We had some "field testing" to do today. Larry built a casting platform into his Creastliner and of course we had to ensure everything was in order. Where to go? That was easy Beaver Lake! Catch and Release Regulations have helped the lake start to make a comeback to its former glory as a quality fishery. Beaver Lake's rainbows have wintered well. The lake's water level is up and from what we saw today, the rainbows are looking great!
Both Larry and I have our favourite spots on the lake and we visited all of them. The rainbows were feisty. The water temperature was 48 degrees F when we arrived. We were greeted by wailing loons and a curious fox that Pepper the dog wanted to hang out with. Pepper only got to whine while we cruised down the lake.
We immediately noticed the resident loons, who have learned to "trail" the fishermen just in case they can grab an easy meal from the end of their line. The loons constantly swam under our boat looking for a hand out!
Well I tied on my favourite "starter" lake fly to kick off the day. Yep, Glenn's Leech was working again today. After catching a few rainbows, we took a throat sample or two. The rainbows were dining on small chironomids and backswimmers. Larry was quick to tie on his go to backswimmer pattern and he was rewarded with a sizeable rainbow in 5 feet of water. Almost all of our action came close to shore. We fished around points and wood. Lots of the takes were soft and you had to be a "coiled spring" so you had a decent hook set! Most of our action was only 2 feet below the surface along the shore.
One of John Gierach's books is entitled , "No Shortage of Good Days." Today it felt like we could have added a chapter to his book. Warm weather, little wind and active rainbows made for an excellent day.
Loons tailed us all day looking for an easy meal!
Another awesome day of "Field Testing!"
