Cape Breton Island
by Tom Largy

In late September of 2004, a friend and I spent five fishing days on the Margaree River on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Atlantic Salmon are tougher than other fish. They are called the fish of 10,000 casts. To put that in perspective, the prior two years there were five or six of us fishing for six consecutive days and only three fish were caught over the two-year period--an average of one fish per 20 fishing days!

On this trip, my friend and I both caught a fish and we had several others on. This was a huge personal achievement for both of us. Atlantics are spectacular jumpers, although none of the jumps was captured on film. (The Latin name is Salmo Salar. Salar means leaper.) This fish was about 30 inches and about 10 pounds. It was caught on a fly called Allies Shrimp. I bought this fly in England a couple of years ago, and it has hooked several fish since then. You can see by the shot of the river that I was fishing in what could be a classic salmon pool, a nice run with some deep, smooth water where the salmon might rest for two or three months before they go further upstream to spawn in late fall.

Click here to view pictures of that day.

-- Angler Tom

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