Doc Spratleys using Dirty Bug Yarn

My good friend Phil Rowley at one point did contract fly tying. Phil has lamented several times that he tied more Doc Spratleys than probably any other fly. He was not a big fan of the fly. I'm guessing because of all the time he spent tying this popular fly. 

Now that Dirty Bug Yarn is out on the market, Doc Spratleys look very cool and will definitely be fish catchers. Phil did a video on how to tie Doc Spratleys. The combination of colours is endless. After talking to my buddy Reid Stoyberg, I have been building minnow imitations using Dirty Bug Yarn.

I know where I'm going to try these patterns. I'll let you know how it went.

Do not forget that Dirty Bug Yarn makes fantastic bodies for caddis pupa patterns. I will tie some of the those up in the coming days! There are lot of "knock off" dirty bug yarns out there! You can decide which ones you like the best!

 

Dickson Trout Pond-A Pleasant Surprise

Well the rain is finally behind us although I am quite grateful for all the moisture that was left behind in Central Alberta.

Karen wasn't in any rush to get out. Her comment at the door was "post cold front fly fishing will probably be slow."

Karen and I had a 5 hour window to fly fish today, so we headed out to Dickson Trout Pond to see what was going on. I knew that 20 000 trout have been stocked in Dickson but were there carry over trout?  I was pleased to see the surface water temperature down to 52F. Excellent. As we started to launch, we could see 100s of swallows all over the lake dipping and diving. They were definitely picking up something off of the surface. 

Once we motored over to a spot to set up, we tied on Tokaryk Specials 2.0 and started to fly fish. I finally hooked a decent rainbow and it was full of chironomids. The chironomids were still alive too. Well the chironomids were tiny, size 16 to size 20. We tied on a size 16 rusty nail chironomid and Karen moments later was tangling with a dandy tiger trout. She repeated that just a few minutes later. The throat samples continued to show that a rusty nail was a great choice as long as it was size 16 or smaller. I then hooked a large tiger trout. Same thing. We caught some mid sized rainbows that again had chironomids that were small.

The swallows disappeared and the chironomid fishing slowed down a lot around lunch time.

The one disappointing thing about Dickson is the introduction of perch! They did not dominate our day although every time I said the word perch, I seemed to catch one shortly after. I wish the perch were never introduced.

Well we went exploring. We found lots of this year's stockers when we fished with Bubba Gump Shrimp about 8 feet down in 12 feet of water! As you can see, there are definitely carry over rainbows and tiger trout in Dickson. As for the post cold front fly fishing being slow. Hmm, that certainly was not the case today!

Our time flew by way too fast. We were on grandkid duty as soon as school was out. We love hanging with our grandkids so it was not too much of a tragedy to leave by 2:15 pm.

The swallows were swooping all over the pond picking off chironomid adults!

Throat samples definitely help us figure out what the trout are dining on!

Rusty Nail Chironomids-Size 17 

I am not a fan of perch. They quickly will dominate a lake. 

 

Strip Leech

Its a rainy Tuesday. Three days of rain in a row. ...and the moisture is so welcome. I hope it helps our water table.

I have encountered several throat samples this year that have contained leeches. Big leeches. Well, I rarely have stripped a big leech in the past but this year, I have made an effort to try this tactic. I have used an intermediate sinking line to cast and retrieve. I have been pleasantly surprised at my success and I have been more than glad to get away from watching a strike indicator.

The strip leech pattern that I designed is simple. It is basically pine squirrel tied on a hook. I doubt my pattern is unique and it is a fish catcher.

I have made a tutorial on how I tie it up.

Take a look!

Strip Leech

Hook: Daiichi 1760 size 8 (use your favourite streamer hook)

Bead: 1/8 (brass or tungsten) silver, gold, blue

Rib: silver wire, small (Optional step)

Body: Pine squirrel (black or brown)

Flash: Krinkle Mirror Flash, pearl (or your favourite flash)

Head: Pine squirrel

Collar: Black dubbing (optional)

Tie in your pine squirrel strip right behind the bead and add some flash!

This is an optional step. It can prevent the rabbit strip from fouling on the tip of the hook. If you do this step, then tie in silver wire first before installing pine squirrel. 

Clip 4 or 5 cm of pine squirrel, cut off the hid and make a dubbing loop; spin up the pine squirrel. Then wrap!

Create a dubbing loop and wrap onto the front of the hook to create a neat head. Keep it sparse! Add some dubbing to make the collar neat (optional step) and go fish!

 

Million Dollar Rain

Thank goodness. Rain and lots of it! Central Alberta was so dry. This sustained rain will help a lot. The rivers are now getting dangerously high with all this rain and run off starting to happen. The great news is the snow pack is way above average but that means run off maybe longer than usual. The colder weather and rain will definitely help lower water temperatures in the short term on our pot hole lakes.

I have been tying flies the last two days. The rain will not last but we certainly need it. From Rocky Mountain House to Stettler, it is dry. Bring on the rain. I hope it helps bring our water table up a bit as well!

 

Birch Lake

Karen and I spent the day at Birch Lake today. It is a lake full of challenges. Perhaps the biggest challenge is just launching your watercraft! You have to negotiate a hill down to the lake that is about 50 m. It is steep in a couple of spots too. Luckily we borrowed a wheeled frame from my buddy Doug that made getting our pram down to the lake easy. Even the grunt back up the hill at the end of the day wasn't too bad because of the wheeled frame we put under the boat.

Well our first stop on the lake was quite productive for Karen. By the time I had a take, she landed 2 brookies and three rainbows. The brookies belched up stickleback minnows. Karen was using her usual tried and true Tokaryk Special. We set up on a drop off and the trout were feeding on the shallow side of the drop off.

We headed to the far end of the lake and again fished along a drop off. I switched to casting and retrieving a black leech streamer on an intermediate line. I managed to hook three nice rainbows. Karen hooked another nice rainbow on her Tokaryk Special.

A bathometric map certainly helped us decide where we would set up on the lake.

We kept prospecting and found the active fish were about 8 feet down. That was interesting considering the water temperature was around 65F. 

Stripping the streamer got more action for a while.

Near the end of the day we set up in a spot I like. I hooked a sizeable brown and Karen followed suit a few minutes later. I continued to strip a leech and Karen stayed with her Tokaryk Special! Two different strategies. Both worked although at times one was better than the other.

The air temperature was climbing to close to 27C.  At 5 pm we called it a day. 

If the weather forecast is accurate, we have rain on the way. We definitely need the moisture. It is tinder dry out there!

Enjoy the upcoming weekend. Sunday maybe a wet one!

Brook sticklebacks were on the menu of the trout!

Celebrating a fun day out on the water!

 

Sportsman's Den Final Closeout this Week

 

Shrimp, ...or is it Scuds?

Will the fish in West Lake (Fish and Game Pond) survive the upcoming heat that is coming this summer? It is hard to tell. The lake has dropped 4 or 5 feet and there is 14 feet of water in places but the algae bloom and high water temperatures can cause a kill of the rainbows in the lake.

The team at F and G are trying everything in their power to raise the level of the lake. I hope they are successful.

Karen and I were back out today. The water temperature was 61F. It was unsettled weather this morning and we did not connect with any rainbows until we tried blobs and shrimp patterns. The shrimp pattern was definitely getting more takes. We fished with a Bubba Gump Shrimp about 3-4 below a strike indicator. We caught several thick rainbow trout!

We even had a visit from 2 tundra swans. That was cool!

Trying to raise the water level in the main pond!

 

Another fun day at Fish and Game, aka West Lake

I got everything ready last night while watching the Stanley Cup Play Offs! I had the rods all set up for chironomid fly fishing! I also set up an intermediate rod with a 3 inch black leech. Well after launching we motored to a spot we figured would be excellent for chironomid fishing! Nothing. Another spot, ...nothing; and another. Well it was time to change up our tactics. I started to strip a black leech while Karen got out her tried and true Tokaryk Special 2.0. It did not take long for Karen to connect on a 5 plus pound rainbow. I was connecting as well with the black strip leech. We could see chironomid shucks on the water, big ones, aka, bomber size. Well,  I tried a size 10 chironomid. I got some grabs but no solid hook ups. I went back to the leech and I had a decent amount of success. More shucks on the water. Back to chironomids. We then hooked a few, one dandy rainbow that had small shrimp in the throat sample. Well I went back to stripping my leech and soon after, I connected with a 6 plus pound rainbow. Bazinga!

Today did not play out the way we thought it would. The rainbows did not focus on the chironomids. Yes, we caught some with chironomids but Tokaryk Balanced Flies and stripping a black streamer was more productive. It goes to show, be flexible and willing to try different tactics!

Oh yes, there is an algae bloom building at West Lake. The lake was 60F today but it will not be long until it will not be fishable because of the algae. Lastly wash off your gear. Our anchors were covered with debris. It is well worth it to to wash gear so you do not spread any plant life, etc to another body of water!