Closing salmon rivers is a major concern. What's next for the recreational sport remains to be seen
Warm water, hot weather wreaking havoc on recreational salmon fishery
This column is an opinion by Gord Follett, former editor of Newfoundland Sportsman. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.
When it comes to planning for fishing and hunting trips, or even vacations, I've been known to be a bit "off the wall" with details and timing.
With very few exceptions, I know weeks ahead of my actual departure from home in Mount Pearl what time I'll be cruising through Clarenville and Gander, when and where I'll be stopping to gas up and what time — give or take five minutes — I'll arrive at my destination on the Northern Peninsula or west coast.
But sometimes even the best-laid plans are laid to waste if a higher authority — in this case, Mother Nature — deems it so. And the 2023 recreational salmon season, for many of us, has so far been a prime example.
As of the writing of this piece, during the first few days of August, I'm trying to remain optimistic that we'll see more ideal conditions — primarily for the fish and to a lesser extent for anglers — and that the July salmon runs have merely been delayed.
The cancellation of my first trip of the season to the Bay St. George and Codroy Valley area in mid-June had more to do with buddies having to back out than it did with weather, water or fishing conditions in general. But I managed to get over that disappointment, knowing I had my "big trips" to the Humber and Torrent coming up in July and early August.
But things didn't go exactly according to plan.
Our scheduled July 11 trip to the Torrent River was also cancelled because my buddies couldn't make it, so I decided to head out alone and pitch a tent at the nearby River of Ponds Campground.
Before I did, my friend Tony Vinnicombe informed me in late June that he had a cabin booked at Torrent River Inn from June 30 to July 4 with his wife Margie and grandson Carter.
"You're welcome to stay with us," he offered.
"God love ya, Tony," I replied. "That'll be my Nor. Pen. trip this year, I guess. I have to drive [my wife] Dianne to the airport 10 a.m. July 1 for a trip to New York with our daughter and family, but I'll have the truck packed up and will be on the highway as soon as she sends me a text that she's through security."
At precisely 10:04 a.m. on that Saturday, I received her message and hit the highway within three minutes, arriving in Hawkes Bay nine hours and 20 minutes later — five minutes faster than expected.
But there was a problem; Mother Nature had been continuously raising the levels of my beloved Torrent River until it was literally "up in the woods," making it virtually impossible to cast a line. To make matters worse, it rained all day Sunday with at least two more days of rain in the forecast. So I packed up early Monday morning and headed back home.
Tony and I did travel to central for two wonderful days of fishing the Exploits River the following week, then I started my countdown to the highly anticipated trip to the Lower Humber.
In the meantime, we were shocked to learn that warm and/or low water had forced the closure of the mighty Eagle River in Labrador, as well as the Exploits a few days after our trip. Closed rivers remained open to early morning fishing, from one hour before sunrise to 10 a.m. daily. Water temperature protocol for shutting down fishing is above 20 C.
My west coast fishing buddy, Lenny Boone, had cautioned me that after 10 days he still hadn't seen many fish and that it may be wise to hold off a while longer, but I simply couldn't wait.
As things turned out, fish were indeed quite scarce on the Lower Humber, with several river veterans saying it was the worst they'd ever seen for the third and fourth weeks of July. It's worth noting Mother Nature had the area under a heat warning long before, during and after my journey.
Again I packed up and headed home three days early, and when I checked my emails during a Clarenville gas stop along the way, there was a press release from DFO, advising that warm water temperatures had now resulted in closure of the Humber to daytime fishing as well!
This has everything to do with climate change, many have suggested, adding that it's not about to improve any time soon.
Although the Humber, Eagle and several smaller rivers had reopened to regular fishing hours just before I submitted this column, the unprecedented move to close three world-class salmon rivers — including the Exploits — at the same time is indeed a major concern.
What's next remains to be seen.
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