Our annual Lomond River Salmon Fishing trip is about a week away and all of the crew are making preparations for our Monday morning departure. The guys have been doing this trip for over 15 years, this is my 2nd time and just my 2nd Salmon fishing season.

Every year, each one of the crew prepares one supper meal for the trip. Bassan often does pasta with homemade sauce, Peter has brought Lasagne, Roger usually prepares a cooked dinner cooking/slicing and freezing the turkey at home, Johnny often brings Fresh fish, last year I made moose chilli but this year I was doing something even better.

My menu this year is Brisket Shepherds pie which as the name suggests starts with smoked beef brisket. CLICK HERE for the full recipe and instructions for this amazing meal!

The cook is finished for now, the pie filling was cooled and frozen in preparation for the trip. On site I can easily peel, boil and mash fresh potato as mashed potato never freezes well.

Monday morning we hit the highway early headed to the Lomond River in Gros Morne National Park, which is about a 7 hour drive on the west coast of our province.

Once again we booked in at Lomond River Cabins which offer great, clean and reasonably priced accommodations. The best part is, you can simply walk right to the river, no driving required. This is great as everyone can make their own fishing schedule using the cabins for a snack or a break at any time.

By 3pm we had arrived, unpacked the vehicles, suited up and headed to the river for the first afternoon/evening of Salmon fishing.

To fish inside the park boundary which takes in a lot but not all of the Lomond River, you need a Gros Morne National Park entry pass, and a park Salmon license which comes with 2 additional tags. This is in addition to in addition to your normal salmon fishing license, and are available at the kiosk near the park entrance.

The river this year was much higher than last year which according to Bassan is closer to normal water level for the Lomond.

Weather today was cool and started out beautiful but started to rain around 5pm. Thankfully my LOOP (#notasponsor) rain jacket performed great keeping my dry from rain and sweat!

This was also my first time fishing with my new G-Loomis NRX+ rod, Lamson Litespeed reel, and Airflo line. I have to say I'm vey impressed with the set up, it all works flawlessly together, big thanks to Jeremy at Outdoor Pros (#notasponsor) for the recommendation and fantastic service outfitting me with fantastic equipment.

Around 7pm Bassan hooked into a nice salmon at the top of middle pool.

After a brief battle his catch was landed and tagged.

At 9pm Bassan hooked and landed his 2nd Salmon of the trip making him officially tagged out for this season!

Bassan headed back to the cabin early to prepare supper, which consisted of bruschetta and his famous pasta with homemade sauce using his grandmothers recipe.

Tuesday morning Johnny and I were first to the river well before sunrise to ensure our choice of spot on middle pool. Not long after first light Johnny hooked into a dandy salmon near the top of middle pool, successfully landing it after a brief battle.

About a half hour later I hooked and landed my first Salmon of the trip once again near the top of middle pool!

We continued to fish that morning until around 10 before heading back to the cabin around 10:30 for brunch.

Supper on Tuesday consisted of Roger's Turkey dinner with all the fixings!

By Wednesday, we all noticed a sharp decrease in the number of Salmon being hooked up and down the river.

Bottom to top, Johnny, Roger, Peter and Andrea.

On Wednesday evening, I was casting down below middle pool and managed to hook two salmon back to back. Unfortunately in the excitement I forgot to lower my rod tip when the mightly fish jumped and they both shook themselves free. Shortly thereafter I was casting away when I noticed a surprise visitor appear a little ways downriver.

This young moose was accompanied by a large cow who only briefly came into view before retreating into the safety of the forest, followed soon after by this beautiful healthy looking animal.

Supper this evening consisted of my brisket shepherds pie, accompanied by some slices of brisket, and was preceded by a fresh salad with vinaigrette dressing. Supper was a hit so I'll see if I can up my game again next year!

Throughout the day Thursday as water levels continued to drop fishing remained slow not just for our crew but everyone on the river, although the weather was absolutely beautiful!

Supper on Thursday consisted of Johnny's Fish stew and mustard pickles which is always a hit!

The boys fished Friday morning while I opted to stay at the cabin mainly due to slow fishing. Roger managed to hook and land a beautiful 58cm fish which put nearly everyone on the scoreboard for this trip.

After packing up all our gear, we had one last task before headed back to town. Two years ago our good friend Paul Bailey, aka Old Man Bailey, aka OMB, passed away on the shore of the Eagle River in Labrador. Johnny had two granite plaques made, the first plaque was permanently mounted at the St. John's Rod and Gun Club overlooking the Trap Field. Today the second plaque was mounted to a large rock and placed near the Lomond River, a favourite fishing destination of Paul over the years.

An absolutely beautiful tribute to an absolutely outstanding gentleman. As the plaque says, OMB you are truly missed.

After 5 seemingly short days our trip came to an end. Although fishing was quite slow this year with only Bassan tagging out, we still had an amazing time. Great friends, beautiful weather, amazing meals and a whole lot of laughs which is truly what these trips are all about. Cant wait for next year!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2011 Michael Smith