Fly Fishing’s Show Season and Three Great Trips for 2015
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When you’re in the fly-fishing business winter isn’t called winter, it’s called “Show Season.”
Between December and April most lodges and guide services hit at least one or two shows and some of them hit many more, ranging from New Jersey all the way to Lynwood, Washington, and all points between. If you are like me, you hit one or more of these shows, as a consumer, each year. I’ve been doing this since I was five or six years old and I’ve always found it fun to wander the isles and dream about the trips I couldn’t afford. These days it’s a little more doable and hopefully that’s your story, too.
Even though you’ll likely spend some time at the shows this winter, I thought I’d make some suggestions on dream trips you might be able to book in 2015. Here are three specific trips that surely would offer some thrills. I’ve attached images from my trips to these lodges to get you fired up. Here goes. Dream big!
Camp Bonaventure/Salmon Lodge, Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec: No fly fisher can say they wouldn’t like to fish for Atlantic salmon. They are one of the world’s great gamefish and one of the best places in the world to fish for them, especially large salmon, is on the Grand Cascapedia River in Quebec. Flowing off the Gaspe Peninsula, the Cascapedia draws in salmon that range to 60 pounds. The average fish probably weighs 10 pounds and 20-pounders are pretty common. I visited the Gaspe for a couple years straight and stayed at Salmon Lodge, which sits right on the lower Grand and offers great access to all of the river’s pools. I also spent time at Camp Bonaventure and it was equally awesome. The season runs from late May through early September. Early season means fresher and harder fighting fish. Late season means (likely) low water and more sluggish fish, but lots of them. Contact: http://www.campbonaventure.com
Want a 20 pound Atlantic and you don’t want to ride in a dilapidated Russian helicopter? No better place than Quebec’s Grand Cascapedia.
