The wading boots are hanging in the shed. Instead, I’ve been hiking on weekends. Next week I’ll toss flies again. The local ski hill is closed for the season and it’s only Feb 16th; no snow; go figure. They’ve tons of it back east; none here…yet.
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On the Way to a Creek
Two or three times I’ve driven a great distance across a high plains desert to fish dry flies on a wonderful spring creek. It’s just miles and miles of sagebrush, the odd cow, then an unexpected crystal clear serpentine creek. Kind of a mirage.
I grew up in an eastern region with a lot of precipitation; green and lush three seasons of the year and where many small trout streams are canopied; and yet my favorite rivers in the west are out on the dry alkaline flats or ones that flow through barren rolling windswept hills. Go figure. I like the openness and the light, and that the trout are where it seems they shouldn’t be.
Here are some high-speed car shots on the way to the creek from several years ago…and the creek.
sagebrush
glimpse of creek
the creek
A Winter Brown Trout
“Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe”.
-Voltaire
brown trout
MID-WEEK I CHECKED THE WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEKEND. It predicted temperatures around zero or slightly above for Saturday and Sunday. Next I looked at the wind chart as mild temperatures usually mean a big blow along the eastern slopes. That’s what was in the cards: a wind warning. Saturday looked a bit sunnier and seemed like my best opportunity to fish. Besides on Sunday there were two good football games scheduled.
side channel
I never really watch a complete NFL game. I just kind of listen to it, do other things and then pay close attention when there is a big play. I’ve learnt that the Championship games are often better than the Super Bowl. Last year the Seattle versus San Francisco game was a classic. In comparison the Super Bowl was anti-climatic.
So, Saturday it would be. I was into it as I hadn’t been out since before Christmas as the weather had been arctic like.
side channel
I went to my local tailwater river as it doesn’t ice over, and swung flies real slow near the bottom while the wind whistled in my ears. The fish weren’t active. I’d often get a slight “tap” but with no hook up. I did best by swinging my fly back to the spot where I had found some life. Sometimes I had to pass the fly through several times before getting another “hit” and the occasional hook up. I caught some rainbows this way.
rainbow trout
In a side channel I got my first good aggressive strike but no hook up. I kept tossing my fly through the same spot hoping for a repeat hit. After a dozen or so swings, “fish on”; I had made a connection. This one didn’t make the standard run. Instead it tugged a lot, shook its head, stayed deep and zig-zagged. I thought ” brown trout”.
brown trout
When winter fly fishing you gotta have faith.
brown trout
Blur Photos
It has been too cold around here to put on felt sole boots. I’ve traded them in for snowshoes this weekend. Here are some pictures taken while driving to and chugging along the snow trail.
wind generator in the valley
x-country tracks
snowshoe tracks
ribs along the trail
high above valley
portable corral
portable corral
entrance gate to acreage
“Go And Catch a Trout”
“At one stage I fished the Yellow Breeches Creek, along which I lived, almost eight evenings a week.”
Charles K. Fox – This Wonderful World of Trout
photo r dewey
GETTING GOOD PHOTOS OF TROUT IS ALWAYS CHALLENGING especially when you fish alone, which is what I do most of the time. Fish aren’t cooperative. After you land one you have to do a number of things in order to get a picture. All seem easy but aren’t, especially when you’re kneeling in moving water, and often in imperfect weather conditions. You have to gently control the fish; keep it in the water and unhook it; dig your camera out of a deep pocket; turn it on without dropping it into the river; focus the shot; ensure there is no water on the lens (I still have trouble with that one); check where the sun is in order to avoid shadow; etc. And you want to do all of this fast so that you can safely release the trout. I have had many great fish bolt on me before I got all of the aforementioned tasks done, and therefore missed a wanted image.
photo r dewey
I was lucky this past August to have a photographer with me for part of an afternoon. I felt no pressure when I was directed to, “Go and catch a trout…I’m all set up to shoot”.
photo r dewey
photo r dewey
Although SW Alberta has great rivers, quite a few people fish here (angling pressure) and the trout are wild, wary and usually not easy. The river that I was sight fishing is especially challenging. It is a quality not quantity fishery. It runs through wide open terrain where it is often sunny and there are few places for an angler to hide. The trout are spooky; some even seem clairvoyant. In order to have a “crack” at a great fish you generally have to do things well. In mid summer when the water is low and clear the resident rainbows simply don’t tolerate mistakes and catching one on a dry-fly in my mind is always an accomplishment. Usually each good fish takes some time.
photo r dewey
Well, shortly after being directed to, “Go and catch a trout”, I caught one! If you fish a lot you know that it doesn’t usually work out this way. I was lucky, things just came together. Having a photographer nearby made getting some nice shots so much easier. It simplified things. I just had to focus on safely handling the trout.
photo r dewey
What I like best about some of the images taken is that they show the girth of the trout. That’s something I have trouble capturing when I’m taking pictures by myself. The rainbow is quite representative of the ones I catch there. I have caught more large trout on small dries there than on any other river along the continental divide, either side of the Medicine Line. The place is an ace.
photo r dewey
phoro r dewey
Prairie Scenes and a Few Winter Trout
Some photos from the past two weeks while out winter fly fishing and windshield shots while driving to rivers…temperatures cool, river traffic low, trout kind of sleepy, prairie towns also sleepy.
favorite pic
main street, prairie town
smiling barn
rainbow trout ( had been caught before)
foothill-prairie town
ice on fly rod guides
bow river
bow river brown trout, only tail on ice
sculpture
prairie town
Swinging Flies to Jingle Bells
The Winter Solstice is just around the corner and I’m still swinging flies and catching trout. I purchased a two-handed switch rod and have been practicing Spey casting the last couple of weekends. It’s going to be my winter project. The casting movement is certainly much easier on the shoulder especially when fishing a big wide open windy river.
sw alberta brown trout
I was hoping to get away to somewhere exotic like Patagonia (check out First Cast Fly Fishing) or NZ this winter for some dry fly angling but I don’t think that I’ll get the time needed for a DIY trip. So, swinging flies it is.
sw alberta tailwater river
All I need is the temperature to be somewhere around zero and it’s quite comfortable out there, even with the sun just barely arcing above the horizon. From noon until 4:30 works well. The fish seem opportunistic then. I keep the menu real simple: a small leech like pattern (black, dark brown or olive) with black rubber legs. Maybe it’s the wiggle; maybe not.
Three weeks ago some trout were feeding in the riffles and hanging out in shallow drop offs. They were quite active. Lately most have been down deeper. I hauled one up the other day in cold weather and it had mittens on its fins.
brown trout
Since I’m not heading to the southern hemisphere I’ve been researching winter steelhead opportunities. There is an intriguing river ten hours from my home. It’s a bit of a hike but maybe I’ll get a chance to put a big bend in the two-hander. In the meantime I’ll keep practicing my technique.
rainbow trout
road home to the rockies
Look Into the Eye of a Donkey
It was -27C on the weekend and we had two feet of snow, so no fish pictures. The closest I came to fins was when I took my daily 2 or 3 capsules of omega-3. So instead of trout and landscape pictures here are some snaps of miniature donkeys taken this Fall. I pass by them whenever I walk a local trail, which is often. They are on private property that has a fence and a sign saying, “Smile you are on camera and we have your license plate number”. Until recently the land was wide open…I guess new owners. The sign is probably there to deter the local gearheads: dirt bikers and four wheelers who especially like digging up the land in the Spring…in their minds the muddier the better. Constant engine noise would probably also terrorize these little fellows.
I frequently jump the fence and visit the donkeys. I’ve gotten to know them quite well. They hang out with several horses. It has taken some time but now when I whistle they slowly come to me. If I squat down to their level they come real close and allow me to pet them. They are quite timid and gentle. I’ve read some are now being used in geriatric facilities and with people who are intellectually challenged…like dogs and other animals for Pet Therapy. Given their nature/disposition, smallness and cuteness, I understand why. These two have crosses on their backs which I’m told means they are real 100% donkey.
cross on back
In my next life I’ll raise miniature donkeys.
donkey, not a moose
A Brown on the Swing
“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails”.
Dolly Parton
There was a wind warning today. I saw part of my neighbour’s eaves trough tumble down the road. At least I think it was his? I should check mine!
On the eastern slopes of the divide in SW Alberta it’s always windy and if you don’t fish in the wind, well, you’re not going to get out very often. So I decided to go and just deal with it. I’d be casting a streamer and figured if it got real bad I’d just flip the fly and feed line or roll cast a lot. My plan was to fish a section of the river that is braided so I’d could find some protective areas behind islands and gravel bars.
late november brown trout
If there is anything good about the wind around here, it’s generally predictable: easterly. The other good thing is that in the summer time it blows terrestrials (grasshoppers, beetles, etc.) into the water. None of that today as we have transitioned to winter.
rainbow trout
I thought that if things became unbearable out there I would pretend I had travelled a long, long way to the Rio Gallegos in southern Patagonia where sea run brown trout and gale force winds rule the river, and you deal with it by tugging down on your Beret and just keep casting! My shoulder still aches. I’m well past the 100 pitch mark in my 9 inning angling career.
rainbow trout
I caught several Rainbow trout and coincidently, one Brown (not sea run but resident), which was the prize of the day. I was standing on the bank four feet above the water and swung my fly through a fairly shallow side channel with an even flow. As the fly tightened to the bank a brown trout glided out from some wood structure and nabbed it. I saw the whole thing from my elevated position. It made the day. I fished until dusk and then headed home guided by the North Star, or was that the Southern Cross?
sw alberta brown trout
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A Low Slow Swing
I fished my local tailwater river this past Sunday hoping to extend the season…and I did. It was winter like but sunny and that makes all the difference. The wind died down in the afternoon and that made things almost pleasant.
The bugs are definitely gone. Long gone. I didn’t even see a midge so I casted a streamer with a 6wt and a polyleader. I managed several fish and a few good ones in the afternoon when the weather was best. I got them on a low slow swing…sweet chariot. I was hoping to connect with a Brown trout but only caught Rainbows…not a bad consolation. I’ll take that deal any day.
raptor in distance, probably an eagle
sw alberta rainbow trout
Here are a few pictures while fishing near what some people call the “Cliffs of Doom”. They remind me more of the “Cliffs of Dover”; however, more tan in color than white. From river level to the top is at least 200 ft.
sw alberta rainbow trout
trout on dries 