Ode de Gaspe

I miss Alaska. The wilderness, the water, the solitude, the wildlife, the fish, the bugs, all of it. But, I live in VT. The next best thing relatively close by for me is the various wilderness areas in Northern Quebec. One being the Gaspe Peninsula and its famous Atlantic Salmon rivers.

Three years ago I made my maiden voyage to the Gaspe, and fortunately brought back memories of huge Atlantic Salmon after getting lucky on so many levels. So, I figured why not go back and see if the rivers would welcome me once again.

Due to the delicate nature of the Atlantic Salmon, AKA Salmo salar, or Silver Leaper, the rivers of the Gaspe are carefully managed to conserve this incredible resource. Rivers are governed by ZEC (Zone Exploitation Control) offices, which, depending on the river section, limit angler access, catch limits, etc via access lotteries conducted in the Fall and 48 hours prior. Some river zones have very limited access, while some zone are 'unlimited' and essentially open to the public for access. The zone I was returning to is the Gaspe ZEC, where the world famous York, Dartmouth and St. Jean rivers converge into the Atlantic and provide excellent spawning grounds for large Atlantic Salmon. For information on this ZEC, check out ZEC Gaspe.

The peninsula coastline is beautiful, and after 12 hours of driving I found myself in the ZEC office gathering info, buying permits, and entering the 48 hour lotteries for the week. My focus on the trip would be to the York River. I spent a few days doing a lot of hiking and scouting to search for holding salmon and just enjoy the cystal clear water.

I did uncover a few Brookies which also share the river, and even had an Otter chase one while I was landing it.