Alberta League - ACFFL Event 4

Event 4

The water was clearer then I have ever seen it in the 20 years I’ve been fishing at Dolberg. The fish were large and beautiful and the weather was looking spectacular. This and the fact that it was a Saturday meant we were in for a day of fishing probably surrounded by many other anglers as the fishing seemed almost too good to be true at times.

The lake was post turnover so predictably the majority of anglers on the lake I figured would be throwing cork and chironomids. I will be very honest in saying I had no confidence showing up to this competition given I didn’t have the time to go out and practice. It had been 2 years since my last appearance there. I dove deep into my notes and gathered what I thought to be a game plan that hypothetically could work well but was relying heavily on past knowledge of the lake.

This was a loch style event similar to the Calgary residential lake which means we will all be in boats in constant motion ( No anchors ) with the assistance of a drogue ( drift sock ). The fish were to be scored and confirmed by your boat partner. Scoring is done by length to the nearest centimeter. Each fish counts as 100 points and each centimeter 20 points. Individual with the most points at the end of the session will win the individual session.

To win the entire event you must be consistent throughout all sessions. If you win the first session you would receive 1 Placing point (PP) if you get second 2 placing points , 3rd 3 placings ect. If you blank a session and don’t record any fish. You take as many placing points as there are competitors in the session. The individual with the lowest amount of Placing points after all sessions have been complete will win the entire event.

Dolberg Lake

Alberta

May 27th 2023

Game Plan

My game plan going into this was kind of combining a number of techniques and capturing all of them in a single cast. Given I didn’t know what was going to be the trick I wanted to make sure I could cover as many bases as possible with a three fly rig as possible and let the fish tell me what method I should be focusing on. The three methods I tried combining were:

-Naked line chironomid – It was the time of year to do it
-Pulling leeches – Never doesn’t work on Dolberg
-Attractor game – The best approach on heavily pressured lakes

To achieve this I used a 16ft 10lb Red Label Seaguar leader with 2 droppers 4ft spacing.
Top dropper was a Tiger blob pattern, Mid dropper was a size 12 rendition I do of the Chromie pattern called a Ru Paul. And my point fly was a size 10 ol’ faithful olive wooly bugger.

I was using the Fast Clean sweep by Rio. On a 9’6 7 weight Sage R8 Core.
The idea was cast the full fly line. Count down 10 seconds while maintaining contact with the point fly with an impossibly slow hand twist. Fish the naked line chironomid as it sank and try not to move the line or the flies for the total duration of the 10 second countdown.

Once I hit 10 seconds I ignored the chironomid and immediately went into a standard leech strip with many pauses to try and entice better reaction takes ( a trick that works well on pressured lakes )
At the end of the retrieve I would throw an absurd amount of emphasis on the hang in hopes any chasing fish would nab the blob. In theory it should work and I felt like a genius but It was a very unproven and unpracticed method on this lake as of late.

My boat partner for session 1 I drew Brandon Bolt. This gentleman is a living legend of a Newfie. We have known each other a long time and this happened to be his first competition ever! I was not about to underestimate his abilities though as I’ve seen his social media and know he’s no slouch on a fly rod.

Session 1

Driving out on the lake it was great getting the chance to catch up with Brandon after a few years of not seeing each other. His confidence was in the same spots I had confidence in and we mutually agreed on a corner to start on. He was on a totally different strategy then myself which was understandable given I didn’t really have a strategy. He seemed to be mixing the Attractor game with chironomids. He was fishing a washing line technique with a floating line, 2 chironomid droppers and a floating blob as his point fly. (FAB)

The horn went and we cast. First cast on the count I got a huge line pull but was missed immediately. Feeling good about my setup I threw to the exact spot again and started my countdown. Wham! fish took it again and this time It was hooked well and at the end of a fresh 100ft cast. Turbo stripping the bugger in it was a medium sized rainbow that took the Ru Paul on the freefall.

In my head It felt great that the naked line was working so early. I told myself 2 more fish like that and I will switch to either The “Bung” or an entire naked line chironomid setup.

-Naked line technique is simply fishing a series of buzzers or chironomids without the use of an indicator.

- The “Bung” Is simply utilizing a ridiculously buoyant fly as an indicator. In competitions we are not allowed to use indicators. So a loophole competitors have used is sacrificing your top dropper for a dry fly. This method resembles hopper dropper with sometimes up to 12-16 ft behind the dry fly as opposed to a small tag off the shank.

Working the same drift, a little while later Brandon hooks into a fish on his chironomid. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the 25cm minimum and was released quickly. I was fast getting convinced that my leech and blob probably wont be the ticket today.

Looking around there were a few competitors around us that seemed to be all doing different things. Some were stripping super-fast, and some weren’t stripping at all. I figured I would give my methods a true workout and only switch If I am 100% convinced.

Speak of the devil at the start of the next drift which was just a repeat drift of the first. I hit another fish. This was on the fast strip. The wooly bugger was taken. Relatively deep compared to my last one as well. This made me feel better about not switching anything over. Excited I scored it and released it.

A few minutes later Brandon and myself got to reminiscing again over what the ticket for the day was going to be. Fishing hard now I struggled trying to put emphasis on the leech or the Chironomid. On the hang that very cast all of a sudden the rod folded. It caught me so off guard getting such an aggressive take right at the boat I dropped the line. Scrambling I caught up to it and put the pressure needed. The fish came up from the depth and it looked like a great one! Less the 10 seconds on the line and hit less than 3 ft from the edge of the boat I had a 55cm rainbow landed on the Tiger blob.

Excitement was a bit of an understatement since Brandon and I were both caught off guard on that fish. He snapped a quick photo for me and we released it. I was officially not switching up anything! The only 3 fish landed for me up to this point were on each of the flies I had on. Given I didn’t see many other competitors catching I felt comfortable keeping on my jimmy rigged setup.

The chironomid guys anchored up with corks were LIGHTING it up! There was a young guy in a small dingy that I’m willing to bet hooked into 40-50 fish just in the time session 1 was active. I was using them to gauge how good the fishing actually was. I figured if they get a lull In the day that would probably translate to us competitors slowing right down as well.

I stuck to my wits and didn’t change a thing the entire session and ended the 3 hours with 6 scoring fish.

Session 1 Final

Session 2

Session 2 I drew Jason Doucette as my boat partner. This is comfort level 100 considering Jason has been my mentor and captain for 10 years now, He is to thank for organizing all of these great events and is a true unsung hero in this industry. Little fun fact about him is this year in particular he is currently rank #1 in Canada and will be representing Canada in Scotland for the Commonwealths next month.

Jason was paired with Aidan in the first session so he was well aware what he was doing and where he was catching fish. I trusted him to captain the boat for the session and take precedence over picking the spots. (Typically each competitor gets an hour and a half each making those decisions.) He took me pretty much to the same corner but set up a dreamy drift along the drop off they found the fish were stacked. The gentleman in the dingy that was doing so well earlier was on that spot and continuing his magical day and I knew we were on a honey hole.

Fishing nothing different from the first session it was immediate action we experienced. Jason dropped a fish early on a Rio Midge tip and a naked line technique. I had landed my first rainbow in the first 10 minutes on the wooly bugger and was immediately convinced again not to make any changes. Just fish like a mad man.

I landed a couple more before Jason was convinced he needed to change and went to the “Bung”. I was 3 over him now and at this point he had still only touched the one fish. It doesn’t matter how experienced I get. I always get an incredible sense of pride when I best Jason due the track record he has. Early in my career I saw it as nearly impossible to best him on anything he was comfortable with. And the first time I actually beat him in competition literally felt better than any gold medal a guy could win. He is in my opinion one of the strongest lake competitors I have ever met in my life. And that includes all the top dogs I met traveling abroad.

He switching to the Bung confused me a bit but made total sense. The “Bung” believe it or not is not a dominating method in Alberta specifically. Seems silly since chironomid angling is ultra-effective in Alberta but to produce more fish using the bung then say a blob or a leech? Tends to include an incredible amount of luck and skill. Being that the Bung cannot be adjusted and the boat is always in motion. Dialing in a specific zone in the column to target fish becomes nearly impossible.

Being that we didn’t have much wind, The fish were clearly being caught at 10-11ft depth. I tip my hat to my captain for again thinking the boat is barely in motion currently and if there was ever a time to practically use this method it was now. He within the last 45 minutes of the session caught up to me and we tied the session at 5 fish a piece. He gambled hard! And it payed off big time for him in the end. Last ditch effort on the method and he beat me by mere centimeters…

Session 2 Final

Anyone that knows Aidan Collins knows what this guy brings to the table. I struggle to think of anyone that’s more obsessive of the industry and learning everything about it. If passion could be measured I feel Aidan would be very difficult to top. This was his very first win at a competition. Which is extraordinary considering the caliber of angler at this competition specifically. Last year was Aidan’s first year competing with us in the league and he immediately established himself as a force to be reckoned with.

We are also incredibly lucky to have him as a part of The Fishin’ Hole Team. After the competition he wrote a report on his win and his approach which I will share now. Jason and I may have reputations of coming up with cool tactics but Aidan truly established himself as the top dog on Dolberg this past weekend. The difference I think was preparation and the confidence to know when to adapt that separated his performance from the rest of us.

Dolberg Lake

I got the opportunity to practice on 2 separate days leading up to the event on May 27th. On the first day it was roughly 2 weeks before the event was held so the most important factors I was looking for were water conditions (clarity,temperature,bug activity), what line, flies and lastly what area of the lake I wanted to focus on. It didn’t take long to figure out a large percentage of the rainbows were on the gravel going through a false spawn which led me to try and catch a couple so just in case the behavior was still apparent during the competition I would have an “ace in the hole” so to speak. 

The methods I found would get the odd one to take in the extreme shallows was an indicator with micro hotheaded leech patterns which could be easily replicated with a “bung” leader which in simple terms is replacing the indicator with a highly buoyant fly at a fixed depth so it’s comp legal. I also was able to pull a couple out stripping hotheaded minnow patterns extremely fast right through them as well. That being said, it’s important to remember when in training the objective isn’t to catch all the fish. It’s to ascertain what methods will produce during the event so I quickly changed tactics after I was confident with my plan. After lakes turn over the most common approach is typically to hang chironomids under an indicator. Knowing this I personally put a lot of emphasis on finding a more efficient way to get feeding fish to bite because my confidence in naked lining chironomids just isn’t high enough yet. My strategy was to start using attractor patterns and moving them quickly in the same zones as the anchored boats were indicator fishing whilst simultaneously trying to make mental notes of areas where higher numbers of fish were being caught. 

Fast forward to the day before the competition I headed out to the lake to fish the same times of day that I would be in session to further hone what my A and B sets would be. Taking notes is intrinsic to consistent success in events like this one and based off what I learned from competing there last year and from practicing the week prior I decided to start the pre comp training with a Rio fast clean sweep. That line has proven to be effective when the fish are scattered and suspended because it allows you to quickly move flies through large portions of the water column. I quickly found success with this line off the deeper breaks adjacent to the reeds and quickly formulated “Plan A”. I was able to hook a considerable number of fish in rapid succession with a small leech pattern on point followed by a small damsel fly imitation and a bright orange blob attractor. It’s easier said than done but after I started catching them I forced myself to try different areas on the lake and try different methods so that if my first plan didn’t pan out I would have a strategy in my back pocket. I was able to find sporadic success on prince nymphs and various damsel imitations so that was Plan B. After fishing I put a lot of effort into pragmatic preparation.

One of the biggest challenges I’ve personally faced is nerves and uncertainty. Pre fishing and preparing leaders ahead of time does wonders. For me this involves pre tying 5 leaders with the flies I plan to use in session and the idea behind that is as follows; first and foremost having leaders prepared gives a lot of peace of mind in case of tangles as well as being able to adapt quickly and effortlessly. I tied 3 A sets and 2 B sets to be absolutely prepared because ultimately the separation is in the preparation.

Session 1

This was the first competition day I ever felt confident going into so it’s safe to say I was seeing red and there to win. I drew Jason Doucette who to my knowledge is currently ranked #1 in Canada so that got my blood pumping right away. My strategy was to wait and see who I was fishing with and then tell them if they want the best chance at winning go where I say to start because I put in some practice time. This plan luckily for me paid off because I hooked a fish in the first 15 minutes which immensely helped me to stay calm throughout the session. However I noticed quickly that in practice I spent too much time catching fish because it went quiet soon thereafter. Just as in practice there was lots of boats out but in particular there was one guy lighting it up. We spotted “dingy guy” who was putting on an indicator clinic so we started fishing in that zone but my confidence started to wane because it was so much slower than in practice. This is the stage I’ve found in my short career that mental fortitude really has to take over. My biggest fear going up against someone as talented as Jason was that he would key into the chironomids and he did just that at one point hooking 4 fish in as many casts. The only thing that kept me from changing everything and mimicking his technique was all the time I spent getting prepared.

I knew my method would prove effective. I just had to keep my line in the water and most importantly keep my eyes on the prize and stay out of my head. About an hour into the session my luck started to change and I started hooking fish stripping fast and from there all I had to focus on was trying not to tangle and keeping efficient as possible. Something I’ve observed to be a crux to fellow competitors (myself included) is when the guy next to you starts lighting it up panic sets in. If something you’re doing is working I can’t stress the importance of sticking to it enough because what ends up happening is you spend way too much of the precious 3 hours changing lines and flies getting caught up in your head. This observation has been apparent to me on several occasions at several different lakes and has had influence on the outcomes. After I pulled away the only thing that mattered to me was “just one more”. Every time I’d land one I’d repeat that in my head to help keep me sharp and focused. I ended up barely winning this session with 9 fish landed.

Session 2

After a 45 minute lunch break I switched boats and we went out for the afternoon session. A problem with doing well early is generally you get followed and watched a lot closer in the afternoon. I wasn’t overly worried because I seemed to have an ironclad game plan that was paying dividends. Very early on I noticed a shift in the feeding patterns of the fish. In the morning I hooked about 60% on the leech and about 40% on the blob with one coming on the damsel. After 3 fish in the afternoon I noticed a strikingly familiar pattern emerge. Just like last year in the afternoon and just like in practice suddenly every single take was on the blob. An hour into the session I knew I shouldn’t be ignoring this epiphany and starting adapting. Because of its poor success I took the damsel away and replaced the point fly with an attractor leech and kept grinding. I did it this way for many reasons but the biggest factor is the water is clear and the fish are extremely pressured at this lake. Removing clutter and keeping bright attractor style flies at least 8ft apart on the line has been paramount in previous comps to my success. About halfway through the session I realized it was blob time so I abandoned the leeches and went with what worked. 

I ended up using 2 identical blobs 8ft apart on about a 17ft leader so I would not spook fish and cast effortlessly as well. Subtle tweaks like that one paid off in the end because instead of barely squeezing out a win session 2 was a much more convincing victory as I was 5 fish above second place in the end. Besides putting in the time ahead of time competitive fly fishing is a lot more of a mental exercise than people give it credit for.

Competitive fly fishing is something that’s met with a lot of skepticism because it largely goes against how many fly anglers think. I think it’s an excellent avenue to pursue for people that are highly competitive like myself or want to sharpen the learning curve exponentially. Because of the scrupulous rules we have to follow it makes us the most ethical anglers on the water that day. Barbless hooks, fighting fish fast and subsequently facilitating fast measurement and release not only for the fishes sake but in competitive interest as well helps maintain these fisheries we hope to enjoy for years to come. 

At the end of every event there’s a seminar where everyone who found success goes into some detail about what they were doing and why. This 20 minute meeting at least for me is a goldmine of information because it allows you to take pieces of information from different reliable sources to deepen your own understanding and learn methods that you may never think of alone. 

The final draw to competitive fly fishing is that it offers unbridled potential to those with enough ambition and passion. If you perform well locally then you can advance and fish a nationals. Do well enough at a national event and couple that with local consistency and suddenly you can apply to be on team Canada and get the opportunity to compete overseas. 

In conclusion, the world of competitive fly fishing may not be for everybody but if you’re willing to be humbled and willing to adapt to it can take your game to the next level.

- Aidan Collins

Our next event will be held on Beaver Lake 2 weeks from now. I unfortunately will not be competing due to a Fly School I will be teaching. There’s only a few more events before preparing for the Championships in the Fall.

Please If you have any questions or comments I can be reached at [email protected] .
Anyone interested in becoming a part of the culture and joining us at our competitions please contact Jason Doucette at [email protected]

Thank you

Josh “Jelly” Gelinas