Fly fishing lodge Newfoundland Canada - Salmon Hole Fishing Lodge Atlantic Salmon

Featured in several issues of the Angling Report Newslettter

Thank you to several of our guests who took the time to send a report on their Salmon Hole Lodge fishing vacations to The Angling Report newsletter. Their experiences and impressions of the Salmon Hole Lodge and the LaPoile River are featured in the “Outfitter Critiques” section of the January and April, 2009 issues and the September, 2010 issue of the Angling Report newsletters.

To read these informative articles, please see page 12 on the following links:

January, 2009 issue

April, 2009 issue

September, 2010 issue

The North Bay Narrative
The North Bay Narrative is the remarkable story of a remote Newfoundland fishing village and its evolution from a community of a few families where men built boats by hand to today’s collection of cottages, including the Salmon Hole Lodge, where local residents guide visiting Atlantic salmon anglers.

Author and ardent fisherman Walter Staples made his first trip to this wild area of southwest Newfoundland in 1980. He had heard about the beautiful LaPoile River valley and its prolific runs of wild Atlantic salmon. What he discovered, however, was a much more complex story about rugged pioneer families who moved far from the nearest village in hopes of carving out a livelihood from the dense forest.

North Bay’s first settlers began building ocean-going fishing boats, cutting trees by hand, pulling them from the woods to the banks of the LaPoile River, and floating the logs downstream to the village. The logs were pulled ashore in North Bay and cut into boards by men using pit saws. The completed vessels, some sixty feet long, were launched by hand to the river, and sold to fishermen along the coast. From 1890 until 1968, three generations built over 150 vessels.

The people of North Bay, never more than 80 at any one time, began moving away from the village after World War II. Although the last year-round resident left in 1968, the village was already in transition. Many former residents returned during the summer and old houses were replaced with cottages.
The LaPoile River still runs by the revived village of North Bay and local residents, working at the Salmon Hole Lodge, guide fishermen who cast their flies for Atlantic salmon.

Until this book, the old North Bay existed only in the memories of the few remaining people who were born and lived there. In the North Bay Narrative, their story lives on - a reminder of other small Newfoundland communities now abandoned and soon to be forgotten.

Go to Amazon.com to purchase the book:

"All That Glitters" Magazine Article featuring the Salmon Hole Lodge

The following article, titled “All that Glitters”, first appeared in the June 2003 edition of Eastern Woods and Waters magazine. It tells of the author’s experience while fishing the LaPoile River in the 1980’s and staying at what is now known as the Salmon Hole Lodge.

Some things have changed since Mr. Munro’s trip - the old house in North Bay has been replaced with a modern, comfortable cabin known as the Lower Camp; the retention limit for salmon has been reduced from 2 per day to 2 per season (with mandatory catch and release thereafter); and feasts of capelin have been replaced with fabulous meals featuring moose and fresh codfish. Of course the facilities have been upgraded with the addition of showers, icemakers, propane fridges and the like.

Other aspects of the trip haven’t changed at all - salmon that are eager to take a fly continue to return to the river in great numbers every year; the LaPoile River water is still gin-clear; sightings of other anglers on the river are rare; and of course, the friendly dialect of the guides can, at first, be hard to decipher!

"All that Glitters" Article

Thanks to Eastern Woods and Waters magazine and publisher Jim Gourlay for permission to show this article.

"Fishing Guides I Have Known"
Magazine Article featuring Salmon Hole Lodge Guide Sid Chant

The following article, titled “Fishing Guides I Have Known”, first appeared in the Summer 2000 edition of the Atlantic Salmon Journal. It tells of the author’s experience with various fishing guides – including fishing the LaPoile River in the late 1970’s and staying at what is now known as the Salmon Hole Lodge.

Mr. Gourlay, the author, has high praise for Sid Chant – one of the four talented guides that work at the Salmon Hole Lodge. On the second page of this 2-page article, the author “awards” guide Sid Chant the “Oscar” for ultimate service in unfavourable circumstances. The unfavourable circumstances being a very long hike to the most remote pool on the river, with Sid carrying a heavy load and wearing an old pair of rubber boots – not waders.

Readers will be happy to know that Sid still works with us, he’s just as dedicated and hard-working as he was in the 70’s, and he now wears felted waders that are somewhat more comfortable than those old rubber boots! And with his fellow guides – Alex, Garland and Phil – these four men form a team of the best fishing guides you will find anywhere! They have spent their entire lives in this area and know every rock in the LaPoile River!

Many thanks to the Atlantic Salmon Journal for permission to show this article.

"Fishing Guides I Have Known" Article