In the evenings trout are showing themselves by feeding just subsurface (bulging) and a few on top. The best summer time may fly hatch is underway: Pale Morning Duns (PMD’s). I’m finding some fish in areas where the drifting may flies collect…big back eddies and smaller slow swirls. I’m seeing fewer rising fish on the slow flats and on current edges as bug density is still not high. Here’s one of the nicer rainbows spotted rising the other evening…
clear water
leaving the river
Heavy rain. Wet camera lens. Very few rising trout. No BWOs around. Rainbow taken on midge dry…
Most of our rivers have dropped significantly and can be fished and carefully waded. Things are ahead of schedule which is surprising as we’ve had a substantial snow pack year. Run-off has been consistent and gradual, so far. Hatches have been weak and therefore not a lot of dry-fly fishing. I managed a couple of fish on top over the weekend while angling large river back eddies/sloughs where rainbows were spotted cycling. They took an ant pattern…
large back eddy
Old limestone kilns.
What does this have to do with fly fishing? My region has a lot of limestone and cold running water. Ideal trout habitat. The Crowsnest river and its large rainbows are nearby.
The rivers are high and dirty (run-off) so we fished the ponds which were low and clear. It was all sight-fishing with the predominantly blue sky above. We caught some on small terrestrials but did better targeting cruising trout with tiny nymphs. It was mesmerizing to watch them carefully inspect our minuscule offerings as we quietly encouraged them to eat. Most refused. A few were fooled. The ponds…
photo by roman
trout released, photo by roman
clear water
photo by roman
On my favorite trout stream there is this tree. I never reach it on my first day hiking the river. I always get to it at the end of my second long day of fishing. On my third and final day on the river I start where it stands and work my way upstream.
It stands out as there is little around it. And I like the shape. It’s not an impressive Oak, or Magnolia, or towering Douglas Fir. It’s a small tree. Not much bigger than a bush. But there it always stands at the end of my second day on my favorite river. My favorite tree…
trout on dries 