Karen and I were able to get out for 6 hours today! We were supposed to be in a meeting today that was cancelled. All our gear is in the garage and it can be loaded into the car in just 5 minutes. We checked the weather forecast and were quite shocked to see the low last night was close to -10C in places. Burr. I wonder what the water temperatures are going to be? We decided top head east of Red Deer. We didn't arrive until late morning. That was perfect because the air temperature was just above freezing. As we walked to the water we laughed at our long shadows. The sun is now quite low on the horizon as we head towards the shortest daylight of the year. We also do not shift back to standard time this year in Alberta. That will make mornings rather dark.
Well the sounder told us that the water temperature is just above 40F. That is cold. There was not a lot of activity in the water either. Eventually I caught 2 beautiful tiger trout on Tokaryk 2.0s. Followed by several browns. Karen tangled with mostly rainbows today. We downsized our Tokaryks today to size 12, balanced. That seemed to make a difference. Stripping flashbacks, and leeches got no action for me today. Fly fishing in less than 10 feet of water is where we found feeding trout!
Keep in mind that some bodies of water will turn over soon! Not all will. Once the top layer of water gets to about 38F, it is more dense than the water below and the water will mix or turn over. At times, wind will help with this process too!
Karen and I wondered if today was our last stillwater day of the year. I hope not! Get your warm winter jacket on and get out one last time!
Get your fly tying gear dusted off. Fly Tying Mondays will be gearing up for the third Monday in November! More details soon!
Wow that is cccold water!
