Our Story - Camp Bonaventure

Our Founder

Glenn Legrand was born in Paspebiac, a small town on the Gaspe Coast. Growing up in a family that was deeply entrenched in angling traditions, Glenn developed a passion for fishing as a child. With a great-grandfather overseeing the Grand River for over four decades and a father initiating him into the art of fly fishing at a young age, Glenn’s affinity for the sport was inevitable.

Motivated by his passion for nature and a keen eagerness to share the excitement of salmon fishing with others, Glenn started his career as an Atlantic salmon fishing guide on the Bonaventure River.

In his early years, he worked as a guide for Tom Duncan on the Grand Cascapedia River and for Helen Campbell who owned Camp Brule on the Petite Cascapedia River. He then started a small guide fishing business. The success of this venture inspired him with the idea to build a fishing lodge on the Bonaventure River. In 1993, Camp Bonaventure materialized into a reality with the support of his partners, Mike Crosby, Jim Lawley, and Greg Burk, who were avid fishermen from Nova Scotia, and later Dan Greenberg from Ottawa.

Glenn oversaw all aspects of the management of the camp, and he played a pivotal role in the acquisition of both Salmon Lodge on Grand Cascapedia and The Canadian Salmon Club on the Bonaventure.

Glenn semi-retired from the day-to-day operations of managing Camp Bonaventure in 2020 but has remained as a consultant for the company. He also returned in 2023 to manage The Club on the Bonaventure.

When asked what his vision had been for Camp Bonaventure when he started, Glenn said that he had wanted to offer his guests a top-quality fishing experience, that included lodging, meals, and guides in a wonderful location. He knew that he could not do it alone, so he found the right partners and employees to build it with him and for that he is grateful.

When asked about the future that he sees for 3Camps, he expressed confidence in the success of the lodges with the assurance that, given the presence of the right individuals, 3Camps will be as successful in the future as it has been in the past.

“The biggest thing is respect for the resource."

~ Glenn Legrand

Camp Bonaventure

Camp Bonaventure is a sporting lodge that was designed for discriminating fly-fishing enthusiasts on one of the clearest and most pristine rivers in Eastern Canada. Flowing through time, the waters of the Bonaventure River have witnessed generations of anglers casting their lines in pursuit of wild Atlantic salmon. This historic waterway became a destination and get-away for those seeking the thrill of the catch.

As a young and ambitious fishing guide, Glenn Legrand undertook an extraordinary venture to build a fishing camp. Driven by a passion for angling and an unwavering entrepreneurial spirit, he worked hard to transform his vision into a reality. While spending his summers guiding on some of the local salmon fishing rivers, Glenn crossed paths with many well-placed anglers. One day out on the river he met Mike Crosby and Jim Lawley from Nova Scotia and enthusiastically shared his vision of building a fishing camp. Recognizing the potential of his project, these avid fishermen, who were members of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, encouraged angler Greg Burk to join them to form a 4-partner association to start Camp Bonaventure.

They bought a piece of secluded property near the river and the construction of the camp began in 1993. By the time the fishing season started in 1995, Camp Bonaventure was ready to welcome its first guests to the newly built camp. This premium fishing lodge soon attracted anglers from all over because of its reputation for comfort, good food, the expertise of the local guides, and the prospect of having an unforgettable fishing adventure. A few years later Dan Greenberg, an ardent salmon fisherman from Ottawa bought into the Camp to become a partner and owner.

What had once been a young fishing guide’s dream was turned into a reality. After almost three decades of operation, Camp Bonaventure remains committed to offering its guests exhilarating river experiences and a fishing camp that caters to their every need.

Salmon Lodge

Salmon Lodge is one of the legendary fishing camps on the Grand Cascapedia River. It was built by Benjamin Douglass J.R. a lawyer from Bedford, New York who first came to the river in 1891. After several years of fishing, he bought a piece of property overlooking the river and built Camp Douglass-Beck in 1901.

The construction of his fishing lodge was completed in 1902 by local carpenters, but he continued to make building improvements through the years. He added a dining room with windows facing the north and southern views of the river and later had a large veranda built so that he and his guests could sit and enjoy the river after a day of fishing. The Grand Cascapedia River was known for its large salmon, and guests to Mr. Douglass’ camp enjoyed fishing in pools such as the Judge Pool, which at the time was one of the best early-season pools on the river.

The camp was later sold to William Bonbright from New York, who changed the name to Salmon Lodge. He and his two brothers George and Irving bought the fishing rights to several good fishing pools on the river and William used Salmon Lodge to house his fishing guests during the four seasons that it belonged to the Bonbright family. Irving caught a 50-pound Cascapedia Giant in 1912. After George Bonbright died in 1939, his son James, who caught a 47-pound salmon on the Grand Cascapedia in 1915 at the age of twelve years old, returned to the river and bought both Horse Island Camp and Salmon Lodge. James spent 60 years on the river as a guest, camp owner and president of the Cascapedia Club.

Sonny Messmore Rainville born in Montreal, was a successful financier in New York and a former President of the New York Anglers Club and Director of the Atlantic Salmon Federation. His father Gustave Rainville bought Salmon Lodge in 1946 and after he died the fishing camp was passed on to Sonny and his brother Jacques. In the mid-1980s he bought the New Derreen Camp on the river and sold his share of Salmon Lodge to Mike Moriarty and a Canadian-owners group who only used the lodge for four weeks every summer. Eventually, the group found it too much work to maintain the old camp and it was abandoned.

In 2001, David Bishop, who operated a fishing guide business, bought Salmon Lodge and undertook to make repairs on the neglected building. Three years later, he sold the lodge to the owners of Camp Bonaventure who completely renovated the historic old camp. Today thanks to their shared passion for angling, Salmon Lodge is once again one of the best salmon fishing destinations on the Grand Cascapedia River.

The Club on the Bonaventure

The Canadian Salmon Club on the Bonaventure was started by John Hall Kelly, a prominent lawyer and politician from the Gaspe Coast. Kelly spent his early life on the Coast before attending Laval University to earn his law degree. He then returned to his hometown in New Carlisle to start his law practice. During this time, he was elected as a provincial deputy to represent the Bonaventure County in the Quebec National Assembly.

The Cascapedia Club, a group of private fishing camp owners on the Grand Cascapedia River, hired Kelly as a lawyer to oversee their legal dealings on the river. It was during this time that he became interested in acquiring some of the fishing rights on the Bonaventure River. In 1917 he began to lease water rights from some of the local landowners. By 1919 he owned 16 km of fishing rights on the river and decided to start a salmon fishing club. During the first few years, he had two canoes, and his guests were fed and housed in the home of Diaz Arsenault who owned property along the river. In 1923 the Canadian Salmon Club was officially incorporated with its head office in New Carlisle.

The Club bought a piece of prime waterfront property overlooking the Bonaventure River in 1924. In the fall of that year, Kelly began the construction of a kitchen that had a lounge area and a large outdoor porch facing the river. Over the years several new additions were made to accommodate the comfort, needs and expectations of its exclusive members.

For more than a century the Canadian Salmon Club operated as a private fishing camp. The owners and their guests included politicians, lawyers, businessmen and owners of some of North America’s most well-known companies. In 2016 it was purchased by the owners of Camp Bonaventure and Salmon Lodge on the Grand Cascapedia River. This group invested substantial funds to restore and modernize the historic camp while preserving the charm and essence of the classic 100-year-old salmon club. It is now a part of 3Camps and for the first time in its history, it is open to the public. The Club situated on riverfront property still retains ownership of its original fishing rights on the Bonaventure River.

Our Team

Welcome to the Family! Let’s explore the fantastic group of social characters whose main goal is to make your stay at 3Camps the most enjoyable experience possible.