Week 5: July 29th - August 2nd

Jeremy Camus installs a bank log on Aucoin's brook.

Week 5: July 29th – August 2nd was another great week for the Chéticamp River Salmon Association. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the group worked on the demolition of an old crib on Aucoin’s brook, and replaced it with a series of much smaller bank logs. The group emptied the old crib of rocks, removed the water resistant carpet, built bank logs behind the existing structure, filled most of the new structure with rocks, and finally, with the help of chainsaw operator Albert Deveau, removed the old structure.  Thursday, members of the group continued work on the crib project and finished up some odd jobs on Aucoin’s brook. The central section of the new bank log was secured in place with nails and filled with rocks. The group then travelled upstream doing maintenance on over a dozen digger logs (removal of large rocks from pools, construction of reflectors, ramp maintenance, etc.), and removed several blockages. Friday, members of the group removed two digger logs on Aucoin’s brook that were no longer doing their jobs. Rocks were removed from beneath the logs, and the logs were cut into small sections and removed from the brook. In the afternoon the group removed pieces of rebar and large nails from sections of the old dismantled crib.

The finished product! 

Week 4: July 22nd - 26th

Kyle Lefort installs a bank log to protect an eroding bank on Aucoin's brook.

Week 4: July 22nd – July 26th was a very productive week for the Chéticamp River Salmon Association. Monday, the group, with the help of chainsaw operator Albert Deveau, continued work on the crib, installed a bank protector, prepped a second bank protector for installation, and cut lumber for work on a second crib in need of maintenance all in the area of heavy sediment buildup on Aucoin’s brook. Tuesday, the group continued work on the brush mat project on Aucoin’s brook in the area surrounding the gypsum mines trail. The third brush mat, which was started with Katherine from Adopt-a-Stream, was finished, and a fourth just upstream was also completed. Wednesday morning, the group laid hay in the ditches of a dirt road that had been ditched into a section of the gypsum mines brook. Because of the steep walls of the ditch, no vegetation was growing and the bank was eroding and flowing into the brook. By covering the walls of the ditch with hay, we were encouraging the growth of vegetation that would solve the problem. Wednesday afternoon, after some major problems with the jeep, the group returned to Aucoin’s brook to finish the installation of the second bank log that was prepped on Monday. Because of poor weather conditions Thursday and Friday, the group spent their time indoors, catching up on office work (blogging, data analysis, etc.) and discussing what would be taking place in the next few weeks. The jeep was also pulled from the woods and fixed.

Kyle Lefort works on a crib on Aucoin's brook.

Week 3: July 15th - 19th

Member of the Chéticamp River Salmon Association restoration team: Jeremy Camus (left), Kyle Lefort (centre) and Antoine Aucoin (right) take apart a blockage on Aucoin's brook. 

Week 3: July 15th – July 19th was an eventful week for the Chéticamp River Salmon Association. Monday, the group travelled to a third beaver dam on Aucoin’s brook that had to be removed, only to find that the beaver had started to rebuild the dams removed last week. It was decided that we would have the beavers trapped before continuing work on the dams. The group then travelled to the section of heavy sediment buildup along Aucoin’s brook where they worked to redirect the flow of water into a single channel and reinforce the brook’s banks. Tuesday, the group, with the help of chainsaw operator Albert Deveau, cleared two partial blockages upstream from the area of heavy sediment buildup on Aucoin’s Brook. The group then started maintenance work on a crib just downstream from the partial blockages where sediment buildup has caused the brook water level to rise. The crib had to be built higher to accommodate this increased water level. Wednesday, with the help of Katherine from Adopt-a-Stream, the group learned how to installed brush mats, which are structures that help reduce silt levels in the water; the group finished the installation of two brush mats and started work on a third. These structures will have a major impact on the condition of the river in sections of Aucoin’s Brook near the gypsum mines trail. Because of the rainy conditions Thursday morning, the group stayed indoors and caught up on office work (creation of a CRSA Facebook page, blogging, data analysis, etc). Thursday afternoon, the group, with the help of Albert Deveau, continued work on the crib just downstream from the partial blockages where sediment buildup has caused the brook water level to rise. Logs were cut to length to add to the crib and were set in place for drilling. Friday the group continued work on the crib on Aucoin’s Brook. The rocks and carpet inside the crib were removed, and reinstalled in a more effective manner. The maintenance work on the crib has greatly decreased the volume of water getting through the structure and is having a positive impact on the brook.

Kyle Lefort (left) and Antoine Aucoin (right) tie down a brush mat on Aucoin's Brook. 

Week 2: July 8th - 11th

Kyle Lefort (left) and Jeremy Camus (right) standing behind a beaver dam on Aucoin's brook.

Week 2: July 8th – July 11th was yet another busy week for the Chéticamp River Salmon Association. Monday, the group did a quick session of tree identification for data collection purposes regarding the riparian zone and then started work in Aucoin’s brook, roughly 1km upstream from where the brook crosses the gypsum mines trail. The group worked on the removal of one partial blockage, and two of three beaver dams present in that section of the brook (the third dam will be removed early next week). The group was yet again up bright and early Tuesday morning to travel to Port Hastings to take an Emergency First Aid and AED training course with a representative from Saint John Ambulance. Wednesday was an extremely busy day for the Chéticamp River Salmon Association as the group did monitoring work on upper sections of Aucoin’s brook. With the help of Scott Aucoin, the group scaled several waterfalls in an attempt to locate the source of sediment, which has built up in lower sections of the brook - the source was not found. Thursday morning, part of the group cleaned debris blocking a culvert bridge, exposed and restored digger logs that had been buried by excess sediment and redirected channels that had gone astray due to the buildup of sediment in sections of Aucoin’s brook. The group then spent the afternoon on dry land catching up on office work (inventory, blogging, website construction/maintenance, etc.), and changed a tire on the “Salmon Mobile”, which had gone flat that morning.

Members of the Cheticamp River Salmon Association restoration team: Antoine Aucoin (left), Kyle Lefort (centre), and Jeremy Camus (right), while removing a beaver dam on Aucoin's brook.

Members of the Cheticamp River Salmon Association restoration team: Jillian Baker (left), biologist, Antoine Aucoin (centre), and Kyle Lefort (right) stop for a picture while doing monitoring/surveying work on Aucoin's Brook.

Week 1: July 2nd - 5th

From left to right: CRSA President & avid fisherman 

René Aucoin, Antoine Aucoin, Jeremy Camus and Kyle Lefort fishing on the Chéticamp river.

Week 1: July 2nd – July 5th was a very exciting first week for the Chéticamp River Salmon Association as they welcomed three new summer students. The group spent Tuesday as an orientation day; several projects that would be taking place during the summer were introduced and the summer students learned the basics of salmon habitat restoration and monitoring. The group also started a NSCSA safety course. Wednesday, the group travelled to Chance Pool, along the salmon pool trail, to see and even try some salmon fishing first hand. In the afternoon the group completed their NSCSA safety course and continued to discuss and learn methods and techniques related to the installation and maintenance of structures involved in the projects taking place during the summer. Thursday, the group travelled to Mabou to take part in a training session put on by Adopt-a-Stream. They spent the morning learning about the theory of habitat restoration and how to properly install structures such as digger logs, cribs and reflectors, and in the afternoon, the group travelled to a stream just outside Mabou and got hands-on digger log installation experience. Friday morning, the group travelled to the Margaree Hatchery where they investigated habitat restoration techniques and learned about salmon reproduction and the salmon’s life cycle.

Kyle Lefort works on a digger log while at a river restoration workshop in Mabou. 

Antoine Aucoin works on a digger log while at a river restoration workshop in Mabou. 

Fun with fly casting

Grade 8 students at École NDA in Cheticamp were treated to an afternoon of fly casting on Tuesday, June 4th with Master Fly Casting Instructor, Lewis Hinks. The Cheticamp River Salmon Association has been organizing student fly casting workshops with Lewis, who also works with the Atlantic Salmon Federation, for the past few years. 

Although rain was in the forecast, it held off, and nine students ended up participating in this year's workshop, along with their teacher, Perry Muise (who happens to be a very talented angler himself!). John Hart, president of the Margaree Salmon Association, helped Lewis lead the workshop. In addition, a couple of dedicated volunteers with the Association were also present to help instruct the students.

After learning how to tie knots and cast, the students were given rods and spent the rest of the workshop putting their new skills to practice. And, the instruction must have been good, because before long, students were catching some really nice fish!

The Cheticamp River Salmon Association will look forward to putting on another workshop next year. There is also talk of a pre-workshop classroom visit to have students make their own flies. We will keep you posted! 

A successful fishing derby

The Cheticamp River Salmon Association held its annual trout fishing derby on Sunday, June 2nd at Petit Lac (Delaney Lake) in Grand Etang. Anglers of all ages came out for what turned out to be a beautiful day, and a very successful derby.

By 6 am, when the derby opened, enthusiastic anglers had already gathered at Petit Lac. Some fished along the banks, some in boats, and others cast standing up to their chests in the water. ​Regardless of their techniques, the anglers were soon catching trout of all sizes.

For youth up to sixteen years old, the Cheticamp River Salmon Association also ran a largest trout competition, and local businesses chipped in with donations of prizes. The Association was happy to announce that Colton Chiasson won the competition, with his 2 pound, 6.4 ounce brook trout. Dawson Burns was the runner-up, with a brook trout that was only slightly smaller (2 pounds, 6 ounces). Rounding out the winners was Emily LeBlanc, with her 16 inch rainbow trout.

​Next year, the Association hopes to expand its derby and largest trout competition to include additional age categories, including an adult division. We will look forward to building on the success of this year's event, and bringing you an even bigger derby next year!

The trout are in!

Last Wednesday, I joined members of the Cheticamp River Salmon Association to assist with their annual spring trout stocking program. Speckled (or brook) trout were delivered to the area from the Fraser's Mills Hatchery, and are now swimming in some of our local waterways. In addition to Association volunteers, Grade nine students from École NDA also helped with the stocking. This was a great opportunity to increase awareness of the stocking program among local students, and also a chance for students to get their feet wet (literally, in some cases) and help release the young trout. 

The following lakes and river were part of the spring stocking program:  

L'étang à Johnny à Eusèbe à Petit-Étang, l'étang des pompiers à Belle Marche, le Petit Lac des Delaney à Saint-Joseph-du-Moine, le Grand Lac à Saint-Joseph-du-Moine, le lac à John à Saint-Joseph-du-Moine and Aucoin brook.

On behalf of the Association, happy fishing!

What do Alexander Keith and salmon have in common?

I have heard about work driving people to drink, but I never would have imagined when I signed on for another year with the Cheticamp River salmon Association that I'd be spending so much time, so quickly, in the NSLC! Lucky for me, it wasn't stress that drove me to spend all of last Saturday in Cheticamp's NSLC and Tuesday in the Margaree Co-op. I was there to raise awareness of the NSLC's contributions to river restoration in Nova Scotia. The NSLC has a long-standing partnership with Adopt-a-Stream​, a program of the Nova Scotia Salmon Association, which provides funding and expertise to assist community-based watershed management and stream restoration projects. For the past several summers, Adopt-a-Stream has been the major funder of the Cheticamp River Salmon Association's work in the community (and it is an important source of funding this year as well). So, if anyone gives you a hard time this summer for drinking a cold one while you're mowing the lawn, you can just tell them that you're doing your part to make sure that Cheticamp's rivers stay healthy and provide the best possible habitat for Atlantic salmon and trout.

P.s. Between now and May 5th, the NSLC will be donating part of the profits of sales of certain products directly to Adopt a Stream. See in store for details. 

Website launch!

The Cheticamp River Salmon Association is excited to introduce its official website. The Association hopes to use this website as a space to report on its activities, announce upcoming events, share photos, and post news and research that may interest others who are passionate about Atlantic salmon.​