Southern Ontario Fly Fisher

Moving Day

2009-10-04T17:47:00.003-04:00

I'm amalgamating my blogs into a single blog called 27th Street. Don't worry, I've packed my fly rods. I hope you join me over there. This will be the last post on The Southern Ontario Fly Fisher. Thanks for visiting.

My knee

2009-09-15T22:19:00.002-04:00

I've been more or less ignoring a bad knee for some time now, but over the past few weeks, it has become increasingly painful and troublesome. Now, when I should be out throwing white-gloved howdy's in the shallows, I'm thinking about just how much it would hurt to slip on a rock wading the stream.

This season has seen me on the river less than any season in the past dozen years, and now I'm feeling the best thing is to stay off the stream until I get my knee fixed up, so I can fish without worry and pain next season. I saw a doctor finally the other day. Tuesday I go for X-rays and an ultrasound, and we'll see if I've done any nasty damage.

Meanwhile, I'm going to stick to wandering the woods picking mushrooms. Maybe I'll try a day or two at the Grand, where the wading is easy, before the end of the season. If I don't check back in here before the season is over, thanks to the few gentle souls who have dropped by this place, for your patience.

Holy Waters

2009-07-06T07:27:00.002-04:00

I has been a pretty slow season for me as far as fly fishing goes, both because I haven't caught nearly as many trout as I usually to but also because I haven't been out nearly as much. Having a puppy at home was a big contributor to this. I'm hoping to make up for this a little bit with a trip to the "Holy Waters" of the Au Sable River near Grayling Michigan. I'm planning to meet up with a buddy there in mid-September for close to a week of fly fishing.

In fly fishing circles, few trout streams in the world are any more renowned than Michigan's Au Sable River. A state-designated Natural River as well as a Department of Natural Resources-dubbed "Blue Ribbon Trout Stream," the Au Sable is not only one of the eastern United States' most legendary streams, but it also is the birth place of Trout Unlimited, a national conservation group that soon will celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Yet within the Au Sable River system, which encompasses several branches and numerous stretches of varying character, there is one portion of the river that stands out from the rest -- a stretch known as "The Holy Water." An 8.7-mile reach on the mainstream that begins just east of the city of Grayling in Crawford County, the Holy Water meanders from Burton's Landing to Wakeley Bridge and is known for its wadable water, dependable insect hatches and quality trout fishing.

The name Holy Waters was coined in the early 1970s by the late Cal Gates, owner of Gates' Au Sable Lodge, a fly fishing mecca located on the south bank of the famed stream..

I fished there once before, a few years ago. It was June and it was blistering heat and no self-respecting trout would rise to a fly. I checked out the various branches and a couple other nearby streams as well, but no trout. I also experienced the famed "canoe hatch", when some 500 often drunken canoeists float down the river each day. As one local fellow told me, the way to fish the stream is to fish the bottom end in the early morning before the canoes get there, then go find a nice spot for an afternoon nap. In the late afternoon, head for the upper sections, since all the canoes have already launched for the day and are below these areas. I'm hoping that by September the canoe hatch will have subsided some.

I don't expect to get on many rivers during the heat of July and part of August, but I'll be out looking for isonychias later in August and into September.

A half day off work

2009-06-12T21:13:00.005-04:00

...is not an opportunity to be squandered to I trundled off to the river. It was a comfortable sunny day with some cloud cover later on. The water was a little bit high and a little bit coloured. There was a spattering of bug activity, including a few March Browns that somebody forgot to tell the hatch was over. There wasn't a lot of action except for some little ones until I caught a lovely 15 inch brown in a fast deepish run below a big rock where the river flows behind a group of houses. This brown came up for a March Brown dun pattern. I caught it in a beautiful run which I never fail to spend some time at when I fish this stretch of water - even though this was the first trout I've caught there in a couple seasons. Beautiful day to be on a trout stream.

Grand

2009-06-04T22:58:00.003-04:00

I fished the Grand River today, below Fergus. There were a lot of guys out at the more popular spots. At the place I planned to park, there were seven cars, so I went to a another spot that gets less play. There were a lot of caddis around, various sizes, including little wee black ones and big brown ones. At about 6:00 pm foxes started coming off sporadically but if the trout were on them I couldn't see them. I caught a couple small ones mid-afternoon on nymphs and another small one later on an adult caddis. I only saw one big trout. It came up twice at the base of a cliff. I cast over it for an hour but nada.

I was surprised to see so few trout working given the amount of bugs around. Still it was a lovely day to be standing in a river and a few small trout is better than no trout at all.

Conspiracy

2009-06-01T07:10:00.002-04:00

It seems recently that everytime I think about going fishing, it's always something. Most recently it's been weather. Thunderstorms. Cold weather. Excessive gusty winds. This morning, June first, felt like November. I'd like some spring please.

Excuses excuses

2009-05-16T06:22:00.003-04:00

I spent the afternoon on the river. There were olives then olives and hendricksons coming off the water. It was overcast, with thunderstorms on the way. The water was higher than I like it, but pretty clear. There were a several cars worth of fishermen about, but as usual, mostly at the downstream bridges. I'm not a very social fisherman, and prefer to find spots where I can have a pretty good stretch of water to myself.

The trout were not working the surface at all. I tried a little grey ghost streamer and turned three good trout. One was on for maybe ten seconds and clearly a very nice trout. After a while I switched to a soft-hackle and quickly hooked another good trout, which I lost after my tippet knot failed. I had tied a poor blood knot, seen that it was poor, and left it anyway. I guess I deserve what I get.

The trout may have won today, but it was great to get out on a trout stream, and I'll be back for more as soon as I can.

Storm

2009-04-25T22:01:00.004-04:00

By the time I stepped into the river, it was already after 3:00. It was sunny, warm and breezy. There were some small mayflies coming off, but no trout rising. I messed around with soft-hackles and streamers for a while, when I noticed a dark cloud in the north. The wind picked up and the cloud came toward the steam quickly.

It was a 15 or 20 minute walk out to the car, so I started back, hoping to make it before the thunderstorm hit. By the time I reached my car, lightning was flashing in the sky and it was drizzling.

As I drove south, it was bright in front of me and very dark behind. I thought I could surf ahead of the storm, but my Mississauga it caught up to me from the west. Winds were extreme. Visibility was poor. The air was filled with litter from the sides of the highway. I exited the 410 onto the 401 and then quickly got off at Renforth and drove the rest of the way off the highway.

Well, I didn't get much fishing in, but it was good to get out, even for a short while.

Trout season opens next week-end in Ontario

2009-04-19T22:03:00.003-04:00

For me, opening day is about checking out a stream. What happened over the winter? Are there any new, promising runs and pools? It's an opportunity to organize my gear and make sure I'm ready for some good spring fishing ahead. It's also a chance to do a little casting, after a long winter.

I haven't yet decided where I'll wet a line this opening day. I may wait until the last minute to do that. Suggestions are always welcome.

Rivers

2009-04-05T18:18:00.003-04:00

I was on my way to visit a Newfoundland breeder this morning when I crossed this lovely looking river. They had snow up there on Friday and you can see some still on the ground. I've never fished this branch of this river, although the system is well known as a brown trout fishery.

While visiting our pup-to-be I asked the question. "So, that stream down the road? Any trout in there? I'm a fly fisher, you see." "Yes, it's a trout stream." "Any public access?" "Some, yes. There's another smaller stream flows into it too you might want to check out. Maybe bring your rod next time...some good browns."

Rivers. I love them.

Lot of rain

2009-04-04T10:46:00.002-04:00

I always like to see plenty of rain in the spring. Plenty of water in the streams makes for a good season. Now of course our streams are overflowing torrents of chocolate milk. The other day on the news people were warned to keep children and pets away from local rivers.

It's going to be an interesting spring. I have three weeks off work at the beginning of the season, but it's going to be a busy time for me because we're getting a Newfoundland pup. She'll be 8 weeks old when we pick her up at the beginning of May and she's going to need a lot of my attention. Hopefully, I'll be able to sneak away for a few afternoons or evenings on the stream during that time.

Season opens in just three weeks.

Looks like spring

2009-03-15T14:56:00.002-04:00

It's still early I know, but it looks like spring today. I'm working around the house and the bbq is happening outside slowly working on some ribs. The nice weather has reminded me that I'm behind, as usual on tying flies. I've tied the usual bunch of flies that will get me through the early hatches, as well as a few little streamers. Most seasons I don't use streamers that much, but last year I did very well when I did go to them, so I'm prepared for this spring.

One of these days I'll have to take a few hours and go through my vest and do my annual reorganization, and at the same time make sure my lines are OK, and I'm stocked up on leaders and tippet and anything else I might need. I find that the more I fly fish the less junk I need to carry around with me. In fact, I'm considering moving to a chest pack from a vest this year if I can find one that I like.

This spring we're planning to get a pup. It's been many years since I've had a dog around the house. We'd like to get a newf, because, well because I have a soft spot for hulking dogs with hearts of gold. The question will be, can I train her to be a fly fishing dog, with enough sense only to swim in my pool once I've taken a trout from it?
We'll see.

Seasons

2008-12-15T23:14:00.002-05:00

Each year I plan to fish more and fish more places, but some years other aspects of life simply trump fly fishing. This last summer, selling our house, buying another and moving slowed me right down. That said I did have a few good days.

The highlight of last season for me wasn't my biggest fish of the year. It was a 17" trout I caught on Slate Run. Slate Run is a very beautiful stream. I've read that it holds a large population of browns, but I suspect that is an exaggeration. It's clear and it's tough and I've had more bad days fishing that stream than good ones. I was there for a rainy few days and we didn't catch much. March Browns were coming off and I hooked my trout in a perfect fast deep run under some trees.

Re-org

2008-12-15T23:01:00.002-05:00

When we moved late this summer, I packed up all my fly tying gear by putting it all in a big plastic bin. I just got around to reorganizing it last weekend. It took several hours, but now my tying desk is pretty well organized for a winter of fly tying. I ended up finding all kinds of materials I haven't looked at in years.

I'm looking forward to re-developing that winter fly tying habit. I'll go through my fly boxes first to see what I have and what I need, then I'll start tying for the major hatches I fish in various styles. I use a lot of Usuals and Comparaduns, and soft-hackles for emergers, plus a handful of buggy looking nymphs and a handful of catskill type dries and another handful of attractors. I use parachute ants as a probing fly and depending on where I'm fishing, I sometimes use various beetle patterns.

I'm not a fancy fly tier by my flies do what I ask of them. I don't carry nearly as many patterns as I used to, simply because I don't think I need them. When I travel to other locations, if I see some locally tied flies in a fly shop I usually buy up a fistful. I do this because sometimes the local guys really get it right for their area, plus I like to support local fly tiers.

Afternoon delight

2008-09-11T18:02:00.001-04:00

I slipped up to the river yesterday afternoon. Isonychias were emerging and trout were on them. I was fishing lower down than usual. I caught four and experienced quite a few refusals. Best was a 15 inch brown. The stretch I fished is easy water when the trout are active. I didn't travel very far from the bridge. Because of the move, I haven't been tying, and I was out of isonychia dun patterns, but I did find half a dozen #12 Adams, and they worked just fine.

Nice afternoon, but where are the trout?

2008-08-16T16:20:00.002-04:00

The river was in good shape in spite of the almost daily rain we've been experiencing. The trout were not very active though. I enjoyed a few splashy refusals on stimulators, but caught none. Isonychias have started. I counted a number of duns after 6:00, but the trout didn't seem to know about it yet.

Fortunately, the fishin is always good, even when the catchin is slow. Nice day out.

The Grand above Fergus

2008-07-02T14:36:00.003-04:00

I fished the Grand this morning. There is plenty of water coming out of the lake and the river in the area I fished it is decidedly stained. The local fly shop suggested it was running clear on their website, but I suppose they're optimistic. It was a sunny morning with a stiff breeze, stiff enough to make casting a challenge. I saw a few cahills coming off, but after a while it was difficult to see bugs because of the wind. I hooked one little brown on an isopod, and that's it.

I watched the Great Blue Heron in the picture for quite a while. They hunt by standing in a likely flat very still. When a trout swims close enough, all hell breaks loose and the bird comes up with a trout. Some days, they do better than I do. Har!

What happened to June?

2008-06-23T07:34:00.005-04:00

This June, we've had plenty of the cool and wet weather I like to see, but circumstances beyond my control have mostly kept me off-stream. Hence my lack of posts.

Have patience, dear readers.

Covering water

2008-06-12T21:20:00.002-04:00

Some fishermen are happy to find a nice run or a rising trout and work it for hours. On the other hand, I often think about an afternoon of fishing as working from point A to point B. I like to find long stretches of water to myself to accommodate this, and on many streams it isn't too hard to find, as long as you're willing to walk for a bit. I know some fishermen who haven't fished more than 100 yards from a bridge in years, and they're good fishermen who do quite well.

I mentioned in an earlier post the difficulties I had when I first fished Silver Creek in Idaho. In part this was because I approached the stream the way I do local freestoners, covering water, working corners and edges. I had to learn to ease into one good spot and settle down for a while.

In some of the small streams I fish, the covering water approach works well. I skip over the thinner stretches, but fish all the likely little spots. Sometimes, though, the trout aren't where they're supposed to be. This happened to me early this season on a local river. The water was very high and the trout were actively feeding in riffles I rarely fished because they were so thin. I discovered the trout there quite by accident of course, but one I clued in to what was going on, I had a fantastic day.

On a local stream I fish regularly, the guys have names for some of the pools. A friend of mine fished the river one day and at a certain pool he caught 3 very nice browns at the head of a run, over along the left bank, casting a stimulator. He identified the pool using a name everyone else reserved for a completely different pool, located over a mile away. I was on the river a few days after my friend's successful day, and when I approached the pool I thought he was talking about, I decided to try his stonefly approach. Of course I was at the wrong pool. The top of this run along the left bank didn't look so promising, but my friend was a reliable sort, so I tied on a stimulator and cast to the top of the run. I caught two browns in a row, both good fish. Now I always fish the top of this run, but I have never caught another trout there.

There are a couple local streams I know quite well. That is to say, under various conditions, I have a pretty good idea where the trout might be. There have been times when certain runs were notoriously reliable for two, three years in a row, then nada-something changed causing the trout to move or change their behaviour. I know a run like that now. Even without a hatch, I often catch a nice trout or two there on a parachute ant.

I really enjoy my first trip out each spring. I make it a long walk usually, because I want to see what winter did to my river. Just as some old favourite runs change and become ordinary, other ordinary spots become increasingly interesting. I love that, rediscovering the stream again and again.

Heat

2008-06-09T07:41:00.001-04:00

I've stayed off our streams during the past several days of hot weather. My local weatherman is predicting some cooler days ahead.

On trout pictures and a few other things

2008-06-03T08:20:00.007-04:00

From time-to-time I receive requests to post trout photos on this blog. Once in a while, if I catch a really good trout and my camera is handy and it occurs to me to snap a quick photo of trout in net, I'll take a photo. This isn't very often. I rarely kill trout and my first consideration is releasing the trout in good shape. I use barbless hooks and if I can use my forceps to do a quick release without even touching a trout, I will. I don't much feel the need to record pictures of the trout I catch, and I don't have anything to prove to anyone.

For a long time, I didn't take a camera on-stream with me at all. I found it got in the way and was really just a distraction. These days I do often carry a camera, usually a small inexpensive digital one, because I like to record the landscape around me. What did the day look like? How high was the vegetation. It was cloudy, wasn't it? Look at that, the trilliums are in bloom. So once in a while I'll take a photo of a pretty trout, but it won't be so often. When I do, though, I'll post it for you.

I'm sure there are folks out there who catch more and bigger and prettier and smarter and tougher trout than I do using swankier, not to mention smaller flies, from more difficult pools. Let there be no doubt that there are loads of fly fishermen who cast better than I do (although I can cast equally poorly with either hand, and there's something to be said for that).

When I was growing up, we were mostly bait plonkers. I did a little fly fishing but not very seriously. At that time we fished for trout, migratory rainbows, walleye, bass, pike, whatever. We killed and ate most of what we caught and we took loads of pictures of dead fish. I'm reminded of the story of a trip my father and older brother took many years ago. They hiked in a legendary distance to a legendary secret spot they had been looking for like it was the Holy Grail. When they found it, they caught many large brook trout, all of which they killed and packed out. Back at the car, they laid this mess of legendary trout on the hood of the old station wagon so they could get the required picture of the dead fish. I think I still have a copy of that picture somewhere or other. Well, when they took the trout off the hood of the car, they discovered that the oils from the fish left a permanent stain on the hood for each of the trout. Talk about keeping a good record of your catch!

Eventually, I became bored with fishing the way we were doing it, and I started exploring fly fishing. I started fly tying as well, and when I actually caught some trout on my awkwardly tied out of proportion first efforts, you can imagine how thrilled I was. As I learned to slow down and pay attention to my surroundings, the game became richer and richer.

Sometimes I think fly fishing is more about paying attention than catching trout. For me, it's also about quieting myself to a rhythm that beats in synch with my surroundings. Catching trout is kind of an affirmation that you're paying attention pretty well. When I started visiting Silver Creek in Idaho, I think it was two or three visits before I caught any trout. I remember the first time, I stood in the middle of a blizzard hatch with trout rising all around me and I couldn't catch one. The guys at the local fly shops all said you need long fine leaders and umpteen X tippet and tiny flies. What I learned though, was that I needed to learn to slow down, way way down.

PS The photo in this post is courtesy of Tuffy P.

A wee trout stream

2008-06-01T22:19:00.003-04:00

The good thing about this stream is that at first glance it doesn't look very trouty. In fact, at second glance, it doesn't look very trouty either. It's a deceptive little stream though, and there are some deep pools and some nice undercuts.

After working for several hours on my father-in-law's cottage garden, I drove over to check things out. It had been very cool and windy all morning and into the afternoon, but now the temperature was coming up a little and the wind not so bad.

I normally fish a different stretch of this creek, a stretch which believe it or not looks even smaller than this stretch, by virtue of the fact that it runs though forest. I took a walk first, and met a local fellow who was bait fishing in one of the deeper runs. I watched him catch a 10 inch brown and add it a couple others he had killed for dinner. He knew the stream well, and he obviously fished it all the time.

I went back to the car for a fly rod then walked quite a way down to the end of the meadow and started working upstream. There were not many bugs about (besides the blackflies), just a few Grey Foxes and a few caddis. I saw one large mayfly come off the water, but it was at a distance, so I couldn't see what it was.

I fished with a March Brown Usual and caught and released three browns between 10 and 12 inches, all fat and feisty.

Drakes?

2008-05-29T17:51:00.001-04:00

I hear green drakes have started to appear on a few streams. Many readers will know that these bugs have suffered a catastrophic decline on the main stem of the upper Credit River. I remember years ago hiking up to the meadows stretch during the greed drakes. In the early evening, Grey Foxes came off and coffin flies (green drake spinners) dropped to the water. Some of the big trout showed themselves, shedding their usual skittishness at the promise of calories galore.

In the last few years I've volunteered to count the green drake duns I've seen coming off the various stretches of that river. I think last time I counted only a couple duns.

I don't know if there are green drakes on the little stream I'm going to fish on Sunday. I'll report back.

Once in a while....

2008-05-25T13:35:00.002-04:00

...real life gets in the way of trout fishing. I'm not able to get out at all this weekend. Next weekend, I may venture a little further afield than my usual haunts to check out a beautiful little brook trout stream that holds plenty of beautiful little brook trout, and a few beautiful big brook trout too, as well an occasional fat brown, and the odd rainbow that escapes from a town millpond. What's the name of that stream again? Rats, I always seem to forget. It's up just past, oh what's the name of that road? You know. I'll see you there.

Slate Run Pennsylvania

2008-05-19T09:20:00.003-04:00

Over the past few days I fished with Idaho Ken and East Texas Red on Slate Run, Kettle Creek and Pine Creek, in Lycoming County down in Pennsylvania. I've fished these streams with varying degrees of success in the past, along with others in the area like Cedar Run, Cross Fork, and Hammersley Run. It rained a lot. One day it rained for something like 18 straight hours.

There were bugs coming off. Let me be clear that I'm not an entymologist, but I'll tell you what I thought I saw. There were March Browns that seemed to come in a light yellowy tan and also an orangy brown, size 10. I think there were still Hendricksons happening. At least these bugs looked like our Hendricksons. There were a few sulfurs. There were some midges. There were at least two varieties of stoneflies, Yellow Sallies for sure, and also a dark stonefly a little smaller than the yellow ones. there were also a few caddis. All these bugs and yet they were all sporadic. No really good hatches.

Water temperature was around the 50 degree mark.

Did I mention it rained?

The first evening and next morning, I fished Slate Run without a single rise. Then I met up with Idaho Ken and we spent a few hours on Kettle. Nada. Zippo. Nothing. We fished Pine Creek for a while up above Babb Creek and Ken caught a brookie. Later, we fished an evening rise on Pine down near Slate Run. Ken hooked into a hefty trout, and the rod he was using collapsed at the ferrule. He had caught much bigger fish than this one on this Winston graphite rod without a problem. There must have been some kind of weakness in the ferrule and finally it collapsed. Fortunately he brought a spare along.

East Texas Red showed up along the way and we walked into a stretch of Slate Run. Slate Run is a beautiful stream that holds a good population of hard-to-catch trout. It is very clear with many riffles and runs and some deep pools. Soon after we started fishing, I found a fantastic deep run along the base of a cliff, shaded both by the cliff and by the overhanging limbs of several trees. I started lobbing a parachute March Brown under the tree limbs and quickly hooked what turned out to be a powerful 17 inch wild brown. I had a great deal of trouble landing this fish. It took a run downstream and actually made its way over a small plunge pool and down two more runs, before I landed and released the trout. It turned out to the be the best trout of a trip characterized by cold, rain and disinterested trout.

Please see my posts about this trip "We are hard on this planet" and "I know I promised a lot of pictures" on my other blog, mister anchovy.

Back next week....

2008-05-12T07:30:00.002-04:00

Tuesday after work I'm aiming the anchovy-mobile south and heading to Pennsylvania for a few days of fly fishing. I'm meeting up with a good friend of mine in the mountains, where we'll try to fool a few streambred browns and brookies.

Usually we fish Pennsylvania before our season opens, if only to get out on a trout stream a couple weeks early. Our timing this time around is linked to my friend's schedule, as he is in the state to spend some time with family. Although it is difficult to leave Ontario rivers just when they're getting going, I'm always up for an adventure, and the Pennsylvania streams ought to be at their best right now.

I expect to post again next Monday.

Good hatch - no trout

2008-05-09T23:19:00.004-04:00

Today was such a beautiful day to be on a river. The sky was bright and the temperature was perfectly cool. There was a good Hendrickson emergence, and scattered olives for much of the day, but I only saw one rising trout all day. I fished nymphs and soft-hackles and Usuals until the hatch stopped. No success. I switched to a streamer and had two good trout smack it, both of which I failed to hook.

So, no trout today, but a lovely day.

Tuesday next week, after work, I'm heading down to Pennsylvania for a few days. I'll take lots of pictures.

Ants

2008-05-05T22:56:00.003-04:00

For years I didn't use ants, for one simple reason. Under most conditions, I couldn't see them. Then, some years ago, I came across a pattern for a parachute ant in a magazine. I don't recall who originated it, so if anyone knows, please let me know so I can give him or her credit. I've made a few adjustments over the years. Tonight I tied some using foam posts, but I use all kinds of materials for parachute posts. I'm really not that fussy, as long as they are visible and as long as the fly floats right. I tie them so that if you look from underneath, you can clearly see the segmentation. I know somebody out there is going to say, OK Mister Anchovy, you know as well as I do that ants don't have dun-coloured legs. What's with the dun hackle. When I started tying these, I didn't have any black hackle, so I tried them with various different hackle choices. I found that in my experience at least, the hackle colour didn't matter at all. As a result, I've settled on dun hackle, both because I almost always have some on the tying bench and because it's fairly visible to the fisherman.

You can see by the photos that I'm not a fancy fly tier. As I once said to a friend of mine, I tie workingman's flies. They do the job the way I want them too, but you likely won't be displaying them in a glass case.

The parachute ant is my go-to fly in many non-hatch conditions on most streams in my area. I've caught more than my share of trout on these. I generally tie them on a 1X size 16 down-eye dry fly hook, by the way. I've tried different sizes, but 16 has been by far the most successful for me. I've used various kinds of black dubbing, but I've settled on a superfine synthetic dubbing, mostly because I have plenty of it. One season I tied a bunch of them with rabbit and that worked just fine too.

I'm going to confess that I've used this fly successfully during mayfly hatches as well. Once in a while, when I can't seem to match the hatch right and the trout are very selective, I'll try an ant. For reasons I don't begin to understand, "anting the hatch" has occasionally been a successful tactic for me, one usually born of frustration with my inability to find the right fly.

A wet day, but the river was generous...

2008-05-03T22:03:00.002-04:00

I stopped at a river at about 11:00 this morning. It was high and discoloured, but I thought there was enough visibility that it might be fishable. None of the usual suspects were around. I fished until 4:00, when the all day drizzle turned into a hard downpour, and didn't see another fisherman.

When I started casting, there were no bugs on the water. I tied on a streamer and caught a scrappy 12 incher right away. I learned quickly that there were good trout feeding in riffles I often walk through in lower water. A little upriver, I hooked and lost a big trout in a very fast riffle. A number of trout flashed after my streamer in this stretch of river. I tried a couple different flies with similar results.

By noon there were a few olives coming off the water, and by 2:30, there was a sporadic Hendrickson emergence in the rain. I tried a usual, but the trout were not feeding off the surface at all. A switch to a tan soft-hackle took a good trout from a corner first cast.

The river very generously gave up a number of browns to me today, none smaller than 12 inches. As usual, I released all my trout. The biggest was around 18 inches, a beauty in this stream. Too bad I left my camera in the dry car! I hooked the big one in a deceptively good run from which I've caught a number of fine trout in the past couple seasons. It's in a stretch which looks a little thin in lower water, but which holds quite a few good browns. There is a fast riffle that flows into a deepish flat for just a few feet before the stream tumbles into another fast riffle.

I've fished this stream in the rain many times over the years. Most times, I just get wet. Every once in a while though, I do very well in these conditions. I wonder if the trout were so active because the rain was warming the water? I don't know if it was the high water or Hendrickson nymphs that brought the bigger trout out into the riffles.

By 4:00 the now hard rain made fishing longer a fools game. It poured on me for the entire 35 minute walk back to the car, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Rainy and Cool?

2008-05-01T18:13:00.000-04:00

If the folks at the weather office are right, we're going to have a cool rainy weekend, starting with thunderstorms on Friday. Now, I don't mind fishing in the rain, but I draw the line at thunder.

I'm reminded of a hot afternoon on the Nature Conservancy section of Silver Creek in Idaho. There was little doing in the heat. An occasional trout was gobbling an adult damsel fly. Very occasional. The storm came upon me very quickly. OK, maybe it wasn't that quick. You see, when the clouds covered the sun, I started to move some trout, so I wasn't exactly rushing off the stream. I climbed up the bank when the first drops fell. I was a ten minute walk from the car, and suddenly I was in the middle of a fierce thunderstorm, lightning flashing all around me. There was no place to hide and no place to go, so I threw my rod away and hunkered down low and took the storm. It lasted only 20 minutes, and in a way it was very beautiful, but it was also very scary.

Anyway, a little rain is fine, and as long as there is no lightning and as long as the streams aren't blown out, I plan on giving it a go.

Fly Rods

2008-04-30T00:25:00.000-04:00

I don't collect fly rods. Now Mrs. Anchovy might not agree. She'd say, well if you don't collect them, how come you have so many?

I like fishing small to mid-sized streams best and my go-to rod is a 7 1/2 foot 4/5 bamboo rod made for me by the late Ted Knott, back in 1998. If the weather is really bad or if the brush is really dense, I'll use a graphite rod instead...there's the 8' Scott job I bought in Hamilton Montana one year when I was out there with East Texas Red. It might have been the year Princess Diana died (I'm not sure why I remembered that...). There's also a shorter 4/5 job I bought at Fran Betters' shop in the Adirondacks a number of years ago, built on a Winston blank.

For the Grand, I use a 4 pc 9' Winston 4 wt that was my booty for becoming a lifetime member of Trout Unlimited a couple seasons ago. Sometimes, I'll also break out a 6 wt production bamboo job made by the late George Gherke. I got to know George through a fly fishing newsgroup. It seemed he was having a scrap with just about everybody who contributed to the group. I emailed him and said, hey Mr. Gink, how come everybody hates your guts? We became on-line friends. One day, out of the blue, Mr. Gink sent me this rod as a gift, inscribed to me as "friend". I was really touched by this incredibly generous gesture. We had a plan to fish together in British Columbia that never quite materialized, and then he unexpectedly died. The rod is powerful, yet still has some delicacy and is perfect on mid-sized streams in the mountain west...I always take it when I head out that way.

The way I see it, these rods should do me for years to come. I'm not exactly saying I won't accumulate another one along the way (these things happen) - only that I have what I need for the fishing I like to do.

The problem with writing

2008-04-29T07:51:00.003-04:00

Some of you will have noticed that sometimes I'm a little bit vague about where I fish, frankly because I don't want to encourage people to put additional pressure on my local streams. In a couple cases I fish streams which don't get a lot of play (and I like it that way), and I confess you won't find a map to those spots on these pages. I don't mind talking about the Grand, because it is so well known and has had a lot of press. It's the smaller, more delicate streams about which I'm not going to give up too many details. One guy I know says, "those damn websites are bringing too many people to the river," and maybe he's right. The good thing is that the more delicate streams also tend to be a little tougher, and many folks who fish them once don't bother going back.

There's a brook trout stream I know, which is not entirely unknown, but I almost never see anyone else there. I consider that to be a positive condition because the entire stretch of this pretty water is best with a single fisherman around. I've shown this one to a few very good friends over the years, and I know they will keep it quiet. The trout there are very eager and there are some good ones, but parts of the stream are really hard to fish and even navigate.

If I seem vague from time-to-time, chalk it up to the problem of writing about fly fishing. Readers who fish around this neck of the woods will figure out most of the streams I talk about easily enough, and everyone else, I suggest you start with a little exploring, and maybe make a few friends on-stream. There are only so many streams in Southern Ontario. You'll work it out.

Opening Day

2008-04-26T23:04:00.003-04:00

After a leisurely breakfast, I drove to Fergus to pick up a few things at Troutfitters. I hadn't been to their new location before, and I have to say, it's a very nice fly shop, and the fellow I was dealing with was very helpful and knowledgeable.

I found a spot on the "Upper River" portion of the Grand, above Fergus, and was surprised I had quite a nice stretch to myself, a condition that changed after about 1:00 when the opening day fishermen appeared in droves. At one point, there were 5 guys fishing a short run near where I parked my car. You would think it was the only run in the river with trout!

It was a blustery day, with occasional light showers, and cool temperatures. The water was very cold! Given the conditions, I decided to chuck streamers, and soon caught a fat 16 inch brown on a Grey Ghost. An hour later, another good trout smashed my streamer, but I only had it hooked for a few seconds. And that was it. There were a few very small bugs around, but no rising trout. Water was clear and the flow was low. On the way up, I stopped to look at another well-known trout stream, where water was also clear, but high. There were a lot of cars parked there as well. Although some spots get a lot of pressure all the time, opening day attracts a lot of people who only seem to make it out to the river once each season, and soon turn their attention to working around the house or driving up to the cottage...

I left the river early, as Tuffy P and I were going to visit my brother-in-law in hospital. He has just had his aortic valve replaced, and today has been moved out of intensive care. Fortunately he seems to be recovering quite well!

Opener tomorrow

2008-04-25T07:53:00.003-04:00

After a week a beautiful weather, we have the promise of a cool rainy day for the opener tomorrow. Going out on the first day of the season here is for me largely cerimonial. It will be another week or two before things pick up. I haven't decided where I'm going to fish yet, and likely I won't decide until I'm in the car, leaving the city.

Although I started tying late this year, I've tied up most of the flies I'll need for the next couple months. I just have to stuff everything in my vest, load up the car, and take off.

Waders

2008-04-15T17:14:00.004-04:00

I went through a period a few years ago where I accumulated gear. These days, I fish with less and less. I carry less stuff around. I use fewer flies. I bought a new pair of wading boots a couple seasons ago in Calgary because the soles finally fell off the pair I was wearing. The other day I was looking over my waders. Globs of Aquaseal trace my days on trout streams, and document the punctures, rips, wear and tear that come with years of use. I wonder if I can get another year out of them before they disintegrate? Perhaps if I see a decent replacement pair on sale, I'll splurge this year.

I use breathable chest waders. I'm just not a hipper kind of guy. If I wore hippers, I would immediately need to get that extra two inches deeper that would get me into trouble. Know thyself. The hipper guys say, hey, mister anchovy, don't you get hot wearing those chest waders all year? The truth is that these days, as soon as it gets close to being warm enough to do so, I wade wet, in track pants, wearing an extra pair of wool socks in my wading boots. I discovered that I really like how it feels...

At the vice

2008-04-04T18:39:00.003-04:00

I had the day off work today, and spent most of the morning running errands. One of those was to stock up on hooks and other tying supplies. Normally, by this time of year, I've tied plenty enough flies to get me to summer, but this winter I've been lazy. I made up for it this afternoon, tying up a bunch of Hendrickson Usuals. I tie them both up and down wing, and match the size and body colour to the hatch. I also tied a few catskill style flies to match our local hendricksons. Later this weekend, I plan to tie up some olives, some sulfurs, some foxes, and then a bunch of caddis adults and pupae.

Going through my flies the other day, I see my soft-hackle selection has dwindled, so that's on my list as well. The season is around the corner....

Planning

2008-03-30T10:14:00.003-04:00

I'll be heading to Pennsylvania for a few days mid-May. Usually when I go to Pennsylvania, it is to beat our season. We go in mid-April, just a bit early for the good fishing but better than no fishing back home. This year, a good friend from Idaho will be in PA visiting family, and of course fishing along the way. I hope to meet him on a lovely freestoner called Slate Run. I'd like to fish that stream, and her sister stream, Cedar Run, and perhaps Kettle Creek as well. I've fished these streams from time-to-time over the years, and I really enjoy fishing this lovely landscape. These streams are about a 6 hour drive south from my home in Toronto.

On other trips to Pennsylvania, I have enjoyed fishing around the State College area. There is Spring Creek, right near town, a stream with a checkered history that holds plenty of good trout. This stream has suffered from nasty industrial pollution over the years, and as a result became a catch and release fishery in the interest of public safety. The mayfly hatches never fully recovered, and I have learned to always bring plenty of little white midges and a few ants and beetles along. This stream doesn't blow out easily, so if I'm in Central PA and there is a lot of rain, I head to Spring Creek. Penns Creek, on the other hand runs chocolate milk after a rain, at least in my experience. It's a nice big stream though, and fun to fish. I really like Big Fishing Creek too, although it gets a lot of pressure all the time. If you don't like company, avoid the Narrows stretch and explore some of the other water on this river.

Here in Ontario, our trout season opens last weekend of April, which is normally before the streams get good. I'll fish a local stream, just to get back on the water again. If I catch a trout or two, I'll be very happy. Meanwhile, I'll get to see what this snowy winter has done to the river. Will there be new logs down? New pools? Every year, things shift around a little. For several years, I fished a short but very productive stretch that was mostly ignored by the regulars. One of the local organizations chained a couple logs in there a while back, with good intentions to enhance the run. It hasn't been as good since. I guess the lesson learned is that sometimes leaving well enough alone is the best idea.

I see development creeping closer to the Credit River each year. The green drakes have suffered a catastrophic decline due to who knows what crap that has made its way into the system. I wonder if the snow melt will help refresh the stream? I fear that eventually development will suffocate this treasure. Last season, I had a good spring there. I mostly stopped fishing it in the heat of summer and came back for an isonychia emergence that was lame at best. I'm really hoping for a cool, wet season!

Meanwhile, I've cleared off my tying desk out in the Secret Lab and fly tying starts this week. Spring is in the air.

Time to come out of hibernation?

2008-02-24T21:43:00.002-05:00

A couple comments and links have shaken me out of my winter lethargy. Season opener is only around 60 days away, and before that there are opportunities south of the border, perhaps down in Pennsylvania or in NY State. I've been avoiding making plans because we are considering a major renovation to our house, which we are pricing out right now. If we decide to move forward with the work, it may mean shorter rather than longer trips are the order of the day.

End of Season

2007-09-30T17:05:00.001-04:00

Today is the last day of trout season where I live. After a leisurely breakfast, I spent a few last hours on the river. Water low, bugs few. Some guys did well early this morning from what I hear, but for me it was a quiet few hours working up a river I love.

Some rain, particularly over the last month or so would have helped the fishing out quite a bit. I'm worried about the isonychias - I saw only a fraction of the number of bugs I usually see, and that had an adverse effect on the fishing too (was this a side-effect of the lack of rain?)Still, I caught my fair share of trout this year, and even a few good sized fish.

I likely won't post much here until I start some winter tying, whenever that might be....

a few hours on the river

2007-09-16T21:55:00.000-04:00

With the low, clear water, evening would have been a better bet, but we all know that the best time to go fishing is when you can get out.

There were a few bugs about, mostly olives, nothing to write home about. Beautiful day, a little cool, mostly sunny. I caught a few smallish browns. One large trout splashed after my fly and missed, but given the impossible spot, I had no chance to land it in any case.

Rainy afternoon

2007-08-25T23:30:00.001-04:00

I fully expected to be rained on, but I thought it was worth the chance, and drove to the river. Hardly any bugs at all, but I hooked a good trout right away, and had several rises to isonychia patterns. At a big hole (never mind where), I watched a very large trout come up for some kind of fly I didn't see. This may be the biggest trout I've seen in the river, well over 20 inches. I couldn't get a rise over the trout, but hooked and lost a nice one at the top of the pool.

Then the rain started and was pretty bad for a while. After 45 minutes or so, the rain slowed to the point where I could fish again, but I could only raise small trout after that.

Saw a large dead brown washed up on some gravel. Its spots were still visible. I would say it was about 20 inches.

Only saw 2 isonychias emerge.

Afternoon on the river

2007-08-19T09:15:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was a lovely day to be on a trout stream - moderate temperatures, a bit of a breeze, and increasingly overcast as the day progressed. Water was low but fishable - a couple days of solid rain would help the stream out some. There were not a lot of bugs around, but there were a few isonychias flying about.

I hooked and lost a brown that looked 12 or 13 inches and surprisingly, caught a few brookies.

some cooler nights

2007-08-17T17:16:00.000-04:00

I'm happy we've been having some cooler nights, which can only be good for the streams. A nice long rain would be welcome as well. I've been avoiding my usual haunts through the heat of summer, but I'm going to find a stream to fish on Saturday. Meanwhile, I've been tying some isonychia dun patterns in preparation for what I hope will be a good emergence this year.

Low, low, low

2007-07-23T22:08:00.000-04:00

I haven't been out fishing since my trip to Upper Michigan. On Sunday, I knew I would be near a little stream I know that runs cold all summer long, so I brought along my gear. This is a small stream at the best of times, and on Sunday, it was so low, I didn't string up a rod.

Upper Fox River, Michigan

2007-06-17T20:26:00.000-04:00

A few thoughts....
There are many points to access this stream, but unlike any other stream I've fished, once you're in, you are separate from the outside, so much so that I took to tying a bandana on a branch at every point I went in so I could again find my way out and not be swallowed up by the river. There is a forest canopy. There are thick tag alders. There are log jams. At times the river is remarkably deep, close to the tops of my chest waders, yet there are long stretches of sandy shallows as well.

I took to probing downriver with a small streamer, and casting attractors back upstream. There was no hatch that I saw, although there may have been some drakes that came off after dark - I saw a very small number of green drakes, and some other big brown mayflies as well. I mean one or two or three. If there was a hatch it was after dark, and I was always out before it became too dark to find my way back.

Not once did I come upon another fisherman while on the river. I saw trucks at different access points and I know guys were in there, but I didn't meet anyone while I was on the river. I like that.

UP trout streams

2007-06-16T16:13:00.001-04:00

Each day was hot and clear during my time on the Upper Michigan Peninsula, not exactly the idea conditions I had hoped for. Some rivers turned right off in the heat and others only turned on a little bit in early morning and late evening. I caught my share of trout, but no big ones this trip.

I did see three big trout though, in the Fox River above Seney. The first I scared up walking downstream, and it swam past me perhaps four feet away, a very big brookie, certainly over 16 inches. Then later the same morning, approaching the same area from below, I was trudging upstream across a shallow sandy flat - I hadn't imagined any trout in this water - when I saw movement ahead. There were two trout swimming almost side-by-side in a foot of water. I would say the smallest of the two was 14 inches and the larger18+ inches long. I watched them for a long time. I threw dries over them which they ignored. I ran a streamer past them and they drifted back a little. Finally, the pair of them bolted upstream and disappeared.

UP trout streams

2007-06-16T16:11:00.001-04:00

Roadtrip to the UP

2007-06-04T23:19:00.000-04:00

On the weekend, I'll be heading to Sault Ste Marie, across into Michigan, and west into the Upper Peninsula to chase brookies for a week.

I won't be able to post here while I'm gone, but I'll bring back some tall tales and photos...

Before the storm

2007-06-03T23:10:00.001-04:00

It looked like rain all day today, and the forecast called for thunderstorms tonight. I thought I might be able to sneak in a few hours on the Credit before the rain started. I fished up through Brimstone. It was very humid. There were few insects (besides the plentiful mosquitoes). I saw a few caddis, a few no-see-ums, a very few green drake duns, and one big mayfly I thought was a grey fox. That's it. I raised a couple good fish on attractors, and caught a few small browns.

There were a number of guys out for the evening fishing. I packed it in early and was in my car on the way home by 7:30. Perhaps half-way home, I drove through a torrential downpour for about 15 minutes. I hope a few good ones were caught before the rain.

Foot feeling better

2007-05-31T23:33:00.000-04:00

My foot is much improved. I'm thinking I may sneak out for an evening on a stream over the weekend. Then, in a week, I'm heading to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, an area I really enjoy.

Green Drake time

2007-05-28T23:03:00.000-04:00

The green drakes will be coming off the Credit any time now. In recent years, the drakes have taken a drastic decline on the main branch, but are still doing well on the West Branch. If those studying the problem have figured out what is killing these insects, I haven't heard yet. The regulars on the river will be participating in a green drake survey again this year. My foot problem is going to keep me away, likely at least until the hatch is over, but I sure hope there is some improvement in the drake population.

Injured foot...no fishin until it's a bit better

2007-05-26T15:34:00.000-04:00

I need to look after a foot problem so it is in good shape for my trip to the Upper Michigan Peninsula in a couple weeks...so I'm staying off the streams for at least a week. I think the problem is planter fasciitis (I've had it off and on for years) that got extra irritated when I spent a week building a patio.

Cold afternoon on the Grand River

2007-05-21T07:07:00.001-04:00

The Grand was low and clear yesterday. I accessed a stretch of the 'middle river' section on a cold and overcast afternoon (which later turned to a colder but clear early evening). There was a good hatch of olives when I arrived, and the swallows were swooping, grabbing the duns from the air. At a certain point, I saw no more olives, but the swallows continued to feed. I wouldn't have seen the tiny light-coloured midges if a couple hadn't landed on me.

That said, I did not see a large trout move in several hours on the river. I did catch a few small browns, mostly on little soft-hackles. None of the guys I talked to had seen large trout.

An evening at the Forks

2007-05-14T23:30:00.000-04:00

I was tired after moving a lot of stone for some landscaping in my backyard, but I couldn't resist driving up to the Credit for a couple hours this evening. I had planned to fish the stretch above Grange Rd. but there were 4 cars there when I arrived, so I continued on to the Forks where I knew I could find some water to myself. I walked a little way, and fished the stretch between the second parking lot and the first house at Brimstone. There are two runs there where good trout rose to my fly last time out. Nothing doing in the first stretch, but in the second, I caught a lovely 15 inch brown right where it was rising before. Downstream, I caught another brown, but this fish was only about 9 inches.

There were a few small spinners (baetis) and a small number of hendrickson spinners in the air, and quite a few no-see-ems, and the only trout I saw rising were to my flies. There were no other fishermen anywhere near me, which is the way I prefer it.

Box of flies

2007-05-09T06:57:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning, I tied up 7 Hendricksons to take with me - 2 Catskill ties, 3 Usuals, and 2 Comparaduns. I put them in a little container and put the container in my pocket. When I reached the river, they were no longer in my pocket. I searched the car to no avail. Fortunately, I still have enough flies to get me through the day, although I will say the new ties, after having a fresh look at the actual bugs the day before, were better imitations.

The fly box was waiting for me when I returned home, on the kitchen table, right where I left it.

A slow day on the Credit

2007-05-08T23:00:00.000-04:00

After a good day yesterday, I drove back to the same spot and fished more or less the same water. When I arrived, it was slightly overcast. There were no bugs. I caught a trout right away on an attractor, and watched a few larger fish come up for a look. It was the same deal all day. The bigger trout would come up and not take. The Hendrickson hatch did not really come off - there were a few bugs in the air, but not enough to interest the fish. It was a hot day, and by the time I reached the meadows, I was tired. Although I brought along two bottles of water, it wasn't enough. Good thing I had plenty in a cooler in my trunk, which I really needed by the time I got back to the car.

It's interesting how the river can be so generous one day, and next day be so frugal. Still, it was good to be fishing.

above Forks of the Credit

2007-05-07T22:47:00.000-04:00

Beautiful day above the Forks of the Credit... Hendricksons were emerging most of the afternoon - not a heavy hatch but a steady one. I caught 6, all browns, broke off an alligator, and cast for ages at two large risers that came up several times only to refuse my flies. Fished from noon until 7:00 and did lots of walking and wading. The water level has settled nicely and the river showed lots of trout today.

There is construction on Forks of the Credit Road. You can still drive to and park at the Forks though, but don't expect to drive through to Bellfountain because you can't do it. Hardly anyone out today - Mondays are great days to fish!

Sorry I didn't get a better shot of that nice trout. After I netted it, I remembered I had my camera with me. I wanted to release the trout quickly and safely, so I only allowed myself a quick shot of the fish in the net.

Monday and Tuesday

2007-05-05T18:20:00.000-04:00

I'm taking a couple days off work to do a little trout fishing. I'll decide what rivers to fish while I'm packing my lunch. Look for reports Monday and Tuesday nights

Opening Day - Credit River

2007-04-28T19:31:00.000-04:00

After breakfast with the boys, I parked at the Forks of the Credit and went for a long walk. It was a gray day, but that is misleading because the overcast skies bring out the vibrancy of the spring colours. It was cool, but not cold, and a few times while I was out, a fine mist fell. The water was high and coloured, but still fishable. With the high water, some nice pools seemed to disappear into long riffles.

Mid-afternoon, some olives emerged, but the trout were not coming up for them. I couldn't move trout on nymphs or soft-hackles either. Finally, I caught and released an 11 inch brown on a small white streamer, near stuck-truck pool.

There were a few guys on the water today, but fewer than I expected, given it was opening day of the season. It was very good to get on a stream again!

some soft-hackles and a streamer

2007-04-14T23:32:00.000-04:00

Caddis + 2 midges

2007-04-14T23:28:00.000-04:00

I tied up a handful of flies today, and took some pictures along the way. Nothing fancy here, all flies I like to use.

Shopping at the Forum

2007-04-14T14:28:00.000-04:00

I drove out to Burlington this morning to check out the IWFFC Fly Fishing Forum. This year, I didn't go to any of the seminars, although I was tempted by Jim McLennan talking about Alberta trout streams. I did do a little shopping. I bought a dun neck from Keough's, a grizzly hen neck, several boxes of hooks, some dubbing wax, a little CDC and a few other odds and ends.

I also chatted for a while with a few of the guys who fish the Credit River.

It's almost time to go fishing.

Upwing / Downwing

2007-02-28T21:40:00.000-05:00

So what is your favourite style of trout fly? I tie a lot of variations on these little numbers with snowshoe hare wings. I still call them Usuals, but these aren't that close to the original Usual pattern. I tie them upwing and downwing in different sizes and colours to match the hatch. Sometimes for the Grand, I tie them with just a little nub of wing. I like crinkled poly material for the shuck, and I like the whole fly tied a little bit buggy, or impressionistic. Sometimes I have good success with a longer shuck too.

tied up a few...

2007-02-18T22:17:00.000-05:00

I tied up a few variations on the Usual tonight. Over the next month or so I'll try to tie up a good handful of my 'go-to' patterns + some flies to cover the first good hatches of the season.

Canadian Fly Fishing forum

2007-02-06T23:33:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I have posted here, but then again, it's been a while since there has been any fly fishing happening around these parts. I see the flyer is out for the Canadian Fly Fishing Forum, scheduled for April 14 & 15 at the Holiday Inn in Burlington.

There will be some interesting seminars this year. Two that look particularly appealing to me are Fly Fishing Opportunities in Michigan, given by Ron Barch, and Trout Streams of Alberta, given by Jim McLennan, who has in fact written the book on this topic. The Forum is put on by the Izaac Walton Fly Fishing Club. Follow the link to their website for more info about the club and the Forum.

Evenings on the Crowsnest

2006-08-27T15:24:00.000-04:00

The highlights of our week in Alberta were evenings on the Crowsnest. There was a reliable baetis hatch - 18s and 20s, mixed with some pmds, a few bigger mayflies (flavs?), and some spinners - every evening. The trout were selective to size. I tried a variety of patterns and did about as well with each. A #20 fly with an olive body and a tuft of CDC was as good a pattern as any, every evening except my last on the river (when the trout were clearly selective to #16 or #14 rusty spinners).

Although there were exceptions, the bigger trout were typically bank feeders, and required accurate casts tight to the brush on shore. When the presentation was right, we had a good chance at a take. These rainbows ranged from 15 to 18 inches. We did very well on the TU stretch upstream from the Castle road. On my first and last night on the stream, I fished above and below the East Hillcrest access, and had good evenings there as well, with lots of smaller trout upstream of the access. There I also saw tracks of a big cat - I don't know what kind.

During the day, fishing was slow on the river, with the larger trout seeking cover in the hot sun. This is the time to find a cutthroat stream and chuck some attractors.

Ken works the Livingston

2006-08-27T15:17:00.000-04:00

The Livingston is a very pretty little cutthroat stream. Along with the upper Oldman and Racehorse Creek, it forms the main Oldman River. This river gets heavily fished. There were very few accesses that didn't have a car or pickup truck or guide or RV. Funny thing - we talked to one fellow who said that the Crowsnest was "pounded" and didn't have the trout it used to. He fished Racehorse, and used an ATV to go way upstream - another fellow, when we told him we were going to fish the Livingston, said, "that stream is pounded" - better to fish the Crowsnest. The Livingston does get a lot of traffic due to its proximity to Calgary, but there is lots of water to fish, and I would fish it again any time. On the other hand, the Crowsnest is more my kind of river.

The Oldman

2006-08-27T15:00:00.000-04:00

We spent a day fishing the Oldman in the area known as the Livingston Gap, or just The Gap. In our week fishing southern Alberta, I found this to be the prettiest stretch of water we fished. It featured deep pools, rock gardens and glides. Mike caught a 23 inch bull trout on one of Ken's spey flies. I caught one good cut and some smaller ones. Beautiful water.

I started fishing a #14 stimulator pattern, but quickly switched to a smaller attractor - a little yellow humpy - as the stimulator was attracting only splashy refusals. I also tried nymphing and hooked and lost a big trout on a bead-head caddis larva pattern. I couldn't tell if it was a big cut or a bull.

For a sense of scale in these pictures, look for Mike and Ken in the bottom shot....

The Castle

2006-08-27T14:53:00.000-04:00

The South and West Castle Rivers, and the main branch are lovely trout streams, flowing through grizzly country south of the Crowsnest Pass. Water was low when we fished it, and we found we had to hike a ways between likely water, but we caught some lovely cutthroat trout and enjoyed the beautiful mountain scenery.

a little cooler today

2006-08-08T23:10:00.000-04:00

Today it was a little cooler than it has been.... I've been staying away from trout streams during the heat wave. Looking forward to taking a week to do some serious fly fishing. Flying to Calgary August 19 for a week in SW Alberta / SE BC.

Low and clear

2006-07-23T22:58:00.000-04:00

I stopped off at this little stream this afternoon. At best, it is marginal for fly fishing due to tight quarters, but today it was made even more difficult due to the fact that it was so low and so very clear. I had an old little Orvis 3 wt graphite rod with me, and I went in to give it a try. I spotted a very nice trout in the first large pool I fished, but I couldn't move it. The trout were so spooky throughout the creek, it was really hard not to telegraph my presence. I raised some small trout in riffles, and further upstream I saw some very good trout in a deep fast run. Finally, I ran a streamer through the deepest pool in the creek and had several nice trout follow it, but no takers. The trout win today.

Wednesday evening on the Grand

2006-07-19T23:29:00.000-04:00

I fished the Grand after work. Fished a riffle above Fergus and stayed put. Good caddis hatch between about 7:00 and 8:00. Caught several trout in the 9 - 12 inch range. Foul hooked a 12 incher that rose to my fly, which fortunately shook off quickly. Only saw a couple bigger trout tonight. Lots of people out on the river - I avoided the flats and fished the riffle to get a little space. The fly of choice was a #16 cdc caddis emerger, dun wing and top secret body.

Pupae

2006-07-18T23:42:00.000-04:00

I tied up some caddis pupae patterns tonight, anticipating a few hours on the Grand after work tomorrow evening. Last time out, I was able to fool the smaller fish, but the larger ones were wary of my fly. I think my pupae weren't quite right.

pictures from an old fly swap

2006-07-16T00:53:00.000-04:00

I stumbled across this today - from an old fly swap.

Fished the Grand after work

2006-07-15T00:28:00.000-04:00

I fought some nasty traffic on the 401, but made it up to the Grand above Fergus for an evening of trout fishing. There were caddis emerging more or less regularly, with trout moving to them also more or less regularly. I saw a few cahills as well, but the trout were eating caddis. I found two good risers and worked for them all evening. I pricked one and put him down at some point. Caught neither, but did manage to catch a few 9-11 inch browns in the process. It was a hot day, but it cooled a little into the evening. Water temp was about 62f according to my thermometer. Good to get on a river after a few weeks without any fishing.

way hot

2006-06-17T19:36:00.000-04:00

It is very, very warm today - I won't be doing any trout fishing until it cools down some.

a couple hours on a little stream

2006-06-11T23:32:00.000-04:00

Cool afternoon today, and water temperature in the creek was still at about 56 f. The stream must be loaded with springs. No bugs, biting or otherwise. Water was super-clear and the trout were very skittish. I caught a couple little brookies. Pricked a big brown in a deep run with a stimulator. Also had some very nice browns chase a streamer in the deepest pool in the creek. Fished until about 7:45.

a few brookies

2006-06-07T23:28:00.000-04:00

I fished the brook trout stretch on the Credit after work today. Warm evening, water temperature in the high 60s. Not many bugs around, a few #16 tan caddis and a few big stoneflies. I caught some smallish brookies - best one 9 inches. Water a little stained, but the stretch looks good. I used to fish it quite a lot, but in recent years I've concentrated on the area below the escarpment. It was very pleasant to work the brook trout water again. I was the only fisherman on the stretch all evening.

Rain, Rain, Rain

2006-06-03T21:54:00.000-04:00

Rain Rain Rain Rain Rain...go away, come again another day.

No fishing this weekend.

Green Drakes

2006-05-31T23:49:00.000-04:00

Well, it looks like the Green Drakes, or what remains of them, have started coming off the Credit. If this is true, the hatch will be done by the weekend, and I will have missed it. I may be able to catch the drakes on another river, further north though.....maybe.

UP Trout Rivers

2006-05-27T07:58:00.000-04:00

I sampled several trout streams in my travels through the Upper Michigan Peninsula. Overall, I didn't do nearly as well as I did last visit, when I fished the Fox and the Driggs and the Big Two-Hearted. This time, I fished the Sturgeon, the Black (the little one on the Lake Michigan side), the East Branch of the Escanaba, and the Carp. Of those streams, I'm adding the East Branch of the Escanaba to my list of streams to explore further down the road.

You can see the East Branch easily right in the town of Gwinn, where it runs through a lovely park. I accessed it about 6 miles upstream at a wooden bridge. Above the bridge it is slow and featureless, but below there is a long series of lovely runs and riffles. The brookies I caught were not big trout, with the exception of one I hooked but failed to land that looked to be in the 13 or 14 inch range. This stream is a pleasure to fish. It is wadable, and open enough for casting. There were plenty of caddis around when I was on the stream, and a #16 caddis adult worked well. Small streamers also excited the trout - so I fished a streamer downstream and dries back up.

During the week, I saw quite a variety of mayflies - including some big dark flies - maybe March Browns (?) and some very big bright yellow flies - are these the UP version of the green drake, or some kind of yellow drake? I don't know. I didn't see huge hatches of these, but enough of both that it wasn't a fluke. There were also some flies that looked like Hendricksons, but a little smaller than ours, and some #16 black body flies, and some olives. As well, I saw a variety of stoneflies during my stay.

to the U.P. for a few days

2006-05-19T18:47:00.000-04:00

Sunday, I'm going to drive to the Upper Michigan Peninsula for a few days of camping and fly fishing. I still haven't decided which streams I'm going to fish. There are plenty of brook trout streams to choose from. I'll post some details when I return.

Water was clear, but no bugs

2006-05-14T19:32:00.000-04:00

I had some time this afternoon, so off I drove to that little stream I've taken a shine to. The thing about this stream is that it doesn't look like much at first glance, or even at second glance. In fact it is barely big enough to fly fish. But it does hold plenty of trout, including a few good ones. I thought with all the rain we've had (I know it stormed up there yesterday), it may have been blown out, but in fact it was normal level and clear.

I was on the stream at about 1:30. A dark cloud hung overhead. Water temperature was 54 f. No hatches to speak of all afternoon. I saw a few olives and at about 3:30, 4 hendricksons. In some good pools, I could see nice trout finning on the bottom, but I didn't catch a trout until 4:00. I caught the first brookie I've seen on this stream - only about 8 inches, and a brown just a little better...and in the run just above the bridge, I caught an 11 inch brown. The sky was getting darker, and a cool east wind was blowing. Thinking it was going to storm, I packed up and headed out at about 5:30. It was sunny when i arrived back in Toronto.

If it doesn't rain too much between now and then....

2006-05-13T15:10:00.000-04:00

I'm going to go to a top secret creek for the afternoon and evening on Sunday. It is a small stream that holds a good population of browns (and apparently some brookies, although I have yet to catch one). Mostly, a twelve incher is a good one there, but I have caught some very nice trout. You just drive up, um, what's the name of that highway, and turn left then right, and over the bridge and out behind town for a couple miles. The name of the road is, um...oh it's on the tip of my tongue. I've yet to see another fly fisherman there. The person who told me about it is on the fast-track to heaven, baby. Just don't try to follow me.....

A good day on the Credit

2006-05-07T08:55:00.000-04:00

I stepped into the water above the spot formerly known as the second parking lot at about 2:00. Cool sunny day, breezy. Water temperature 54 f.

A good Hendrickson hatch came off from about 2:45 until 4:30. I was at Brimstone pool when I saw the first of the bugs. I caught a 15 incher in a fast run above Brimstone on a comparadun and a couple 10 inchers in the same area. Further upstream, there were some very good trout splashing in a flat. The same run had some smaller trout rising in the faster water - the big ones were close to the far bank. I had several refusals before catching a very nice 18 inch brown. Once the hendricksons stopped, there was I minor hatch of olives. In another flat I pricked two large trout on a little Adams. By 6:00 p.m. the only bugs on the water were some tiny midges, and the trout were not rising to them. The temperature dropped a few degrees and all surface activity stopped. Before mother nature turned the bug tap off, I had caught four trout, including 2 very nice ones, and missed lots more rises.

I worked up to Stuck-Truck pool - another fellow was coming down to the river here so I left the stretch to him and walked up to the meadows. I was not happy with what I saw. There was a group of guys with spinning rods. They had a fire going at the bottom end of the meadows to grill meat. I saw several discarded beer bottles in the area (as well as quite a lot of litter in general in the area. There was an open worm container not far from the group. I said to these guys, "hey, you're not using bait, area you?" and they said no they were not. I told them there were special regulations on the river, single barbless hook, catch & release. There were several of them and I didn't want to get myself beat up so I retreated, but I'm sure these characters were poaching. From a distance, it looked like they were using spinners. I also noticed two other discarded styrofoam worm containers littered in the meadows. We need some enforcement up there!! I called the MNR tip line and asked for some enforcement in the area.

Nice article from the Toronto Star on the weekend

2006-05-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

A fishing tale, recast at 62 - "Even after stroke, 78 year-old still tying works of art. A trip north nearly 70 years ago led to lifetime passion".

Note: East Texas Red says Hendricksons were coming off the Credit opening weekend, while I was in Montreal.

Something fishy around here

2006-04-28T17:52:00.000-04:00

It appears that the plan to dump squillions of Atlantic salmon into the Credit has been accelerated both in terms of timing and numbers. Bad news for those of us who fly fish for trout on the Upper Credit.

Pennsylvania trip log (with digressions)

2006-04-23T19:45:00.000-04:00

Friday April 21
I started fishing Spring Creek just below what is called the cottage stretch. Access is available to fly fishermen all through this stretch. It was sunny and very warm when I started. Water was low and very clear. The shallows were teeming with spawning suckers. I saw a few trout suspended, sipping what I think were midges. They were very picky and spooky and I was unable to fool them. There were a few midges in the air, and a few caddis as well, but not a lot of bugs at all on the water. I finally caught a small brown on a stream and left the stream at 10:00 a.m. to get a motel, and get some ice and cool drinks. It looked like it was going to be a hot weekend. How wrong I was.
The bad motel
The Colony Lodge is perfectly located for somebody fishing Spring Creek, right near the road to Fisherman's Paradise on the Benner Pike, between Bellefonte and State College. That's the only good thing about it. First, the price was about double what it should be. "There's a blue & white game this weekend. Everything is full. I have two rooms only - one with two double beds and one with one bed and a phone that doesn't work". I took the latter. The blinds don't quite close right in the bathroom. The channel selector for the TV didn't work. And here is the best feature......the towel rack was built so that the two supports were just a little far apart. The bar will stay on and allow you to put towels in if you are really careful - you would have to put the towels on the bar, then balance it on the two supports. The second you try to get a towel, they all fall, along with the bar. I'm sure it has been this way for years. Good thing I was in PA for the fishing.
Big Fishing
I drove up to Big Fishing Creek. It is a 30 minute drive at most, unless you take the roundabout route I managed to take, making it 45 minutes easy. I know all the short-cuts now. I parked at the cottage association stretch. This is an area of private land, with access granted to fishermen, except on Sundays. Nice water. I was suited up and on the creek at 2:45. There were some little dark quills coming off and loads of caddis and some dark hendricksons. The water was 58 F, two degrees warmer than Spring Creek. I thought conditions were perfect. That's when the dark storm cloud came into the picture. Temperature dropped right off and it got dark enough that I walked back to the car to stow my camera so it wouldn't get soaked. I missed one good trout on a dark size 14 Usual. Shortly after, I saw another riser, an 11 inch brown, and caught it right away. The wind picked up - big, big gusts. I could hardly cast through it. It got darker and darker. I retreated, and dove back to Bellefonte, where I seemed to drive out of the storm, at least for a while. I found a nice run on Spring Creek and cast at a few risers. Strangely, I saw some good size light coloured mayflies - I would call them cahills, except it it seems to me this is way early. I got only one rise, a really nice trout, and badly missed it. The storm caught up with me and it poured and poured and poured.
Saturday April 22
Out of the motel room at 6:00 a.m. and it is drizzling - puddles everywhere, like it rained all night. time for a good breakfast, unlike the expensive but mediocre one I had at the waffle joint in Bellefonte Friday morning. I stopped at the gas station and asked the nice lady at the cash. She gave me the instructions posted above - sent me to a place called, I kid you not, Eat & Park. The alternative was a breakfast buffet at Denny's. Turns out the $6.00 breakfast at the Eat & Park was quite good, way better than the $10.00 breakfast at the waffle joint - important to know your breakfast places.
Rain, Rain, Rain
I drove back up to Big Fishing, thinking about those great hatches Friday. The hatches on Spring Creek are limited since they started sodomizing the river with Kepones, Mirex and lord knows what else many years ago. The green drakes were done by the mid-50s, forever. The trout have come back, the river is a lot cleaner, but only some of the hardier mayflies are around, plus midges and some caddis. I was anxious to see what the rain had done to the stream, and hoping it wasn't blown out. In fact, it was very clear. I parked just below a section where the river splits. I caught a small brown on a prince nymph right away and started up the far fork. Just when I was far enough in to be committed to the stretch, the rain began. It rained and rained and rained on me for the next 8 or 9 hours. No bugs came off the water, or if they did, I couldn't see them through the downpour. Except for two or three trips to the car to warm up, I fished through it. It hardly let up until late afternoon. After a break for a couple granola bars and some water, I drove back to the cottage stretch. By this time, water had dripped down into my waders. I was drenched and cold....but I found a really stupendously beautiful pool. I saw quite a few midges and some olives in the air.....the stream was becoming discoloured at this point and was pretty high, fishable, but it was close. I saw a very nice trout rise 20 feet from me, the first riser I had seen all day. I through a box of flies at it with no success. Finally, I cut back my tippet and tied on a white marabou streamer. I had a follow on the first cast and hooked into a 15 incher on my second. Just call me streamer-boy. I started working my streamer downstream - about 100 feet down, I hooked a beauty on the streamer, when my tippet knot parted. Seconds later, there was a huge splash at the same spot. Time for some warmth and some food.
Sunday morning coming down
It must have rained again overnight, as there were new, deeper puddles. All it does in the middle of Pennsylvania it seems is rain. I drove to an access on Spring not far above the 550. I saw a couple rises then saw the little white midges. More bugs, more rises. I had an adult midge the right colour and size but couldn't get a rise.....I dug deeper into my boxes and found a couple white midge pupa....maybe a size too big, but worth a try. Between 7:00 and 9:30, I caught 8 browns between 9 and 13 inches, hooked and lost a few more, and missed a few rises along the way - all in one flat at the bottom of a riffle. I stood in the middle of the stream and cast at risers all around me. At about 9:30, the air temperature suddenly dropped right off, wind direction changes, the midges stopped emerging, the trout stopped rising, and a huge dark cloud appeared overhead. I was barely back to the car when the rain started up again. Time for some breakfast and a long drive back to Toronto.

Big Fishing Creek, Clinton County PA

2006-04-23T19:29:00.001-04:00

There are many Fishing Creeks in Pennsylvania, but this one is a beauty. It is a half hour drive away from Spring Creek, and while both are limestone spring creeks, Big Fishing is disguised as a freestoner. Those who fish the Credit would feel at home here. This photo shows Big Fishing where two parts of the stream come together. This happens several times through the famous stretch known as the narrows.

Spring Creek, Center County PA

2006-04-23T19:29:00.000-04:00

This photo was taken about halfway between Fisherman's Paradise and the 550 near Bellefonte on Friday morning. This is typical of the water through this stretch - riffle & run, riffle & flat, riffle & pool. Previously, I had only fished one stretch of this stream, a few miles upriver, below the Benner Springs hatchery. Speaking about hatcheries, consider this - there are two on Spring Creek and two on Big Fishing, although neither gets stocked except for a small stretch of Big Fishing near the village of Mill Hall. Pennsylvania does a tremendous amount of stocking - in some cases into streams that get too warm for trout in summer, and in some cases into streams that are all messed up from mine tailings. I've fished Pennsylvania with East Texas Red when guys were literally elbow to elbow on some of these stocked streams, leaving wild trout streams to a few anglers. Once a guy in a flyshop tried to send us up one of these streams - he said we'd have to hike in about half a mile because the they start catching the stockers at the bridge and go further and further in as they pull the trout out of the stream, until they are all gone.

Criminal probe sought in salmon deaths

2006-04-19T21:09:00.000-04:00

Government-backed mining operation killed two million Fraser River fish, study finds......

More Atlantic Salmon stocking in the Credit?

2006-04-17T11:19:00.000-04:00

I have heard that there are plans to introduce thousands more Atlantic salmon in the middle/upper Credit River. I understand that there was a time when there were naturally occurring Atlantics in this stream and in Lake Ontario. That said, I firmly believe it is best to manage the upper Credit as a wild trout stream. Resources should be used to determine and eliminate the cause of the catastrophic decline of the Green Drake mayflies instead of on a salmon stocking program. We have a treasure in our midst. Let's work on preserving what we have!!

Spring hatches have started in Pennsylvania

2006-04-14T21:54:00.000-04:00

Looks like Grannoms, Hendricksons and Gordon Quills are happening, it this site is to be believed.

new toy

2006-04-05T00:37:00.000-04:00

At the end of December, 2005, I became a life-time member of Trout Unlimited Canada. Each year, Tuffy and I try to support one group doing good things for the environment. We had previously made donations to TU and to the Nature Conservancy of Canada. With lifetime membership to TU comes a nice reward - a new fly rod. My choice was a 9' Winston Boron rod for a 4wt line. It arrived today...can't wait to try it out!

still more....Fly Fishing Pennsylvania's Spring Creek

2006-04-01T01:18:00.000-05:00

More about Spring Creek

2006-04-01T01:14:00.000-05:00

Spring Creek information

2006-04-01T01:12:00.000-05:00

I'm going to the State College area - Center County Pennsylvania - taking a long weekend the weekend after Easter to fish Spring Creek and perhaps some other streams.

Testament of a Fisherman - Robert Traver

2006-03-27T20:13:00.000-05:00

Even a mild winter like this one seems long, as we slide into spring and trout season still a month away. I needed a little something to bridge that month before I'm back out on a stream chasing trout, so I did a search on ebay for Robert Traver, and discovered an inexpensive copy of Trout Madness. I've read it before, more than once, yet found myself without a copy. This is the tonic to carry the weary fly fisherman into spring and the season ahead.

Readers out there who do not fly fish may recognize the name Robert Traver, as he wrote, besides his delightful books about chasing trout, a novel called Anatomy of a Murder, which later became an Otto Preminger film, starring Jimmy Stewart (if you have never seen this film, go rent it today). He also did a picture book, Anatomy of a Fisherman, which included his poem about fly fishing, "come to daddy....come to daddy...come to daddy-o".

So now, I have my copy of Trout Madness, and already tonight I've inhaled three or four chapters. Later, in May, I'm going to drive to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and visit some of Mr. Traver's haunts on and around the Escanaba River.

Archive of 'Just Old Flies' Articles

2006-03-23T23:44:00.000-05:00

I've been going through my fly boxes, reorganizing, tying a few new flies - all those pre-nuptual arrangements one goes through before a new season opens.

Nova Scotia Fly-fishing, Tying and Tall Tales

2006-03-23T23:39:00.000-05:00

This is a delightful site, well worth exploring.