Off to the Parkland Region in Manitoba

It has been 3 years. The Parkland Region of Manitoba is a fabulous place to fly fish for so many species of trout! COVID has definitely put a damper on our opportunities to get to the Russell/Roblin area! The lakes are beautiful especially when the fall colours are out. This area is also part of the flyway for migratory birds, so you will see snow geese, cranes and geese moving though. It is definitely a popular place to hunt for migratory birds.

With a little luck, we hope to shake hands with tiger trout, brown trout and rainbow trout! I will definitely have a trip report in about 11 days or so!

 

Enjoying the Last Day of Summer on the Water

What a beautiful day. It is the last day of summer and we had a heavy frost last night. Karen and I decided to have a second cup of coffee before we headed off to chase rainbows. We arrived around 11 am. Leaves on the trees were definitely displaying their vibrant fall colours. We were armed with shrimp and boatmen/backswimmer fly patterns. The shrimp flies worked great late in the morning and about 1:30 pm we switched to boatmen fly patterns. The Bubba Gump Shrimp was a winner right away and then Phil Rowley's  Greater Water Floatmen pattern along with flashbacks kept the action quite steady!

Our first throat sample of the morning showed that the rainbows were feeding on a combination of daphnia and small shrimp. The water temperature was down close to 60F and the rainbows were definitely on the prowl looking to put the feedbag on!

Early in the afternoon, the rainbows started darting and slashing just below the surface looking for boatmen and a few backswimmers.. I switched from indicator fishing to casting and retrieving. I was stripping a boatmen that had a bead so it would get down a bit. Karen switched to flashbacks just 3 feet below her indicator. I would say the catch rate was about the same. The warm afternoon sunshine and steady action made the afternoon slide away too fast. It was one of those days you just do not want it to end. 

Can you see the boatman Fly Pattern in the mouth of the Rainbow?

Daphnia, small shrimp and some water mites in this throat sample

This throat sample was full of small shrimp!

 

A Very Cool Backswimmer Pattern-The Suspender Backswimmer

 This is another very creative concept from Phil Rowley. The idea is to suspend a backswimmer just below the water surface using a piece of a foam cylinder (bobbie cord) to keep the backswimmer in the proper upside down position. Take a look at the video! Phil has had several excellent days using this unique backswimmer pattern.

Fish these with a floating line. Just wait the trout love these!

I have been topping up my backswimmers and boatmen section of my stillwater fly box. Off to the Parkland Region of Manitoba in a few days.