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Another excellent summer on Grey River

With the latest fishing season at Grey River Lodge having just been completed, focus is now upon arrangements and scheduling for the 2006 Atlantic salmon fishing season. As has come to be expected by our many repeat guests, it was another great year of fly fishing fun at our lodges.
Please check in at 2005 Fly Fishing Photos to see a photo sample of this year's season.

The 2005 Grey River salmon run appeared to have been earlier than usual, and it is believed that a number of fish had already moved through prior to arrival of our first guests on June 13 at The Forks Lodge. Our first fishing of June 21 at Salmon Brook Lodge is also thought to be later than the arrival of the first 2005 salmon for that section of the river. While fishing was very good right from the start, the fish did not hold in the pools very long, despite some lower than normal water conditions. The occurrence of the catching of older, dark fish was rare, with almost all fish hooked being fresh and very bright, providing anglers with a thrilling fight. Salmon bearing sea lice were taken during every period, including right up to the final fishing of July 18.

While water levels were lower than usual for mid June, water temperatures were quite cool, allowing for the excellent fly fishing action. The action was fairly consistent throughout our season, with the exception of the very low water period of late June at Salmon Brook and the high water times of July at The Forks Lodge, when water level was rising or falling quickly due to substantial rains. Salmon Brook had only a couple of days when there were no fish hooked, while The Forks had fish landings every day. All our anglers experienced action and landed fish, with most having success each and every day. Total fishing action was down from the tremendous action of 2004, with final numbers showing it to be a very average year for the Grey River system. There was no period of real booming fishing, but neither was there any substantial period of bust, with little or no action. Our total number of fish landings would put the 2005 season right in the middle in terms of action, comparing it with our previous 12 years of operation. While there were periods of catching some very large grilse (especially during the June periods), our average fish would have been slightly smaller than for 2004. Despite this, there was a slightly higher percentage of 27-32 inch fish hooked than in previous years. At The Forks, there was a much higher percentage of our fishing action right in the home pools as compared to the previous year, when a large number were hooked in the adjacent Salmon Brook section. In fact, while total landings were down from the previous year, action near the lodge was on a par with last year.

The first part of our season showed excellent action with wet flies such as Blue Charm, Green Highlander, Black Bear Green Butt, Green Machine. It seemed that those flies containing some green colouring ( Green Highlander was our top fly ) were most effective, and that may have been associated with the slightly cooler than normal water temperatures experienced at that time. Our dry fly action also had some hot times, with the Brown Bomber (white wing and tail) being by far the top producer. Not sure what happened to the Orange Bomber this year, but it certainly bombed out, providing almost no action at all.

As compared to most other rivers of Newfoundland, Grey River did extremely well in terms of maintaining decent water conditions for most of the season. Our substantial rains of July 2, 11 and 16 were apparently fairly local in nature, as Grey River appeared to be the major beneficiary of this rainfall. Most other NL rivers remained very low and many were closed to angling at times. This has been more the norm than the exception over our years of lodge operation on Grey River, as we reap the benefit of the island’s south coast region usually having a much greater volume of rainfall than other areas.

One other item of note regarding water level, has to do with the main section of the Grey River system, which is part of a hydro development. As has happened at times in the past, during the very dry June period, just as that section of river began to get quite low, the water level rose substantially and remained very constant at that level for about 10 days, even though there was no known rainfall in the area. There seems to be no doubt that water was being released from the hydro development far upstream, as was part of the original agreement for creation of that project. This combined with our cool June period provided our area with excellent water conditions for fly fishing, while many rivers were closed to angling.

General lodge operations went very smoothly this past summer, with no problems at all. Lodge upgrades from the previous year included a much improved walking trail downstream about a mile from The Forks Lodge. The Forks added a new diesel generator, while Salmon Brook Lodge had an existing one re-conditioned, with both improvements adding to the smoothness of regular day to day activities.

Once again this year our helicopter service was spectacular, with hardly a blemish in the overall proposed flight schedule for each guest changeover day. Any delays that did occur were very minor in nature, not having any measurable impact on our guests. There were some airline disruptions due to very foggy weather in Halifax, but, with the exception of one unfortunate individual, all were able to connect with our helicopter service and arrived at the lodge in a timely manner. As usual, the helicopter flight to the lodge was very enjoyable for all, and included regular sightings of wildlife, including caribou, moose and bears.

Our most recent fly fishing season brought the usual accolades about the high quality wilderness experience we provide, as well as singing the praises of our great staff. Our staff has remained unchanged for a few years, and some were heard to say that 2005 was our smoothest and most enjoyable fly fishing season ever. There is no doubt that at the lodges there were no problems what so ever.

A large percentage of this years’ guests have already indicated they will be returning, and some periods are already full for next year. Despite this, there are still some excellent times remaining for the 2006 season, but an early reservation is definitely recommended.

I look forward to the opportunity of being your host for a Grey River wilderness fly fishing adventure soon.

To see a few  photos from the 2004 fishing season, please click 2004 fly fishing photos.  Also, check in at  Photo Gallery for a pictorial sample of previous fly fishing action or at 2002 Season Summary , 2003 Season Summary or 2004 Season Summary for details of those summer's fly fishing stories.

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For more information concerning rates and available dates for next season, or to make a reservation, please Contact Us