Spring weather lifts the burden of old man winter off southern Alberta and coaxes fly fishers from their vices onto open rivers. As some of the only open water around, early migrants bring the river to life. Franklin’s gulls break the silence of winter, ducks are flashing their breeding plumage, and soon swallows will fill the sky in a frenzy. Itching to just get back on the river, expectations are tempered with shaking the dust off your cast and soaking some rays in mind. Low water temperatures hold fish from being active early, but quality trout still show themselves.
Like anticipating the first crocus of spring - or the welcome sight of the returning crows and Canada geese - the ice-free seasons can't come soon enough for western anglers.
Springtime for the fly fisher can be the “best of times and the worst of times”. Spring brings with it the anticipation of the season ahead, of hungry and eager trout along with ...
Unlike the main event in June, July and August – where the best action happens when the sun sets below the streamside poplars – early season trout keep gentlemen’s hours. Late to rise and early to bed.
There are many openings and closings of angling seasons these days as fisheries biologists micro-manage our lakes, rivers and streams and try to allocate and sustain an ever-diminishing resource base. So the travelling angler who wants to stay out of trouble with the fish cops is best advised to keep a copy of the provincial regs in his or her truck. And consult them on a regular basis. When it comes to angling laws, complicated is now the name of the game.
After a long winter with little or no fishing most fly anglers can hardly wait to get out on the stream to cast their flies. Early season trips involve more than just fishing, there are flies that were invented at the vise to be field tested, wader repairs to be checked, fly lines to be stretched, and knots to relearned. While conditions may not be ideal, it matters little, (as long as the wader repair was successful). Getting out early in the year just as things start to unlock from winter's icy grip is a wonderful way to spend a spring day. Getting back into the rhythm of casting the fly and walking the stream is reward in itself, even if conditions aren't perfect. As long as the temperature is above freezing and the wind isn't howling the early season angler stands a good chance at hooking some fish.
A few years ago I was prefishing for a Walleye Tournament put on by the Western Walleye Council in June on renowned Lesser Slave Lake. It’s the kind of lake where anyone can put a pattern together at almost any time of year let alone June’s ‘summer peak’ bite. To describe it as a ‘strong fishery’ would be an understatement.
The ice has come off, the lakes are opening up and I can’t wait to get on the water. While not the best time of year as far as fishing success goes, ice out is my first opportunity in five or six months to actually cast a line, perhaps even catch a fish.
If you've never tried fly fishing through the ice, last ice is a great time to catch a bunch of rainbows utilizing a half dozen flies. Half are finesse and half are the opposite.
