Buckle's Point Revisited - Part 1

The truck rolled to a stop near the rocky shore on Buckle's Point. Steve and I assembled our rods, and prepared to engage the sea trout of Forteau Bay. We had heard that 3 and 4 pounders were sometimes caught here by locals using spinning gear. We had to give it a try with our fly rods.

Steve headed left along the shore, toward the river's mouth, and I turned right towards the open sea. Standing on a high rock, casting as far as I could, I observed the motion of the fly in the water. Occasionally, a fish would chase the fly into the shallows, then turn away. About that time Steve hollered, "Fish on!" and I watched him land a gorgeous 16" sea trout.

We compared notes that evening in the Basque Dining Room of the Northern Light Inn at L'Anse-au-Clair. Steve told me his rig had included a sinking line and a 'Lester, the Lobster' salmon fly. After dinner, we enjoyed a local treat - a glass of Cloudberry (Bakeapple) liqueur on the rocks - the rocks, in this case, being 5,000 year old ice, harvested from an iceberg in the Strait of Belle Isle.

The next morning we packed up the truck and went through the motions of heading for the ferry in Blanc Sablons, but our conversation kept returning to Buckle's Point. I hadn't solved the mystery yet of saltwater fly fishing for trout. We flipped a coin in the parking lot - heads, the trout - tails, the ferry. Two, or three times that loonie came up tails, but Steve finally cussed it into submission, and so we made for Forteau Bay.

There were two men and a boy fishing with spinning rods outside the DFO-posted boundary signs. Beyond the signs, on this scheduled Atlantic Salmon river, it was fly-fishing only - off-limits to non-residents like us, without a guide. We chose a spot near, but not too near the other fishermen, and geared up. Thinking of Steve's rig, I wasn't long changing to a full sinking line, but I opted for a big marabou fly, a Cardinelle. I really liked the way the fly worked in the water. It seemed the faster I stripped line, the more often I would get fish to follow it in, sometimes right to the rocks at my feet.

I remembered seeing some saltwater anglers on a TV show using a two-handed stripping retrieve, with their rods tucked under their arms. At first, it felt awkward, but I could strip line much faster with two hands. Furthermore, the motion of the fly changed subtly - it now had a rapid dart left/dart right pattern instead of a steady trajectory.

About that time, I noticed a small pod of fish approaching, They were cruising parallel to the shoreline, and I cast to intercept them. Letting the fly sink until the fish were almost on top of it, I tucked the rod under my arm and stripped, with both hands, as fast as I could. To my amazement, the whole school turned to give chase, and one of them nailed it! I had just hooked an 18" sea trout in salt water - a first for me.

I told Steve about my new technique and he gave me a look that said, "whatever floats your boat..." and went back to his fishing. But I had found a method that worked, and it worked well. In the next hour, I released two more trophy sea trout. That's when Steve got interested in what kind of fly I was using. I should have said "a Rusty Rat", but I gave him one of my #2 Cardinelles. Not too much later, I looked to my left and there was Steve - rod tucked under his arm, stripping line with both hands, and a monster sea trout closing in on his fly. "Got him!" he cried. I hurried with the net to help land a trout that looked to be 4, maybe 5 lbs. What a fish! Outdone again, I've learned that's what I get for sharing my secrets with Steve.

Next post, I will share with you what I have learned about fly fishing in saltwater, including some tips to make it more productive, safer, and more enjoyable. I'll also have a few words to say about the local anglers' response to our success.

Good Luck and Good Fishin',
-Random Phrump

Phot0 by Drew Dobson