FLY FISHING
Immediately after ice off, start with Chironomids, they are the first to move to the surface. Black, brown, maroon and green are all good colours in sizes #8 to #16. Leech patterns are also good, brown and black bunny Leech work well as does the Jack Shaw Blood Leech. As Spring turns to Summer, Mayflies and Sedges (Caddis) come on. Then the Pheasant Tail Nymph, Prince Nymph and small Halfbacks work on the Mayfly Nymph side. For Sedges, the Tom Thumb, Nations Green Body Sedge, Grey Body Sedge and the Mikulak Sedge are best. Early Fall to November, Damsel Fly and Dragonfly Nymph patterns are good. Halfbacks, Carey Specials and Damsel Nymph patterns work well. Back Swimmers and Water Boatman along with Shrimp work well all season with Shrimp being the choice of Trout. Wolly Buggers and Wolly Worms in black, brown and maroon are also good all season choices. A successful fly fisherman should carry floating, full sinking and sink tip lines to cover all possible conditions. Fish the shallows and the drop offs. A Sedge hatch in late evening on a shoal is exciting fishing. Trolling and spin-casting are good all the time. We recommend small size Needlefish and flatfish ( gold/yellow or black with silver spots ), Yellow/gold or yellow/green "Hotshots" or simply a worm for trollers. Gold or silver Vibrax #2, Vibrax #3 and Mepps Blackfury#3 (Yellow on black) for successful spin-casters.SPIN CASTING
Spin casting lovers can find an infinite variety of environments to enjoy their passion. When ice comes off the lakes you should look for the shallow corners of the lake, with a weedy bottom and cast a flashy silver or gold Vibrax Blue fox spinner , size two for smaller catches, or size three to select your captures. At ice off, spin casting is efficient all day long. When the waterwarms up in June, we have to go looking for deeper water during the warmer hours and spin cast along the shores and in the shallows early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Spoons ( Gibbs, Mc Lure’s ) become more efficient than spinners. The recommended colours are white and red. Silver works too, but don’t forget a touch of red. Small fish and new fry hatch between the end of june and the middle of July : rapala, flat fish and minnows become popular. They require a thin line ( 0.18 mm, 4 pounds test ) in order to allow the minnow its natural action. In the warmer hours you can catch the biggest fish, but you have to be patient and after the cast, wait for the lure to sink down to 30-50 ft sometimes, before reeling in. Good success of spin casting usually doesn’y go along with a good hatch : when trout are excited and concentrated on feeding off a good hatch, they usually are not interested on flashy lures. So it’s always recommendable to carry both the spin casting and the fly fishing equipment along. In the fall, starting from the beginning/middle of September on the upper lakes, both spoons and spinners work good. Minnows, rapala, flat fish work good too, but usually not in the warmer hours. When the water cools off we recommend mepps spinner, like the aglia long #2 and the black fury both red and yellow dots on a black background. In the lakes populated by kokanee, a salmon roe on the spinner always help as trout follow the kokanees’ spawning and naturally feed on fish roe. Just before the lakes freeze again, the best catches are on bright red and/or yellow spinners/spoons. Bright orange and yellow minnows and rapala work too. Trout slow down their activity and they have to be stimulated by bright coluours . the size of the spoons can increase towards the end of the season, just before the ice comes back : bigger fish are out feeding to put on fat for the winter and they attack #4 spinners and #3/4 spoons, as well as minnows/rapala up to 7-8 cm.TROLLING
Trolling lovers have to follow the same rules of the spin casters. When you troll in the shallow areas it is recommendable to use small hardware ( the so called “wedding bands” ) with a short leader up to a maximum of 18 inches, and natural baits like worms, millworms, maggots or a fly; leeches and wooly buggers are the most popular. Shiny streamers work too behing a wedding band. Flat fish F3-F4 orange with black spots or frog pattern with yellow spots. The colour of the wedding band is not really important, as it has just the function of distracting the fish from its natural feeding, and attract it towards the bait. If you are trolling deeper areas , 20 to 40 feet down, it is recommendable to use bigger hardware ( the so called “gangtrolls” ) with shiny colours ( silver is the best ) and a longer leader , up to 6-7 feet. Worms are as usual the best bait, but millworms, maggots and flies work too. Trollers should consider to use flatfish ( apex, hot shots ) without hardware : a simple weight before the swivel, and a long leader, up to 10 feet to allow the minnows its natural action. Spinners and spoons work good as well both with or without hardware. Putting a bait on the spoon or the spinner is most of the time useless or couterproductive : it inhibits the action of the lure, which is designed to work as “bait”. Always remember to troll very slowly : just enough for the bait to move and the gang troll to spin; occasional fast trolling might work, but in general slow trolling pays back the most.ICE FISHING
Our area offers a long period of good ice fishing. Usually from The middle of December until the end of March/middle of April, most of our lakes are frozen solid and offer a good variety of fish : rainbows, brook trout, kokanee, laketrout, burbot. Ice fishing requires a simple tackle, and a hut is not always needed : our area is very seldom windy and very often sunny in the winter. A rod with reel, a flasher and a short leader, up to 18 inches, a hook and baits. Usually dew worms and mill worms are the best for rainbow and brookies, but maggots work too, especially for kokanee. It is very important to add a little ball of paste, like the” magic bait” on top of the hook : the fish get attracted by the smell of it and oriented towards the bait faster in the pitch black dark waters under the ice. For salmonids choose a spot 10-15 feet deep, with sandy or rocky bottom if possible, drop the bait all the way to the bottom and then reel up so that the bait sits a foot above the bottom. Gig it every 30 seconds and wait for the bite. Burbot or fresh water ling cod are very popular in some of our lakes. They are bottom feeders and mainly night feeders, but in the winter they bite all day long. Choose a spot 20-30 feet deep and drop the bait to the bottom. Sit and wait. You can use flashers, but they are not really required with burbot. Use bigger hooks and a big bait, like a bunch of dew worms, 3-4 slices of bacon or a chunck of raw meat. Don’t be afraid of using big baits, because even a small 2 pound burbot has a big mouth and can swallow big bites. Gigging a lure works good too, but you always have to keep the action: the lure cannot sit still like the bait, and ice fishing is also enjoying the view and walk around on the pack, checking the shore for the moose to pop up and keep you company for a while. Gigging a lure requires constant movement and presence by the hole….
