The Last Muir-icle Casts Of The 2015 Season
Well now that it's December here in Alberta you can in vision snow capped mountains, winter driving at its finest and your pant size ballooning as you stuff your face with yet another holiday dinner. With that being said, here are two fishing trips I embarked on to close out the 2015 fly fishing season. So grab yourself a glass filled with holiday cheer, unbutton your ever bulging pants and enjoy. As the season opens in six months...but who's counting?!
Part 1: The "Muir-icle" Trout!
It's Canadian Thanks Giving weekend and while all of my friends & family are stuffing their faces with turkey legs, I am stuck at work. Stuck having to be on call and stuck not getting any Turkey in my belly. So after having a crazy two days of on call shifts and having the best wife in the world. I was free to enjoy an afternoon on one of the local trout lakes on the outskirts of Edmonton, Muir Lake.
No expectations of catching fish but high expectations for a few hours of "Zen" time away from work. Now the weather that weekend was quite cool and hovered at times close to freezing, so it was a two pair of socks kind of day out on the kick boat. I started fishing a leach pattern on an intermediate sink leader around some weed beds but there were no signs of life. In watching a few other boats on the water and seeing no fish production it was time for a game changer. I switched to my full sink line and put on this crazy boobie pattern (Tequila Boobie) that I had success on earlier in the year and went searching.
Another hour has rolled past with no fish to be had, so it was time for game changer 2.0, the electric boatman fly. I had yet to use this boatman patter but heard rumblings that this fly was something special in the fall on these local trout lakes. Sure enough, two casts in and there's a tug on my line! But no movement or head shake so I grow suspicious as to what has taken a fancy to my fly. As I strip in my line I can see this dark oddly shaped figure creeping up from the depths. I have snagged a bloody tree limb! Thank you, one of the local beavers for so kindly leaving that out in the middle of the lake! I smile to myself and release the tree limb to live another day at the bottom of the lake. "Until next year!" I mutter to myself as it sinks below my feet.
Speaking of feet, I sure was glad to have put on that extra pair of socks! My feet were feeling the chill of the cold water temps and with that in mind I figured I had better call it a day. One last cast and I would just troll the fly behind my kick boat as I made my way to shore and whatever happens happens. About fifty feet from shore I pause to pack up some of my gear and reel in my line. Just as I am about to take my rod out of the holder I get hooked up. Being some what cautious of a second underlying tree branch, I pause with my rod tip in the air but not for long as this time there is a life response. Not much of a fight out of this bow but who's to blame her as the water is stone cold freezing. With a quick swoop of my net and some quick snaps of the camera she was off swimming and I hope to see her this coming spring. Heck of a great way to end the still water season and I'm looking forward to what 2016 will bring out on open water.
Part 2: The "Last Casts" Of 2015
Some southern Albertains have the luxury of having access to a few rivers that remain open for fishing all year long. However living in the upper half of the province makes for some clever timing of trips out to the eastern slopes. In Alberta the trout season along the eastern slopes kicks off in mid June and runs till the end of October. You truly have a short four month period to chase trout in this section of the province. So you'd better not muck it up when you do have the chance to get out on the river.
This year saw the birth of my first child and a tragic winter flood to our family cabin. All within the first two months of 2015. To say 2015 came in with a bang is an understatement, so the hopes of a smooth second half of the year was on the families to do list. Our family cabin is a great jumping off point for trips out to the river and mountains, as it's roughly four hours of driving versus the eight it would be from home. So on a weekend if we head out to the cabin and because I have the best wife in the world, I can squeak in a few day trips out to the river during open season. However half of this year was shot as the flood at the cabin caused a 80% re-build and didn't allow our family to enjoy the cabin until August.
Flash forward to October, if you want to know what happened in the mean time please review some of my other blog post to help fill in the gaps, and with only two weeks before the trout season closed it was time for one last river adventure. So my father in law George and I headed out to the eastern slopes to chase our favourite...the Cut Throat Trout...on one of our favourite river systems, the Ram.
The weather at elevation can be dicey in mid to late October so you best be prepared for all facets. However the day we went saw eight above zero and very light winds by mid afternoon. Right from the get go I knew that this was going to be a nymph or nothing day, that is if you actually care about catching fish. You can do the "Dry Or Die" mentality of some trout purists but as much as I like being out on the river, I like catching trout on my 4wt rod. The 90 - 10 rule was in full affect this day, (90% of fish feed subsurface and only 10% will feed on the surface).
Go to combo for the day, a size 12-14 flashback or prince nymph under a small indicator. George with the prince and I went with the flashback and it was time to chase some trout. These two patterns seemed to do the trick as on the very first pool I hooked into an, average river size 15" Cutty (Similar To Last Photo In This Chain), right out of the gate. This section of river holds about 10-12 good fish holding pools. So George and I worked them as hard as this was the last the two of us would see this section of river until June 2016.
You never know what kind of day on the river lay ahead and general expectations of catching fish is cautiously optimistic with a hint of surprise sprinkled in. On this day, that couldn't have been more true. With the poor weather in the days leading up to our last trip of the season, George and I suspected we could be in for a tough go. However, the two of us at the end of the day had lost count of the exact number of fish we caught and released. So it was one heck of a way to put the 2015 season to bed and I can't wait to do it all again in 2016 but this time with my little man in tow.
Now it's time to hit the bench and re-stock the fly boxes, tight lines to all and see you in 2016!
Part 1: The "Muir-icle" Trout!
It's Canadian Thanks Giving weekend and while all of my friends & family are stuffing their faces with turkey legs, I am stuck at work. Stuck having to be on call and stuck not getting any Turkey in my belly. So after having a crazy two days of on call shifts and having the best wife in the world. I was free to enjoy an afternoon on one of the local trout lakes on the outskirts of Edmonton, Muir Lake.
No expectations of catching fish but high expectations for a few hours of "Zen" time away from work. Now the weather that weekend was quite cool and hovered at times close to freezing, so it was a two pair of socks kind of day out on the kick boat. I started fishing a leach pattern on an intermediate sink leader around some weed beds but there were no signs of life. In watching a few other boats on the water and seeing no fish production it was time for a game changer. I switched to my full sink line and put on this crazy boobie pattern (Tequila Boobie) that I had success on earlier in the year and went searching.
Another hour has rolled past with no fish to be had, so it was time for game changer 2.0, the electric boatman fly. I had yet to use this boatman patter but heard rumblings that this fly was something special in the fall on these local trout lakes. Sure enough, two casts in and there's a tug on my line! But no movement or head shake so I grow suspicious as to what has taken a fancy to my fly. As I strip in my line I can see this dark oddly shaped figure creeping up from the depths. I have snagged a bloody tree limb! Thank you, one of the local beavers for so kindly leaving that out in the middle of the lake! I smile to myself and release the tree limb to live another day at the bottom of the lake. "Until next year!" I mutter to myself as it sinks below my feet.
Speaking of feet, I sure was glad to have put on that extra pair of socks! My feet were feeling the chill of the cold water temps and with that in mind I figured I had better call it a day. One last cast and I would just troll the fly behind my kick boat as I made my way to shore and whatever happens happens. About fifty feet from shore I pause to pack up some of my gear and reel in my line. Just as I am about to take my rod out of the holder I get hooked up. Being some what cautious of a second underlying tree branch, I pause with my rod tip in the air but not for long as this time there is a life response. Not much of a fight out of this bow but who's to blame her as the water is stone cold freezing. With a quick swoop of my net and some quick snaps of the camera she was off swimming and I hope to see her this coming spring. Heck of a great way to end the still water season and I'm looking forward to what 2016 will bring out on open water.
Above Left: Electric Yellow Boatman & Above Right: Tequila Boobie Fly
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| The "Muir-icle" Rainbow Trout |
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| Solid & Healthy 18" Muir Lake Rainbow Trout Ready To Go Home! |
Part 2: The "Last Casts" Of 2015
Some southern Albertains have the luxury of having access to a few rivers that remain open for fishing all year long. However living in the upper half of the province makes for some clever timing of trips out to the eastern slopes. In Alberta the trout season along the eastern slopes kicks off in mid June and runs till the end of October. You truly have a short four month period to chase trout in this section of the province. So you'd better not muck it up when you do have the chance to get out on the river.
This year saw the birth of my first child and a tragic winter flood to our family cabin. All within the first two months of 2015. To say 2015 came in with a bang is an understatement, so the hopes of a smooth second half of the year was on the families to do list. Our family cabin is a great jumping off point for trips out to the river and mountains, as it's roughly four hours of driving versus the eight it would be from home. So on a weekend if we head out to the cabin and because I have the best wife in the world, I can squeak in a few day trips out to the river during open season. However half of this year was shot as the flood at the cabin caused a 80% re-build and didn't allow our family to enjoy the cabin until August.
Flash forward to October, if you want to know what happened in the mean time please review some of my other blog post to help fill in the gaps, and with only two weeks before the trout season closed it was time for one last river adventure. So my father in law George and I headed out to the eastern slopes to chase our favourite...the Cut Throat Trout...on one of our favourite river systems, the Ram.
The weather at elevation can be dicey in mid to late October so you best be prepared for all facets. However the day we went saw eight above zero and very light winds by mid afternoon. Right from the get go I knew that this was going to be a nymph or nothing day, that is if you actually care about catching fish. You can do the "Dry Or Die" mentality of some trout purists but as much as I like being out on the river, I like catching trout on my 4wt rod. The 90 - 10 rule was in full affect this day, (90% of fish feed subsurface and only 10% will feed on the surface).
Go to combo for the day, a size 12-14 flashback or prince nymph under a small indicator. George with the prince and I went with the flashback and it was time to chase some trout. These two patterns seemed to do the trick as on the very first pool I hooked into an, average river size 15" Cutty (Similar To Last Photo In This Chain), right out of the gate. This section of river holds about 10-12 good fish holding pools. So George and I worked them as hard as this was the last the two of us would see this section of river until June 2016.
You never know what kind of day on the river lay ahead and general expectations of catching fish is cautiously optimistic with a hint of surprise sprinkled in. On this day, that couldn't have been more true. With the poor weather in the days leading up to our last trip of the season, George and I suspected we could be in for a tough go. However, the two of us at the end of the day had lost count of the exact number of fish we caught and released. So it was one heck of a way to put the 2015 season to bed and I can't wait to do it all again in 2016 but this time with my little man in tow.
Now it's time to hit the bench and re-stock the fly boxes, tight lines to all and see you in 2016!
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| This Is What A Trout's Home Looks Like, Can You Say "Million Dollar View?' |
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| Social Media George Doing What He Does Best. |
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| Pool Party Wrecker! |
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| Alberta Cutthroat Trout On A 4wt Rod Equals A Good Way To End The 2015 Season. |
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