Mid Lake Structure at Dickson Trout Pond

Dickson Trout Pond is a very interesting place to fly fish! When the pond was built, lots of humps and drop offs were added. Today the early morning water temperature was 59-60F! By 3 pm, the surface water temperature was close to 65F. There is an algae bloom building on the lake too! Today the algae bloom did not affect our fly fishing.

Karen and I motored to the far end of the lake and fly fished in 14 feet of water. We caught lots of stocker trout so we moved on. There are several spots on the lake that are really shallow with a distinct drop off on its edges. Karen and I motored over to one and we fly fished right along the drop off side of a long berm that is just under the water. We set up with Tokaryks and Bubba Gump Shrimp under an indicator about 5-6 feet down. The rainbows were quite active along the edges of that sunken berm. We caught mostly stockies but we connected with a few carry over rainbows and some decent tiger trout! The trout seemed to be cruising along the drop off edge of the berm. The mid lake "berms" drop off on the edges and that is comfort or safety for the trout! 

Can you see the damsel t migrating to shore? Lots of algae blooming at Dickson1

 

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!