Glorious Afternoon at Sylvan Lake

Karen and I got on the water just before noon today. A very special awards ceremony at one of our grandkids' school made for a fun morning! It was a beautiful day. Just under 20C, light south east wind, the water temperature was perfect and chironomids were emerging all around us!  It is very cool to watch adult chironomids emerge from their shucks all around the boat! We set up in one spot and did not move until we had to dash for home so we could cheer for grandkids during their evening sports. We set up again in 10 feet of water and fly fished with our chironomids 12 inches off of the bottom! We used black and red ice cream chironomids, Zucchini Chironomids, and a chironomid designed by John Kent called Bleeding Elvis! The strikes were hard and the action was continuous. You have to love that! I have to thank my late friend, Bernie for getting us fly fishing at Sylvan Lake. It is a lot of fun, especially when the chironomids are emerging and the winds provide a perfect chop to indicator fly fish!

 

Wiggle Worms

Two days ago, I opened my plastic container full of wiggle worms and what I saw made me laugh! Many of the wiggle worms had melted into a puddle of a plastic glob!  I wasn't surprised, mostly annoyed. The wiggle worm materials have evolved a bit and many of the materials are now more durable and heat resistant. Mine are not. I have to get some of the newer material that stretches like crazy and tolerates heat a bit better.

I have posted before not to throw away the hooks and beads. Just peel the old body material off and replace it! Quality hooks are expensive.

Just a thought. I like barbed hooks for this pattern. I still pinch down the barb to make it barbless but the little bump allows me to tie on a second wiggle worm about 18 inches lower down by attaching tippet to the upper fly without slipping off the curve of the hook!

Whether you love'em or hate them, Wiggle worms are fish catchers. Are they actually flies, I have no idea. They have saved the day for me on several lakes. Just fish them right off of the bottom. I attach my forceps to the fly and lower right to the bottom of the lake, then adjust my strike indicator so my fly is about 12-18 inches off of the bottom. Some fly fishers love to get their bloodworm patterns just a few inches off of the bottom. You will have to experiment!

Rocky mountain whitefish love them as do trout on rivers. I have also had a lot of success catching walleye on these flies on the Red Deer River!

Do a little research and find the most durable version of the wiggle worm material. There are a variety of colours. You will be amazed at what colours work on your local waters! I have friends who buy their wiggle worm bodies from a pet shop. They find a dog toy with a bunch of little fingers on them. They cut off the fingers and use them for their wiggle worm bodies.

Wiggle Worms

Hook: Daiichi 1120 size 8-12 or your favourite curved nymph hook

Thread: Red 6/0

Bead: 7/64ths or 1/8th tungsten (I like my bead to be half way along the shank of the hook)

Body Wiggle worm material

The Cola Worm is a simple variation that simply catches fish both on lakes and rivers!

 

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there on this windy blustery cold day. I hope you are able to spend some time with your family! Family is important to me!

Well the last week has been busy! Two days ago, Karen, Steve, Taryn and I made it out to Swan Lake, west of Caroline. It is a beautiful place to fly fish although it is a challenging fishery. We landed just one pike and we got into several lake trout but they all shook off. Darn. The water temperature was still about 56F too so the lakes were not all 40 feet down.

Karen and I along with Betty and Steve were out chasing browns, rainbows and tiger trout too. The mosquitos were out and relentless. We had to cover up and use insect spray. We all got into some nice fish!

Hal and Adam hit Beaver Lake. Below is a throat sample from a nicer fish Hal caught. Blood worms were the order of the day. I usually tie on a fly called Duct Tape and fish it right near the bottom of the lake.

Brown drakes have been out on the Red Deer River. Keep an eye out on your favourite river! Rivers are slowly coming into shape.

Well this unsettled weather will soon be gone. Then we can get back to what we enjoy!

Thanks for the throat sample, Hal!