy. I followed his moves and surprisingly had a near perfect cast into the dark waters.
“A natural!” encouraged Howie.
“Beginners luck,” I laughed.
After a couple of hours on the river, a few fishing stops, and a couple catches later, we were in a prime location, fast water eddying into a deep slow pool. Brad was giving me casting tips when I felt the bite:
“I got one, I got one!” I squealed in an uncharacteristically high-pitched voice. I reeled him in – a brilliantly coloured Brook trout about 8 inches long. Brad says: “Do you want me to take him off the line?” “No, no, I can do it,” I replied a bit too defensively perhaps. I unhooked him, held him in the water waiting for him to regain his fight, me smiling from ear to ear. Then he was gone. Back to tell his friends not to be fooled by my wet fly, most likely, because we never caught another the rest of the afternoon.
I’d fished before, mostly at the end of the dock at our family summer cottage, but this felt very different. I felt in awe and respect and grateful. On the way home, it made me wonder how many other New Brunswickers have never had this experience. Maybe if everyone did, our conversations about fracking and pipelines and mines would be a little bit different.
Thanks to Howie and Brad for a fantastic day on the river – my first fly fishing experience was fun and a success. I’ll be back for the elusive salmon because now, I think, I’m hooked too.
Stay tuned for our next edition of EcoAlert for a feature on our fly-fishing adventure and conversation with salmon angling enthusiast Howie Gould. And if your curiosity is peaked, the Kennebecasis Watershed Restoration Committee is hosting a beginner’s fly fishing workshop in June. Register here.
Stephanie Merrill is the Director of the Conservation Council’s Freshwater Protection program