Fishing On The Way Back Home

[Smitty]

Well, as I posted on Doc's board, my much anticipated fishing trip on my drive home from Vernon was a little disappointing.

 

I tried experimenting in BC, and as can often happen, experiments can go bust.

No fish caught in the Blue River, no fish caught on the Fraser. Should have heeded someone else's advice, but oh well. It was amusing floating dry flies over 10lb salmon in the Blue river in a foot of water. Course, once I remembered salmon develop lockjaw in freshwater, I quickly moved on.

 

Jasper fishing was disappointing, most notably Medicine Lake. Lake seemed very high for late August. Tried the south end for an evening with no bites, no rises.

Saturday was spent fighting the rain on the Maligne river. Holy cow that river is swift. Found one really decent pool that Neil W was fishing; he seemed to have the trout figured out. Caught a few fish, but found the lack of holding water disappointing.

 

Do you guys actually fish those deep, swift runs on the Maligne? Nymphs I assume? With what, half a dozen AA tin split shot?

 

Also gave up rather quickly on the mouth of the Maligne (confl. w Athabasca) as it didn't seem I could find the whitefish (no bulls either).

 

Don't think that cold front moving into Jasper helped at all. Sporadic hatches at best and no BWO's that I could see, so I cut the trip short by a day (my friends didn't show up and I don't like camping by myself and otherwise accomodations are expensive), so there's not much more I can say. Ever had a summer where the fishing was mostly disappointing? I'm having one of those summers (course, it would help if I could get out more). Wonder what anyone else is experiencing...

 

Looking forward to fall backswimmer fishing.

 

Smitty

[maxwell]

thanks for the report dude, sad too here about the luck...sure is beautiful up there tho

[SilverDoctor]

Well, as I posted on Doc's board, my much anticipated fishing trip on my drive home from Vernon was a little disappointing.

 

I tried experimenting in BC, and as can often happen, experiments can go bust.

No fish caught in the Blue River, no fish caught on the Fraser. Should have heeded someone else's advice, but oh well. It was amusing floating dry flies over 10lb salmon in the Blue river in a foot of water. Course, once I remembered salmon develop lockjaw in freshwater, I quickly moved on.

 

Jasper fishing was disappointing, most notably Medicine Lake. Lake seemed very high for late August. Tried the south end for an evening with no bites, no rises.

Saturday was spent fighting the rain on the Maligne river. Holy cow that river is swift. Found one really decent pool that Neil W was fishing; he seemed to have the trout figured out. Caught a few fish, but found the lack of holding water disappointing.

 

Do you guys actually fish those deep, swift runs on the Maligne? Nymphs I assume? With what, half a dozen AA tin split shot?

 

Also gave up rather quickly on the mouth of the Maligne (confl. w Athabasca) as it didn't seem I could find the whitefish (no bulls either).

 

Don't think that cold front moving into Jasper helped at all. Sporadic hatches at best and no BWO's that I could see, so I cut the trip short by a day (my friends didn't show up and I don't like camping by myself and otherwise accomodations are expensive), so there's not much more I can say. Ever had a summer where the fishing was mostly disappointing? I'm having one of those summers (course, it would help if I could get out more). Wonder what anyone else is experiencing...

 

Looking forward to fall backswimmer fishing.

 

Smitty

 

Thanks for posting, it's not the quantity of fish but the fishing experience. Sounds like you had a great experience.

[lonefisher]

SD nailed it thats the mountain experience..... my last few trips to BC have been crapshoots as well but just like your local waters you get to know the far and away places better everytime you return...... The maligne is a lot of fun but it is a pretty technical creek...... I sometimes fish those deep fast runs even with dries , or work the seams...... the seams are where you find fish on this river the most with the exception of some of the pools..... fish holding seams can be kinda tough to recognize on this river though and it takes some practice....... I remember being back to a bank with a majorly fast rapid about 8 feet wide directly in front and just by dabbling the fly on the other side of the rapid on the slightly slower water and catching about 15 fish over a 20 foot stretch of river..... most were small mind you but the big ones will surprise you sometimes.......

[NormanMcLean]

Thanks for the info on the Maligne River. I was up there in July when the river was closed, and I thought it was moving very fast with runoff. I vowed to return in August. But I'll try to get there in September. Maybe the flows will be a bit lower by then. Are there any campgrounds by the river?

[Smitty]

Thanks for the info on the Maligne River. I was up there in July when the river was closed, and I thought it was moving very fast with runoff. I vowed to return in August. But I'll try to get there in September. Maybe the flows will be a bit lower by then. Are there any campgrounds by the river?

 

Norman:

 

No - there are no campgrounds on the river, only side pullouts for day use areas for people to have picnics. There is a hostel at Maligne Canyon, but I'm pretty sure no overnight camping (could be wrong). I think you are stuck in the Athabasca valley in terms of camping - Snaring, Wabasso, Wapiti, etc. I'm confident the later you wait, the better shape Medicine will be in. Ideally that lake needs to lose another 15' so you just see the river channel meandering through the lake bottom.

Some other dude (different board) posted a report about fishing the south end of Medicine where the Maligne enters, but it was a no go for me.

 

And thanks to all about the reminder on perspective; you're absolutely right; if you're gonna be somewhere the fishing is tough, the entire Maligne valley is hard to beat, just for scenery and experience.

 

Smitty

[Grizz]

Yup. After many years fishing the rockies and the Maligne Valley especially everyone pretty much nailed it on the head. LF is spot on that the river WILL surprise you. Holding water is a bit sparse but surprisingly there are fish in some pretty fast stretches. I can't count the number of times I've been wading or walking the shore and spooked a big brookie from the bank (then spent the next 10 mins kicking myself for being so clumsy as to miss him sitting there!). I took a fellow out from the Italian fly-fishing team one year and he tried an Italian nymphing thing in fast water that was picking up fish every 2nd or 3rd cast! Needless to say I spent the rest of the season trying it - some days it was a bust but other days it caught most of the fish. Notably getting your fly down in the deep water has always been difficult due to the high gradient and lack of weight on line regs. But trust me, they are there (sinking lines..... ).

 

Too bad Medicine was a bust. Like so many mountain waters sometimes the "switch" is turned off and that's that. Some days I've spent the first half of the day bargaining with God for a single fish, then later in the evening deciding it's almost boring catching so many fish! It can turn off and on for so many unknown reasons it can drive you nuts trying to figure it out. It seems the higher in elevation you get the more pronounced this off/on feeding behavior is - at least IMHO.

 

Indeed though, you can never count a day in Maligne Valley as a wasted one - like walking into a postcard!

 

Best of luck to you next time Smitty!