Here we are at the end of 2026. It seems like yesterday I was sitting at boat launches in Miramichi observing ice, coming out after dark for the high tide to see what may open up the next day.
Upper 20 inch striped bass taken on a blue and white streamer from the Winter River Fly Shop
What an eventful final week in Miramichi for this 2026 fishing season. Since my last update water temperatures have mostly remained stable for the most part. A few cold overnight drove temperatures low enough to form thin ice on top of some shallow sections of the river but otherwise main river temperatures hovered around the mid 40s all week with the main NW reading approximately 45 degrees on the evening of the 31st. Fishing remained consistent as bass slowly reverted to a cold water take which involves ultra slow presentations with bites frequently occurring on the drop. Fish were also taking very small streamers on nippy micro strips. Stomach contents of the bass harvested this week were primarily leeches.
Scanning the river on the final days of the 2026 season
The weekend of the 24th brought the fall striper cup. This is always a time I lay low, catch up on administrative work and generally stay away from the shenanigans. This year, I decided to organize a food drive for the Miramichi Community Food Bank for which I was in attendance at the ceremonies of the striper cup to collect for. We managed to raise 500 dollars and 105 non perishables for the cause and the intent is to make it an annual effort. Formatting and structure may change next year and a big thank you to anyone who donated - the food bank greatly appreciated the contributions. Top weights in the cup were in the 30s for a two fish bag so it was an impressive showing and an example of how the much more temperate and seasonal fall has made for a fantastic bite on artificials.
Striped Bass on the fly in Miramichi, October 26th, 2026
The few final days of the season held treat as I moved away from the areas I had been aggressively hitting to mid river points where bass were stacking in the thousands. For 2 days we observed waves and waves of bass holding relatively deep but occasionally rising to around 10 feet depending on the tide. Dan, my guest for the last 2 days of the year, had come for a trip in the spring and found all of it so fascinating he wanted another swing at the bat. Together we spent 2 days on top of one of the largest schools of bass I’ve seen in many falls. This is surely due to our near or below seasonal October with no heat waves which had become increasingly common in recent years. With stable river temperatures bass were hitting plastics on drops, bounces and otherwise slow cold water presentations. As with most cold water bites, smaller baits favored the sharp and fast bites lethargic bass tend to have.
Ball of bass on October 31st. Photo courtesy of David Whelan.
With approximately 300 fish over the course of two days it was needless to say it was a promising sign for the current state of the bass population coming to winter in Miramichi. My thumbs are sore and I’m walking out of this year with some of my anxieties about what the future holds for the Strait striped bass somewhat satiated for now. There may be growing pressure on the population but for now it seems bass are still holding strong. This shouldn’t placate the fact current projections for allotments may not be stable and that commercial pressures were one of if not the biggest the reason this population collapsed severely in the 90s - but for now we seem to be holding course for stability. I believe if we were able to continue to fish and observe into the later months of the year we’d learn even more about these wonderful creatures.
Keeper sized striped bass on October 30th, 2026 on the Miramichi River
The 2026 season overall for myself was action packed, extremely busy and another year I’ll surely look back on and treasure. It still seems like yesterday I was voraciously learning as much as I could about this fishery. It seems that way because it still is that way, there’s never enough to learn and when you think everything is patterned there is a whole additional layer to that patterning. I look forward to seeing new and old faces alike on and off the river in the 2027 season.
Tight lines.
