Coral Lake Golden Trout Heli-fishing

[HopperDropper]

Two friends and I just got back from a two day golden trout heli-fishing trip to Coral Lake this past weekend. Since we scheduled for the chopper to take off at 7am Friday morning, I left Calgary Thursday night for the Nordegg area and spent the night at the David Thompson Resort. Don't let the name fool you since it's more of a motel / campground.

 

The next morning, the three of us promptly arrived at the Icefield Helicopter Tours Heli-pad. While we were loading up all the gear into the chopper and signing all the necessary waivers, we asked the pilot and staff for more information about Coral lake since none of us had ever been up there before. Our pre-trip internet research turned up little information since the trip into the lake is apparently a gruelling 80km round trip hike. Needless to say, not many people make it up to this alpine lake each year. The pilot shared with us that we were the first group that they were taking up to Coral Lake in the past two years. As far as they knew, Coral Lake had not winterkilled and that it fished well in previous years. Even though recent visitors reported fishing success at Michelle Lake, another alpine lake which was stocked with goldens in the 50's, we opted to go to Coral Lake because it is the most remote of all the golden trout lakes in Canada. We were hoping to be the only humans at the lake that weekend. With excited anticipation, we began our 15 minute flight.

 

 

The flight up was absolutely breathtaking. It was my first time in a helicopter and I found the ride extremely smooth. I felt like I was effortlessly floating on a cloud.

 

Morning fog over Abraham Lake

 

 

View as we flew over the Cline River valley

 

 

First sight of Coral Lake from the air

 

 

View of Coral Lake immediately upon dropoff at 7:15am.

 

 

I immediately noticed that the topography and flora were very unique. Being 8000 feet above sea level, the lake is above the tree line. The ground was covered in some areas with dense moss and shrubs that I had never seen before. There were large surfaces of barren earth consisting of large boulders that reminded me of the surface of the moon. While we were quickly setting up our tents, we could not help but notice fresh bear scat scattered throughout our camp site.

 

 

The water was not as clear as we had expected. The visibility was about 3 feet but we thought that this was not necessarily a bad thing since golden trout are known to be somewhat easily spooked. One friend began fishing the the lake near the inlet, and another friend and I began fishing from our float tubes. The fish were not rising but I tried some dry flies to see if I can get them to start looking up. After about half an hour of dry fly fishing without any takers, I began fishing sub-surface with leech patterns, scuds, and chironomids around the obvious drop-off areas of the lake. Another hour passed by and we began to ask each other if anyone had any bites. The answer was a unanimous, "Nope". Since we are only a couple hours into a two day fishing trip, we all optimistically fished on.

 

Another two hours passed by without any bites between the three of us. I started fishing deeper in case the trout were holding at the bottom of the lake. Using my anchor to gauge the depth, I began fishing with leaders between 10 - 16 feet long. Another hour passed by without any signs of fish. We did not want to verbalize it but there were growing concerns that this fishing trip was not going to be a successful one since goldens have a reputation for being such elusive prey. Many reports and online articles noted that is was not uncommon for people to land just one golden trout, if any, the entire trip. At this point, we would have been happy to catch just one between the three of us. With all the time and money invested, we wanted to take home more than stories of catching the proverbial "skunk".

 

The three of us took a lunch break to regroup and strategize. The one thing that did not make sense was that we did not see one fish rise nor was able to see a single trout in the water. It would have been quite a different situation to be able to see the fish but be unable to catch them. Could it be that the lake had winterkilled? A 2009 report found on an online hiking forum claimed that the "fish were jumping all over the place". Strangely, none of us saw any dead fish on the shores either.

 

After lunch, I decided to resort to trolling in the float tube. This technique may not be very sophisticated but it has worked for me in the past when traditional lake fly-fishing methods proved unfruitful. My two friends were content to take an extended lunch/ smoke break. Two hours of trolling passed by without a single bite. I was ready to give up for now and to wait until the evening to hopefully experience some dry fly fishing, should the fish decide to make an appearance. I navigated my float tube to shore to join my friends, who were obviously discouraged about fishing and had preoccupied themselves in other ways.

 

The stone "furniture" that my friends had built after lunch, complete with a stone firepit, three stone chairs with backrests, and a stone coffee/ poker table.

 

 

We wanted to make the best of it and began treating the trip as a very expensive "heli-camping" trip. We were content sipping our rye and cokes while sitting in the surprisingly comfortable stone chairs. Before dinner, we decided to go for a hike around the lake and proceeded to ascend one of the ridges.

 

View of the lake looking back.

 

 

[HopperDropper]

More pix along the hike.

 

 

 

 

 

We came back to our campsite at around 7pm. No fish were rising still. Just before we were about to start preparing our dinner, we heard a helicopter in the distance. The sound got louder and louder and soon we were able to see the helicopter in the sky. We expected the helicopter to fly right by us but the craft approached the lake and began to land at the exact same spot that we were dropped off at.

 

 

We ran towards the chopper to hopefully convince the pilot to take us to another lake since this lake was apparently winterkilled. The original pilot was running towards us and before we could make our request, he told us to quickly pack up because he had dropped us off at the WRONG LAKE! This un-named lake had no fish in it. This pilot was new to the company and his trainer gave him the wrong coordinates to Coral Lake. At this time, we were more glad than angry since we may still get a chance to get into some goldens.

 

Arriving at the TRUE Coral Lake this time. The pilot confirmed with us that he was 100% sure that this is the correct lake since the right coordinates were given to him by the heli company owner himself, who apparently had been there "at least a couple dozen times" before.

 

 

We instantly noticed that the lake was much too small and shallow to overwinter fish. Once again, we were unable to see cruising fish or risers. Over a ridge, we saw a larger and deeper lake so, leaving our gear behind, we hiked over for a closer inspection. Finally, not only did we see many fish rising but we could also make out the tremendous red color in their bodies that make this species of trout so unique. I could not believe that the helicopter company had dropped us off at the wrong lake TWICE! Night was falling quickly since it was already 8:30pm. We went back to get our gear and decided to set up camp somewhere between the two lakes since it would be too far and rugged to haul the 300+ pounds of gear (don't ask why so heavy) all the way to Coral Lake.

 

Our tents set up. Firepit with not-so-deluxe stone furniture.

 

 

After the tents were pitched, we geared up and ran down to Coral Lake to begin fishing in a lake that ACTUALLY contained fish. We only managed to fish for about 20 minutes before it got too dark to see. We each caught 10 - 20 fish. Average size 6 - 7 inches. Largest 11 inches. Fly selection was not important. They were taking everything from Elk Hair Caddis, Foam Black Ants, Adams, to Stimulators. At times, it seemed that we were hooking into fish every other cast. Before I had laid my eyes on golden trout in person, I thought that brookies were the prettiest trout that God had created. Boy, was I wrong. Golden trout are absolutely gorgeous with their crimson red lateral lines, cheeks and underbellies painted on top of an apricot colored base. Awesome!

 

My first golden trout. Poor quality picture since I forgot to grab my DSLR camera in the rush to set up our tents.

 

 

We prepared and ate our dinners in pitch darkness with the exception of a small fire. The night sky was spectacular since the sky was completely devoid of clouds and there was no light pollution to interfere with the star gazing. I cannot remember ever seeing so many stars and meteors in the sky.

 

The night was very cold and I woke up to a thin sheet of ice on top of the tents. I was the first to get up so I grabbed a granola bar and juicebox and made my way down the ridge to hopefully experience the same crazy action that we were blessed with the night before.

 

Coral Lake in the morning

 

 

The fish were rising but without the same frequency or intensity as the night before. I managed to land another 5 in a couple of hours. The fish were much more finicky. Tons of looks and refusals. From having tried about a dozen different flies, it seemed like they preferred size 18 Pale Morning Dun dry flies. The PMD's most closely resembled the white flies that were coming off the water. The flies were tiny (in the range of #24 or #26). Then, the fishing got tough. I lost my last PMD dry fly and the fish stopped rising consistantly. #18 Mosquito or Adams dry fly had limited success. The takes were so subtle that I was only able to hook-set ten percent of the time WHEN I was able to get them to commit to the fly. I caught 3 more for the rest of the day before it was time to pack up and have the chopper pick us up at 5:00pm.

 

One of the bigger fish

 

[HopperDropper]

Smaller fish with parr marks

 

 

One of the more colorful ones

 

 

 

"Average" fish in terms of size and coloration

 

 

 

Some action shots

 

 

 

 

Last look at Coral Lake

 

 

 

 

[HopperDropper]

Flight home

 

 

View of Abraham Lake from the chopper before landing.

 

 

When we arrived back at the heli-pad, the owner personally apologized over the phone and we were able to negotiate a 50% refund, which we were happy with. All in all, we see this trip as a success. We achieved our goal of catching at least one golden trout. Even though it would have been nice to have had 2 full days of golden trout fishing, we see it more like having a free day of "heli-camping" thrown in. It was an unforgettable adventure with some good friends and the mix-ups only made the trip more memorable. We have no regrets and we are glad that we did it. I was able to check off another item on my "bucket list". Where will the next adventure take us....

 

(Please note that I don't want this discussion to turn into the virtues of hiking into the lake to fish vs flying in on a chopper. I remember this being a problem from a similar heli-fishing post in the past. I just wanted to share my adventure with you all and hopefully help someone plan their future trip into Coral Lake)

 

(Additional Notes: In hindsight, float tubes and waders for that matter were not necessary. The lake is small enough that you can cast to them from shore. Being above the tree line gives you the added advantage of being able to double haul your line without getting caught up on branches behind you. I would also bring up there 7x tippet with a larger selection of SMALL dry flies. Sizes #18 to #26)

[Bandi]

Thanks for sharing the photos and story, HopperDropper. In fact, I love the story of wrong lake, but it is probably more funny now than before you knew why there was no fish. That Golden Trout looks so nice and unreal.

 

[beedhead]

Thanx for sharing that, awesome pics, fish and story...I cant believe the chopper dropped yas off at the wrong lakes!!..

 

Cheers...Jeff..

[McLeod]

 

Thanks for sharing this.Really enjoyed the pictures. Nice to here the fish are doing well in the lake.

[monger]

Great adventure. Thanks for sharing your pics of those crimson jewels.

[birchy]

Looks like an amazing time! And in hindsight, being dropped off at the wrong lake will make for a good campfire story!

[Heimdallr]

Awesome post! I loved the story about the wrong lake...and then the wrong lake again! Glad to hear you guys got some money back which I am sure definitely helped any resentment. The goldens are absolutely beautiful and I'm glad to hear you guys found some success.

[Jayhad]

good on you dude, the Heli company could have just left you there and screwed you. good to hear they attempted to make things right... you're super lucky to mark those little guys off your species list. Thanks for the good story and pics.

[theboy]

Your story made my day.

[ÜberFly]

Nice report and photos!

 

Cheers!

 

P

[fliesbymike]

Fantastic pics, glad to hear it all worked out in the end, Thanks for sharing

[reevesr1]

Thanks for the report. From all the trips I've taken in my life, fishing and otherwise, no memorable trip does not have problems. ALL the good stories have some sort of problem/conflict involved. Without getting dropped in the wrong place, years from now this would just be the nice heli trip to catch goldens. Now it is a story you can tell for the rest of your life and people will remember it. Perfect.

[lamponius]

Awesome...

 

Thank you so much for the detailed story and tose wonderful pics (what amaeing colors....).

 

[SteveM]

Wow! Great story & pics; thanks for taking the time to share such a detailed trip report.

The rest of us can use this as a template for how to share a special fishing experience with our fellow forum members. Kudos!

I wonder how long it would have been 'til you found out y'all were at the wrong lake iffen the dude hadn't come back????

 

 

[HopperDropper]

Not only did I want to share my adventure with everyone on the forum to enjoy, I wanted to journal and document in detail the experience for myself. I had been planning this trip for about 5 years and so it was a dream come true. I started writing at 11pm and was hoping to finish the post in about an hour. With the photo editing and the writing, you can see from my posts that it took me about 4 hours. I have a 1 and 3 year old at home so I don't have many opportunities to go on my fishing trips as I used to. It's experiences like these that I will cherish for years to come.

 

I'm considering cleaning up the writing and perhaps try to submit it as an article to a flyfishing magazine. My sister is a much better writer than I am so she can give it some pizzazz and zip. Do you guys think that the pictures are of good enough quality? Perhaps this can be a Fly Fish Calgary project in that I can take everyone's input into consideration? It would give the forum some exposure to mention this forum in the credits of the article. Is this an article that would normally interest you guys when you're reading a fishing magazine? My only concern is that I don't want to be accused of slander by the heli company. Even if I don't use their name specifically, they are the only outfit to offer heli flights to Coral Lake.

 

What do you guys think?

[beedhead]

Giver Man!!...Your writing looks good to me (Im terrible ) the Story was awesome and the pics are fantastic as well...That was a great post BTW!!

 

Cheers...Jeff..

[Birddog]

I thought those things only happened to me!!!!

[H2O]

Great story and beautiful fish! Would like to get up there some day.

[cdock]

That looks amazing! Thanks for sharing.

[birchy]

cdock doesn't even know it yet, but him and I are doing this trip next year or the year after!

[HopperDropper]

cdock doesn't even know it yet, but him and I are doing this trip next year or the year after!

 

 

At least if the heli company takes you to the wrong lake, the awesome stone patio furniture will still be there for you to use

[duanec]

great post!