Burr! The Weather is Getting Frightful !

Karen and I managed to get out to Red Deer Fish and Game Pond for a few hours this afternoon! Pulses of showers, snow squalls and wind kept us from being settled for any length of time. ...and the water temperature, frigid! We didn't connect with very many rainbows. We did confirm that they are focussing on shrimp for their diet! As the water temperature hovers near 38F, your favourite lake may "turn over!" That means the water on the bottom will flip with the water on top because of the heavier density of the water closer to the surface. This may not happen on shallow lakes. If fall turnover does occur, it will take a few days before the lake returns to decent fly fishing!

We think we saw a well at Fish and Game that had water being pumped into the Kid's Pond. I hope this strategy will help raise the water level on the main lake in time. Time will tell!

If you get out, take lots of warm layers of clothes. "Catching" will probably slow in the coming days as the water temperature drops. The fly fishing season is quickly winding down. I hope you can get out one or two times before freeze up!

Fly tying season is close! I will be spending most of my weekend in arenas cheering on my grandkids playing hockey! Have a great weekend everyone!

Check out the water temperature today!

 

Winter on the North Fork Road-Looking for Cutthroat

Nothing about today went according to our plan but it sure was a spectacular day. We looked at the weather forecast and decided that today was a perfect opportunity to hit one of our favourite cutthroat rivers.   The weather in Nordegg was going to climb to 12C. Well the best laid plans needed to be adjusted! As we drove down the North Fork Road, the mercury bounced all over the place and the volume of snow just kept building. The road was icy but we took our time. We were not even sure we were going to even wet a line. As we pulled into our designated stop, the mercury hovered around -10C. Hmm what to do. We carried on and in a short 3km, the mercury rose to -3C. We found a place to park, rig up and go find some cutthroat trout! Well we set up nymph rods and we pulled out wiggle worms and a tiny size 20 Poison Tung (Charlie Craven). We found a dandy looking run and on the first drift I caught a cutthroat, a nice one too. We caught several as a matter of fact and when the action slowed we started to explore. We picked up several more cutties as we probed likely looking spots! We trudged through lots of snow as the sun shone brightly and the mercury climbed above 0C. As the day wore on, we found a spot with a Blue Wing Olive hatch and several trout were sipping on these tiny mayflies. Karen gladly switched to a dry fly line and caught several cutts on BWOs. That was fun to watch! We worked our way back to the truck as the action slowed. I was wondering what the North Fork Road was going to be like on the drive home. In a word or two: muddy and icy! We pulled out front of the house just at dark. After unloading, I was off to the car wash. The truck was caked in mud! 

We did not get to fly fish where we had planned but that was alright. We brought lots of cutties to hand. Wiggle worms, Poison Tung Studs(size 20), small Flashbacks (size 16), Griffiths Gnats (size18) and Rainbow Warriors (size 16) were quite productive. BWO dry flies (size 18) we also quite effective when we found a hatch!

We talked about ditching our plans for the day and head to the Red Deer River! We were both glad we stayed the course. It was a fabulous day!

Just a reminder that the bridge over the Ram River on the North Fork Road at km 24 will be closed from October 27th to November 1st for resurfacing! You will not be able to get through. You will have to travel to Nordegg, then down the Forestry Trunk Road to get back on the North Fork Road!

 

Rocky Mountain Whitefish Tool Kit

These three simple nymph patterns are winners when I step into the Red Deer River to nymph , either with an indicator or euro nymph set up for rocky mountain whitefish! I love to fish with two nymphs at a time. I sometimes try three but I usually get tangled. Rainbow Warriors size 16, Wiggle Worms (my design) and Frenchies size 14 are my go to patterns. Lance Egan is the originator of both the Frenchie and the Rainbow Warrior. Both great nymphs that rocky mountain whitefish love. Of course these three patterns are excellent for browns, cutthroat and rainbows. Be sure you have these three patterns with you when you step into the Red Deer River targeting whitefish!

I look for riffle type water when I fly fish for rockies!

Below is how I tie up a Wiggle Worm. There are lots of variations of this pattern around but I have settled on this design for now.

I use UTC 140 so I do not cut the squirmy worm material.