Do You Use Tungsten Head Turner Beads for Your Micro Leeches?

Early season, the trout are usually shallow and looking for staple food items like leeches, dragon/damsel nymphs, water boatmen and shrimp. Oxygen within the water is a bit better higher up in the water column because decomposition will decrease oxygen near the bottom. I love fly fishing with micro leeches early in the season. I have been tying most of my micro leeches using tungsten head turner beads that are slid onto a jig hook. Size 12-16 jig hooks are excellent to use for these small flies. 

When you fish a micro leech tied on a jig hook using a tungsten head turner bead, use a clinch knot and you can present these tasty little morsels in a horizontal position under a strike indicator. 

Glen's Leech, Ice Minnows and Bubba Gump Shrimp are always handy just after ice is off!

 

A Few Fishing Updates

A few lake updates.

Kerbes Pond-stocked and ready to go-Ice Minnows (size 14 jig hooks) worked great there a few days ago along the edges fished 10-15 inches down below an indicator

Boulder Lake (Blackfalds)-some carry over fish are around and it has been stocked with rainbows and tiger trout!

Hanson's Reservoir-766 south of Eckville 2 km-has carry over rainbows that wintered

Dickson Trout Pond-ice free-my buddy caught a 17 inch rainbow there yesterday-there was a partial fall fish kill last year

Beaver- not completely ice free- fishable from shore or with a floating craft you can drag to open water

Fish and Game (West Lake) is ice free and fishing well-you need a membership to fish here!

Len Thompson Pond in Lacombe-ready to go

 

Kerbe's Pond-South of Erskine

I have been watching the Alberta Stocking Report. I noticed that Kerbe's Pond has been stocked with 1000 tiger trout, 500 rainbows and 250 brown trout! Karen and I decided to get out and check it out!  We drove to Erskine east of Red Deer then headed about 23 km south and then a couple of km east to the lake. There are no signs so use your google maps to get there!

We were pleasantly surprised to see that the water level of Kerbe's Pond was up from last year. The 7 aerators were also working although I do not understand why they do not to run in the winter. When we arrived, we were thrilled to see it was pleasantly warm with very little wind. We tied on our usual ice minnows and fished then just 10-18 inches below a strike indicator along the weed lines.  The tiny minnow population in Kerbe's is amazing and the trout fatten up quickly by feeding on them! A fellow fishing from a kayak said the water temperature was in the high 40sF! We caught lots of stocker rainbows and we were pleasantly surprised to catch lots of hold over fish from last year! The visibility in Kerbe's is always low. Today is was a bit better than usual.

The best part of the day was watching Karen fly fish for the first time since her broken leg! She had to fly fish from a lawn chair and she loved her day! Karen caught lots of rainbows. We will come back soon for the tigers and the browns.

I would recommend going out to Kerbe's. There are washrooms and an excellent parking area. Take boots or waders. There is a boat launch so you can definitely launch a pram or pontoon boat! On the drive out, we encountered 1000's of geese. We took the time to watch them as they passed through to their summer grounds.

Remember that Kerbe's is a trophy fishery and you can only harvest fish larger that 50 cm.