Lower Oldman River Report

I spent this past Sunday afternoon on the tailwater section of Oldman river. It was cloudy and cool, and it snowed just west of the river. It seemed like good Blue Wing Olive weather. Unfortunately, the hatch of small and large Olives was fairly weak. There were just enough bugs late afternoon when it turned sunny to bring up some fish in collector areas such as in back eddies, etc. Trout were found sipping on the Olives. I caught a few and missed several. Some solid fish were rising.

I haven't been on the river in at least 3 weeks and the water was extremely low. Side channels I had fished not long ago were completely dry. It is the lowest I have ever seen it.

soupy reverse current/eddy

deer fording river

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.

Dog Days Report, August 19, 2012

I fished the Oldman River tailwater section again. The thermometer in my pack said 96F. Hot! The water temperature was 58F in the shallow riffles late afternoon. Cool! That's a great temperature (water) for trout. The water flow is around 35 m3, perfect for dry fly angling and wading the river. I managed some good sized rainbows and an 18 inch Brown on a size 20 PMD dry in the tail of a slow, glassy pool while Osprey circled above. The Dog Days of summer are here. Trout are still sipping on tiny mayflies and someone threw a no-hitter in Major League Baseball this week. Imagine that!

size 20 PMD, white polypro wing, with trailing shuck