Walleye on the Red Deer River

Have you ever caught walleye on a fly? It is an excellent challenge. Karen and I hit the Red Deer River this morning with our fly rods. We rooted around until we found some walleye. We tied on a white balanced fly (size 4) and jigged it through some likely looking walleye spots! The takes are subtle. A little bounce of the strike indicator is a hit! We also fly fished with a fly called a Candy Corn. The walleye liked Dave Green's neat two tone orange Candy Corn as well.

It was cold this morning! Lots of layers made us comfortable. Karen wore her trusty Muck boots and I put on my waders. It was quite overcast as well this morning. For some reason, we seem to have better success on cloudy days.

We even had a curious bull moose pop out of the willows to pay us a visit!

 

A Chinook Arch Over Sylvan Lake

What a great day to be outside. A chinook arch stretched across the western sky! It was there all day. Actually it pulled off mid afternoon but shortly after, it reformed. It was very cool to watch! Karen and I decided to stay close to home today and we were glad we did. We had a second cup of coffee this morning. It was cold, a frosty -5C. Then we loaded up the gear and pram then headed to Palm Bay to launch. We headed to the west end of the lake. It took us a bit of moving around to find the most active area with lake whitefish. We probed with blood worm patterns. We finally settled on 10 feet of water. We also added a red butt zucchini to our train of flies. The whitefish smashed the zucchini when they saw it. We could have stayed until dark but family obligations pointed us home. That was just fine after a wonderful day on the water.

A Well Chewed Red Butt Zucchini!

Perfect Water Temperature

Our Go To Leader Material

 

Lake Water Temperatures in Central Alberta Are Dropping Quickly

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend everyone! Karen and I were having a great time with our family! We have a lot to be thankful for!

I was quite shocked today when I turned on my Garmin Fish Finder and saw the surface water temperature was a bone chilling 44F. That cold front that settled over Central Alberta and dropped some snow caused our lakes' water temperature to drop down 5 of 6 degrees celsius.

Well Karen and I broke out the warm jackets and wind pants today. Karen wore 2 jackets. The wind was definitely cold. We also threw a couple of small towels into our kit so we can keep our hands dry. When they are wet with the cold water, they get cold fast, especially when there is wind.

Well today was a decent day out on the water but not amazing. Throat samples suggested that the trout were not very active the last few days. Our catch rate was lower than last week. The fish were definitely lethargic! I hope that picks up the next time we get out!

Lots of geese were on the move as well!

Actively feeding fish were deeper today. I was able to hook up a lot stripping backswimmers and boatmen in the afternoon using an intermediate line. Today I had to count down to 15 to get strikes as I stripped in my team of three flies. I caught trout on all three flies.  (a Rinse and Repeat and two modified Flashbacks) I had them spaced 2 to 3 feet apart!

 

Being at the Right Place at the Right Time

I love days like today! The day was full of cool moments. That big rainbow that Karen caught was no coincidence. Karen saw a trout cycling up and down a shore in perhaps 3 feet of water. We slid the pram to within casting distance. Karen adjusted her Tokaryk Special to just 2 feet below her strike indicator. About 7 or 8 minutes later, this big rainbow took her fly. We had no idea that the rainbow was gigantic! Karen was able to subdue this sizeable trout after a great battle. We both looked at each other and laughed.

Later in the day we went back to a spot that we liked. Karen was hooking more rainbows on Flashback Pheasant Tails, size 14. I could see boatmen everywhere so I decided to strip Flashbacks using my intermediate line. It was a good choice. I hooked 4 brown trout in short order. The boatman were diving all over the place but no trout were rolling on the surface so I stripped my offering just below the surface. The strikes were hard. I loved it!

During our day there were lulls but the fly fishing was excellent. Tiger trout, rainbows and brown trout were all active at some point during the day. I caught browns stripping a Blue Flash Damsel as well as boatmen and backswimmers. I love the jarring takes.

For most of the afternoon, Karen added a Flashback below her Tokaryk Special. It paid off with several trout brought to hand.

Take a look at the throat samples today. Daphnia, immature damsels, shrimp and boatmen were on the menu! That helped us a lot. Most of our trout were caught on the edges although I did catch several stripping my intermediate line with backswimmers and boatmen.

The surface water temperature hovered around 50F all day. The trout were active and aggressive today. We loved that!

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, Canadian style of course! I hope you are able to spend time with your family during the coming days! Family means a lot to Karen and I!

Rinse and Repeat Backswimmer

Size 14 Flashback Pheasant Tail Caught the Attention of this Brown Trout

Throat samples from today!

My favourite trout streamer is a Blue Flash Damsel. I love to strip this streamer with my intermediate line. I count down to get a specific depth. Today I was counting to 10 then retrieving!

 

Beautiful Day at Mitchell Lake

The splendor of autumn was definitely a distraction today. Both Karen and I took in the fall colours as we fly fished at Mitchell Lake. The warm sun and relatively active trout made for a wonderful day. As we got set up this morning, we could see trout near the surface. Karen caught a mid sized tiger trout just three feet below her strike indicator on a Tokaryk Special right away. ...and you guessed it, Karen stuck with a Tokaryk Special all day and brought a lot of trout to hand. Me? Well I wanted to try lots of different tactics. They all worked but not as well as a Tokaryk Special from 3-7 feet below a strike indicator. I caught trout on flashbacks, striping Blue Flash damsels and hanging a Tokaryk Special under a strike indicator. I also got a lot of grabs with backswimmers with a floating line but I kept losing them.  I did see backswimmers darting around under the water. Not a lot but the trout were definitely interested. Oh well.

There is no question the trout are getting aggressive as the water temperature drops. Today, Mitchell Lake was down to 50F in the morning on the surface. Throat samples included daphnia and glass worms. That can make for a frustrating day out on the water. Under these circumstances blobs will get you into trout although Karen and I usually tie on a Tokaryk Special and do well. I do have some chaoborus  (glass worms) flies but we didn't use them today. The water at Mitchell Lake is gin clear. We could see trout cruising in 13 feet of water. Today I hooked several trout as they swam by jigging my fly to get their attention. It is cool to watch them open their mouths and the take your fly!

Have you looked at the upcoming weather forecast. Snow and way cooler temperatures are on the way. Better find your winter jacket.

 

We Have a New Home for Fly Tying

 

Hal fly fishing in the Parkland Region of Manitoba a few years back!

Just as Karen and I got in yesterday from Sylvan Lake, our phone was ringing! It was George's son Jon on the phone offering us a spot at his church for fly tying. More details to follow but we think we have a space for Fly Tying Mondays. I am quite thrilled and thankful to Jon. Just after the phone conversation, a rainbow stretched out right behind our pram. I smiled!

Back to Sylvan Lake

Fly fishing was not supposed to be in the cards today because our Gulf station wagon was getting ready for winter. Luckily getting on the snow tires, an oil change and inspection took only a couple of hours so we had the rest of the day. We took a quick look at the weather, especially the wind forecast and decided that we could spend the afternoon at Sylvan Lake. We enjoy fly fishing for lake whitefish.

We launched at Palm Bay. It is shallow and fortunately for Karen and I, we have Muck boots so we have no problems wading into the water until we can use our electric motor. We motored to the west end of the lake and fished in 8-9 feet of water. We had to move around a bit but we were fortunate enough to find whitefish. As usual we used a small blood worm. Honestly I think you could catch the whitefish with a bare red hook. There were occasional wind gusts but the hills at the west end protected us from the north west wind.

Karen and I remembered how amazing the fly fishing was in the spring. Well today the fly fishing was decent but not outstanding. We enjoyed seeing moose tracks, eagles flying, loons, mergansers and one particular eagle who watched us for the entire afternoon from a low perch in a tree!

The lake whites were fiesty today. We set our strike indicators so our blood worms were from 6-12 inches off of the bottom. We just clamped our forcepts onto our flies and lowered them to the bottom and then adjusted our strike indicators. 

Fabulous afternoon. There were a few other boats out but it felt like we had the place to ourselves. As always, getting outside is one of the best medicines in the world!