Opening Day on the Elk River

I woke in Fernie this morning around 5:30, Spencer was on his way out the door to continue the fish studies in the Elk Watershed and the smell of coffee and cigarette  alerted my senses enough to surrender to the possibility of a sleeping in.  I began my day by sorting through the 1500 dozen flies I just received from my "Thaiing" team.  Some nice stuff for sure but there was nothing in there that would have helped a fly angler on the Elk today.  The river was as high as I've ever seen it and the visibility was about a thumbnail.

No casts just some time spent at the bank appreciating the velocity of the river and the endurance of the fish that sit blind in that water, gills getting pounded by sediment.  Be like living in a sand storm I guess; did see a few lime sallies and what looked to be a paralep (mahogony dun).  Never felt so safe about a bugs chances as I watched the paralep swirl around in a soft, back eddy foam line.

Well they do have the clearing of the water to look forward to and along with that they can look anticipate the hammering of golden stoneflies and getting the high protein reward from eating these huge bugs.  We in turn can look forward to sticking large foamy patterns into there jaws and welcoming them to another season of guiding in the Elk River valley.  Streamers will also rob some meat off the banks in early season.....

Blue Ball Streamer

This time of year is a waiting game and I prefer to sit it out.  Planting is paying well and keeping me healthy and I'm in no rush to head onto a river that just isn't ready.  That being said SW Alberta does have some decent conditions and some days can be quite good while others....not so much.

The cool and damp weather has the Columbia behind and I have a feeling that the caddis will be going strong into August again this year.  That's later than normal but follows what happened last year when runoff and cool weather hindered the success of the evening caddis hatch (which is actually a mating congregation).

My first trip will be on the Waterton in Alberta for some browns.  An overnight pleasure cruise with Jimmy Carter (formerly NOT the president of the USA) and a few of us eager guides.  Our fly shop will be opening on July 1st and I am expecting some reasonable to good fishing at that point.  Booking earlier could be a roll of the dice unless you are willing to travel east to Alberta.

'til next time.

The Rivers Are.....Rising!!!

I've been planting trees in the East Kootenays for a long time now so it doesn't surprise me to wake up in June drive up a couple thousand feet in elevation and get snowed on.  Getting snowed on in town at the valley bottoms is a bit rare but certainly not unquestionable.  So far June has brought us some cool and very damp weather which in turn has our rivers  pumping brown and high so if you're thinking of coming up for seasoner opener in the Kootenay Region on the 15th...your on your own.  We wont' be looking at running trips until later this month on the Elk River and that will depend on a solid week of appropriate weather.  This of course are prognostications based on experience and a general feel for what's ahead and it's really too hard to predict what will actually occur.  So far the forecast looks good but is showing some more rain but in moderate amounts and mixed in with some sunshine.  Alberta will likely be in much better shape at that point and may even be in it's prime.  I've always found the Eastslope of the Rockies to fish well in late June and early July.

So if one was to come up at that time (Jimmy Carter) head east and enjoy exploring the areas we like to go to on our days off.  We have a few trips in that area at that point but have lots of openings.  The rainbow and brown trout fishing can be spectacular in SW Alberta and is a nice switch from the cutthroat fishing of the Elk Valley and there really is some spectacular scenery there as well.  Has a much different feel than the Fernie area.

In other news we WILL be opening a small fly shop in the Stanford Inn in Fernie this year.  We will carry all our favourite brand names as well as a fly bin that will be mostly filled with Squidbeak Flies as well as Montana Fly Company's.  We will be carrying the stuff that works, a collective of patterns that none of our guides would feel embarrassed about tying on.  There might be the odd 'range ball' in the pile to satisfy those who love gawdy, stuff hanging everywhere kind of patterns but most of the bin is what we use in our area and it's worth checking out the selection if your planning on doing some angling on your own.

Updates will be frequent from here on in.  'Til next time....

Neurotic Coastal Weather

Spring technically and numerically  arrived a week ago, but it hasn't really done so with a whole lot of conviction.  I'm on the east coast of Vancouver Island trying to work outdoors and low snow lines and overnight frosts are continuously thwarting those efforts.  This pattern seems to have repeated itself the last few years suggesting to me that our winters are actually getting longer--cooling trend in the west perhaps.  I could pull up stats and graphs due back that but we may as well take my word for it since I've spent the last 3 springs getting shut down for work by inclimate weather. 

One of the hallmarks for the onset  of spring on the coast is the emergence of skunk cabbage in the various swamps and rich soils along streams of the Pacific Northwest.  The flower is actually a member of the arum family and is one of the largest leafed native plants to the region.  Bears forage on the roots after waking up from hibernation in order to flush the colon---one of natures great laxative.  I have yet to see a bear, they seem to want to take a bit more rest but any day now spring will beat down this ghostly winter and start pushing us toward warmer weather and some angling!!!

Holly Getting Skunky

More shit weather is in the forecast but it will afford me some time to catch up on some fishing related things.  Before I get going I just wanted to plug a link to one of the more contemporary fishing journals out there;  This Is Fly.  It's an online publication that is breaking new ground in fly angling.  It's not just about trout, steelhead and bonefish.  The magazine is bold enough to take on articles from aspiring outdoor journalsits willing to take on fly fishing 'exotics' such as carp and muskie.  It's a lifestlyle approach to the angling world and I find that refreshing.  It is not pretentious or loaded with technical advice although there is a lot of helpful information in there.  The other magazine I'm really digging on is the Fly Fish Journal.  Cool magazine with journalism in mind in both a literary and photographic sense.  Big props to both these publications, they are expanding the boundaries of traditional fly angling and inviting more thought provoking images to this wonderful world...so hats off to y'all.

I've been trying to think of what to write about...chironimids would be a likely choice as the lakes begin to shed their ice here in BC.  I would like to talk about floating the Cowichan River but the takeout is snowed in and the river gushing....not one to fish from the bank---(I'm spoiled to have the skills and boat to row down such a gem of a coastal stream).  So hopefully I can save that one for the near future.

I decided the tail waters vs. freestones would be a good topic because I've been thinking about the tail waters a lot lately and how keen I am to get to back on some of my favourites

Brilliant Dam Sending it Down to the Kootenay River

Tail waters are amazing man made creations.  Yes they've completely changed the bio dynamics of the river they hold back, mostly by eliminating the salmon runs.  This had had huge negative impacts on our First Nations people who revered and lived off the abundance of this generous animal.  When it comes right down to it a dam is no way positive to the natural habitat of  a river.  There have been some initiatives in the state of Washington and Oregon to bring back the salmon runs by creating new fish ladders and releasing dams.  It would be bizarre to think of 40 pound springs migrating up the Elk River; but that's how it used to be.  WOW!  Can't imagine what some of those fall time cutts and bulls weighed in at in those times after gorging on the flesh and eggs.  

Once water is held back a few things happen to the water below.  It becomes more even in temperature as most of the tailwaters of any angling notoriety pull from the bottom of the above reservoir.  The dam also does another key thing that enriches the fishery below--it slows the movement of nutrients which in turn enhances bug life.  Anyone who has fished a pmd or caddis hatch on a tailwater knows the impact of this.  Freestones can puke out some great hatches but certainly not to the level of abundance of the tail waters.  Humans have a way of manipulating nature and nature will always provide it's solution or reaction.  In the case of tailwaters the lack of protein from the absence of salmon in rivers such as the Columbia has been slightly supplemented by the swarms of caddis flies.  The amount of bugs in the air during this June/July hatch on the Upper Columbia is staggering and is certainly one of the key elements to the growth of it's rainbow trout population.

On the Oldman River tail water in Alberta there were never salmon present and the trout fishery that exists below the reservoir has been enhanced by the creation of the dam.  More bug life, more regulated run off and low consistent water temperatures have created a pretty incredible little stretch of water that is highly touted by all of the guides at Freestone.   We spend a lot of days off on that river.


 

Oldman River Spent Dun Victim

Fish tend to relate to different structure in tail waters as they do in freestones.  A freestone river will have fish holding tight to cover, often along the bank.  The river falls after the freshet and spots can become exposed.  The same can be said for tail waters as early summer sees an abundance of water in the rivers that need to be released.  My experience angling on both has told me that the fluctuation of water by dam release provides inconsistent habitat for trout to hold to.  Tail water fish seem to relate to current seams more readily and use follow these feeding lanes as the river rises and falls.  When large amounts of water is released through the dam and seams blow out the fish seem to shut off and wait for the water to stabilize and lower before getting back at it.

Freestone stream trout act differently, have a more even dropping pattern and will hold on a good spot which brings food and provides cover as long as the water level allows it.  Tight bank cover is often the home of freestone trout although mid river seams also provide us with some excellent angling, they are many other consistent obstructions and food lanes that spread the fish out.

 The Elk River, A Classic Freestone

Freestones are more bio diverse.  Insect species are more varied and although the hatches may not be as thick, they are more versatile in that if one weather condition is not ideal for one insect type another is there to take it's place.  Tail waters are often mono-specied, with caddis and small mayflies predominating the diet.  There are certainly some sporadic hatches of other flies in the tail waters  but caddis seem to thrive in these environments.  

Having the option to fish both is a true blessing and the tail waters definitely provide the angler with a year round option whereas the freestones are often limited by weather patterns.  I love them both and there is so much to learn about these habitats but it is definitely the tail waters that provide me with the most challenge.  Much like this spring, the tailwater is a neurotic piece of water and it's hard to know what your gonna get. Following release charts certainly helps us predict fish locations and behaviour, but when a gush of water gets pumped out and blows the river to hell there's not much you can do but retreat and wait for it to settle....or head back to the trusty freestone.

 

 

 

Some More Product Review, Random Thoughts and Wing Position

Back in Canada after a bliss session with the country of Bali.  What a remarkable little place with amazing beauty and devoted spirituality.  I loved viewing the morning ritual as household members went around their temple homes blessings effigies and making offerings of incense and flowers.  The food was amazing, the people friendly and the scenery stunning...beautiful culture.

I thought there should be a few more things mentioned in the product review, the products that stood out for me as being different enough to mention.  First off Smith Optics introduced a new lens and called it polarchromic ignitors; a pinkish hued lens that is ideally suited for mixed sun/cloud days.  The lens adjusts to the lighting conditions so you have optimum glare reduction without having to switch lenses.  Joel and I jumped got on it quick and ordered a few sets and have been really impressed with it's versatility.  My previous favourite all around lens was an amber lens but the polarchromic seems to perform better in the lower light.  A nice addition to the techlite glass series and just so everybody knows; glass is far superior to the polyblended lens....no contest!!!  Water visibility is key and glasses are a huge part of your game on the water, they are worth the extra cost not just for vision but for eye protection....they allow way less UV light in.

Smith Optics Polarchromic Ignitors

Patagonia has always been one of my favourite companies for outdoor wear and there waders are legendary for those in the know.  Joel bought a set this year and aside from the actual styling of the wader the comfort of these are second to none.  They are well fitted, not sloppy and baggy, the material is sturdy yet light and the newest/latest/coolest feature is the merino wool lined boot.  Feels great and allows some airflow down there not to mention the added warmth it provides.  A bit expensive but worth the extra for sure.

Guidewater Wader by Patagonia

Some quick but tasty thoughts on fly selection.  My years of guiding have taught me a lot about fish behaviour and to believe that fish are not aware of the more subtle aspects of a flies composition is simply not true.  I have seen the fish of the Elk become smarter as years go on, as they get pinned and released time and time again they become more aware of what does not appear to be natural.  Often times it's a matter of nerves; some fish are just not as willing to breach the surface and show their head to the hungry eagles and ospereys above.  They become finicky eaters and develop selective habits and one of the key discoveries for me fishing to trout that have been experienced is to give them something they feel safer with....the low profile flies.

As hatches began and we as anglers arrive on the scene it often seems as if you could chuck anything at them and it will get crushed.  That often is the case and often lasts but I have noticed over the last several years that I am switching to different patterns as the hatch progresses and as refusals appear on bushy hairwinged dries I move right over to the subtle and unassuming flat wing/spent dun/spinner type patterns.  Trout feel safe sipping these as they are not worried about the bug flying away as it is spent or on it's way out and trout often act surprised when they've sucked down a spinner only to have there jaw pulled sharply in the other direction.  I always steer curious anglers into the flat wing styled patterns in the local fly bins and most of the new patterns I develop have that characteristic in them.  A flat wing of varied shade with a mix of crystal flash for visibility.  Without flat winged patterns in your box you'll struggle to survive the duration of a hatch and the process becomes that of frustration, however; in the right place and at the right time, these patterns make the angling seem easy.  Wicked trout food.....YUM

'Til next time

Fly fishing has many creative participants and a dedicated following.  The amount of gear available out there is astonishing and it would be impossible to sample it all.  Being a guide allows me to try a lot of rods and reels that my guests have brought and there are definitely some beautiful rods being made out there these days.  The tendency has been to build faster, harder, stronger; but there has been equal attention put into the softer and slower presentation rods like the Scott F1 and now F2.

The Scott F2

 

 

Scott Fly Rod Company has balls for sure.  They have a hip and photo rich ad campaign that creates a lifestyle image around the company and when they launched the F1 series a couple of years back I remember thinking WOW!  A fibreglass rod series introduced when the industry trend is wrapping blanks for speed.  A throw back in material for sure but enough to catch the interest of our guides Jonny 'Bravo' and Joel Whalen.  They both bought this awesome little pieces of Colorado architecture to do battle with the cutts in some of our smallest waters.  They both purchased one weights matched them with Sages ultra light Click 1 and began a small stream love affair.

It's a super cool little rod which waves like the wand of a sorcerer in the right hands, picture hiding behind a stand of grass and with a couple of flicks of the wrist you can cast the  fly, stack a mend and let it drift softly into the basin sized bucket where trout lips is softly sipping.  As you raise your  arm to set on the poor creature, the arc in the rod doubles over and an epic small stream battle ensues.  The soft blank of the rod allows for short and aggressive runs into the undercut absorbing the tension put on the tippet...truly a small stream specialists rod of choice.   One of our newest clients Jerry Skurka from the Chicago area brandishes this fine little weapon on the countless spring streams of the Driftless area in Wisconsin.  His is a three weight F2 and I gave that rod a few throws on one of our small streams and found it to be an incredibly acrobatic rod.  You can definitely get tricky with these little gems.

For reels I've been married to Bauer for a long time.  I've had some of their reels for 8 years and have never had them fail.  The cork/ceramic drag system is impeccable and smooth beyond compare.  Most of their reels are equipped with this system.  The one fall back of this drag system is wear in the drag knob which can cause the knob to back off during weather changes which is fairly constant in the Rocky Mountains.  This is easily fixed by adding washers which can be sent to the customer by Bauer or you can choose to step away from this system and go with their new Rogue series which is where I have been lately.  A sealed drag system with ultra smooth resistance, the large V arbour allows for excellent line capacity in an extremely light weight reel.  For the Columbia River this is essential as the runs can put you so deep into your backing it is essential to step up a reel size in order to handle the brutes in the massive current.  Having a light weight large arbour allows this to happen without messing up it's balance with the rod.  They have some cool colour options including a splash colour which is added on at a reasonable cost.

Bauer Rogue Series

From the Lens of a Raven

My main guide and main man Joel Whalen has some mad skills; definitely inflicted with the midas touch.  We've been really blessed to have him in our lives over the years, he's a man of great talent, deep commitment and integrity.  Here is the result of countless hours of editing, dragging camera gear into river valleys sometimes to capture sometimes nothing, sometimes a few things  and in the odd moment the true magic of the natural world as seen through his lens.  This is a compilation of that effort....ENJOY!

(press link below)

Love Flyfishing 

Where I've Been Lately....

Looking For Customers on the Ganges

After a brief trip to Thailand to drop off materials and patterns for my tiers myself and my beloved Leah hopped on a plane and flew to India, a country I've wanted to visit for a long time.  I had an idea of what to expect from the numerous stories Leah had relayed to me after her previous journeys to there.  I was excited to land in Calcutta after a couple hour flight from Bangkok on Air Asia and taste the air of India.  And it tasted how I thought it might....not too good.  But a city of that size and level of poverty is going to have shitty air, there were a lot of old vehicles coughing and spewing there way through the Calcutta streets. After a few days in Calcutta we hopped on a train and headed for Bodghaya; the site of the Bodhi tree where the Buddha achieved enlightenment.

The town of Bodghaya is poor, intensely poor and there had been a massive Buddhist pilgrimage to the town just prior to our arrival so the town had been pushed to it's already meager limits and there was literally excrement in the streets; in a small gutter on the side of the walkway, one false step and you'd be in it....a far cry from the gravel freestone riverbottoms that my sandles are normally used to stepping on.  They were not happy about that experience. Aside from that the temple grounds surrounding the tree was beautiful and full of devoted Buddhists who had made the pilgrimages from northern India, Bhutan and other countries.  It was a powerful feeling to be there and I will hold those moments in a special place forever...it was beautiful.

After Bodghaya there was a brief stop in Veranassi, perhaps the holiest city in the world and certainly the focal point of the holiest river in the world the Ganges.  I liked Veranassi and although I had heard the city was dirty it was quite a step up from our two previous stops of Calcutta and Bodghaya. The level of devotion of the Hindus to their holy river the Ganga is impressive.  Every day hundreds of thousands  of Hindus bathe in the river, a river that has a cholera bacteria level that is off the charts.  The banks are lined with 'ghats' which include a burning ghat where their dead are burned and then put into the river a process which cleanses the soul. 

This rivers cholera bacteria count is 3000 times acceptable levels and water tests indicate that the river is septic.  Still miraculously and perhaps magically, there are quite a few fish in the river, one of our guides mentioned catching fish over 40 pounds, some kind of cat fish. I witnessed quite a few fish rising in the river which amazed me.  Biologists are stunned that fish do live in it and I watched a few people sipping out of it!!

Laundry on the Ganga--the Spin Cycle

Ahmdebad was our next stop and it was a nice one. It's a clean city that seems to be experiencing some economic growth and has become one of India's business centres.  This is home to Aura Herbal Wear; a company that Leah found  years ago owned by Arun and Sonal Baid.  Aura is a natural dyeing company and produces large quantities of natural dyed fabrics like organic cotton and silk. It was beautiful to watch the fabrics run through the dye baths and walking through the factory felt healthy as all products are made from plant dyes.  There fabrics are gorgeous and feel great on the skin, Joel and I wear a lot of shirts made from their dyes guiding and I would love to see a company like Patagonia using there product for the 'organic' clothing line, cause really what's the point in having an organic cotton shirt when it's been soaked in a chemical dye bath.  Kind of kills the organic side of it.  They are taking this to the next level and are hoping that this will become the way of the future for the garment industry as they have seen first hand what the many chemical dye factories can do to the water of their homeland.  They are lovely people with big hearts and clear vision, it's nice to see that some people are working towards positive change.

Organic Cotton Running Through Indigo Dye Bath

  We spent another week in India before flying into Singapore and then on to Bali.  It was an amazing contrast going from Chennai in India to Singapore.  Singapore is spotless, the pollution is minimal and the city is strikingly modern.  The Marina Bay area might be the nicest section of a city I have seen, some amazing design concept went into the construction of that place and I'm looking forward to returning to the city on my way back to Canada at the end of the month.  But for now it's beautiful Bali and my introduction to surfing and yes I've been getting crushed out there.  The surf was rough the first five days and the ocean really beat the shit out of me, but it's settled down quite a bit and life on the board has been a lot easier and a little more fruitful....it's not the easiest sport to learn tho.

In my previous blog entry I mentioned that I hadn't heard from anybody in my angling world, not a peep and that entry was followed by a rash of good bookings so that was nice.  Almost all of the bookings are for August and that month is getting full in fact the 8th to the 16th is fully booked.  Snow levels are low at the moment but the last few springs have brought some late snow so we'll see what happens there; but if things continue as is then we'll be looking at some good angling on the Elk for opening day in mid June and the West Kootenays will be happening in early June as long as there is warm weather to get the caddis moving.

Joel is currently editing another fly fishing video and I will be posting that on my site and on my blog in the next few weeks and I will also be doing a gear review based on our experiences with what we played around with last summer.  We all got to try some new stuff last year and there are definitely some standout items that I don't mind plugging.  'Til then.....

Life in The Fast Lane, Ahmdebad