Salmon and Trout Fly Fishing Trips on the Sops Arm or
Main River, Newfoundland, Canada
Atlantic Salmon and Brook Trout Fly Fishing Trips on Sop's
Arm or Main River, Newfoundland, Canada
Sop's Arm River or Main River was awarded Canadian Heritage
River Status in 2002. This is a testament to the pristine nature of this
river as it streaks its way through 57 km of old growth black spruce and
balsam fir forest. Noted by Newfoundlanders as one of the Provinces premium
grilse rivers, this watershed has a very healthy annual run of 3 to 15
pound salmon. The runs start on this river in late June and continue strongly
through July. A smaller run of jack (male) salmon 6 to 10 pounds occurs
during late July and August. Brook trout can be found throughout the river
and average 1/2 to 2 pounds with a 3 pounder being considered a very good
one. The sea runs of these trout start in late July and finish in August.
Provincial Route 430 provides road access to the lower section of this
river at two points via logging roads that intersect the valley. See the
map below and note the two orange roads (forest access roads - gravel).
Also, see maps of Sop's Arm/Main River
Maps.
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A nice "hook'em and cross your fingers" chute on
the Main River. The lower section of the river has some rather steep walls
and fast water is some spots. Fast rivers like this produce "freight train"
grilse with amazing power. Photo: Mark Dykeman
This river is home to the famed Paradise Pool and Eagles Nest Area where
extreme catch rates for grilse can be had. But bring your knapsack for
the 2.5 to 3 hour hike to Paradise Pool and good rock climbing shoes (strictly
for the young of heart and crazy of spirit)! Helicopters are great inventions
- are they not? Overnight trips or a 3 hour helicopter bill ($2000USD/2
anglers) is "the usual" to fish Paradise pool. Most anglers quickly release the legal limit 4 grilse
a day at Paradise when this trip is timed correctly! Eagles Nest can be
reached by road and usually provides great success. Like many steep turbulent
rivers the salmon of this river generally take aggressively and fight very
hard. The theory is that as parr they had to attack food much faster than
salmon in slower rivers and natural selection has resulted in a strong
fish that has to migrate turbulent and fast waters. The water stays cool
through all of the primary run on this river and water temperature only
becomes an issue in August during dry spells when most of the run is finished.
This is the farthest we travel to fish from the lodges (30 minutes to 1
hour 35 minutes by paved road depending on accomodations used) and this
is only done by specific request. Over-nighting with your guide in a nearby
Country Inn may be required to reduce driving time to 10 minutes. Canoe
enthusiasts should note that even short canoe trips can be very difficult
as the river is very rocky in sections under "ideal fishing" water levels.
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Big Steady on the Main River. Photo: Tom Perry.
The headwaters of the Main River are protected by Gros Morne National Park
- a 1,805 square kilometer landscape of highland barrens, fjord valleys,
deep glacial lakes, and coastal cliffs. From the Four Ponds area a series
of lakes lead from the Long Range Mountains east toward the ocean at Sop's
Arm. Along its course the river varies from flat lake areas in the head
waters deepening to an average mountainous river valley before settling
in a wide area known as the Big Steady. From the Steady much of the river
can be accessed by canoe, overnight hike, or helicopter. Below the steady
the river speeds quickly to a fast turbulent river with many tributaries
before hitting bedrock and boulders in a steep valley with small ledges.
The river bottom varies from stone and cobble to bed rock and shale. The
speed varies from wide slow steadies to fast class 1 to class 
3
white water. Access to much of the river is difficult unless by helicopter
or over night canoe trip. The river is very turbulent in most stretches
and rain can induce class 3 and 4 rapids from simple class 1 and 2 rapids.
Planning and weather forecasting are essential for successful angling and
canoeing as rain greatly and quickly affects this river. On the positive
side, like many of our smaller rivers in the Long Range Mountains, this
also means it runs off faster than the larger rivers and returns to normal
quickly with freshly "stirred up" salmon holding in the pools.
Wildlife normally seen while fishing on or near the Main River are:
moose and caribou in abundance, fox, mink, otter (rarely), eagles, ospreys,
and the ever present red squirrel and gray jay (watch your lunch!).
The map below is 1:250,000 scale map.
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© Her Majesty the Queen in Right
of Canada, Department of Natural Resources. All rights reserved.
Click your mouse on map position/river you
want to enlarge below. It will open a new
window with a 1:250,000 scale map or
a 1:50,000 scale map of some of the pools.
There are over 200 salmon rivers in the Province of Newfoundland
and Labrador. These are only a few (but some of the better ones).
Note that not all salmon and trout rivers in this area are marked.
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Click the link below for a description and photos
of the river.
30 Day Water Flow Rates, Temperatures
(updated daily or hourly)
Humber River
(at various locations)
Main River aka Sop's Arm River
(at Paradise Pool),
and Harry's
River (at the bridge).
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Copyright 2002 Eureka Outdoors Inc. All Rights Reserved.
