Fishing for landlocked salmon can be an exciting and rewarding experience for several reasons. Landlocked salmon are known for their fighting spirit and can provide anglers with a thrilling challenge. They are strong, fast-swimming fish that can test the skills of even experienced fishermen.
The geography and environmental conditions of Labrador create an ideal habitat for salmon. Cool, clean waters with adequate oxygen levels provide the necessary conditions for salmon to thrive. Abundant Rivers, streams, and lakes provide ideal habitats for salmon. These freshwater bodies support healthy populations of landlocked salmon and offer ample opportunities for anglers to pursue landlocked salmon. These fish can grow to impressive sizes, making them attractive targets for anglers seeking a challenging and rewarding fishing experience.
The McKenzie water system is a spawning tributary leading eventually into the Smallwood reservoir, where the current world record of 22 pounds 11 ounces was caught by an angler from Labrador City. Anglers can encounter two slightly different coloured versions of the ouananiche in our system. Males are golden brown, with a heavily spotted black and red pattern resembling a brown trout. Females are flashy chrome, often having teal green or metallic blue highlights running laterally. We apply a strict catch and release which helps to maintain and even improve landlocked salmon populations.
Many dry and wet patterns have been successful in connecting anglers to these scaly missiles.
They feed all season long on insects, fish, leeches, and mice, and lake feeding consists of larger fish and insects, so there are a lot of potential ideas to throw at them. On the McKenzie, we find that there seems to be little middle ground with their behaviour. They either slam the first fly you throw at them within three or five passes, or it is likely not going to happen at all with a particular pattern. Sometimes it’s the brighter streamers that elicit the strikes…. yellows, blues, and especially orange highlights add to many of the effective patterns. On other days it’s olive or black.
Overall, Labrador is a renowned destination for landlocked salmon fishing. Anglers from around the world flock to Labrador to experience the thrill of fishing for these prized freshwater game fish.