Sorry it took so long to get to the 2nd half of my trip (or at least the fishing part). Nonetheless here it is.
I have only been out fly rodding twice since I got back. Basically I was spoiled in NB. Not by big fish or numbers but by accessibility. Now east coast fishing and accessibility may not seem to go hand in hand what with 15 different licenses and heavy restrictions on where you can fish (right down to particular pools). No, the access I am talking about is being able to drive 20 minutes or 2 hours or more and everything in between to get to one's fishing.
Around here you need about an hour to get anywhere, 2 hours to get anywhere decent in terms of an outdoor environment and 3,4,5 etc. hours to get someplace that has it all (scenery, numbers or sized fish etc.)
Fishing the Fredericton area reminded me of fishing in southern Ontario. I could fish in town for trout, salmon bass or pike (depending on the season) OR I could drive any variety of distance to achieve a different goal.
So with all that water around me my favorite thing to do in NB was to fish the (unnamed) creek (trib of the Rusagonis) behind my Brother and Sister in laws place after dinner.
It has trout, salmon parr, bass and fall fish (locally called 'creek chub' and treated with utter disdain).
Here are some fish. Not big but on a 4wt in VERY skinny water stalking, hooking and landing was still a challenge.
A view of the River/creek I spent most of my time on
Through these brambles lay a fork and pool where the fishing was best
Fall Fish (or creek chub) as fickle as trout & fights as hard
A smallie falls for a bomber
I also fished the Oromocto just 25 minutes down the road. Similar fish but more open and miles and miles of it I never fish.
If you are at all like me, you have read a boat load of outdoor, general fishing and fly fishing magazines. Pretty well guaranteed you will have come across an article on Atlantic salmon fishing and probably one, two or a few about the Miramichi River in New Brunswick. 250 kilometers of river with the best salmon numbers of any river in North American !
A few years back I went to Newfoundland. I was psyched and geared up to fish for the 'King of Game Fish'!! When I got there the weather was hot, the streams low and most closed to fishing.
I did manage to raise a few in Grosse Morne (in national parks you can fish w/o a guide) but not a hit sniff or bother.
This year I figured against salmon fishing (though I did bring appropriate gear in my 8 and 10 wts). I checked out the local Fredericton fly shop, Fredericton Outfitters, where I found very friendly helpful owners and staff. They proceeded to tell me that we were in the area at one of the best times, that the river had fish, the levels were dropping and that people were getting salmon.
So we asked about guides and such, when they mentioned Wilson's Sporting Camps who had access to the best pools on the river.
Turns out they had an opening and we could come up and fish the afternoon and evening for a discount rate.
It wasn't a long drive, 1½ hours,by fly fishing in Manitoba's standards, but by the time we got there we considered staying the night.
They offered us ½ of a duplex and almost apologized about it, but the rooms where awe some, clean and classic in design. Came with everything you needed to make food etc.
Our Cabin
And our cabin looked out onto the Miramichi.
Now the term 'world class' is bandied around a lot. Anyone who knows me, knows I hate the term in most of its uses. Particularly when used to describe something similar you can get elsewhere in the world and is therefore considered 'world class'. By those standards I am typing on a world class laptop....
But despite the very unassuming nature of Keith Wilson (to whom the camp has been in his family for 150 years) Wilson's is considered world class. If I was in doubt; I found a European salmon fishing magazine in our cabin that wrote about fishing in Russia, Norway and yes Wilson's.
So 1½ hours from an international airport and you are on a legendary river, fishing for a reasonably unique and potentially large fish in a pristine environment...ya that pretty well sums up world class fishing.
So here I am with my wife at a world class lodge (normally $700 per person, per day and not including tip or licenses) getting ready to fish a river that is on most fly rodders life list.
So into one to the jet outboard powered 26' canoes for one of the smoothest and scenic boat rides you'll ever have.
My wife, Adelle, Henry our Guide and yours truly.
Yours truly looking kinda happy
My wife thinking that holding the hat that way makes it look better and our guide Henry
Our guide, Henry has been fishing/guiding the Miramichi for 57 years.
The method for hooking salmon is quite simple and either works or doesn't or in the words of our guide, "if they're there they'll bite if they're not they won't".
So you tie on w/e fly you heard works, the afternoon it was the Undertaker, then ¼ cast and drift through the run till the line straightens. Then step up or down the run, strip, t-snap or snake roll your cast and repeat.
It was nice and overcast, raining off and on and a bit cool so perfect for fishing. We didn't feel a single bump but some fish did pop up. One made a big splash upstream and Henry said 'that one got past you'.
We went in for dinner and back out at 6. This time we fish a run/pool just in front of the lodge.
The lodge from the river
Green machine
We changed our flies to Green Machines and finally started getting some hits. My wife was killing it with salmon parr and 1 nice brookie. I was getting hits but no hook ups. The light was fading, it was 8:30 and we are supposed to be off the water at 9, I had made 1,000's of casts.
At 8:45 I could finally yell 'fish on'. Put a good bend in the rod, got a coupla jumps and, just before the net and the perfunctory 'grip and grin', the hook popped! Now It didn't matter because my wife was taking lots of video. We have video of the trip up river, down river, our room, me casting, etc. But in the excitement of someone actually hooking a salmon she forgot to hit record.
I won't guesstimate the fish length because as Henry says " that fish'll be 40 inches by the time you get home" but fair to say it was a grilse (1 year in salt and between 5 & 7 lbs July weight)
So a few more casts in the fading light, then the trip back to our cabin, where we had a cup of tea and watched the sun set on the river and then the bats and fire flies come out.
So I haven't blogged on Fly Fishing in a while. I have been out, not much and nothing worth relaying.
I am aiming at my trip to New Brunswick.
So I am putting a new line on a new reel (to go with a new to me rod).
First problem is the backing. Apparently a Cabelas RLS #4 needs 250ft of backing! So I look at the online picture to see how far the backing fill the arbor. Many minutes later I think I am done so I move on to the fly line.
Now the Nail Knot is hard to tie and the tube knot a little easier but they are rarely tied so it took me a few trys just to get it close and a few more to get it right. I carefully start to reel on the new line when it falls on the floor and creates an instant birds nest!
So I untangle the mess, straighten the line multiple times and again reel up the line only to find I didn't put on enough backing!
Off comes the line, blood knot on the tag from the backing spool and re-guess-timate the amount of backing needed. Less grief (from practice) putting on the line with a nail knot, reel up the line and still not enough backing but enough to do the job.
Snake on the loop end. Now I know a lot of you are not fans of these things but I back mine up with a (you guessed it) nail knot! and then the heat shrink.
Of course then I look up rods need for the province and realize that the 10wt might be overkill.
Now leading up to this day we had temps in the high 20's but any other year fishing at the end of March and having a day time high of -1 with no wind would be considered a blessing.
So the Fairford River Freeze Off was on even if only 2 participants from Fly Fishing Manitoba were there.
It was -5 on the wake up in the 'Peg and 5 degrees cooler at our destination.
At Ashern there was icicles on the trees and signs.
Having seen some earlier reports including walleye being caught I was prepared to catch more than the usual Lake Cisco.
So with my 4wt 'normal' fly rod and 4wt switch rods in hand I we set off.
First to avoid any possible skunking I targeted the Cisco (locally known as 'Tulibee")...that didn't take more than a few casts.
With that out of the way we both moved to the south side of the river & I got re-acquainted with my switch rod. (Which means I was fussing about re learning how to cast the damn thing instead of catching fish)
First non cisco of the day, and arguably the best fish of the day, belongs to fishing partner for the day; Stephen Jay.
The picture doesn't do it justice it measured out at 22½" but the girth and head were enormous!
The crap on the lens is frozen water as I was trying to get some underwater pics/vids of the cisco schools.
I too caught a wally
The blue finger tips you see are the latex surgical glove SJ brought (based on a rarely good idea from Deanne from the FAOL site. Keeping our hands dry and therefore warmer through the day. (Even after dunking my wool gloves!)
Fishing the same spot (as SJ cooled his heels after his nice fish) I proceeded to foul hook some carp. I did manage this fair hooked one.
Giving up the spot SJ was also snagging carp but also landed this fair hook fish
Stephen also manage a bunch more walleyes about the same size as the one I caught
I think this is our 8th year and by far this was the best combination of weather and fishing. On top of the fish caught SJ also LDR'd a pike and we both saw plenty of perch and suckers.
It was also the busiest day we have ever seen on the river.
Apparently there was some sort of fishing derby on. If we were having a derby on our side of the river Stephen would have won hands down!
Many of us outdoor types pine away for spring during winter. As fishers we pine through early spring till things warm up and 'get good' later spring and early summer. Then we all lament when it is too hot to fish or morally drag fish up from the deep and wait for fall.
Fall is a magical time for no other reason than we know know most fish get more active. Sunday the 2nd of October was such a day for me.
Hunt Lake is one of many Manitoba lakes that are a. stocked with trout and b. an easy launch. It is also one of the few trout lakes under 2 hours from the city. Like Lyons Lake from my last report it is a beautiful shield lake with rocks and tree and trees and rocks (as well as cliffs and creeks and wildlife coming to the shore). Unlike Lyons, Hunt has a few small cottages on it (Lucky Ducks!) but it seems none of them fish. It is one of many lakes that does not allow power boats which is nice for those of us seeking quiet fishing without unscheduled surfing trips in our floats tubes and pontoons.
The water was 14-12° C and the air got to 20° I'd say perfect. The fish seemed to be in one small area of a predictable part of the lake. The predictable part was the western end of the lake (due to the easterly wind) but it was only one bay and only the shady part that seem to hold active fish. The winning setup was an un-named panfish fly (pictured) that, because of the foam always floats, on a medium length leader with a sink tip. the fly stays suspended above the sink tip and 'swims' down on retrieves. Very similar to a common water boatman setup.
Yellow Foam over Hare's Ear Dry
The fish stocked in the lake are brook trout and as they are fall spawners they were in fine form.
Fall Brook Falls to a Sunfish Fly
Although they were all about 10-12" this is a great improvement over previous years where over stocking led to stunted fish.
Even the perch got bigger.
As I forgot a net you'll just have to believe me when I say I caught about 30 in and afternoon of fishing.
Without the net very few of the fish came to stay long enough to get their picture taken. Anyone who has fished Brookies knows they are experts at wriggling, flipping and squirming off hooks and out of hands. (Kinda makes up for their eagerness to hit anything as long as they aren't spooked)
So here are the balance of the pictures and if you have a stream, beaver pond of lake near you take your light gear out there and have some fall fun!
Last year at this time I was moving from hospital bed to heal at home. It was a beautiful hot fall but I was sitting inside freezing (as my body had not reset after surgery yet) elevating and icing my arm while sitting on my butt watching endless hours of Netflix.
While most of my thoughts were about getting back to playing my instruments and regular life in general. I did dream of the day I could fly fish again. I didn't dream of big Manitoba Pike or Parkland monster trout...I dreamed of gently bobbing on Lyon's lake catching respectable but not giant trout.
It is an easy drive and an easy launch for most watercraft and if you are willing the scenery at the south end of the lake is very pretty and relaxing to behold!
When this season started I did manage to get to Fairford and a few other spots that I could wade but I really needed for my right arm and hand to get back a decent amount of its strength before I could even get my pontoon boat put together let alone loaded in and out of my truck!
Taking the Truck boat and trailer camping last year.
So it was Sunday September18th.
The day was cooler than predicted and fishing wasn't fast, though lots of hits and LDR's, but of course for me what matter most was actually having the strength to tote my boat to and from the lake as well as pump it up.
So here is the first and best fish to hand that day (there was a no show LDR that really had some strength to its tug!) and pics of the day.
I originally wrote this a number of years ago when float tubing and still water fly rodding were relatively new. Since then this aspect of the sport has skyrocketed. Where once you had to order round 'belly boats' from companies in the USA now you can buy full sized pontoon boats at Canadian Tire or Costco.
Having said that much of the info in that article is still relevant and I have rejigged the rest to suit our new reality
The Float Tube
I had been fly fishing a long time before I moved to Manitoba in 2000. But in that first fishing season here I didn’t see one fly fisher. Not until I was camping in the DuckMountains. I stopped off to look at 2 mile lake (listed in the guide as containing stocked brook trout). All of a sudden a couple of pick up trucks pull up. The drivers took their float tubes out of the back of their trucks, donned their flippers and launched their crafts. Stripping off some line they proceeded to ‘chug’ their way down the middle of the lake trolling their flies from their under inflated tubes. Then they chugged their way back the same way with a white froth trailing behind them as their flippers repeatedly came out of the water. Going fishless on their 2nd attempt they got out of the water, loaded their trucks and headed off to their next destination. A short while later a family showed up with a cedar strip canoe and a trolling motor. The father had a fly rod and after launching the canoe he stripped off a bit of line and trolled his fly using the trolling motor. Their end result was no different despite using a more subtle form of transportation.This was my introduction to fly fishing in Manitoba. Two things struck me right away; 1) if I am going to fly fish in Manitoba with its dearth of streams and preponderance of lakes I am going to have to get myself some kind of watercraft and 2) there has to be a better way of presenting flies in a lake. I mean, with all that tackle and boats of some kind, the fly fishers went fishless in a trout lake while a family fishing from the dock with worms had success. Now of course since then I have learned that this was not the only way to fly fish lakes but, as it turns out, it is a very popular way.
The float tube was originally designed to get the fly fisher onto lakes. The early tubes were little more than a truck or tractor rubber inner tube covered with nylon and with a seat sewn in. The idea was to give you access to a lake that could not be fished effectively from shore or by wading. One would paddle to a likely spot and cast and work your fly in and around fish holding structure.
As a fly fisher plying the streams, rivers and tributaries of Lakes Ontario and Erie I never felt the need for a float tube. Almost any kind of fish was at my disposal by merely finding the right river or right section of a river to wade. When you fly fish rivers one learns to read water, look for runs, look for breaks and look for primary and secondary lies in each. One learns the habits in common and unique to each species of fish and one learns to ‘present’ the fly to the fish. All of this can and should be used when float tubing and fly fishing a lake.
Float Tubing/ Lake Fly Fishing 101
Here are some basic techniques and ideas to help you as a tuber. Most of these will require a good and consistent casting technique. While in a tube one does not require long casts but you should be able to cast forward a decent distance, 40’, and do it without hitting the tube or yourself as well as not splashing the fly and/or line on the forward casts (a real fish spooker).
When you leg kick your tube to move; the flippers should not come out of the water and should not disturb the water surface.
Although there is talk of a ‘float tube rod’ there is no such thing but you should use a rod that is 8½’ or longer. That 7’ 4wt should not be used in a tube until you are very experienced. The longer rod gives you a better chance at keeping your line away from splashing the water or hitting the tube with the hook and puncturing.
Work the shore line: A basic but very effective tactic is to kick around the lake paralleling the shore line while casting towards the shore. Stay far enough away so as not to spook the fish but close enough to effectively work the water.
Learn to cast or make sure you are casting with your arm and not the swaying of your upper body (as can be a bad habit for the wading fly fisher) Before getting in a tube, or as a casting check up, you might want to do some casting in a chair. Remember when in a tube you are very close to the water so any deficiencies in your casting stroke or plane will have the fly and/or line splash the water.Matching the hatch: this is an over worked expression in fly fishing and should really be stated as “match the forage base”. What is in the lake, what are the fish eating and where in the water column is the food?
Location, location and location: Structure can be an over looked aspect of lake fly fishing particularly with our prairie pothole style lakes. But even some ‘saucepan’ lakes will have variations that make one section of a lake more productive than other areas. Look for sunken logs, over hanging trees, weed beds, drop offs, mid lake humps or anything that is different.Watch the shoreline contours; the way the shore line is above the water line is an indication of what it is like below the water.
Match the gulp: Learn the difference between the various ‘takes’ that fish have. If they are trout are they chasing, swirling, splashing or sipping? At what point in the water column are they feeding?
Avoid trolling through productive water. Many fly fishers think that their little old tube won’t spook fish. But I have seen swimming beavers spook fish. Beavers are no threat to fish as they are herbivores but fish are spooked nonetheless. So imagine a 4’ wide tube with giant dangling legs and flippers. And remember your tube will go over the fish before the fly gets near them.
Use flies that match the forage base. Remember; when a fish takes a generic searching pattern like a woolly bugger or it's fancy name cousins it is mistaking it for something else. That something else can be minnows, scuds, damsel fly nymphs, dragon fly nymphs, crayfish, leeches etc. Better to find out what they are really feeding on and match that forage and increase your hook up rate.
Learn to ‘work’ the fly. Whatever the pattern is imitating learn the retrieve, or lack thereof, that best suits that fly, those fish or the prevailing conditions.B
Back bays can be trout hotels and usually have a drop off where they meet the main lake.
During the warmer months confine your trout fishing to the earliest and latest parts of the day. The trout have to eat sometime and these are the times.
If on a Rainbow or Brook trout lake or pond and the fish start randomly rising about you, cast near the last ring (it can be great fun guessing which direction the fish heads after the rise) using a nymph, emerger or midge fly.
Trout in lakes don’t head back straight to their ‘lie’ after a rise like their river brethren and are very likely to be near their last rise.
Learn as many presentations, and their variations, as possible and be prepared to use them. Clearly I am not a fan of trolling flies but when nothing has work I have given it a go mostly for me it gets no better result but once in a while it produces fish, (though I have no idea what desperation would have me indicator fishing with midges).
Wear a PFD. Yes you can swim but can you swim with waders full of water, fly vest and associated gear while extricating yourself from a deflated tube? No fish is worth dying for. This is even more important if you are going to tube on rough water, early season cold water or on water that allows power boats.
And you can add sun block, snack, water, whistle, rain coat, net, stream thermometer, polarized sunglasses etc to the things you might want handy (tubes are wonderful that way) and what you forget on the stream is merely a short walk to the car on the lake it is a bigger deal to go back.
On the Prairies you do not absolutely need a boat to have fun with a fly rod. Actually I feel the float tube has become the beginning and end of what is called fly fishing for many locally, while time honoured practices of small streams and rivers go unappreciated which is a shame as these too make up the glorious variety that is fishing with flies. There is also the practice of fly fishing lakes by wading beaches or fly fishing the big surf on our big lakes that tends to go ignored. Anyhow it might be said that a float tube is a much needed thing for the prairie fly fisher and I hope this has helped you at least a little.
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