trout Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Fly Fishing Manitoba

May 01, 2016

Once More to the Breach

I seem to be using ½ my fishing time going after wild brookies.

There are worse things

Don’t ask where because I will not tell

Fly Fishing Manitoba

Manitoba

trout

October 18, 2015

I have a bit of a tradition that I keep. The last day trout season in Manitoba (at least for rivers) is the last day of October. The closest trout stream is the Whiteshell river. Sometimes I go before that. Fall is great ther because the fish have been stocked and acclimated and start acting like trout before they move to the lake or get predated upon or killed over winter or whatever happens to them so as there are no fish in the river in spring

Fly Fishing Manitoba

September 27, 2015

Once More to my Favorite Place in Manitoba

DCIM100GOPRO

Don’t ask because I will not tell.

Fly Fishing Manitoba

Manitoba

trout

August 05, 2015

Alberta Canada Fly Fishing Trip

Well we went to the Waterford Lakes area of Alberta for more than fishing but…

Fly Fishing Manitoba

Alberta

trout

May 03, 2015

Secret Brook Trout Creek

Don’t Ask, because I won’t tell you.

5

Fly Fishing Manitoba

April 27, 2015

A Bad Day Fishing is Better Than a Good Day a Work…SAYS WHO?

So the weather was fine, the ice was off most of the lakes and I wanted to go fishing. I had to play in the morning and I had to/honoured to/get to teach a casting seminar at Cabela’s till 3pm. So my options were a little short. Stocked trout is the only option this time of year so I decided to hit a place called Reynolds Ponds. The ponds are a series of large reclaimed gravel/limestone pits that have been filled in by the aquifer. Being spring feed and deep they winter most of their fish but they are also stocked yearly. There is great shore access and back casting room. The ponds are both small enough to let you cover a lot of water from shore they are also big enough to accommodate, canoes, kayaks, float tubes, pontoons, and row boats. It is well back of the highway, so quite secluded.

Visually it is only a few docks, benches and manicured landscaping away from the facilities at any high priced private fly fishing facility that I have been at or read about in North America or Europe

Sounds like heaven?
But instead of looking like this…

…it looks like this

Not even close.

I could have spent the day shooting pics of piles of crap people could manage to bring there but not manage to bring out. Most of it with bullet holes in it.

Now it is not a private for fee fishing area so I would be out of my mind to expect it to be anything like one, but with a little effort this resource just out side of the city could be a real gem for locals and visitors.

The local fly fishing association has spent a decent amount of time and public money to develop a province wide trout map and, more relevantly, spent good money on a few failed attempts to have fish in a pond in Birds Hill Provincial park.

Birds Hill 34 minutes from Winnipeg, Reynolds Ponds are 45 minutes.

On this particular day I also had the misfortune of having squatter/campers on the side one of the ponds. They had been there a while and, as of 7pm Sunday night, show no signs of leaving.

They played their music loud making relaxing a challenge and dropped the f bomb with the full force of their lungs and frequently enough that the lone family with kids left.

I did manage a fish. It happen while the squatters where playing Bryan Adam’s “Summer of 69”

On top of that I had two different dogs off leash bark growl charge me one from the squatters and one from other people with no sense about public spaces
A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work?? I wish I was at work

Now some carefully shot/cropped photos of this place and you get what I may be imagining for the place.

Fly Fishing Manitoba

Manitoba

trout

August 05, 2014

East Coast Round Up

She got a few hits and LDR’s as well as landing one!

On the hike out we noticed the “Super” moon so went back to the house and brought back the cameras.

Hey Honey, remember the time we laid down in the field with fishing waders on, getting bit by skeeters to get a photo of the moon?

Of course I went fishing that night. The Oromocto again but a different stretch.

There were active fish but as I got within casting range some bubbas showed up and started casting their Bill Dance Largie type poppers so whatever fish they didn’t catch they scared to death. So I moved down stream and managed a few more hits but only one to hand

So I have posted many fish shots so I tried to do it differently.

Day 29:
The next day it rained so our second climb (less a mountain and more a mount) got canceled. We did go to an SPCA fund raiser that night but no pictures.

Day 30:
Errand day take back the guitar amp and rental car. Dinner with family. Preliminary packing for the flight out.

I had hoped to go fishing but the 2 days of rain have left the rivers high and discoloured.

The backyard stream

Normal

High Water

After a nice meal we worked it out by Fishing the Hunter River right in the Town of Hunter River. The section is a place I fished last year and on one side is a 200 year old church and grave yard but on the other an Irving gas station. No big fish but there tends to be many smaller ones…just not this time because I had the video going.

Fly Fishing Manitoba

bass

East Coast Canada

trout

July 30, 2014

East Coast 2014 Part 2

So Day 6:

Has us leaving the northern mountains and heading back to Fredericton. We stopped in at Grand Falls ate, watched some zip liners and then went down into the gorge.

As promised at the end of the last post I was off to river the river behind where we are staying. The river is called the North Branch Rusagonis and in the past I have caught Bass and Fall Fish no bass this time but I did get this surprise.

Atlantic Salmon

Day 7:
This was a pretty laid back day and the only pics was family fly fishing.

Wife and Son Fly Fishing the Oromocto River

The View Up Stream

Here is some shaky video.
YOUTUBE

Day 8 was more of the same but we did find a Canadian Tire store with a full fly fishing and tying section. Pretty stark contrast to the no fly fishing store and depleted fly sections I am used to in Winnipeg.

Just the wife and I fished the same river for bass etc.

Day 9:
This was our drive to and and first of 6 days in PEI.

We arrived Montague, settled in at our B&B and ate down by the wharf.

Insane Selfie

Queen Anne’s Lace

Day 10: Was a bit of looking around. We found a spot a local guided favorited but I have plenty of buggy mud holes back home to fish.

It was raining off and on all day but we did end up fishing the Morrel River. My son caught his first fish on the fly (and Tenkara) and my wife had fun taking photos of me casting.

In my element

Right At Ya

soft rod open loop

Almost looks like I know what I am doing

Tenkara Son

Day 11:
Went to put some recycling away and found a young raccoon. The owners of the B&B pull the bin to the ground to let it escape and it made straight for the trees.

Then we were off for a little tour to the East Point Light House.

Madeline Islands Ferry

Happy Wife

Next off to Basin Head beach. This is part of the Northumberland Strait so the water is warm (19 Degrees Celsius that day)

Poking a dead Jelly Fish

The Sign Says “No Diving” While the life guards look on.

Then we went to Georgetown and at at Clam Diggers.

View from Clam Diggers Before we Eat

Later that evening I fished the Morrel River again and caught 3 American Shad (new species for me)

East Coast 2014 trip part 1

So yes, for the 3rd year in a row we are vacationing on the east coast of Canada. We are currently in New Brunswick like last year but we just finished visiting some of the northern parts of the province.

Day 1: Arrive and not much else. Raining.

Day 2: Rental car not ready, still raining. Get car very late in day with barely enough time to get fishing licenses. Rivers brown with run off so no fishing.

Water running down rings

Day 3: Head north. Ultimately to the town of Saint Quentin but we stopped off at Hartland to lunch and visit the worlds longest covered bridge.

World’s Longest Covered Bridge

Saw someone fly fishing on their break and, after our lunch, I saw an immature bald eagle chase an osprey (perhaps to get the nice fish in the osprey’s talons?)

In Saint Quentin we stayed at the Du Repos B&B This area of the province is VERY beautiful. You can’t drive very far without seeing a tempting stream. This is the northern tip of the Appalachian mountain range. Our hosts Jacques and Louise are avid fly rodders and just great people all around.

The room was wonderful and looked to be the perfect base for our coming adventure!

We asked our hosts about local fishing and they offered to take us fishing the next day!!

Day 4: Our plan was to climb Mount Carleton the highest peak in the Maritimes! So ya the plan was to climb a mountain then go fishing.

So up the more scenic and challenging west side. So many photo ops.

Mountain Stream

Almost There…Not.

Changing lenses.

Nutrition Bar Break.

The last kilometer was the four limb climb over huge boulders. And the area is too steep for pulling out cameras so here is a picture of an easier climb.

“Easy” Scree.

But we made it!

Nictau Lakes

Fire Watch Tower

The current info on the place says it is 2 hours up and one hour down. Well maybe for people used to climbs but living on the prairies for 14 years and stopping for many photos this was the hardest thing I have ever done and it took us 5 hours to get up and back.

So ya this is a fly fishing blog and I did mention our host were going to take us fishing. So back to the B&B and one ham and egg sandwich and 2 Tylenols later I was off fishing.

Now this is their secret spot so I can’t tell you but the fishing was good and the fish pretty active. It was bad by their standards but catching wild fish in the shadow of very old mountains has a certain panache that the amount of fish cannot affect.

Secret Spot

So if you are a C&R at all cost type avert your eyes!

Just Add Butter

Nothing quite like eating brook trout fresh out of a mountain stream.

Having such a good time we extended our stay. One, to enjoy the area more and two, to take the family to that fishing spot.

Day 5: We had a few plans to explore the park without climbing any mountains.

Bathurst Lake

Camp Lake

Red Pine Trail

Williams Chute

Roadside Moose

and Calf

She got a small salmon

So again back to the secret spot.

Adelle fished and Charles played in the water. At one point he decided he want to fish. Seeing as he hasn’t fly fished since he was 4 years old so I handed him my rod, gave him some reminders and let him at it.

He got a million hits and loved the action!

So I used this an opportunity to break out the Tenkara rod and see if I could get a game fish on it (as I did bust the cherry on it the weekend before in B.C. but they were bait fish).