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 Post subject: Second Trip to Labrador
PostPosted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 8:57 am • # 1 
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I got invited on this trip because one member (of 4) had to drop out for health reasons (too remote for his needs), and one of the remaining members knew I'd drop everything to go back to fish in The Big Land. We left Fredericton, NB around noon on july 1st, caught overnight ferry from Sidney, Nova Scotia to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. Slept on ferry, debarked, drove like fools from south to north of Newfoundland, caught afternoon ferry from St. Barbe to Blanc Sablon, Quebec. We saw several pods of Minke whales, a couple of Humpbacks, and quite a few icebergs. No more cell service - that's always a good sign. Drove into Labrador, and took Trans Labrador Highway (no, its not paved) for about 4 hours to Charlottetown, Labrador, met our bush pilot there, and floatplaned to the Southern Backwater area, where camp is located, by 9:30 pm. Had a drink and hit the hay.
We fished at least twice a day for 6 days, and usually three (morning, noon and night). Woke up to the generator at 6:30, had coffee, ate breakfast, fished, came back, had lunch, napped, fished, came back for ‘cocktail hour’ around 5, ate supper, rolled around like overfed walruses, fished from 7 til 10pm, returned for a nightcap, and crashed around 11 when the generator was turned off. The entire area is tidal and salt water; best locations for fishing at a given time is dependent on tidal flow. We never motored more than 10 minutes to fish. These were brookies and char fresh from the north Atlantic. My only other Labrador experience was fishing a freshwater lake, so it was quite different. The fish were 8” to 21” (bigger are reported, but that’s what we caught). Slim fish compared to lake fish; a 20” fish consistently weighed 3 lbs. Camp had a cook and two guides (one per two anglers). Two boats. Except for a bit of informal shore fishing, all fishing was casting from boats. Many people spin fish here, and everyone but me brought some spinning gear. My buddy and I fished together, and only flyfished. We figured we caught 50+ fish per day minimum, with plenty of fish in the 16 to 20” range. We kept two for our contribution to a camp fish meal. Our companions kept a cooler-full to take home. No worries, though, because the numbers up there are nowhere near threatened.
No one had ever caught an Atlantic Salmon in that water, but one of our party managed to land one on a 5 of Diamonds spinner, and the next day, I caught a 10” salmon smolt.. The other two guys flew out for a short visit to the Black Bear river to salmon fish, and the guy who had never caught a salmon on a fly rod managed to hook and land a very nice fish. My buddy and I could not tear ourselves away from the trout. We can fish salmon at home, but trout in these numbers (and sizes) are very uncommon. He almost exclusively fished small white buck bugs I tied up for him, and caught fish of all sizes on them. I used a little bit of everything, including calf tail mickey finns, muddlers, green drakes, stimulators, and big deerhair mice.
The highlight for me didn’t even involve a fish: One very still and drizzly evening, while casting from the bow, I heard a very quiet exhale behind me, and turned around to find a beluga resting about 6’ from the boat. He hung around, making slow circles around the bay and passing about 15’ from the boat. I tossed him a 12” trout to see if he’d take it, and with one flip of his tail, he was about 100 yards away. But he kept coming back. Didn’t seem to affect the fishing too much, and drove off the harp seals that DID seem to put down the fish. It was very special to see this animal swimming so close by and undisturbed in such a remote, rugged and silent landscape. Guide said there had never been a beluga seen in there before; his first reaction to the white thing swimming near the boat was 'polar bear', and he was reaching for the pull cord.
I did take out the 3 wt one day to say that I caught a few on it (which I did), but often we were fishing in fairly heavy tidal flow, largish flies, and at fairly long casts from the boat, and it (or maybe I) wasn’t up to the task. There were no hatches (other than mosquitoes and blackflies) due to the salt water, but these fish will run up the local rivers in late august to spawn and I expect they do experience hatches up there. They certainly took dry flies.
We got fogged in so the pilot couldn’t come to get us on our scheduled departure date, so we had to fish more. No one seemed too bummed out about that. Black flies and mosquitoes were fairly intense, but frankly, I’ve encountered worse here at home and in Yukon. I wouldn’t recommend the outfitter; this camp is clearly not central to his business – he has a handful of caribou, bear and moose hunt camps around Newfoundland and Labrador. It was rundown, not mosquito-tight, with worn out plumbing and failing supports. The guides (83 and 63 yrs old) were great, however: worked hard for us and usually beat us to the boats in the morning. The cook (oldest guide’s wife) cooked like she owned major stock in a stent manufacturer. I gained 5 lbs in camp. The four of us and the three ‘staff’ had a lot of fun together, exchanging stories, teasing and helping out. If you’ve ever met a Newfoundlander or Labradorian, you’ll know just what I’m talking about.
I would definitely encourage any brookie enthusiasts who can swing it, to find time to stay at a Labrador brookie camp. The rugged landscape of untouched wilderness; large, numerous fish; and unparalleled friendly hospitality are worth the price and time it takes to get there. Enjoy the company of people who, after generations of rugged, remote existence, still do not take the paradise they live in for granted. It will help you understand the difference between standard of living and quality of life. You will catch a lifetime-worth of memories of plentiful, big fish caught in The Big Land.
Over and out.
brent


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 10:08 am • # 2 
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Great report! This has been on my bucket list since I read John Geirarch's latest collection of stories ("A Fly Rod of Your Own"). Sounds like an incredibly special place. It almost seems redundant after your word painting, but ... pics?


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 6:42 pm • # 3 
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Sounds like you had a great time, Brent!! Ummm, did you bring me back a black lab?


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 7:36 pm • # 4 
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Think I'll need to pu that on my bucket list. Thanks for sharing.


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 8:08 pm • # 5 
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Its in the mail, Cliff.
Txh2oman: I've been using photobucket, but i'm guessing that's no longer an option. Did the photo posting thing get resolved while I was away?


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:22 am • # 6 
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wheezeburnt wrote:
Its in the mail, Cliff.
Txh2oman: I've been using photobucket, but i'm guessing that's no longer an option. Did the photo posting thing get resolved while I was away?


I haven't heard that photobucket has come to their senses yet. I think a lot of us are using different free hosts ... there are some options posted up in the photobucket thread.

https://pictr.com is an easy one for me to remember. I think I've used a couple.


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:31 am • # 7 
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You must have felt like you had died and gone to heaven...


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 10:56 pm • # 8 
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Brent, I am envious. It has always been a dream of mine to fish your area. Heck, right now I'd be glad to fish anywhere in Canada.

Great report buddy, I really enjoyed reading about your trip.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 11:39 am • # 9 
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Great report. Some guided trips in Canada are high on my list of things to do that I've never done. Appreciate you waving us off this particular camp since it wasn't in the best of shape, even if the fishing was.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 1:12 pm • # 10 
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Thanks for the kind comments, all of you.
brent


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 10:39 pm • # 11 
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I missed this post back in July, glad Brent posted a reply and pushed it to the top. Quite a post; thanks for taking the time. Quite an adventure too. I didn't realize that Brookies were sea run.


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 6:44 am • # 12 
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JimRed: re: searun brookies. Yes, they CAN be searun. There are a lot of resident brookie populations here in the east, but when they get the opportunity to run to the sea (estuaries, mainly), they can do so, and get big in a hurry. They also develop pinker flesh due to their diet. Some of our main rivers here in New Brunswick like the Miramichi and its tributaries have searun brookies run up each year. They can get to be about 7 lbs; generally more like 2 to 3 lbs. I have personally caught one over 25" long, that I would estimate at 6 lbs. But those same waters also have resident populations of smaller fish that don't run to the sea. They are 6 to 12" at maturity.
Now, there are lakes in Labrador (and other places) where landlocked (i.e. no access to the salt) brookies get large, too. One such lake (Igloo Lake) that I have fished now produces 10lb brookies due to a strict hook and release policy.
The searun brookies are locally called 'seatrout'. Adds to the confusion, since 'steelhead' are seatrout, searun browns are called 'seatrout', and I understand there is a warmwater coastal fish called a trout that is neither salmo nor salvelinus.


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:45 pm • # 13 
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Brent, thanks for the explanation of the "sea run" trout. Brookies seem very adaptable.

In regards to the warm water trout which as you state is not a trout, you may be referring to the salt water fish we have along the gulf and atlantic coast. They look sort of similar to a actual trout and that may have been how they picked up that nick name. The literature refers to them as weakfish.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 6:28 am • # 14 
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Yes! That's them! Weakfish. (I've seen them called 'speckled trout') thanks.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 9:31 am • # 15 
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Yep, speckled trout. Specs is what we called them for the 33 years I lived in New Orleans, and they are still called that by most in the southern states. Every time I go down that way I always try to find a fish market with fresh ones I can bring home because I think they are some of the best tasting fish around.

Uh Brent, I'm still waiting for my black lab.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 10:29 am • # 16 
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Kind of a sad story, Cliff. I took him down to the post office, crated him up, shoved in a bag of dog food for the trip, and the postal worker helped me do the address for shipping him off. Wasn't til I got home and looked at my copy that I realized when I told the old fellow to send it to PLANO, Texas, he heard 'Plain Old' texas. Lord only knows where that dog is now.
Sorry.
How about this: My neighbour has a Shih Tzu - Poodle cross that annoys the heck out of me, so if you would settle for a Sh_t-Poo, I can get her in the mail tomorrow.
brent


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:54 pm • # 17 
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wheezeburnt wrote:
Kind of a sad story, Cliff. I took him down to the post office, crated him up, shoved in a bag of dog food for the trip, and the postal worker helped me do the address for shipping him off. Wasn't til I got home and looked at my copy that I realized when I told the old fellow to send it to PLANO, Texas, he heard 'Plain Old' texas. Lord only knows where that dog is now.
Sorry.
How about this: My neighbour has a Shih Tzu - Poodle cross that annoys the heck out of me, so if you would settle for a Sh_t-Poo, I can get her in the mail tomorrow.
brent



That's funny! :lol


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 9:28 pm • # 18 
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Super awesome report even without pictures. You tore me up about the camp cook and the stents. Guessing everything was fried and included slabs of bacon :lol :lol :lol :lol . Sounds like yall had a good time.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:53 am • # 19 
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Put that little sh$$ tzu in a Fedex box and make sure they put it in the cargo section of an airplane that is flying at 50,000' for 24 hours. That way the dog will surely die before he reaches Texas. I HATE small yapping dogs!!


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:36 am • # 20 
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Geez, Cliff. I've seen the pictures and the magazine articles of the size of fish you catch. I figured you could use the little crapweasel as live bait.


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