The Quebec 2006 Fish-In (part 4 of 4)
By Chris Chin, Jonquiere, Quebec, Canada
Wednesday evening I had driven back home (about an hour's
trip) to re-stock the ice chest and grab some clean clothes.
I had planned on doing a turnaround and sleeping out on
the river, but getting home at around 10 o'clock, I wasn't
up to the drive back.
Up at 04h00 I was on the road and back to the #38 before
06h00. I wanted to check the registrations and sign us
in for the 5b zone (named Onézime).
The Ste-Marguerite River is an Atlantic salmon river and
as such is run by a river association. What's a river
association? There is a good description at the ASF site:
www.asf.ca/Journal
The river is divided up into 12 zones. Of the 12, 3 zones
(1,3 and 7b) are unlimited rods. To get our friends into
BIG trout, I want to take them up and show them the
"sanctuary". A small zone having only 4 numbered pools,
this section of the river is limited to 2 anglers per day
(but one can put more in if they agree and limit to 2
daily quotas).
Deanna and Jim arrive locked and loaded around nine.
A quick breakfast and we're off.
We stop at the 5a so I can show them the salmon and
trout which are holed up in "Big Pool." Another famous
pool, there are several dozen salmon there and even
more trout.
A short drive down the gravel road and we arrive in front
of the Warden's cabin in the 5b. I have written several
articles about fishing in this section and I'm just
ecstatic to show our Guests around.
We do a quick tour of the property then Jim strings up
and goes to it right out front.
The slow run leading away from the Warden's camp
Jim gets into action RIGHT AWAY...The run is full of
Atlantic salmon - Parr! On many casts, these fingerling
salmon jump his dry fly. (Well, Jim, you DID catch your
very first Salmo salar!)
I brew up a new batch of coffee then Deanna and I
move over to the #3 pool. From our perch up on a
large boulder, we can see the trout milling around.
Off to the right, rises draw her attention to another
casting position. A few casts out and to the right
and Deanna calmly mutters, "Oh, .. there you go."
Unfortunately, the first thing the big female trout
did was to scoot into the branches, which are hugging
the shore. When I reach in to untangle the leader,
the trout pulls free.
I try a cast out past the first pod of trout. A long
slowly drifting dry and Jim's shore lunch is "in the
bag." Normally, we don't keep adult trout here, but
one for special guests now and again is a nice treat.
Jim arrives and we try some more flies. The pool seems
to have calmed down.
We return to the cars to have a rest and some lunch.
The trout will wait for supper as it's going to be
filleted and served up with fried rice.
The afternoon goes by pretty quickly. I have the ominous
feeling of the Fish-In winding down. Tomorrow I'm booked
so Faruk Ekich is arranging a day on the salt near his
place. After a supper of trout, a few more casts, Jim
and Deanna bid farewell for the day.
I stay on a couple more minutes, trying to see if any
more trout want to come out and play. No such luck, I
head back to the #23 to get tomorrow's clients settled
into their accommodations, string up rods for them then
tie up some flies.
Friday, the day was a flurry of activity for me and I
only got back to see Deanna and Jim for an hour or so
back at their motel around 11 o'clock at night. They
had wonderful time fishing from the beach on the fjord
and Faruk, ever the gentle man had organized a splendid
visit.
We tried to compare notes about the week, realizing that
we were already starting to mix up facts. I finally had
to bid farewell to our guests as the morning was getting
closer and closer.
The 2006 Quebec Fish-In didn't have many participants, then
again, this is no competition for attendees. Deanna and Jim
got (in my honest opinion) a well needed vacation, so did I.
Will we plan another one for '07? Possibly, (probably)...
We might also change the date to get in on the juvenile
sea runners. Time will tell.
As with all our friends and guests who take time out of
their busy schedules to come up and visit our little
piece of paradise, I'd like to thank Jim and Deanna
for their visit. Come back anytime,...the coffee will
always be fresh.
A special thanks also goes to Faruk for showing our
friends around on the salt. ~ Chris Chin, Jonquiere Quebec
About Chris:
Chris Chin is originally from Kamloops,
British Columbia. He has been fly fishing
on and off ever since he was 10 years old.
Chris became serious about the sport within
the last 10 years.
"I'm a forest engineer by day and part time
guide on the Ste-Marguerite River here in
central Quebec. I've been fishing this river
for about 10 years now and started guiding
about 5 years ago when the local guide's
association sort of stopped functioning."
Chris guides mostly for sea run brook trout
and about 30% of the time for Atlantic Salmon.
"I often don't even charge service fees, as
I'm more interested in promoting the river
than making cash. I like to get new comers
to realize that salmon fishing is REALLY for
anyone who cares to try it. Tradition around
here makes some of the old clan see Salmon
fishing as a sport for the rich. Today our
shore lunches are less on the cucumber sandwich
side and more toward chicken pot pie and Jack
Daniel's."
Chris is 42 years old as of this writing. He
is of Chinese origin although his parents were
born and raised in Jamaica. He has a girlfriend,
Renée. "She and her 12 year old son Vincent
started fly fishing with me in October 2002."
To learn more about the Ste-Marguerite River,
visit Christopher's
website https://pages.videotron.com/fcch/.
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