Catch Stats

For the well-seasoned salmon fisher or for the beginner, there is no better choice. The catch statistics reported in this site attest to this fact. These take into account guests from 6 to 91 years old, and from first-time fly fishermen to those who have "seen and done it all before". While there is no doubt that the Ponoi will challenge and duly reward the experienced and aggressive Atlantic salmon angler, we must also emphasize that there is simply no better place to learn to fly fish for Atlantic salmon and to build confidence and develop long-term skills from real-life encounters with these great game fish.

The Ponoi is fly fishing only and catch-and-release. It is a big but shallow, gentle gradient river with greatly varying character, providing the opportunity to fish the way you like under different conditions - wading, bank casting or boat fishing. Most of the fishing is with floating line, and it is a superior river for skated-fly fishing for Atlantic salmon. Depending on personal preference, both single- and double-handed rods are used effectively here as well as a cross-section of traditional Atlantic salmon fly patterns. Frontiers provides comprehensive pre-trip information to each registrant, outlining clothing and tackle suggestions as well as other important details.

Wide-body 17 foot (5.5m) riverboats with jet engines are used to transport rods to closer beats and provide a stable casting platform when anchored and dropped through pools.

You will have about eight hours of guided fishing daily, and the big home pool right in front of Ryabaga camp is always available for those who want to extend their fishing day. This terrific pool has produced as many as 200 salmon in a fishing week.

Did you know... ?

The largest salmon caught on the Ponoi is over 30 lbs.
Of 1,000 salmon tagged and precisely weighed, the average weight was 8.8lbs.
Unlike other rivers, there are no long hikes or climbs to reach pools or beats.
Though an ideal fly-fishing river, it is an easy river to handle physically, comfortably fished wading or from a boat.
All beats can be accessed by boat, therefore, fishing is not reliant on helicopters or weather conditions.
The Home Pool is usually the most productive pool on the entire river, often producing over 1000 fish in a season.
All the guides agree that Ponoi salmon are so aggressive that it is possible to prick the fish to the extent that the rod bends and still have them return to take a fly.

CATCH STATISTICS

This is a 18-year Average Rod Catch per 6 day week for Ryabaga guests only including the 2009 season:

WEEK	CATCH
1	39
2	41
3	41
4	37
5	34
6	30
7	25
8	25
9	25
10	22
11	22
12	19
13	20
14	21
15	27
16	33
17	29
18	25