05/27/2026
John “Jack” Malcolm Sullivan
John “Jack” Sullivan was inducted into our Hall of Fame in 1989
John “Jack” Malcolm Sullivan was the 4th generation to carry this name. He was the son of John and Stella (Gillespie). He was born on March 11, 1915, in Barnettville. Jack, his every day name, was one of eight children in the Sullivan household. Living in Barnettville, besides the seasonally swift Miramichi, boys especially learned how to fish, canoe, and survive situations most modern risk-averse parents would find horrifying. But they took risks and survived to grow strong, healthy, young men.
The Sullivans were hard working family with many branches. Jack had lots of different jobs. He had jobs in addition to those in the woods; he worked at sawmills, construction, trucking, and carpentry like his dad. At one point he and his neighbours Myles Arbeau went into the cement business after buying their own motorized cement mixer.
In December 1938, Jack married Vera Verdun Gillespie in Newcastle. Following their marriage, they moved to lower Blissfield, in the hallow below Molasses Hill, where they spend the rest of their lives. They had three sons.
In the 1940’s Jack became interested in fly fishing. That interest le him to be hired as manager at G.H. McIver Camp. Eventually he built and operated his own fishing camps and built his own boats for spring fishing to become an outfitter. Jack had his sports return year after year for another dose of the renewal found at Sullivans Fishing Camps.
Since outfitting kept him busy most of the year, except in the winter, Jack decided to learn to tie salmon flies as a hobby. Bombers, Buck Bugs, Rat Face MacDouglas, Grey Wulffs, White Wulffs, nymohs and streamers came from his mounted on an old rolltop desk near the wood stove. His favorite tie was the Ingalls butterfly, originated by American Maurise Ingalls.
Jack Sullivan was a major influence in placing the now classic Butterfly into the fly boxes of practically every serious salmon fisherman on the Miramichi and many other rivers. He also tied thousands of the flies for sale, and as variations appeared its use became universal.
Jack Sullivan began his life in Barnettville and ended it upriver in Blissfield; the Main Southwest Miramichi was part of his life from cradle to grave. After his passing in 1983 at the age of 68, Jacks son Warren took over the business and operated it for a number of years, tying flies, telling stories and carrying on the great traditions started by his dad.
In 2008 Warren passed away, ending the era of Sullivans Fishing Camps. Surviving are the memories of the wonderful fishing trips, the trove of treasured salmon flies, the joy of sharing a fly fisherman’s ultimate trip, and the unique Jack Sullivan approach to fishing and life.
