When an Atlantic salmon strikes there is no better feeling for me.

I visited New Brunswick for family but returned to stay for the the great fly fishing for Atlantic Salmon.

I have had a hard time since 2004 with my ticker and it kept me from fishing for more than 4 years. How depressing.

I gave my fly rod a try last year but still wasn’t up to it yet but I was able to fish using my spinning gear and that’s far better than sitting at home wishing I was fishing.

I wasn’t sure how long I was going to last but was willing to give it a try.

A new fishing friend, Tim, and I head to the Caines River for an afternoon of fly fishing for Atlantic salmon last Sunday and were blessed with a calm day. It had been windy and rainy for so long. Less wind means I could last longer, I was hoping anyways.

Tim has been trout fishing with his fly rod but had never been salmon fishing so I was excited as I love taking people salmon fishing, especially if they have never salmon fished before.

Take a minute to read Tim’s Atlantic Salmon fishing post, I think he had a pretty good time on the Caines River.

Man The Water is High

We arrived and parked the car. As soon as we started walking the path along the brook that runs into the Caines I could see that the water was much higher than most other years I have fished here.

When it comes to fishing anyone that knows me knows I waste no time getting my line wet and this day was no different. While Tim was getting his rod and line ready I was already fly fishing.

I decided to try one of my Salmon butterfly patterns. I picked one with white wings and a red butt.

We were only there a few minutes when a huge salmon leaped out of the water to check us out. A site I had missed and one that started my heart pounding like the good ole days.

Tim had seen it also. It’s always nice to watch salmon jumping.

It was just about a half hour I think and I was yelling FISH ON and it was time to see if my arms would hold up long enough to land my first Atlantic salmon in 5 years.

Not sure how long I fought him but my arms gave up a couple of times and I lost ground but didn’t give up. After 10 minutes or so I had the fish to the shore and Tim grabbed it to get it out of the water.

I can’t explain how happy and excited I was but I think Tim was happier and even more excited.

My salmon was just a little over the size limit of 25 inches, at 29 inches so I had to let him go.

It took a few minutes to revive him as I had dragged out landing him because of my lack of arm strength. After a few minutes being held facing up stream he started kicking and then was gone.

I fished a while longer using my trusty butterfly fly but couldn’t seem to get their attention so I switched the butterfly for a golden bug and BAM FISH ON again.

This guy fought harder than the first and did a lot of jumping around, which for me is the best part.

I landed him, pretty sure he was in the size limit. I grabbed my measuring tape and stretched it out to just under the limit at 24 inches. Perfect for the BBQ.

you can see that my arms are worn out just by looking at how I had to use my body to support my elbows so I could hold him up.

The following night we had BBQ Atlantic salmon steaks for dinner. I waited a long time for that meal and plan to get out again as soon as possible.

When I want to take a little break and try for a few trout I have a special trout fly for the cains river that I like to use and most times I am quite willing to share the few things I know but this time I am keeping my mouth shut so that the trout will keep their’s open for my little trout fly.

Spring here in New Brunswick has been fickled this year to say the least. We never really know what kind of weather we are going to get but then that kind of holds true for any time of the year here. The only difference is that in the spring things can turn cold and it can start snowing without a lot of notice.

This can make for strange and exciting days on the water.

My fly fishing buddies and I head to Renous New Brunswick every year for Atlantic salmon but one year my buddy Kerry invited me to a brook I had never fished before.

Justing getting to the brook was a chore as the underbrush was extremely thick. I am sure this would cause most to move on to another place to fish. I love it.

I had taken Kerry on a great day of brown trout fishing near Shediac New Brunswick and he was now returning the favor and he didn’t disappoint.

We both had our cars as I was coming from Moncton and he was coming from Fredericton. This worked out great because we parked one car as close to the point we could be leaving the brook, where it meets the Caines River and the other car was were camped and entered the brook.

We finally clawed our way through the underbrush and found the brook. The action was pretty much none stop all day and the scenery was eye popping at times.

I have gone back to this spot many times since that day and always have a great day.

It is far too thick to use a fly rod so we always go with light spinning gear which is great while we are on the brook but when we reach where the book enters the Caines river we have to quit fishing because it’s mostly fly rod only at that point.

I think it would make for an even better day if we could exchange our spinning gear for our fly gear once we reach that point. I am sure there is another road that we could park the second car at so we could be closer to the water and the car when we are done fishing the brook.

I haven’t taken Roland to that spot yet but I think this year would be a good year for introducing him to a new brook trout brook.

I also love fishing the Cains River for Atlantic salmon but I have caught a few nice trout on what I call a little trout fly for the Cains river, it works for both so forgive me if I have to keep it a secret.