On a Twitch

I've been in Montreal for over a week visiting family, recently returned to Alberta and got a chance this afternoon to visit a local tailwater river that I've been fishing consistently all summer. Water levels are much lower now. It was cloudy earlier in the day but when I arrived at the river the sky cleared-up and I fished in almost full sun. The PMD hatch is almost done but I managed several mid sized rainbows and a good brown on what is left of this small pale mayfly. By late afternoon the wind kicked in and the weak hatch completely died out. I walked some distance looking for fish but saw none. Things got difficult with no bugs on the water. I decided to fish a side channel with a grasshopper. Several weeks ago I spotted two browns there. I got one prospecting with the hopper pattern. It was an aggressive take just off the bank on a twitch. Here is a pic.

tailwater brown

side channel

The next small fly hatch will be Olives (baetis). This mayfly will show up as Fall progresses or when inclement weather strikes.

While in Montreal I drove one hour south to the foothills of the Adirondacks (upstate New York) to visit a river that I learned to fly fish on and where I caught my first trout on a dry fly. It was great to see it again. The region is very beautiful as is the river. Water levels there were extremely low due to a summer of intense heat and little rain. In a future post I'll write more about this special place and the trout fishing there.