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| Orvis 5wt Combo & The N. Ram At My Feet - Perfect! |
Fall 2013 seemed to produce some of the best fly fishing days for me to date. On one of my cherished Alberta Cutthroat Trout rivers, the North Ram. So I made it my go to river for fall 2014 and this time I was bringing my brother for his chance to catch his first big trout.
The first opportunity we had to get out there we, being my father in law and brother jumped in the truck and ran to the hills, so to speak. We arrive at the river around ten in the morning, geared up and hiked downstream about half an hour. It's a bit of a scramble to get down to the river from the ATV path but once your down there it's more than worth the effort.
Stream side we came up with a game plan for how we were going to attack this stretch of the river. My father in law George went dry fly only, My brother Jordan went with a deep nymph rig and I followed that up with a hopper dropper combo.
The first pool we fished was a warm up hole and to see who may be home and willing to partake in our day on the river. Before the other two could wet their lines I was the first in the water. Wasn't my best first cast but I left it to drift the tail of the pool and that's when it happened. First cast first fish of the day and I was the envy of the other two. I quickly brought the trout in and as fast as I had her in my net she was back in the river to live another day. I encountered a sunken log and lost my dropper fly on the very next cast. So as I re-rigged George and Jordan took to the pool. They were not a lucky as I, seems like I had landed the only willing fish on the take and we moved down to the next pool.
Starting off the morning with a fish on the first cast could be a sign of a boat load of fish day ahead or a day of struggle. When we were shut out through the next two pools I feared the latter. I thought of maybe switching my dropper fly but I knew the best water still lay ahead of us. So the three of us soldiered on to the next pool where my brother finally landed our second fish of the day. Not a record beater but we were back in the game and my competitive nature kicked in and I couldn't have my little brother out fish me this day. So it was game on, in a friendly brotherly love sort of way.
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My Brothers First Cutty Of The Day - Half Pint Size |
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| The Art Of High Sticking |
As we made our way downstream we stopped for lunch in front of one of the best pools on the river. George told us about a technique he calls "high sticking," for fast moving water, and explained if we wanted to catch fish in this pool that's how we would do it. The picture to the right shows George doing his "high sticking" technique. Basically you just don't want any of your line or leader to touch the surface of the water causing drag. You want to present your fly with as much natural drift as possible. This style is very similar to European nymphing, you can check out YouTube videos for more information. After we finished having lunch we all set up new rigs to give George's "high sticking" method a go. Jordan went with a single weighted nymph, no indicator, just sight and feel for takes, George went with a mayfly and I went back to the hopper dropper rig.
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| Scoping Out The Pool For Rising Trout |
With the sun in our face it was a bit of a trick to locate your fly in the surface reflection, even with polarised glasses. Making the first couple of casts a bit of a challenge. But the suffering was worth the reward when on my third cast I had a take. I moved the fish out of the pool, netted it, quick photo and released her. While George and I were dealing with my fish, Jordan followed my lead and got a hook up as well. Just as I got the net ready to land his fish, his knot failed him and the fish was gone. George took over the pool while Jordan re-rigged and I watched the master in action. After George gave the pool about ten cast with a dry fly and no takers he gave up the pool for Jordan and I to work over. Since I am a nice brother I let Jordan take the pool first. Two casts in and under the strict super vision of George. Jordan was finally onto a fish of meaningful size.
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| Coming Back To Rig Up For "High Stick" Action |
I readied the net and with a quick scoop my brother broke his personal best record on trout. With one gem of a Cutty, she was in the 18-19" range and produced a small smirk upon my brother's face. We fished that pool from head to tail and managed to trick four more fish into joining in the fun.
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| Jordan's 18-19"Cutthroat |
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| "High Sticking" Cutty, 17-18" |
The score ran, Kevin 5, Jordan 5 & George 0. In all fairness to George not one single fish came up to a surface fly all day. Best I saw was one small fish come for a look at my strike indicator. The fish just seemed to be holding the bottom that day. Sure George could've went with a nymph during the day but he was just as happy to watch us two clowns hash it out on the river.
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| Jordan Attempting To Not Drop My Fish Before Release |
With the score all knotted up at five, between Jordan and I, the final two pools would be the deciding factor in who takes home the win. The next pool we went back and forth trading fish tallies and I had two "rodeo" fish that would've gave me the lead. "Rodeo Fish" is a term for a fish you had on for longer than eight seconds but got off before you could land them in the net and don't officially count as a catch. However Jordan was up on me 6-7 as we headed down to the last pool of the day. I rallied and took the lead 8-7 and that's when Jordan caught his 20" Cutty to draw thing up. As much as I wanted to win I was also super stoked to have a day on the river like that with my brother and see him as excited as I was to catch these big trout.
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| Gold In The Net - A True "Pumpkin" |
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| Jordan's Second P.B. Of The Day - 20" Male Cutthroat |
With my last cast of the day I had one heck of a fish take my nymph but just as George went to net it she came off. So with Jordan's last cast it was now on him to land a fish for the win and sure enough he did, taking it 9-8! Can't wait to do it all again this fall, this time I will win I swear hahaha!
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| 17" Cutty That Filled My Brothers Net, Time For A Bigger Net Brother! - But Nice Win! |
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