More Chironomid Fly Fishing at Sylvan Lake

If you like chironomid fly fishing, definitely take the time to go to Sylvan Lake! The whitefish, walleye and pike will eat a chironomid. We fished with a wide variety of size 14 chironomids although a basic black and red ice cream cone chironomid will do just fine! Today Larry, Rick and I launched at Sun Breakers Cove. The boat launch is free and if you go early, you can park close to the launch! Find 6 or 7 feet of water and fly fish a foot off of the bottom. Today was windy but fortunately it was a west wind then changing to a north west wind. There was places to get out of the wind and set up in! The fishing today was excellent and fairly consistent. Why not give it a try.What an enjoyable day. 

Lots of Rain and River Flow Adviseries in the West Country

Wow, lots of rain in the west country! Head over to Alberta Basins to see water levels of your favourite rivers. Be safe out there!

It Is Cutthroat Season, ...Finally

Mid June, ...finally! The Eastern Slopes here in Alberta are open to fishing. That means we can enjoy many pristine rivers as they flow along our rocky mountains and foothills. West slope cutthroat are easily my favourite trout to chase. They can be found in many rivers in Alberta. Our cutthroat are protected. They can be found in catch and release fisheries. That is the only way to make them sustainable.

Today  Colin and I fished a river that was high and off color but quite fishable. Be careful crossing rivers this time of the river. They can be fast and strong enough to knock you down. Check Alberta Basin for the flow rates on your favourite streams.

We saw only two rises today even though we saw lots of mayflies. We nymphed and were quite successful. We both commented how great it felt to be back out cutthroat fly fishing. The sun, heat, building thunderstorms, rumbling thunder, great scenery and willing fish made us smile.

Happy Father's Day from Sylvan Lake

 

Happy Father's Day everybody! Karen and I hope you had a great day! We decided to slide out to Sylvan Lake to chironomid fly fish. The water temperature was 55 to 57 F. Still excellent. We started the day in 7 feet of water and caught lots of lake whitefish and a pike on a basic black and red ice cream cone chironomid. We tried to stay close to the bottom, that added a lot to our success. When we moved into 6 feet of water, we could see the lake whites cruising and then it became a sight fishing game. Now that was a load of fun.

We headed home mid afternoon. We knew the boat launch would be busy and it was. A beautiful Father's Day is a great excuse to get out on the water.

Why Catch and Release is Great

Dan Reaman sent this this cool image of the same brown trout, one year apart. Catch and release definitely works. Well Done Dan!

Tay River Restoration Project

Trout Unlimited Canada (TUC) organized a workday on the Tay River; an important tributary of the Clearwater River, on Saturday, June 8 as a riparian restoration project.

TUC biologists as well as 12 other volunteers from Red Deer and Calgary came together to plant live willow stakes and brush layers to help stabilize the river bank and improve habitat for native fish species. This work as well as other work projects scheduled for the Tay River are designed to not only improve the river’s riparian health but also improve important fish habitat for Bull Trout, Plains Suckers and other native and naturalized fish species. 

It is important to acknowledge the work that is being done on our streams and rivers to ensure healthy fish habitat. It takes planning as well as people to come out and volunteer their time to  make these workdays successful. Please check out this blog as well as TUC’s website for future field projects.

Good Times in the Parkland Region of Manitoba

Fly fishing in the Parkland Region of Manitoba is one of my favourite destinations to go. The lake possibilities are diverse. Like any other lakes, there are ebbs and flows about how well they each fish. Here is what we found out during our adventure.

Tokaryk Lake has been off of our destinations because of the perch that have made their way into the lake. If you check the Manitoba Fish Stocking, you will realize that there should be a decent population of both rainbows and browns. We did catch some good browns and we only saw first year rainbows. Yes we caught perch.

Corstorphine Lake is a gem at the moment. The fish have grown to impressive sizes. When you hook up, you are going to have a real challenge to land these big rainbows. They fight hard and are not easy to land. They can be fickle too. Edge fishing seems to be a good strategy.

Patterson Lake was one of my favourite lakes but a suckers are dominating the lake. That means the blood worms and chironomids are being sucked off of the bottom by these fish. You can find some rainbows and browns but sadly the biomass of the lake is dominated by suckers.

We did not fish East and West Goose Lake this time. They are usually a decent fishery. In the two weeks we were in the area, we saw very few fisherman on these lakes. We passed by them often.

Twin Lakes is all about tiger trout. The tigers at the moment are doing great. The chironomids, blood worms and forage is excellent although we have encountered more suckers in the lake. We spent a few extra days at Twin because the chironomid hatches were excellent while we were there!

Larry, Colin, Murray and I had several great days on the lakes. Lots of fun.

Take a look at the action!

Phil Rowley photo

Phil Rowley photo

Larry Prowse photo

Larry Prowse photo