May Long Weekend is Approaching

Hi Everyone!

May Long Weekend is upon us. How can you tell? Well a cold front seems to be rolling in with big wind. Typical.

I just got back from spending a week with my mom. Celebrating Mother's Day was a lot of fun. As we approached Calgary on our return to Alberta, we flew over the Red Deer River. That made me smile. I looked straight down from 30 000 feet and I could see the Bleriot Ferry Crossing. That was cool!

Most lakes in Central Alberta have been stocked. Kerbes Pond out Erskine way has been stocked and my neighbour and his friend confirmed that the fishing was excellent. I see that over 20 000 trout were stocked in Dickson Trout Pond. That should make for lots of excellent fly fishing!

Check the Alberta Stocking Page to see the current lakes that now have been stocked.

On May 15th, the Red Deer River below Dickson Dam opens. Be sure to read the regulations. Walleye and brown trout are catch and release only! Sylvan, Gull and Pine Lakes also open on May 15th.

Please be aware that some of the usual side roads off of Sylvan are closed to launching boats. See the pictures below. I assume that parking and damage at these "local" launches maybe the culprit! Bigger boats will need to run over to Sunbreakers and pay the launching/parking fees. I think there is a spot in town to launch for a fee but parking in town is super expensive.

Well, bundle up; get your kits ready. Be sure to get your fishing license from Alberta Relm. Be careful, there are some scam licensing web sites out there. Alberta Relm is the only place to get your fishing and hunting licenses on line. Of course you can purchase these licenses from reputable shops.

Stay safe and have a fun May Long Weekend.

My mom and I on Mother's Day

Photos around Sylvan are courtesy of Sylvan and Gull Lake Fishing Facebook Page

 

Early Season Fly Fishing in the West Country

Ice is just off of most of our west country pot hole lakes. Karen, Rick and I have been out having a great time sampling the early season fly fishing! Look at the fish finder below. The water temperature was a frigid 41 F just below the surface. The fishing yesterday was slow in the morning but once the water temperature got to 43 F, the fish became active. We sampled several trout that were feeding on tiny, size 24 chironomids. Rick and I had to laugh! Our best fly yesterday was a Tokaryk Special 2.0 although later in the afternoon, we found trout actively feeding on size 16 chironomids in a different location. We still fly fished with Tokaryk Specials but we added a chironomid dropper that got us several trout!

Today, Karen and I made a return visit! The water was a balmy 46F and by the end of the afternoon, it had edged up 2 more degrees F. Karen and I just fished with size 16 chironomids all day. We connected with browns, rainbows and tigers all day. We messed with our depths here and there but anywhere from 8 to 10 feet below a strike indicator got us into trout! Our best fly, was a variant of "Up in Smoke" chironomid size 16. 

The birds were a serious distraction while out on the lake. Sandhill Cranes, loons, eagles and osprey along with many shoreline birds made the lake feel alive.

The last two days were cool. We all brought our layers and that helped us be comfortable. It was a lot of fun out on the water. The last several trips have allowed us to shake down our gear and get everything set up just right!

Get out there when you can. The season is definitely off to a great start!

Size 24 chironomids, can you find the water boatman and backswimmer?

Bigger chironomids later in the day!

Lots of colourful tigers!

Leeches and chironomids. What a combination!

 

Windy Sunday at Fish and Game (West Lake)

What a windy Sunday! Wind gusts up to 60 kph! Well Karen, Hal, Adam and I headed to the Fish and Game lake called West Lake. Sadly the lake is quite low but the rainbows are still doing great. The 6 or 7 aerators are doing a great job keeping the lake well oxygenated.  The water was 50F. After launching, Karen and I headed to a spot with less wind. Karen fished with a Tokaryk Special and she landed an excellent rainbow. A throat sample included several large leeches, some tiny boatmen and scuds.I  was stripping Blue Flash Damsels and caught a few but quickly changed to a basic black leech after seeing the rainbows were eating leeches, scuds and the occasional damsel fly nymph! It didn't take long to connect with a dandy rainbow on my black leech streamer. Karen tagged another rainbow on a Vampire Leech. Hal was doing great with Tokaryk Specials and Adam started landing rainbows after he switched to cast and retrieve! The leeches as you can see were large. I was stripping a 4 inch black leech and the larger rainbows showed a lot of interest in them. Looks like the wind is hanging around for a few days. I hope you were able to get out this weekend.

That is a lot of calories in this throat sample.

Hal was on fire!

A bald eagle looking for an easy meal!