Adjusting to the Conditions

What a difference a day makes. I headed to the Red Deer River this morning and the conditions were perfect for fly fishing for walleye. It was overcast with some wind that made the water choppy and not too spooky! The walleye were quite cooperative as well. As you can see from the photo above, I was distracted by tundra swans, mallards and other duck species as I headed to the Red Deer River that were on Gleniffer Lake. Gleniffer Lake is of course a reservoir that provides water downstream of the Dickson Dam. 

After about 90 minutes the conditions changed to bright sun and no wind. The bite stopped! ...typical of walleye. I started to fish some holes and did catch a few. I started to fish slow so I would not spook the walleye. That helped as well. Walleye are not big fans of big blue sky and glass calm water as I found out! I usually just don't target walleye on days like that!

Those overcast, low light days to me are the best especially if there is a bit of wind so the surface is not glass!

 

Balanced Silver Minnow

The Balanced Silver Minnow has been a winner for me when I am targeting fish that eat forage! For the Red Deer River, I tie them in size 6 or size 4. I use marabou or rabbit for the tail, silver minnow dubbing for the body and 4 mm eyes. I have added a few photos so you can see how I build them!

Don't forget to tie the rabbit strip upside down so the fly hangs properly as it drifts along!

Make a dubbing loop!

 

Walleye on the RDR and a Special Visitor

I wasn't planning on fly fishing the Red Deer River today but I'm glad I did. My fly fishing day began at Dickson Trout Pond. It was completely ice free and I wanted to spend a few hours there so I could see what was going on. In a word, nothing!  Well I did get some exercise walking the causeway trying to hook up. After a few hours of being skunked, I decided to head back to just below the Dickson Dam. I had my walleye box along so I decided to give it a go!

I pulled on my Muck Boots then tied on my trusty balanced minnow pattern and drifted it slowly in an eddy about 9 feet below a strike indicator while making small jigs by pulling the line. The conditions were excellent. Quite overcast and very little wind was the order of the afternoon! It was not too long before I connected with a sizeable walleye. That turned my fortunes around. I hooked up again and landed a 5 pound walleye then I was broke off by a dandy walleye heading towards 7-8 pounds. Darn. Then something cool happened.

There was a commotion across the river. I thought it was a beaver but then it pulled its upper body way out of the water and I could see it was a river otter. It was huge too. I bet those walleye make for excellent dining for the otter. Before I could get a good shot with my phone, it was gone. 

Well the walleye fly fishing was excellent for the next 2.5 hours. I did change to a candy corn balanced fly and I had excellent results with it too!

I think the key to the walleye fly fishing on the Red Deer River is to fish slowly and set on any bobble on your strike indicator, even if you are late with the hook set.

This morning Karen and I walked along the trails and we saw just about every pond frozen. Lake water temperatures have dipped below 40F. Get out if you can. We have some warm weather coming later this week! Lakes will be frozen over very soon!