Since 1953, the Miramichi Salmon Association (MSA) has worked toward the preservation and enhancement of Atlantic salmon on the Miramichi river. With strength in numbers, the MSA continues to build its membership to support our conservation efforts. We encourage you, if not already a member, to please join us.

Vol. 62 September 2023

Dear Members, Directors, and Friends of the Miramichi Salmon Association,

I hope this update finds you well and enjoying the last days of summer on the beautiful Miramichi River. As we transition into the autumn months, I wanted to share some important news and exciting developments happening at the MSA.

Firstly, I would like to announce that Robyn McCallum has moved on from her role as President at the Miramichi Salmon Association and that I have agreed to step in as Interim President. Robyn has been a valuable member of our team, and we wish her the very best in her future endeavors. Her contributions to the MSA have been greatly appreciated, and she will be missed.

Mark your calendars for two important fundraising events coming up in October. The MSA Fredericton fundraising dinner honouring MSA director Dan Cain and the Cain family will take place on October 3rd at the Fredericton Inn. The MSA Saint John dinner honouring fly tier and MSA Life Member Jerome Molloy will follow shortly after on October 25th at the Delta Brunswick Square. These events are a fantastic opportunity to show your support for the MSA while enjoying great company and delicious food. We have a great line up of live and silent auction items planned for both dinners and we look forward to seeing everyone. More information about the dinners and how to purchase tickets can be found below.

On the conservation front, electrofishing operations have commenced under the capable leadership of MSA biologist Lyndsay Jay-Keating and her dedicated team. This critical work helps us monitor the health of our salmon populations and contributes to our ongoing conservation efforts. Later in the month we will begin scouting sites for beaver dam notching in an effort to free up spawning areas for Atlantic salmon. Looking ahead, broodstock collection is scheduled to begin toward the end of this month. This crucial activity ensures the sustainability of our salmon stocks and is a key part of our mission.

Our summer students have wrapped up their work for the season, and we want to extend our gratitude for their dedication and hard work in helping us around the hatchery and in the field. Their enthusiasm and commitment to our cause have been truly inspiring. Cole Johnson is finishing up his Brian Moore Legacy Fund project and we look forward to sharing that with everyone.

Lastly, we would like to take a moment to wish a very happy 90th birthday to MSA director Vin Swazey, who celebrated this milestone in July. Vin's wisdom, dedication, and passion for salmon conservation over the last seven decades have been instrumental in the success of the MSA. We are truly fortunate to have him as part of our organization!

As always, your support and engagement with the Miramichi Salmon Association are invaluable to our mission. Together, we can continue to protect and preserve the Atlantic salmon and their habitat for generations to come.

Tight lines and best wishes,

William "Butch" Dalton

MSA Interim President



Our MSA Autumn Dinner in Saint John is happening on October 25th at the Delta Brunswick. Join us for a great meal that highlights NB's local flavours, connect with other members of the fishing and conservation community, and participate in our signature fundraising auction to help us raise money for salmon conservation on the Miramichi River.

This year, the Saint John Dinner Committee is proud to honour Jerome Molloy for his contributions toward the Miramichi Atlantic salmon community.

Jerome lives in Saint John, New Brunswick and is renowned as one of Canada’s most prominent fly-tiers. He is a two-time consecutive winner of the World Fly Tying Competition sponsored by the Fédération québécoise pour le saumon atlantique (FQSA) and has won numerous awards for his fly-tying skills. In 1995, he was accredited by the FQSA and the North Atlantic Salmon Fund as a Master Tier. He has also been inducted into the FQSA Fly-Tyer’s Hall of Fame and the Atlantic Salmon Museum Hall of Fame.

Jerome has been a long-time supporter of the Miramichi Salmon Association and is a MSA Life Member. He has made countless fly donations to our signature auctions, helping to raise thousands in funds for salmon conservation work on the Miramichi River. His commitment to the MSA and his advocacy for the preservation of Atlantic salmon have been invaluable to our organization.

The MSA conducts an electrofishing program to assess the distribution of juvenile Atlantic salmon in the Miramichi River. The purpose of this program is to scout future stocking sites, and to evaluate the success of fry stocking and beaver dam management efforts.

This year proved difficult for carrying out juvenile assessment due to high water and excessive rain, which means an increased risk of being shocked while electrofishing. Despite a late start to the program, MSA biologist Lyndsay Jay-Keating and her field crew have been able to collect presence-absence data for all priority sites.

“Mother Nature hasn’t been on our side this summer for electrofishing," said Lyndsay, "but gladly with the help of the summer students we were able to complete our sites with safety always being a top priority.”

As our 2023 Juvenile Assessment Program wraps up, the MSA will continue to assist the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Science Branch with their electrofishing program throughout September. DFO conducts surveys to monitor sites as part of a long-term assessment of juvenile salmon populations in the river.

Visit the link below to learn more about our electrofishing program or to read past MSA electrofishing reports.

MSA biologist Lyndsay Jay-Keating and MSA summer student Ally Taylor carrying out electrofishing work at Doak Brook.



The MSA is excited to welcome Mitch O'Donnell to our staff as the new MSA Conservation Technician.

Mitch first joined the Miramichi Salmon Association field crew as a summer student in 2020, where he helped with work on the river and at our hatchery facility. After completing his Bachelor of Science in Biology at Mount Allison University, he went on to work in St. Stephen as a Marine Biologist for SIMCorp NB.

Mitch is from Doaktown and loves to fly fish. Growing up on the Main Southwest Miramichi River has lead him to be passionate about Atlantic salmon conservation work. We are glad to have him on our team and are excited to see what he brings to the table.



Join us on October 3rd for our 26th Annual MSA Fredericton Dinner & Auction! This event is happening at the Fredericton Inn beginning with a cocktail reception and silent auction at 5:30pm AST, followed by a prime rib dinner at 7pm AST. This year, we are excited to honour the Cain Family, recognizing their dedication to the conservation of Atlantic salmon in the Miramichi watershed and their unwavering support for the MSA.

Check out this live auction preview, featuring some of the great items we will have up for grabs at the dinner!

Three nights at Rocky Brook with four days of fishing for 8 rods, to be scheduled in early spring or late summer of 2024.

Two days of guided fishing for 2 rods in summer or fall, 2024, for a mutually agreeable date. Includes lodging and meals.

A multi-day fishing trip in Newfoundland, including guide, meals, and lodging. More details to be announced.

A box of flies by Canadian-renowned and award-winning fly-tier, Jerome Molloy.

Two tickets (low bowl) to see the Montreal Canadiens vs. Anaheim Ducks at the Bell Centre on February 13th.



One unguided day of fishing for 4 rods and one night of lodging during the 2024 season.

Fishing Friends:

Summer is getting a little long in the tooth. This past Wednesday morning we were forecast to see scattered frosts around New Brunswick. That was common 20 years ago, and frankly it feels right to me now. Not that August has been all that warm a month this year anyway. Thanks to MSA Life Member Albert Putnam, I have now learned that water temperatures are now again available on the Blackville gauge.

Temps barely reached 21°C/70°F the first couple days of the month but have not been near that warm since. The big story of this summer, though, continues to be high water. The present height is 1.0m in Blackville, and it is on the way down – at least for right now. Normal heights for late August are more like 0.65m, so we are still about a foot above normal. The water did get down to 0.8m during the first 10 days of the month – still higher than normal, but reasonable – and during that time we registered our best two-week trap catches of the summer – and the first two weeks of August are not known for big runs. The question is whether the runs were improved over earlier in the summer or was it just that because of the lower water level the traps were catching a lot more efficiently. 

Relative to other recent years both the Millerton and the Cassilis counting traps registered their best two-week period of the summer ending 8/15. The total captures for the year to date are very bad indeed, but these last two weeks are well within the range of the last few years. The question is just how accurate a representation of the run are these counts?

The relatively few fishing reports that I have been able to gather from the Miramichi are actually pretty good, and that has been the case most of the time throughout the summer. Mid-August is not the most popular time for salmon fishing on the Miramichi, and that is because conditions are often not that good. Even some of the outfitters are now on summer vacation. People are saving their time for the fall season. At this time in late summer salmon are often “pooled-up” in warmish low water where anglers are working constantly over a bunch of fish that are mostly reluctant to take a fly. This year, the cool, elevated flow of water has the fish spread out and often on the move. An e-mail yesterday from Eddie Colford at Black Brook said that they had just landed a 16-pound hen salmon with sea lice. That is a great fish. Meanwhile guide and casting instructor Steve Smith fished two of the more productive Cains River pools and never had a touch. That, as they say, is fishing, but he did see a fisher cat, which is a real bonus. My neighbor Donnie Keenan’s wife Kathy sent me a photo of Donnie with a nice salmon caught in high water at Charlie’s Point where he and his brother Johnnie have been landing Miramichi salmon for nearly 70 years – I have been watching them do it for the last 21. The fish appeared very fresh for an August fish.

Donnie Keenan holding his catch on the Main Southwest Miramichi River in Blackville

Fall fishing is just around the corner. Every year at Campbell’s Pool we donate Labor Day fishing trips to the MSA and the Atlantic Salmon Museum, so those parties will be coming in over the next 10 days. I am headed up on September 7th to fish for the rest of the season. Honestly, I cannot decide whether I prefer fall or early summer fishing. Historically the catches have been more consistent in the fall, and even in 2022 that was true for us. In any case I am really looking forward to autumn days on the Miramichi. 

I have had some interesting correspondence recently with John Bagnall, a fishery scientist and member of the New Brunswick Salmon Council. Like most fishery scientists I know John feels that the biggest issue currently facing the Miramichi’s salmon is the ridiculous over-population of striped bass. John showed me a letter he had written to DFO on behalf of the Council asking for the adult spawning bass population to be reduced to 100,000, a number that he feels would allow for a strong salmon population, and that would still allow for an excellent striped bass fishery around the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. I can tell you that the urgent need to bring the striped bass population into harmony with good Atlantic salmon runs is not lost on my fellow board members of the MSA, and together with allied organizations we are working diligently in that direction.

To view the full version of this end-of-summer river report, be sure to visit the link below.

Thanks for reading,

Brad Burns, MSA US President



Thank you to MSA Director Ian Cavanagh for designing this commemorative salmon fly in honour of our 70th anniversary! The Miramichi Platinum is intended to be fished wet and features the MSA's signature blue colour palette, a silver tinsel tag, and silver ribbing with seven turns - one for each decade the MSA has been conducting conservation work on the Miramichi River.

HOOK: #4-#10 Mustad SL73UBLN-36890

TAG: #12 Uni Flat Silver Tinsel

BUTT: #14 Vemiard Glo-Brite Floss

TAIL: Blue Hackle Fibres

RIBS: Small Silver Uni-French Oval Tinsel

BODY: Blue Diamond Braid Tinsel

COLLAR: Palmered Blue Hackle

WINGS: Gray Fox

HEAD: Black 8/0 Uni-Thread

Long-time MSA director Vince Swazey celebrated his 90th birthday on July 27th. The MSA would like to congratulate Vin on this huge milestone. From all of us at the Miramichi Salmon Association, "Happy Birthday Vin!"

MSA Director Vince Swazey and wife Hazel Swazey posing in front of a custom birthday cake shaped like a fly fishing reel. Photo credit: J.W. Bud Bird



We had a fantastic crew of students working with us over the summer, assisting in the field, helping out in the hatchery, hosting site tours, and taking care of the MSA grounds. Thank you to Ally, Caileigh, Cole, David, Jansen, and Lauren - we wish you all a great year and hope to see you next summer!

Top: MSA summer student Ally Taylor fishing smolt wheels on the NW Miramichi River; Left: MSA summer student Lauren Comeau tagging smolts in Wayerton; Right: MSA summer students Caileigh Crocker and Jansen Blacquier taking temperature readings at Doak Brook

This year, the Miramichi Salmon Association was proud to support Come Play on Our River - a summer day-camp program hosted by the Atlantic Salmon Museum. The camp is for children ages 6-12 and runs in one-week sessions, each with a different theme. Kids attending the camp receive casting instructions and fly tying lessons, learn about conservation, and get a chance to connect with the Miramichi river.

MSA biologist Lyndsay Jay-Keating and MSA hatchery manager Holly Labadie had an opportunity to engage with the Come Play on Our River: Girl Power session. Camp-goers got to learn about Atlantic salmon and the work Holly and Lyndsay do at the MSA.



Lyndsay Jay-Keating and Holly Labadie with Come Play on Our River camp-goers.

To learn more about the Atlantic Salmon Museum's Come Play on our River summer camp program, visit the link below.

As part of his project under the Brian Moore Legacy Fund, MSA summer student Cole Johnson has been working on video communications about the work being carried out by the MSA. This month, Cole has prepared a video showcasing the Miramichi Fish Hatchery site.

Calling all amateur photographers! We want to see your shots of the Miramichi River!



The Brian Smith Memorial Photo Contest is an opportunity to showcase your best photos capturing the beauty and diversity of the watershed. This is an annual event that runs from April 15th until October 15th and offers cash prizes to the top four photos.

1st Place - $250

2nd Place - $150

3rd Place - $75

4th Place - $25

Click below to submit your photos. Note: Submissions are limited to two images per category per photographer.

MSA Fredericton Dinner

October 3rd at the Fredericton Inn

MSA Autumn Dinner in Saint John

October 25th at the Delta Brunswick Square

MSA Board of Directors Meeting

November 18th in Freeport, Maine



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Miramichi Salmon Association

485 Route 420

South Esk NB E1V 4L9

506-622-4000

admin@miramichisalmon.ca

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