First Fly Fishing Trip of the Year-Cutthroat!

Karen and I needed to escape for a few days. So we did. It was an opportunity to enjoy fly fishing while taking our minds off of some tough times! We headed south of the border. We had no problems at all in that regard. We did discover that gas was expensive just like home and so are food costs. No matter!

Both Karen and I love cutthroat trout. We headed to a place we have visited many times before. It was warm. As a matter of fact, it was 27C when we arrived. We headed right to the lake and had an excellent afternoon chasing cutthroat! We decided to fly fish from shore and that was an excellent decision. We tied on baby damsels and caught our share of cutties, many in the 18-22 inch category! The second day at the lake was amazing. The cutties were willing and hungry. Karen tried using an orange beaded baby damsel and the trout were all over it! I then tied on a Pumpkin Head with a head turner orange bead! The cutties again loved it. Hmm could the orange bead be a beacon for the cutts? Well I tied on a CBO, Canadian Brown and Orange, and yes the cutties loved that too! The tried and true Tokaryk Special also got the attention of the cutties.

Well day three started off slow after a heavy thunderstorm the night before. The wind was a bit cooler even though I still wore shorts. Things that day didn't really get going until lunch time and beyond. The mercury still climbed to 20C.

I started taking throat samples. The cutts were eating tiny chironomids. We just carried on with our baby damsels, Pumpkin Heads, Tokaryks and Blue Flash Damsels. They were enough!

Our final day, we decided to go exploring and try some different strategies. We found several new areas to fly fish. I also switched up to streamer fly fishing with a Blue Flash Damsel on an intermediate line. The cutts chased my offering as soon as they saw it! That was a lot of fun!

Well we had to get back home. Obligations called. We didn't like the weather forecast but we had to get back. Luckily the roads were fine until we hit the Ring Road in Calgary! We ran into snow squalls but the roads were just wet and not icy!

Our first road trip was a lot of fun and an excellent distraction for a few days. We needed the break.

It looks like there is open water in Central Alberta. Once the weather warms a bit I will get an update out there. I know many of you have already been on the water. I'd love to hear about your adventures. Send some pictures.

I didn't even fall in!

Spring south of the border!

Karen has a great sense of humour!

Pumpkin Heads got the attention of cutthroat!

Blue Flash Damsels-2 versions

Tiny size 22-24 chironomids were in the throat samples.