Landlocked Salmon

Landlocked Salmon or Ouananiche as they called in Labrador.

These acrobatic fish provide an awesome fight. Averaging 4 to 8 lbs they become larger and more numerous in August and September as the spawning run out of the Smallwood Reservoir intensifies.

The McKenzie River is the main spawning tributary for the Landlocked Salmon of Lobstick Lake where the current world of 22 lbs 11oz was captured. Every year Landlocked Salmon up to 14 lbs are caught on streamers, dry flies, wooly buggers and even mice patterns. The two weeks after ice out provide great action as fish feed aggressively after the long winter.

In late July and early August the large Spawners start showing up and their numbers until the end of season. Fishing for Landlocked Salmon is like hunting. One day they are there the next they have moved. Covering a lot of water is the name of the game, often the harder you work the luckier you get.

Large colorful streamers swung across the current or stripped rapidly produce the best results but they take dry flies well and we have seen them hit mouse patterns aggressively.

Best spots: The Channel, Ruby’s Run, the Salmon Pool, the Canoe Launch, the Funnel, The Elbow Pool, the Rock’s, the Final Chute, the Quartzite River and Danny’s secret pool.

Best Flies: Orange Marabou Muddler, Gabro Muddler, Magog Smelt, Ausable Ghost, DW Special, Thunder Creek baby Brook Trout, White Muddler, Orange Caribou Bug, White Wulff, Blue Charm.

It is noted that Landlocked Salmon in the McKenzie River seem to prefer flies in colors orange, white, blue and yellow.

Unlike the Atlantic Salmon, Landlocked Salmon are actively feeding as they migrate up the McKenzie River system. They hit flies savagely and become airborne the instant they are hooked. They are truly a great sport fish and the McKenzie River is one of the best places in the world to fish for large Landlocked Salmon.