Maligne Lake has been given so many superlatives over the years for good reason. It is definitely one of the most spectacular places in Canada and the world for that matter. It is only 5-6 hours drive from Red Deer and it is one of our favourite places to fly fish and camp. Jasper National Park is a Canadian treasure and that is where Maligne Lake is. Karen and I were lucky enough to get a backcountry pass for two nights on the lake. We organized our camping gear and Big Blue. Big Blue is our 18 foot prospector canoe that I built in 1981. It carries a lot of gear and we love to paddle Big Blue.
Once at Maligne Lake we paddled to our designated camping spot on the lake. Maligne Lake has 3 backcountry camping spots. The lake is 22 km long! Yes, you have to have reservations. We set up camp and got ready to fly fish! When we got there, we could tell that we were going to have a mixed bag of weather. Showers were moving through. No matter we had excellent rain gear. We set up our fly rods for chironomids. The water temperature was 50F and we saw many chironomid shucks on the water. Even though we are in Alberta, you need a Parks Canada fishing license. You also have to keep in mind that you can only use a single barbless hook and no lead of any sort can be used. Following the rules is important! Parks Canada has staff at the boat launch checking your reservations and licensing! Fair enough! You can use electric motors on prams. Many guides use 24 foot long freighter canoes powered by a Torqeedo electric motor powered by a bank of lithium batteries. These guide boats can move at 8 mph! We use arm power! The lake is tremendously deep in spots and there are tour boats on the lake that head to world famous Spirit Island.
The only real enemy you have on the lake is WIND! The lake can be very dangerous if the wind starts to blow hard. We were lucky enough to not have big wind although we did have rain squalls that limited where we could go for short periods of time.
We basically used John Kent's Rusty Nail chironomid and at times a red butt zucchini chironomid. We move around the lake looking for fish with our sounder. Then we set up and have some fun.
The mood of the lake changed constantly during our adventure. Rain showers, some wind gusts, low lying clouds, fog and big blue sky arrived at some point!
So, how was the fly fishing? In a word, fantastic. We loved our stay on the lake. We brought our own wood for an evening fire. That helped warm us up after being on the water. Our last day was amazing. Fog greeted us and we still paddlesd down the lake to find a fly fishing spot. As the air warmed, the lake unfolded in front of us. It was heaven on earth.
Be sure to have lots of layers of clothes if you go!
Take a look at our canoe. We rigged up an anchor system so we could stay in one place. That helped us a lot. The guides on the lake mostly troll and they are quite successful. We like to fly fish from a stationary platform and hence we use anchors.
Take a look at the pictures. Click on the pictures to make them larger!
Rusty Nail Chironomids are perfect!
Loons chasing a moose away from their nest!
A loon wanting my prize for lunch!
A big brooky made me have to do some creative things to land it!
Be prepared for rain showers.
We had many double headers. We have learned to have two nets in the canoe.
Foggy mornings are amazing!
Supper!
Where did the lake go?
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