Sylvan Lake was Amazing (Thanksgiving Monday)

Sylvan Lake was special today. The vibrant fall colours of the aspen was an fantastic backdrop as Karen and I fly fished for lake whitefish. There was virtually no wind today and the chinook arch that sprawled across the western sky helped frame one of those days you don't want to end. The water temperature was 52F, pretty much perfect and the lake whitefish were definitely in the shallows. We spent half of our time in 5 feet of water looking for whitefish. We would cast our small blood worms just in front of them. We tried to keep our bloodworms about 8-12 inches off of the bottom. Sight fly fishing is definitely fun.

The only downside to Sylvan Lake at the moment is the low water. The boat launches are practically impossible to launch larger boats as we found out! Luckily we could hand launch our pram and paddle out to water deep enough to use our electric motor! If you launch at Palm Bay, you can avoid boat launch fees ($20). Definitely bring boots and a paddle or two!

Karen and I also had a great time watching immature bald eagles get flying lessons from their parents.

22C on Thanksgiving Monday is definitely a treat!

 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

After stumbling to the coffee pot, I noticed frost on all of my neighbour's roofs. I check the temperature and I was shocked to see it was -7C. That will definitely drop the water temperature. Trout will definitely be putting the feedbag on in the coming days!

I have been enjoying fly fishing at Boulder Lake near Blackfalds. You will not catch a lot of trout and you will definitely have to work at it but I love the challenge. I have connected with some tiger trout too.

The above picture is Barry Mitchell Pond at Heritage Ranch. It definitely has rainbows in it!

Karen and I want to wish everyone a Happy Canadian Thanksgiving. Enjoy some precious family time!

Boulder Lake

 

Walleye on the Red Deer River

Yesterday I went exploring below the Dickson Dam Spillway looking for walleye. It was a very over cast cool day that seemed perfect to target walleye! I do not target browns on the RDR this time of the year because they are spawning. Walleye love minnow imitations so yesterday I used a size 6 balanced minnow imitation that definitely got the attention of the walleye. I often will let my imposter drift about 8-9 feet down below an indicator or I will strip my fly with an intermediate sinking line. Look for current seems or holes. Both tactics worked yesterday. Once I found walleye, I really worked that area. It paid dividends!

 

Glorious Fall Fly Fishing in Central Alberta

The last few days have been special. Fall colours have been glorious the last 10 days in Central Alberta. If you have been out on the water, you probably have experienced decent fly fishing! Water temperatures have been close to 50F, and if you have been lucky water boatmen and backswimmers have made the trout quite active!

Yesterday Karen and I spent our time at Fish and Game Lake (West Lake) casting and retrieving backswimmers. Throat sample told Karen and I that the trout were feeding on daphnia and immature boatmen. Karen fished with blobs and micro leeches while I was casting and retrieving. I was doing very well while Karen was getting the occasional hook up.

My set up was a floating line with a weighted backswimmer 12 feet away with a floating backswimmer on the point about 4 more feet back. The weighted backswimmer made the floater dive. The hits were hard.

Today I spent some time at Boulder Lake near Blackfalds. My buddy Rick was there. He was doing well with a small Tokaryk Special while I was using my Bubba Gump Shrimp. I managed to land two rainbows in the 16 inch category! We both were waiting for the boatmen action to heat up. Well a chinnok was right over head and the wind was blowing quite hard so there were few risers. I did hear that Boulder was restocked just recently!

The weather will cool in the coming days but the fly fishing should be outstanding. I hope you can get out!

Boulder Lake under a Chinook Arch

Bower Ponds

 

A Hiking Adventure in Scotland

Karen and I just got back from a fantastic hiking trip in Scotland. We started to plan our hike on the West Highland Way two years ago and then Karen badly broke her right leg. What to do? Well Karen's surgeon thought that she might just recover fast enough to do the trip. That in itself made her quite determined to do the training to be ready. Karen only started walking in April. This was going to be a challenge. The training was tough but Karen's determination to be ready was impressive. Karen started off with crutches hobbling down the street a few hundred meters and the week before we left for Scotland, she walked 20 km. I knew she was ready. After only 7 months, Karen's dream to walk the West Highland Way was going to be a reality.

The hike itself was fabulous. Waking in the highlands is absolutely stunning. Some of the days we walked 25 plus kms. We also walked by many a trout stream that had brown trout, lochs with trophy brown trout and rivers that had amazing Atlantic Salmon fly fishing. Yes I was twitching but this trip was about something else.

I do have to say that the rivers we walked by seemed to be run by fly fishing clubs or by land owners. 

It was good for us to put the fly rods away and do this trip. We owe Dr. Bill Young a big thanks for encouraging us to do this trip. The 154 km walk was spectacular and we will remember it for years to come.

Well it is not winter yet. Time to get the fly rods organized and get out there!

 

John Geirach has Passed Away

John Geirach had a massive heart attack two days ago and passed away. John was an amazing author, trout bum and lover of bamboo fly rods. I enjoyed reading his books. Many of his books offered his insight to a lot of his thoughts about being on the water. He shared lots of his adventures some of which I had also done. I still reread his books. The fly fishing world is going to miss John.