Taryn's Steelhead Trip

Taryn and her spey rod love to go steelheading. Tayrn and her friend, Rich, just got back from a trip somewhere in the Nass System in British Columbia's north west corner for the past 9 days. Taryn has become a very active member of our fly tying club and she said that the highlight of her trip was catching a steelhead on a fly she created at her vice. I bet that was a fabulous moment!

Spey casting can be a bit of a challenge and once Taryn worked out the kinks in her casting, it was game on!

The two of them were into lots of steelhead over the course of their fly fishing adventure. They were also blessed with fabulous weather. Maybe a bit too nice because the rivers were quickly rising because of run off.

The Skeena was blown out with trees bobbing down the river like corks, and you know how big those trees are!

During their adventure they also passed through a First Nations area which is also volcanic and is called Nisga's country!  There was a lava flow that made it all the way to the Nass and is 10 km long and almost 3 km wide. This is also a very unique First Nations area because the aboriginal people here can own their own land.

The drive home from the Terrace area must have been long but Taryn and Rich looked like they hit the river they fished just right!

Walleye Season Opened at Midnight and Steve was Ready!

Walleye on the fly is fantastic. The walleye season opened last night at midnight (essentially today) and Steve was ready to chase these toothy critters in the pitch black. Why not! As Steve pointed out to me, fly fishing in the dark heightens your senses. Steve loves to do this alone. I bet all those things that go bump in the night give you that shiver down your neck!

Good for you!

Sunny and 16C, ...more like wind, rain and 6C Burr at Beaver Lake

With all the trailers and toy haulers rolling to the west country today, I was surprised to see Beaver Lake quiet, real quiet. Why was the parking lot empty? We dressed for 16C and our thermometer had already hit 10C on the way out of Red Deer but the wind was blowing from the south east. Larry and I know what that means. It looked like upslope weather was building and it was not too long after we launched that the drizzle started and the sun disappeared for the rest of the day.

We often check out the cows on the way to the lake. Some were laying down (that to us is a bad sign) and although most were feeding standing up. There were purple martins all over the water and we thought that the fish would be on chironomids. We figured that all we had to do is catch a few rainbows and get a throat sample or two. That would solve the mystery of what the trout were eating. By lunch time we had caught plenty of, ...stockers. All of them too small to get a throat sample without damaging them. We finally moved to a shallow area where we could see several rainbows feeding. Finally we caught a few rainbows that were worthy of being called a Beaver Lake trout. The throat samples told us that they were eating small chironomids or had empty stomachs. Blah!

My strike indicator dropped for the 20th time and I expect it to be another stocker, wrong. It was a beast and it quickly broke me off. I shook my head in disbelief.

Finally we fished a trough close to the tulles. The trough was not long but there were several nice sized rainbows cruising and they were hungry. Glen's Leech again was the winning fly. We expected to fish with chironomids today but it was micro leeches that brought lots of success.

We fished in a steady drizzle that occasionally intensified. Luckily we had raincoats to keep us comfortable. Having several layers in a dry bag, on a day that we expected to be comfortable saved us from having an early exit from the lake.

We were both prepared for all sorts of weather. We did expect the wind but not frigid temperatures along with rain.

As usual, the day ended at the appointed time which always seems to come way too fast. We caught lots of fish that included 10 bigger specimens. As we headed back to Red Deer, the thermometer steadily rose. Time to warm up after a decent day on the water! It was cold and rainy, that kept most away but our layers allowed Larry and I to enjoy the day!