scel

Flyfishy: use Imgur. www.imgur.com You can use full size photos. When you choose to 'share' you can choose the size you want (Imgur will resize for you)

Fishing shield lakes for walleye is challenging but possible. Clouser minnows, zonkers, or crayfish patterns are good. Patterns that ride hook side up (like a clouser minnow) will help. Like others have said, you need to fish the bottom and rocky shield lakes are hook eaters. Once the water temperature exceeds 17C, the walleye go deep and your only chance on the fly are the crepuscular hours or dead of night. Northern Ontario is a big swath of land, but most of which is still further south than Edmonton. I spend July in Ontario in the Sudbury area, and I spend that time fishing almost exclusively for smallies. The lakes warm up so much (23-25C) that the walleye (and even pike) retreat to depths exceeding 6m, and even with full sink line, it would be an extreme lesson in patience to target walleye. But smallmouth come into their prime when the water hits 20C. I consistently out fish conventional anglers with my fly rod, especially when you know the fish are active. Poppers in the morning/evening. Clousers/zonkers on a floating line when you see active fish (swirls and busting the surface). I like to use an intermediate line for prospecting.

I was out last night with the dog. It is officially high. And dirty. It is the first time that I have seen the water at the high-water mark in a very long time. But I also saw lots of fish activity in weird little pockets close to the bank. Visibility was about 20cm. Even though my dog was mucking around, it was the first time this year that he has not stunk like swamp.

I think Imgur.com is the best. It has great integration with Android.

Anybody who has been fly fishing the Bow for the last 2 years has not really experienced 'typical' conditions. It is really hard to say how it will affect the river. The banks are fairly dirty, but I predict that we will see an improvement in the fishing even if the clarity drops. Higher water allows fish to move around and for people on foot, it usually brings them closer to the bank. Even then, 120 cms is not that high; it is really just the upper end of average for this time of year or the flow you would expect mid-August. http://www.environment.alberta.ca/apps/basins/DisplayData.aspx?Type=Figure&BasinID=8&DataType=1&StationID=RBOWCALG

It was opening day yesterday (May 8) on most Southern AB waters. I went to Crawling Valley Reservoir. It is my favourite place less than 1.5 hours from home. I like that it is now essentially catch and release for both walleye and pike. I hope over the next few years, I will get to see the fishery change and grow. I fished from 16h30 to just after 21h00 (sundown). There was a dude bombing around the roads. I never really thought about it since the oil and gas in area tends to lend itself to big over-dressed trucks. The moment I dragged my pontoon out of the lake, the truck approached. It was fish and wildlife. My first instinct was to start crapping my pants, but then I calmed down because I am pretty sure I was following all the rules. He asked to see my license. Asked about my pontoon---made sure I had a whistle. He also asked about the light, but knew it was not relevant since there is no night angling on the lake. He asked about the flies that I was using. He immediately noted they were barbless. Then we had a really pleasant conversation. He told me a couple good walleye spots where I also might find a concentration of bigger pike. Asked about my rods and gear---basically just shoot-the-sh!t for 10 or so minutes. He saw another boat was leaving, so he started making his depart. He made sure to remind me of Report-A-Poacher. I showed him the sweet-ass reel my last fishy-bucks got me. Just as he was leaving, he told me how someone made $2000 in 4 RAP calls last summer. All in all, it was a very pleasant encounter. I am kind of a libertarian when it comes to policing---needing it means we have failed at a more fundamental ethical level. However, I also understand that it is easier to monitor someplace like Crawling Valley because of the zero retention of the 2 key species---so if in possession of any fish, it becomes suspicious. It was smart having a presence of opening day. I also like how he pushed community awareness. As an aside...the fishing was stellar. I love the shallow water spring pike. Other than a few obvious spawning wounds, the fish were fairly thick and healthy, most of them in that 1.5-3.0 kg range. A couple smaller, and of course, the one that got away. The girl ran right at me, tail walked, gills flared, followed by the thrash, and clearly throw the hook from her bottom jaw. She was in that 3.5-4.0 kg range. All in all, these are bigger fish than I hooked up with last year. Hopefully, the move to conservation will quickly improve the fishery.

I think we want above average temperatures and normal amount of rain so the snowpack starts melting before June, when we should be into warmer temperatures and higher probability of rain. Also, if the normal range is 350-475 mm, then the normal range is 125mm. If this is a normal distribution (of which most people use, others being Poisson or Fourier distributions), 67% of the time, the snowpack will be 350-475mm. 25mm extra is not far off the norm, really being slightly above average. I think that we have a month or so to temper our worries.

For lake fishing, unless I am casting a dry, I will never go lighter than a 6wt, and sometimes even bring my 8wt, just to ensure that I can deal with the wind. Besides, if you already have a 4wt rod, I would definitely get a different weight to round out your quiver.

I fish around the Drumheller region a couple times a year. I hate to be the harbinger of bad news, but in Drumheller you are about 200km away from a bull trout, and 150km away from any browns. Starting around mid-may, the Red Deer River is filled with Goldeye though. I take novice fly anglers there because goldeye are as unpicky as fish get---any of your typical trout flies will work. They fight well for their size. And they will take dries in mornings and evenings. The Red Deer River is fairly shallow and slow as it gets to Drumheller. The infrequent deep pools will also hold walleye or pike. If you find the walleye or pike, they are generally not that picky either---any of your bull trout streamers will work (but you may want to use some bite tippet). Fishing in the Badlands is not exceptional, but the Badlands are amazing---almost alien. But watch out for rattlesnakes---seriously. Last year I saw 2. The second one, I walked past 3 times before noticing it and it was only 2m away from me. EDIT: no need for a guide on the RDR. When I say the goldeye are 'everywhere', I literally mean everywhere. As well, because of the sandstone valley in which the RDR settles, a heavy rainshower will immediately turn the RDR into chocolate milk, but it will return to normal within a day or so.

This is almost exactly what I do. I use a chenille SJW and a size 18/20 midge pattern. Both are relatively light so they can bounce along the bottom. As the weather gets colder, I find the SJW and zebra midge are equally likely to catch fish. With Jayhad's rig, I just make sure the split shot is never dragging on the bottom. I find the worst case scenario is if your weight is gets hung-up.

A fast action 8wt is a great choice for pike. Most Alberta pike fall in the size category you could fight with an 6wt, but an average sized pike fly is too big to spend an entire day casting with a lighter rod. Every once in a while, you will catch a pike that will make an 8wt seem under-gunned. Salmon flies are generally small enough to easily cast with a 6wt, but I have found a 7-8wt rod to be a good choice for fighting them. When you are fishing for pike, there is absolutely zero need for finesse. I have less experience with salmon, but my experience has been there is also less need for finesse. I know people will say, "long casts do not catch fish". In my experience, 100% of the fish I catch are in the water, so the longer my fly is in the water... With pike, a long cast to work a weedline is an advantage (pike will often follow before making a strike). With salmon, I know a long cast means a longer swing, which puts your fly in front of more fish. For this, I might go with a more aggressive taper to punch and shoot more line. This summer, I went from using Rio Perception to SA Mastery Titan on my 8wt. I wish I had made this choice a long time ago since punching big flies and covering water is an 8wt's job. I used the Versatip system. I have used every one of the basic tips, and bought a couple extras. I have used them in 'fly fishing' only waters in BC. I have used them for pike in the different seasons (sink tips are critical in the summer, but floating and intermediate lines are fine for the spring and fall). I retired the versatip line because I stepped on it too many times, but I found the versatips work fine on most lines. So, just get a tip envelope and build up the collection over time. Or go with the Airflo leaders. Probably the same thing.

I knew there would be options. I learned about clic readers and flip down magnifiers. I could not find anywhere to buy Clic Readers in Calgary. Can you only order them online?

I guess I am officially old. Over the last 3 years, my prescription went from +0.75 to +1.75. I still do not need glasses to drive, but other than big ass streamers, I can no longer tie hooks/line without glasses. The problem is that my distance vision is still good, and wearing glasses impedes it. I have one pair of prescription sunglasses that I had specifically for fishing with progressive bifocals. They are great if I am walking normally, but they tend to screw with my depth perception, so I have to be careful if I am scaling rip rap or steeper paths. When it is not sunny or if it is dusk/dawn, i have to take out my glasses. I need my glasses for work and general life. I was thinking of buying a cheap pair of reading glasses from the drug store and attaching them to a typical string around my neck. Unless they are actively on me, I would expect to lose a pair per season. How do you manage your vision aids?

Traditionally, in the middle of summer, the Bow is generally clear by mid July. After a heavy rainfall, the Bow would usually return to normal within a couple of days. This relentless rain has left the Bow murky for much longer than I have experienced over the last 10ish years. My question is this: how long will it usually take for a river to recover clarity after a rain. Would the mountain streams clear within a day or 2? The Sheep and Highwood are cut through sandstone valley, so I could see how they would get dirty, but I would assume they would clear within 24 hours of the rain stopping.

What does 'low holed' mean?

You are right. I find hoppers to be really hit-n-miss and quite weather dependent---warm and dry (for growing conditions and for the hoppers to be active) and windy (to get the hoppers in the water). With all this rain and relatively cool weather, I doubt there will be a significant hopper 'hatch' this year. I hope that I am wrong, though.

Welcome to the board. Most people will agree the key to success on the Bow is flexibility. If I am fishing the Bow for a full day, i will likely swing streamers, use nymphs, and dries. If your primary goal is to catch big numbers, nymphing multiple flies under an indicator is probably the most productive method. Sometimes, nymphing deeper runs in the middle of the day is the only method of catching fish. Streamers can be deadly, but they tend to be inconsistent. When the streamer bit is on though, look out. Bow River rainbows are honorary steelhead. Streamers are probably the key ticket to the prize---the 24"+ brown. Streamers have been my recent favourite method of angling the Bow. Personally, I only break out the dries on the Bow when I see rising fish. I find the Bow River trout annoyingly picky. But there is something amazing about a 20" rainbow sipping your size 18 Blue Wing Olive. Your 8wt will do fine for streamers and nymph rigs, but it might be a bit big for any of the dry fly action. By the end of August, the bigger bugs might be coming to an end. There might be some hoppers, but you are probably looking at size 14 and smaller dries. From the city of calgary, downstream for about 30km is packed with fish, but the river is not forgiving. The wild trout can be very moody. Because it is a big river, it often takes some footwork to find the holding water. If you are here for a whole week, it might be a good idea to get a guide to help you unlock a few of the secrets.

Call it in. That could have been an easy $500.

crap. line was great in cold water. I can conclusively say it is temperature.

Hi FFC font of knowledge... I have Rio Perception fly line. So far, it has been an excellent fly line. However, we have been in the middle of a heat wave (temperatures in the low 30s with humidex in the high 30s or low 40s). My fly line has been flacid and sticky. The water temperature is between 16 (in mid lake) and 20-21 (in shallows). My fly line has seemed tacky/gummny making it hard to shoot any line. It is also super flacid. I have tried a quick cleaning and it does not seem to improve the performance. My instinct is this is caused by the heat and there is probably not much I can do. But I am not afraid to chock this up to failing to properly clean the line. Any advice?

Ugg...my experience as well. I went out with my friend for 2 nights in a row. On Friday, he was 30m upstream. He caught 7 fish. I caught 0. I guess, if I average, the fishing was OK.

The stopper knot will introduce an inherent weak point. Very, very few knots strengthen the line. I find nymphing is somewhat like handwriting---everyone has their style. Personally, i would put the split shot directly above the tippet ring. I would then set the distance between indicator and tippet ring to approximately the water depth, erring on the deep side, then 30 to 40 cm of tippet to the first fly, and then 30 cm to the second fly. The whole rig ends up being 1.5 - 2x the water depth. This will give the flies slight more natural motion in the water, but it will take longer to get them in the strike zone.

Yeehaw...damn Stampede is causing a dam stampede. Ahem...I have only been paying attention to flow rates and the quality of fishing for 5 years. I am no expert, but it is impossible to argue with the validity of empirical data. I have observed that fishing is generally on par or better with increased flow rates if visibility is minimally impacted. Given the river is still flowing significantly below normal, I would not expect any change in the fishing. I would expect, however, the fish might move around a little and you might see a little less topwater action.

Cool. I looked at my Keens and my Chacos. I went with the Chacos based on backpack space and regretted the decision when I jammed something under my big toenail. I like the Simms Vibram. I find Vibram really makes a big difference.

Yo, mountain stream aficionados! So, I have always been someone who has just used their waders. I had a 4km walk and I decided that I would just pack a pair of Chaco sandals. Coupled with some quick dry pants, I found traipsing through the freestone stream refreshing and comfortable. Of course, with sandals, there are some issues, like rock extraction and toe-smashing, but they are, for the most part comfortable. If I had to stand in the water, they might be a little chilly, but I only used them to cross over the river. What do you use for wet wading?