Two Days Chasing Atlantic Salmon in Gaspésie

I only had two days to spend on the river this trip but I was lucky enough to spend them on two of Gaspésie’s great Atlantic salmon rivers: one day on the Bonaventure and one on the Petite Cascapédia.

We saw plenty of salmon, fished some incredible water and came very close to connecting with one...

Day One on the Bonaventure

I met up with my friend Mathieu Leonard for a day in Sector E of the Bonaventure River. Some parts of the sector aren’t easily accessible with a regular vehicle, so we brought bikes to help us get in.

I’m not going to lie, biking with rods, packs, waders and all our gear was a bit of an adventure. It definitely made us realize how much stuff we bring for a day of fishing.

Once we got to the water, though, it was worth it.

The Bonaventure is such a beautiful river and the clarity of the water is incredible. We could actually see salmon holding in the pools below us, which makes every cast feel like it could be the one.

We fished hard all day and toward the end of the afternoon Mathieu finally hooked one. The fish jumped three times before throwing the hook on the last jump. We obviously would have loved to land it, but just seeing the power of that fish up close was pretty incredible.

The Petite Cascapédia

The next day we moved over to Sector B of the Petite Cascapédia.

It was colder, which I really enjoyed. There’s something about a cool day on the river where you can stop, make a small fire and warm up between rounds of fishing that just feels right.

We fished hard again and saw plenty of salmon but none of them decided to take. When you can see fish in the pool, it becomes very easy to convince yourself that one more cast, one more fly or one small change in presentation might do it.

So we kept casting.

I’m still waiting for that first moment when the line comes tight and I finally feel the pull of an Atlantic salmon. Looks like it will have to wait until next season.

One thing that made the trip especially encouraging was hearing better reports about salmon numbers this season after the last couple of difficult years.

It was good to stand over pools on both rivers and actually see fish holding below us. Hopefully it’s a sign of better things ahead.

Gaspésie is such a special place to fish. If you’ve never had the chance to spend time on the Bonaventure, the Petite Cascapédia or one of the other great salmon rivers in the region, it’s absolutely worth doing.

As for me, I’ll be back next year, still looking for that first salmon.