It seems just like yesterday we were getting our canoes ready for opening day, the staff were busy preparing the camp for our firts guests arrival and we were ready to start fishing. The season passes so fast, I guess because we are all so busy seven days week for almost five months straight.
We are fortunate to have had another great season. While most salmon rivers around the world saw fewer fish than in 2011 our rivers did very well in 2012. The Bonaventure had great returns and a early start, we had fresh salmon in the headwaters by June 1st. We have been seeing early fish for a few years now which allows us to open camp first week of June. The Grand Cascapedia also did very well, and similar to the Bonaventure had salmon in the upper sections by late May. For the most part water conditions remained favorable throughout the season. A few weeks of low water in early August made things a bit more challenging but overall we received the rain we needed and fishing remained pretty consistent. 2012 was a tough year for the Petite Cascapedia with fewer fish than normal. We did however manage to do very well considering the lower numbers of salmon in the pools. Every so often a river has a slower year, lets hope that next season the Petite will be back to normal.
The fish counts on the Bonaventure in mid July and again in mid September showed good numbers of salmon in the river. By mid July the Bonaventure had surpassed its spawing requirements. The same story on the Grand Cascapedia where we good numbers of fish by mid season. 2012 was defiantly a big fish season with over eighty percent of our catches being mature salmon. September continues to be our best month for big salmon with three fish over 40 pounds in the books! This year big salmon award goes to Brian Porter of Halifax who hooked, landed and released a 44 pound cock fish on the Grand Cascapedia on September 8th, congratulations Brian!
Its now October and most of the guides at Salmon Lodge and Camp Bonaventure are out in search of Moose and Deer, so far Roddy for Salmon Lodge and Dany from Camp Bonaventure each harvested a moose with their bow, no news from Mario yet, but I’m sure he will have a story!
As we look towards the fall and winter its nice to remember all the good times we have each summer. Seeing all our repeat guests each year makes what we do very special. The relationships we have formed over the years are special to me, the staff and guides. I wish all of you that have spent time with us a very pleasant fall and winter. Thank you for your loyalty to Camp Bonaventure & Salmon Lodge over the years. We look forward to seeing you again next season.
The Staff & Guides at both lodges.
