When my Wife and I were discussing being moved to Canada’s East Coast in late 2007, among all of the things I had to think about, I selfishly thought about how spoiled I was growing up in Southern Ontario. I had no idea what it would be like in Nova Scotia. Living in the GTA, I had access to fishing 365 days a year. Whether it was year round fly fishing in cold water streams and rivers for Trout and Steelhead (those where the season was open in winter), summer and fall warm water lakes and rivers for Walleye, Pike and Bass, or fall river fishing for Pacific Salmon, I had pretty continuous access to some amazing water. Thinking about the East Coast was daunting as I was moving my family to an unfamiliar place with new sights, sounds, house & job, and, most importantly, new water to fish.
While I pretty much started fishing for trout right from the start, we had lived in NS for a few years and I still hadn’t been fly fishing for Salmon. My buddy Scott and I had talked about it a ton, but we had never ventured to any of the North shore rivers or the Margaree for one reason or another. To say I was ignorant of what was available is an understatement. I’d heard from friends that the LaHave River had some fish and was close to Halifax but by this stage it was closed to fishing for Atlantic Salmon.
In the fall of 2016 I decided to venture to some of the North shore Nova Scotia rivers in search of Salar. While people understandably get frustrated when their home water gets mentioned, all I’ll say is that if it flows into the Northumberland Strait, it probably holds Atlantic Salmon. Rather than getting or trying to find a guide, I had decided to try myself as this is how I learned to fish for Steelhead in Ontario and BC. Go to the river, watch some fly casting/swinging God catch a nice Steelie, figure out what they’re using and the leader size, copy their setup and prey for a hookup. While the internet and youtube have assisted and advanced my fishing ability somewhat, it has always been a large challenge trying to find much info on how to fish for Salmon. That’s not to say that I haven’t tried reading everything and watching everything (There’s a lot of good books and there’s no possible way I could actually even attempt to read everything…) While some of them talk about how to fish for them in different areas, my major takeaway about this is that how you fish is dependent on where you fish. At the risk of pissing some West Coast Steelheaders, the way I fished for Great Lakes fish was not that much different than how I fished in BC with the exception of the size of rod and weight of sink tips.
I digressed significantly but my point is that how you fish for Salar in NS is different than the GaspĂ©, is different in Labrador, is different in Iceland, is different than Norway, etc, etc. As far as fall fishing in NS, small and dark or big and marabou seems to be what most people think. But, and a huge but, it depends on what river you fish. On the one river I decided to try, you gotta start with an Ally’s shrimp or a lightly dressed blue charm.
When I arrived at the river, it was a gorgeous fall day just before Canadian Thanksgiving (the second Monday in October). I drove about 90 minutes from home and arrived there mid-morning. There were a few cars parked but I decided to walk in just to see what I’d been waiting for. The water was relatively low considering the time of year. We had yet to receive our customary late-summer or early-fall tropical storm or hurricane with its typical dumping of rain. I walked into the pool that had been passed to me by a friend and realized that the river was very similar to those I had fished at home. Lots of deadfall, shale rock bottom with some river rock in locations. The corner pools had a very prominent seam and it was pretty obvious where the fish held. That being said, the water, while clear, was a lot more tannin coloured than what I was used to. As I walked upstream even further, I watched a gentleman about my age teaching his son how to cast. He was doing an excellent job and working really hard. It was great to see another young person getting involved in the sport.
A little further upstream, I met a man who later become a fast friend. Greg was casting down and across at an amazing looking pool. Probably about 80 feet long, the seam was clearly identifiable and there were a few small fish rolling at times. I had read about the Salmon pool rotation rules in NS but had yet to see them in practice. I walked down the bank and waved at Greg. He waved back and I pointed behind him. Not knowing the pool nor being able to see the bottom, I didn’t realize how shallow it was. As I walked into the water, he let out a little chuckle. We started talking about general life stuff, small talk really. I asked what he was using and he said that if I wasn’t using an Ally’s shrimp, I was using the wrong fly. I asked him how long he’d been fishing for Salmon and he said that he had been doing it as long as he could remember. He humbly pointed out that he wasn’t very good at catching fish but that he just liked to get outside and be in beautiful places.
Humility aside, his next cast was a beauty. I’m not sure if he was really paying attention as we were in the midst of a somewhat jokingly heated discussion about football. Just then, he hooked into the first Atlantic Salmon that I would see in person. While Greg was a fit gentleman, the current was not helping so I waded in to help him out. I hooked his arm and we carefully made our way across the river and onto shore. The fish went on multiple runs and leaped well over 6 feet out of the water on multiple occasions. I was mesmerized. While it did not take him into his backing at all, it fought a fierce game up and down the river and under the opposite bank which was full of deadfall. Once back on the bank, he continued to fight the fish for another 10 minutes at which point I helped him land this dark and beautiful fish:
She was a leaper in every sense of the word and I will never forget that day. Meeting such nice people and getting to hold the King of East coast fishes was just awesome. Greg and I still keep in touch and trade stories about fishing and football. I’m glad I get to share this story with you as I believe some of the best friendships I have ever made were on the river. I’d love to hear from you so please comment. Feel free to share a story of when you’ve met someone.
Tightlines,
Jim
sosflyfisher.ca 
Good day on the Wallace! lol
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