Burrr, ...Almost the End

As I stumbled around the kitchen this morning trying to pour my morning coffee, I glanced at the outside thermometer. It read  -10C, burr. Is it possible that some of our fishing holes are still ice free? Barely!  Larry wants to fly fish right until winter sets in. It has been an amazing year for fly fishing and we did not want to give up on the season just yet.

Today we pulled into the Hansen's Reservoir parking lot. We were quite surprise to see lots of open water even though the mercury was sitting at -4C just after lunch. Larry smiled, I was indifferent although I saw a few photo opportunities to keep me entertained. You know that the snake guides and tip top were going to freeze but we were warm and we might find some willing trout.

Larry headed off to his favourite spot. Well it was game on right from the first cast. Most of the takes were subtle. We caught several impressive fish considering this is a put and take fishery. Maybe the regulars have figured out that the rainbows taste like your basic garden dirt. The 4 hours that we spent at Hansen's were quite enjoyable. One day this week, this stretch of water is going to have its winter skin. Sigh.

Just about time to get the fly tying club up and running. We will probably get started the third Monday in November!

Stay warm!

Can you see the rainbow under the ice?

We had to deal with frozen snake guides and tip tops all afternoon.

Pike on the Fly

Mt buddy Phil Rowley was filming a television show with Michael Short from Lets Go Outdoors TV. It was all about pike on the fly. Larry and I came out to help by running the camera boat during the shoot. Well we had a great day, especially when Michael Short caught a trophy pike that was close to 20 pounds. My buddy Larry had never caught a pike on the fly. He said that he would have been happy to catch a few hammer handles on the fly. That did not happen. Instead Larry tied into a massive pike that was well over 15 pounds. It may have been 20 pounds although we had no way of weighing the monster. Fly fishing is often about great moments. We had several today.

Larry tangling with a massive northern pike.

I think the smile speaks for itself!

Filming with Michael Short from Lets Go Outdoors TV with Phil Rowley

"Crazy Good" Late Season Cutthroat Fly Fishing

Larry and I talked about how few days we have left before our cutthroat streams close at the end of the month. Today was perfect, sunny and warm. Mid October days like today are not to be waisted. The action today was nonstop. We were fishing with size 18 flies and the cutties loved them. We arrived at 10 o'clock with Tiki and Pepper. Tiki always leads the way because he knows this beat of river. A short bush walk led us to our stretch of river. The fun part of our day was finding out that the fish were not where we expected them to be. The fly fishing window is a lot smaller this time of the year. The cutties were rising in the afternoon and that made for some fun times.  The fishing was over at 3:30 pm or so and our furry trail guide took us back to the van. What a great day.

Picture Perfect Fall Day to Fly Fish

Well we hit a very popular lake to fish today. The day started off near 0C but it quickly ended up being one of those special warm windless days on the water. The lingering snow from our first "winterish" storm quickly disappeared. A loon was still hanging out at the lake, odd for almost mid October but nice ambiance nevertheless. Fly fishing was excellent. Boatman/backswimmers were working although we stuck to a few micro leech patterns for most of the day. We spent the day fishing shallow. The water temperature was perfect and the rainbows were hungry. Lots of fun for all 4 of us, especially the rookie! 

...there are not very many days left before the lakes are covered in ice.

Central Alberta Pothole Lakes in the Fall

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody (Canadian Style)!

The fly fishing season in central Alberta is winding down but our local pothole lakes are fishing great. The trout are putting the feedbag on before winter sets in. Leech, backswimmer, boatman and blood worm patterns were working great today.

Late Season Fishing

Hi Everybody!

I am drinking my morning coffee and snow is lightly falling. It won't last and it's certainly a reminder that winter is not far off. The mercury is dipping below the freezing mark at night. The fly fishing window narrows during the day but you can still get out for an enjoyable afternoon when the weather allows. If love love drizzly/ snowy weather you might encounter a blue wing olive hatch along your favourite stretch of water.

Bruce Tilbrook submitted these images a few days ago. You will be able to tell that some are from one of his usual haunts in Central Alberta and several are from a well known cutthroat stream in Southern Alberta. Thanks again Bruce for submitting your pictures.

Central Alberta Spring Creek fly fishing

 

Southern Alberta Cutthroat Action