Rainy Drizzly Day on the Water

Does unsettled weather make you stay at home instead of going out to your favourite waters? Karen, Colin and I decided to get the G3 out of the garage and hit a local lake. We bundled up and made sure our rain gear was at hand. The drizzly weather helped again for another day to lower water temperatures which were close to 60F today. We did not see the caddis action like yesterday but the rainbows did like our shrimp imitations as well as our leech imposters. What was the best fly of the day? ... a Vampire Leech. More research tomorrow!

Don't let a rainy day slow you down. It might be an unforgetable day of fantastic fly fishing!

 

Caddis on our Local Lakes

Karen and I decided to try to get out for a few hours before the approaching cold front arrived. We did not get to our destination too early but when we were setting up our Spring Creek Pram, I could see fish sipping something on the surface. Caddis!

We did not have to fish deep today. We did not even use a caddis imitation although fishing shallow, in other words 3-5 feet down, in any depth of water was quite productive. If I took the time to set up a soft hackle Pheasant Tail nymph so I could cast and retrieve, I am sure I would have had a decent amount of success.

Karen and I kept moving to where the fish were sipping caddis and we had excellent success. The water temperature was anywhere from 61F to 63F. We decided to not lift any fish out of the water. We did take a few throat samples. We quickly unpinned the rainbows and sent them on their way!

The cold front arrived early in the afternoon. Just before the cold front pushed in, the fly fishing was outstanding. As the rain intensified, we decided to call it a day. It was only a quick 20 minute drive home to a late lunch and a cappuccino!

Soft hackle nymphs stripped just below the surface can lead to savage strikes!

 

Fish the Edges During High Water

Take the time to check Alberta Basins water flows before heading out to your favourite river!

You can imagine my big smile when I checked the flow rates on the Red Deer River this morning. Karen and I decided to brave the mud and root around the dam area to see if any fish were active.  The water was quite clear but humming along. We slogged our way through the muddy areas and got to one of our usual spots to fly fish. The water was fast flowing and we got a few strikes. It seemed that our nymphs were moving too fast. We added split shot but no real success. As we wandered back to the truck, we fished every eddy that was along our route. We finally approached a long riffle and ran our nymphs right along the bank. I saw a rise and ran my nymph over the rise area and bam, fish on! It was a brown trout. That made me smile. I was able to land the brown and quickly pop it off without it leaving the water. Karen and I decided to spend some time working the water right against the bank.  Our nymphs were just two feet out from the bank. We connected with several rocky mountain whitefish, a couple of which were quite sizeable. The funny part for me was we fished one of the areas that always has fly fisherman on a daily basis. The fish moved to the edges to avoid the high flow rates. We almost walked right by the best water to fly fish. Thankfully the brown trout reminded us to cover the edges.