Atlantic salmon guides

When June 1st comes around, the guides' thoughts at East Coast Ghillies invariably turn to Atlantic salmon. There are over a dozen scheduled Atlantic salmon rivers on the Avalon peninsula near to St. John's with annual runs of grilse and multi-sea winter fish reaching 2500 salmon on certain Avalon rivers. 

Salmon fly fishing can be very technical on the Avalon, but the fish are still very eager to take wet and dry flies. The main salmon runs for most of the Avalon rivers start to come in around late June, although there are usually some salmon in the rivers ahead of the main runs. However, once the salmon are in the rivers, your salmon guides will know exactly where to target the fish right through to the close of season in September.

Rates

All rates are per angler:

Please note and accept our apologies and commiserations: we have had to slightly increase our prices this spring due to ever-skyrocketing fuel prices and other expenses. We have only increased the price for individual anglers. We have made the increase as slight as possible, as we are only looking to keep this a viable enterprise for our guides. 

Full Day Salmon                         $350

***Two Anglers Full Day           $450

Evening or Morning Salmon    $250 

***Two Anglers AM/PM             $350

• Guided Full Day Salmon excursions include lunch and snacks that try to emphasize local game, fish, and products when available. Also expect boiling kettles and fires.
• Guided Morning or Evening Salmon excursions include snacks and a boil-up if conditions and time permit.

Deposit

We require a  $50 deposit at the time of booking. This deposit is refundable only if you cancel 7 days prior to your trip.

Gear Rental: Waders, fly rods, and fly reels are available to rent for a nominal fee of $30 per angler.

Flies and a Non-Resident Salmon license are extra and not included in the rates above. 

Non-residents of Newfoundland will need to purchase a Non-resident Salmon License.  This includes Out-of-Province Canadians as well as International visitors. For the past four years, this license has been about $100. Non-resident Salmon Family licenses have been available for the same price (an entire family can fish for salmon on the one license, but the entire family only receives the same number of harvest tags that an individual would receive; catch-and-release rules are not affected by a Family License designation). Regulations state that a licensed salmon guide may only guide two anglers at a time. Parties larger than two anglers will have to reserve additional guides (e.g. three salmon anglers requires two guides). 

PLEASE NOTE: License fees and tag (harvest) regulations change each year and are not released by DFO and the government until the late spring.