Craig’s bucket list trip, June 9- July 9th 2022
The Restigouche: The trip started out good as both my bag and I arrived in Quebec City with only a few hour delay and my rental car was good to go. It soon turned Ugly. My first lodge on the Restigouche River had no fish as First Nations were netting just downstream and the lodge staff were instructed not to let us know this was occurring. The good news is that I received a refund a few days in.
The Matapedia: So, I arrived at my second lodge on the Matapedia a few days early to find unseasonably high but clearing water. There were a few fish around, including some over 30lbs, but limited places to wade fish and many anglers. My trip turned bad when I discovered though my guide had a boat, he didn’t know how to use it and nearly drown us. I don’t think it was on purpose?
Each morning I was the first one to wade fish a run, each beat after that, I was not. I managed to move a few fish but it wasn’t until half way through the second week before I hooked the fish of the trip. My guide thought it was a twenty pounder, I thought perhaps a tad lighter. It took several long runs including the last where it jumped three times in succession before becoming unpinned (due to Pilot Error). I moved a few more fish but had no more hooks ups.
Gaspe: The trip turned good for the final two weeks when my long time friend Ed arrived from the wine country to fish with me. We stayed in a motel in the scenic village of Gaspe, home to the York, Dartmouth and Saint Jean Rivers and ate amazing meals in the local restaurants. Again the anglers outnumbered the fish and available runs but the competition was nothing but friendly. We fished some amazingly beautiful water and I landed my first Atlantic on the York River. The guide said 12lbs, I thought 10lbs, so we settled on 11lbs because, in all my years I’ve never heard anyone claim an 11lber! Both Ed and I moved a few more adult fish, a few Grilse (think Klamath Adults Steelhead) with Ed losing a spectacularly large, bright, hot fish on the Dartmouth that took right under my nose. We both landed a few Sea Trout which in this part of the world are Sea Run Brookies.
Bonaventure: We then visited the little town of Bonaventure with the famed crystal clear River with the same name running through it for our final few days. Our guide was Claude Bernard, the Dean of the River, a true gentleman of 84 years. We fished from his Sharps Canoe and also used it to access the best runs. We landed a few Sea Trout (I turned out to be King of the Sea Trout, landing double digits numbers), hooked a few Grilse and moved some Adult Atlantics to dead drifted Bombers! It was good I didn’t die of a heart attack watching these monsters rise to inspect my offering! I managed to land a large Grilse at the end of a long lineup of locals who had befriended us on the most popular run the next to last day. Our final day we would see that fish had moved in and a few gave us looks but we couldn’t get them to commit! We wished we could have stayed longer. I wished I had more years ahead of me than behind me to further explore this amazing part of the planet.
Drop a line if you are interested in visiting the Gaspe. I know more than when I left, and will share all that I am able. Good tip: a complicated access permit system means it’s critical to plan your trip well before the November 1 draw deadlines for the following year.
