The Patapedia — 'river of uneven and capricious currents' in Mi'kmaq — rises in the lakes of the Quebec highlands and runs seventy kilometres along the wild north-western New Brunswick border to join the Restigouche, skirting the mountains that wall the Matapedia valley. It is prized for its water: cold, clear and clean, prime Atlantic-salmon spawning habitat where four hundred to a thousand fish ascend each year. The flow is irregular, as the name promises — quick to drop very low in a dry summer — and the river runs sixty-four named pools over Appalachian cobble and ledge across three managed sectors. At its mouth, where it meets the Restigouche, lies the storied Million Dollar Pool, often stacked with salmon. The character is intimate, cold freestone water. Wading is steady on cobble and rock, the low-water clarity asking for a careful, unhurried approach.

Wading: Very low clear water in a dry summer