Crossing the Big Void for Risers

 

 

 

I grew up in southern Quebec where the countryside is full of trees: maple forests, birch...thick stands are everywhere. It rains a lot there and it's humid so things root and quickly grow skyward. Rural roads are fringed with trees. Homes have trees around them. Even the parks in downtown Montreal are full of trees. Small streams and creeks are often canopied by broad branches. Trees are always around you. They are company and make the world seem smaller, more intimate. Trees create boundary lines and delineated spaces within a larger space.

When I drive south of Lethbridge into Montana I always feel uneasy. No matter where I look it is just stark open space. Treeless. Like a big void. There are few boundary lines, especially in the Winter time when it all seems so colourless and lifeless and the grey land blends with the muted sky, and a horizon doesn't even seem to exist. When I'm out there I feel that I might just disappear; that the space will somehow inhale me. I look for pronghorn antelope or coyote just to see if things can survive without being swallowed up by all the nothingness.

I feel relieved when I approach the town of Great Falls, Montana because I see structure: homes, large buildings, and of course trees. I pass through and drive further south along the meandering Missouri river edged by comforting cottonwoods and mountains in the distance, and feel even more confident. I have made the crossing intact.

This past weekend I drove south of Lethbridge to get an early start on the angling season. I braved the crossing and the cold as I knew trout would probably be rising on the other side. And they were. When the wind took a break and the water calmed, trout surfaced for midges. And I caught a few. I caught trout in mid March when Winter refused to give way to Spring. I caught them on minute size 20 dry flies on a river over two football fields wide. I caught them after braving the big void.

midge fly

walking the plank to an island

 

midge hatch

if they don't rise for small dries, I shoot them

 

flat water side channel

Midges Saved the Day

high plains hwy

missouri river rainbow

 

I spent last weekend on the Missouri River. I was on a budget so I slept in my vehicle and brought snacks. The river fished well. November can be a good time on the Missouri. If the wind lays low then some great surface action can be had. On Saturday it didn't blow too hard and the fish were on Olives in the afternoon. I caught several on dries. On Sunday I got an early start, around 9:00 am. The fish were up and already very active on midges, mainly emergers. Fall is considered Baetis(Olive) time (afternoon hatch) for the dry fly angler but experience has taught me that the midge fishing can even be better. The key is that it tends to be very calm in the morning and with the river surface being glass-like, trout are often found actively feeding on midges...a tailwater staple. That is exactly what I experienced on Sunday morning. By noon the wind was full throttle and the Baetis hatch never really developed and therefore I spotted few surface fish. With the morning midge activity I caught nice fish on midge dries but had more success using an emerger pattern fished just inches under a Griffith's Gnat (dry). The rainbows were concentrating on the rising swimming emergers. I had to angle my cast downstream at a bulging fish and skate or wake the tiny dry with dangling emerger in front of the fish to get a response. Often they surged at the emerger and inhaled it. Midges saved the day.

missouri river

The whole river valley was full of  life: Ring-Necked Pheasants, Hawks, a Bald Eagle, many Coots in the side channels, Beaver, Muskrat, Deer and Antelope, and of course bulging and sipping Trout. I saw several good sized brown trout on redds. In mid afternoon the temperature hit mid 50's F. It was a great way to spend an early November weekend.  I caught my first trout of the 2012 season on a dry fly in early April and possibly my last this past weekend: November. The small fly season can truly be a long one. The key is river selection (water type). Here are some pictures of the trip.

 

butte near cascade montana

Sub-Zero Trout

tailwater rainbow caught on midge

Winter arrived in SW Alberta last week. Saturday afternoon the temperature was sub-zero. I had to deal with ice in the rod guides, a frozen reel and of course cold fingertips in spite of gloves. Vibram soles without studs along with snow and ice made for some comical moments. I slid down several steep embankments on my derriere....early season tobogganing. The cold weather made an already weak hatch, weaker. There were still some BWO's around along with midges. I had to cover territory and hunt to find rising fish. Eventually I found several and a couple were quite large. The best one landed was just shy of 20 inches. It took a size 20 midge: black body, a couple of turns of grizzly hackle, clear trailing shuck, and white wing for visibility. Best thing about the hook up was that the fish was found sipping in a relaxed manner just off of the bank in a foot of water or less. I was downstream and watched its behaviour for a short while before casting. It was feeding fairly consistently and most of its head, which was large, poked through the surface. After several casts things came together and I saw it leave the bottom, gently rise and take in the tiny imitation, all kind of in slow motion. Fortunately I didn't react too quickly, as sometimes I do with a very slow riser. I waited for the fish to take the imitation, slowly raised the rod tip and the small hook held. It had been caught before, probably on a large hook and had some damage done to it's mouth. Otherwise it was healthy. Tailwater rivers are amazing: large trout in shallow water, on small flies in sub-zero temperatures!

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

Small Flies On the Big Mo

 

The weather changed on the Missouri River last week. Fall arrived and with it came an amazing Tiny Western Olives hatch. There were millions, no billions, of them and the fish were up on emergers mainly and some on duns....small flies, big fish. How do you get a rising fish to eat your impression when there are endless naturals around? Persistence helps. I also got off of the main flow into a slow, slow side channel where fewer naturals were drifting. My fly then had a chance. Before that it was exasperating...my small fly was like a single grain of sand in a vast desert. I tried a slightly larger Olive pattern but with little success. I then tried an ant and a beetle pattern...forget about it! Emerger on a swing...not much better. A big fly with a dropper...no. I was becoming unhinged. Pods of big fish around and I couldn't get connected. In the side channel I was lucky to land some good fish on dries: size 20 and 22 web wing and half hackle patterns. You have to be a bit lucky hooking up with such a small fly, light tippet and trout who use the extensive weed beds to their full advantage.

Before the weather changed there were few bugs around and no top water action. I got into some great fish sight nymphing in the bright sun. I did best mid morning with the sun at a relatively low angle. I stood river side still in the shadows with the sun behind me. I was able to get up real close to shallow water feeders who often didn't see me as they were blinded by the sun. They responded to tiny nymphs. It was challenging, fun fishing. Some hooked...some spooked.





size 20/22 olive tied with web wing

 

 rainbow on small fly

 

rainbow caught on size 20 olive

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

Beefy Tailwater Cutt, August 18, 2012

I managed several nice fish on a local tailwater mid-afternoon in the 30c heat and bright sunshine. All fish were spotted and then caught on dries. PMD's continue to be the main hatch. They are now size 18 and smaller. The hatch has weakened in the past week, especially in the afternoon but a significant amount started to emerge at 6 pm. The largest fish was a 20 inch beefy Cutthroat caught on a beetle. Other fish were hooked on a PMD pattern, size 18 and 20....small flies, beefy fish!

foam beetle

Crowsnest River Fishing, August 11, 2012

cutthroat adipose fin

I've been on the Crow the last 2 evenings. The dry fly fishing has been tough. August can be tough. In spite of the weak PMD hatch I managed to locate a couple nice trout eating dries. I missed one feeding in a difficult location but landed the other. The fish in the back eddies are mainly on emergers but I did spot a few eating PMD duns. The PMD's are much smaller now probably size 18 and under. And the fish eating them are more discerning especially in the slow sections. The river is low and you have to be real careful when wading the flat water. Slow down and look hard. You have to hunt for them. The odd one out there is still sipping. Challenging angling... long leaders.

There are grasshoppers around.

Seagulls and Trout Eating Mayflies, August 6, 2012

cutthroat tail

The PMD hatch continues to be good on a local tailwater river. Some trout are sipping in the slower sections of the river such as in back eddies and just off of the runs and riffles, often in very shallow water. This year I've noticed a lot of Seagulls in the eddies and they are munching mainly on mayflies along with the trout. The trout don't seem to mind. If I see Gulls I figure the fishing will be good. I continue to catch good fish mid-afternoon even in bright sun by focusing on the spots where the bugs are collecting. You have to pay close attention as many rises are subtle. I love this type of angling: big fish, small fly hatch, subtle rises and shallow water. If summer storm clouds roll in late afternoon the angling even gets better. For the small fly enthusiast living in the south western corner of Alberta this is the river where it is presently happening!
Here are some pics of beautiful trout fins.

rainbow dorsal fin

Big Rainbow, Small Dry, August 4, 2012

I fished a local tailwater yesterday through the afternoon in full sun and heat. The water temperature was perfect. I did a lot of walking to spot rising fish but managed several. As the afternoon progressed the PMD hatch got better and better. The best fish was 20 inches on a size 18 PMD cripple pattern, deer hair wing. I found an Owl Bird House upside down in some branches at river's edge. It was probably deposited there during run-off. I untangled and up righted it. Here are some pics:



20in Bow

Owl Bird House

Summer Heat, July 28,29, 2012

I have been on several rivers in the past couple of days. Summer temperatures have arrived along with full sunshine which makes things challenging. I fished a river with brown trout in it and caught several fish on grasshoppers. They weren't large but catching them is always special as there is not a lot of brown trout water around here. Here are some pictures.

I have also been fishing a local tailwater river as the water temperature is cold and there has been hatch activity. I caught some large rainbows, cutthroats and cuttbows (hybrids) on pmd dries and emergers. Most of the fish seen were selectively feeding on emergers. I sight casted with a size 18 emerger resembling a pheasant tail nymph in body color with gold ribbing, a rust/orange zelon tail, and puff of brown cdc for emerging wing (clipped). The fish responded to it. Those that were sipping occasionally were hooked on a size 16 pmd, tied parachute style with either white or black polypro post/wing for visibility depending on the lighting. A black wing shows up great on a large, broad rivers when the surface due to light conditions looks metal grey. I learnt this fishing the Missouri river in Montana and also read about it in a great book called: Small Fly Adventures in the West, by Neale Streeks. It is the best small fly angling book I've read.
The tailwater angling was challenging, technical fishing: sight casting small flies to some large fish showing themselves in full sun..lots of fun, and no split shot! Here are some tailwater trout photos.

tailwater cutthroat

Crowsnest River Report, July 20th, 2012

large crowsnest rainbow

I have been on several rivers the past week fishing daily with a friend, Joe. River flows continue to drop and are now near perfect for dry fly angling. The Crowsnest has been productive especially in the back eddies where bugs collect. I am also seeing some nice bank fish rising but you have to hunt for them and look for slow, slow water. On mornings you'll find a lot of pmd spinners and some duns. This is the main bug. There are also a host of other flies including some green drakes, large and mid-sized. In the evening it is pmd's again.

On the Lower Oldman the fish have been on pmd's and olives when it has been wet and mainly pmd's when weather is fair. The rainbows have mainly been on emergers. With water levels now low more fish might rise to duns and there will be more dry fly water available.

20 inch Tailwater Brown, caught by Joe F.

Fly Fishing the Crowsnest River, Small Fly Paradise

Summer Time On Crowsnest River

The Crowsnest River, affectionately called the "Crow", is a beautiful, classic walk and wade stream in southwestern Alberta that is rich in insect life. I first visited it from afar 10 years ago. I was so taken with the quality of the angling I moved to the region 6 months later. Now I live within walking distance and during the season wade it at least a couple of times a week.

After Spring run-off sections of the Crow fish like a tailwater or spring creek and there is plenty of opportunity to hunt for trout and sight-cast with a dry fly. The largest rainbows in the river, in the 15 to 19 inch range, can be taken this way. This is when the river is in its prime and dry fly anglers like me get giddy! Generally it is small fly angling; flies size 16 and under; not too small but small enough. Between hatches fish can be spotted sipping on leftovers, so some surface action still can be found. It keeps you in the game

Crow trout can be selective so matching the hatch, especially fly size and attitude in the water, is important. You don't need a Richardson's five tray chest fly box to fish this river but a good fly selection is needed with a couple of different patterns for each potential hatch. Think flatwater patterns that ride low.

The rainbows are wild and wary, and often hold in difficult locations which makes angling that much more intense and demanding. Locating fish is not always easy as many feed softly and in spots where anglers often wade or walk by. It is a subtle river; very subtle. That is part of its charm. When fly fishing with dries you have to pay attention to the "little things", slow down and above all stop casting! The key is observation and patience. You search for a fish ( hopefully find one), then strategize your approach, wade cautiously and try to carefully present your imitation. It is quality not quantity angling. You generally have to do things well in order to be rewarded, which makes a "hook-up" that much more satisfying. Spending time on this river will make you a better angler.

The most consistent dry fly fishing occurs in the Summer and Fall, July through October. Like on any river the hatches can vary from year to year. I've learned that if there are bugs on the water surface feeding fish can usually be found. Season after season I've found the river to be a consistent producer and a small dry fly angler's paradise.