Wednesday, November 13, 2024

The Dam Man Changes My Day Big Time ... for the Good!


I had a very interesting morning fly fishing for walleye on the Red Deer River just below the Dickson Dam. With the warm air still hanging around, I decided to head back to chase walleye. Why not, the fly fishing has been excellent.

After setting up, I made my first few casts and connected with walleye right away. It was quite overcast and very little wind. 

...AND THEN the horn sounds at the penstocks which usually means the dam man is increasing the flow. In a few minutes, the Red Deer River starts to rise and I have to move my gear bag away from the rapidly rising water along the shore. From past experiences, when this happens, the fish on the Red Deer River adjust where they are hanging out!

Well the eddy line I am working is now flowing quite fast. I wonder what the walleye will do? The walleye seemed to move alongside the fast water and several started to feed. I had to figure out how to keep my balanced silver minnow in the zone. I added some split shot and moved my strike indicator a bit deeper. It took a bit of trial and error to get the depth right. I also had to high stick so my line did not swing my fly out away from my intended path.  As always I am jigging my balanced silver minnow as it drifts along. I do not over jig it! The next 90 minutes was steady hook ups and I am sure I had a big smile on my face!

Eventually, the speed of the flow slowed and soon came to a stop. The fly fishing also slowed dramatically so I headed home for a late lunch.

Today the Dam Man was my friend. I have had other experiences where opening the spillway abruptly ended my day of fly fishing. Today I had a great day thanks to the Dam Man.





 

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