Grey River
Grey River Fishing Village (Tom Cochrane)
Grey’s team again travelled east on the Ondina. R.C. Grey wrote, “We passed many beautiful bays that boasted salmon rivers. It was utterly impossible to take time to fish them all, yet we turned from some with decided reluctance. We anchored for the night at the mouth of Grey River. We found a poverty-stricken populace at the Grey River fishing village. They looked starved and forlorn.”
Today the Grey River hamlet still deals from the challenges of isolation. However, today it’s 150-200 occupants are served by a ferry, boats and small aircraft.
Grey accurately described the Grey River itself. “Grey River, we found, was very rough and wild, in fact, the loneliest place had had seen on the coast of Newfoundland. Its salmon pools were excellent. Small fish were especially plentiful.” The fishermen and their guides headed upriver until they found the fishing pool beneath Big Fall.
Zane Grey and Laurie Mitchell (Mitchell is easy to identify because of his ever-present pipe) fishing at Big Fall on Grey River, NL
This image provides by John Marsden of Burgeo was taken perhaps a year before Zane Grey's visit. It was taken across the river from where Grey was fishing and confirms the location of the author as being Big Fall, Grey River, NL.
The following images were all taken below Big Fall on Grey River. Grey's fishing team seemed to enjoy fishing on the Grey River. Certainly, the locale was magnificent. However, Zane Grey ultimately had one goal when he went fishing at this time of his life. He wanted to set a world record for the species of fish he was pursuing. Atlantic Salmon in the eight to twelve pound range were fun to catch, but far from record setting. As a result, he soon set out for another Newfoundland river that promised the opportunity for a record catch.
John Marsden told us that Romer Grey is fishing in the same place Marsden caught his first Atlantic Salmon years ago.
Zane Grey hooked into a nice salmon below Big Fall. (image blurred in photograph)
Laurie Mitchell fishing below Big Fall with Zane Grey watching.
Laurie Mitchell using a gaff to bring in a nice salmon caught by Zane Grey with guides watching. At least one guide was also with Grey on the Grandy's Brook leg of the adventure.