Fly Fishing the Edges

Karen and I knew we were going to get out to fly fish today. We had a plan to head west but the weather radar pushed us east! We were pleasantly surprised to see so much water in the fields east of Red Deer. The sloughs are filling up and the pot hole lakes are in great shape. Where we went, the water temperature was 58F. We were pleasantly surprised. ...and the trout were actice!

Today was quite interesting. Many of the fish, especially the nicer fish were caught on the edges. We caught several in 2-4 feet of water right along the banks. We used Tokaryk Specials most of the day. There was a caddis hatch in the early afternoon. The fish were greedily sipping the caddis flies down. I did fly fish with a smaller sedge like pattern. I did get two takes. I will be armed with my caddis fly box next time!

Daphnia in most throat samples!

 

Lower Kananaskis Lake

Yesterday, Steve, Pat, Reese and I headed to Lower Kananaskis Lake. Both Steve and Pat are still working so our window to go was on the weekend even though the weather was not favourable. The high was 6C and it snowed on us a lot! Well we tried several spots and many different stategies but we came up empty. You are not going to catch big numbers at Lower K but you do have a chance at a big bull trout, rainbows or cutthroat trout! Today was not our day. No matter. We had a great time on the boat. We did have to bundle up. It was awesome to catch up with my friends. We laughed a lot!

We did encounter 7 grizzly bears including two right at the boat launch! You must carry bear spray and use common sense to avoid bear encounters. Keep your distance from bears.

If you do go to Kananaskis Lakes, check weather and wind. I did see a fellow on shore catch a few trout. He was working right along a drop off looking for cruising trout!

 

River Flows-Be Sure to Monitor if You are Heading Out

It will not be too long until our rivers are back in shape. With June 16th rapidly approaching, our cutthroat rivers will then be open! keep an eye on Alberta Basins to monitor river flows before you head out to your favourite stream. As you can see, most rivers that flow from the Eastern slopes are in a run-off situation. They are flowing dangerously fast. The best thing to do is wait until the river flows are safe.