Riseform Flyfishing Ventures - BLOG

Trip Report – Wellesley Lake, Yukon Territory

Brian Chan — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:54:48 +0000

I had the good fortune to re-visit Kluane Wilderness Lodge on Wellesley lake during the third week of June 2010. Wellesley is located approx. 200 miles NW of the city of Whitehorse. Access to the lodge is via a 90 minute float plane trip that passes a lot of beautiful Yukon wilderness. This was my 3rd trip to this wonderful fishery that features superb fly fishing for lake trout, pike and lake whitefish. What keeps me going back is the clear, nutrient rich water that supports heavy emergences of chironomids, mayflies, caddisflies and other invertbrates. Lake trout to 10 pounds and lake whitefish to 7 pounds can be readily taken on chironomid pupa, mayfly nymphs and adults and caddis pupa and adults. Much of the fishing for the smaller lake trout and whitefish can be done with floating lines and strike indicators, something I love to do!!

The really big lakers are fish eaters, feeding on the abundant population of Cisco and smaller lake whitefish. These rich food sources allow the lake trout to attain weights in excess of 45 pounds. Fast sinking and shooting head lines in the 350 to 600 grain weight range with baitfish patterns will attract the attention of some really big fish. Surface poppers and baitfish patterns fished on floating and sinktip lines in shallow water are aggressively attacked by pike to 45 inches in length. Lake whitefish are an amazing gamefish for the fly angler. These fish really pull and love to eat flies under indicators.

Wellesley lake is not huge by northern latitude lake standards. It is about 10 miles long by 4 miles wide and it features crystal clear water whose shallow water shoals are covered with large expanses of marl and chara. The shallow edges of the lake are filled with dense stands of pondweed and longstem bulrush. I’ve attached some images of the trip and welcome any questions you may have about this fishery. I’ll be hosting another trip to this remote fly in lodge next June 9-17. Check out Kluane’s website at www.kluanelodge.com.

An Update on my Fishing Activities

Brian Chan — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:41:10 +0000

It has been too long since I have updated my blog. Needless to say I have been spending a lot of time on the water both around Kamloops and fishing waters in the southeast corner of the province. Overall it has been a pretty good spring season although unsettled weather seems to have been the norm. It has been a long time since we have had more than a day or two in a row of good weather and a stable barometer. I have also been busy filming shows for The New Fly Fisher, Sport Fishing BC and Sport Fishing on the Fly. Don Freschi and I had 4 days of great fishing and filming in the Fernie area during mid-May and prior to that I filmed 2 shows with Mark Pendlington on Morgan and White lakes near Kamloops. Phil Rowley and I also did an episode of The New Fly Fisher on urban trout lakes in the Nanaimo area of Vancouver Island. Add some guiding and personal fishing time and the whole spring has been a blur for me. Chironomid emergences are still going strong as well as the start of Callibaetis mayflies, damselflies and early caddisfly hatches.

I am now just getting ready to head off to Wellesley lake in the Yukon. This should be a great fly fishing trip for lake trout, pike and lake whitefish. I’ll definitely report back on that trip. In the mean time here are a few

Bringing smiles to everyone in the boat!!

images from spring fishing.

Good luck on the water,

Brian

A happy father and son first time fly fishing!!

Don Freschi and I filming an episode of Sport Fishing on the Fly

A Westslope Cutthroat from an East Kootenay stillwater

A Little Steelhead trip before the Stillwater Season gets going

Brian Chan — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:47:30 +0000

I’ve always wanted to fish the Skeena River country for steelhead and I was fortunate to spend 4 days up there last week. It was early spring conditions with unpredictable weather which meant we encountered snow, rain, sun and wind each day we were on the water. I’ve been practicing my spey casting all winter and this was my first trip with just the double hand rod. Water conditions on the Upper Kalum River were low but water clarity was good. Fishing companions included Rob Vodola from Kitimat and Chad Black and Dustin Kovacvich from Nicholas Dean Lodge in Terrace www.nicholasdean.com. We swung either large black/purple or orange/pink patterns using type 6 to 8 tips on Skagit heads. It has been a few years since I had fished seriously for steelhead and the take of these magificant fish certainly got my blood flowing again.

All in all a very enjoyable trip in which I learned lots about early spring tactics as well as picking up badly needed tips on improving my double hand casting. I can’t wait to get back up there this coming fall!!

Here is a shot of a nice fish caught on the spey rod.

cheers,

Brian

The Chironomids are Hatching

Brian Chan — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 05:22:42 +0000

Spring is still taking it’s time in opening up more lakes to fish in the Kamloops area. Right now we have White, Morgan and Six Mile lakes. Jacko and Barnes should be coming off sometime this week as the day time temperatures are suppose to be in the high 20′s C. I fished Morgan a couple times late last week, just fishing from shore and caught some nice fish. A quick throat pump revealed a few small black chironomid pupa mixed in with zooplankton, juvenile damselfly nymphs and shrimp. Water in both Six Mile and Morgan still looks great, no turnover in evidence yet.

While we could catch fish on chironomids it has been more productive fishing small leeches in maroon and all black. We have caught fish on both indicators and floating lines and long leaders. Sinking lines have also been catching fish.

It won’t be long before more lakes become ice free and thus giving more options to consider. The good spring fishing is coming soon,

Enjoy!!

Spring has Arrived!

Brian Chan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:21:43 +0000

This incredibly mild weather in the Kamloops area has now taken the ice off 2 of our local, low elevation lakes. Both Six Mile and Morgan lakes are ice free. These lakes did not become ice free last year until the first week of April!! With the new regulations of “no ice fishing” both lakes are now fishable. This has caught me and I’m sure most anglers off guard as I am still in winter skiing mode.

I’ll be at the BC Boat and Sportsman’s Show this coming weekend (March 5-7). This big outdoor event is held at the Tradex complex in Abbotsford, BC. There will be lots of fly fishing booths including reps from the major manufacturers as well as a good representation from the local fly shops. I will be giving seminars on stillwater fly fishing on all 3 days as well as doing tying demonstrations on Friday and Saturday. I’ll also be hanging out at the Sage, Rio and BC Outdoors Magazine booths during time off. This is always a fun weekend with lots of fly fishing talk about the upcoming season which is definitely arriving sooner than later. Hope to see you there,

cheers,

Brian

Spring is Arriving in the Southern Interior Regions of BC

Brian Chan — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:39:56 +0000

While practicing some spey casting today on the South Thompson River I saw a pretty good chironomid hatch. These early emergences definitely indicate that spring is not far off. The southern interior regions of the province are experiencing an incredibly mild winter with very minimal snowpack levels in the mid to lower elevations. A few of the low lying grassland lakes around Kamloops are already showing open water along the lake edges and the ice is getting darker by the day. We may be lake fishing by early March. Remember that those lakes previously closed to fishing until April 1 or May 1 now have a “ no ice fishing” regulation on them so they are fishable as soon as the ice is off, regardless of date.

So, if you have not started, it is time to replenish those stillwater fly boxes. Go to early spring patterns include leeches in black, maroon, dark olive green and they should be tied in “micro” sizes as well. I like to tie leech patterns with gold or copper bead heads as that extra weight and flash seems to be a good combination during early spring fishing. Even though chironomids may not be coming off at ice off the trout seem to still like eating them so make sure you have a good selection of black and red wire or red holographic tinsel ribbed pupa in sizes 10 to 14. tie them on Scud/Pupa hooks like the Mustad Siganture C49S and use a super white bead for the head to make them stand out. Small waterboatman patterns also can be effective at ice off so make sure you have some tied up on #14 hooks.

Make sure to put new leaders on all your fly lines and add cleaner/lubricant to the floater. We will be fishing sooner than you think, see you on the water

Cheers,

Brian Chan

Calgary Fly Fishing Show

Brian Chan — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:03:46 +0000

I’ll be presenting seminars at the Calgary Fly Fishing Show Jan 22-24. While still in the middle of winter we can at least talk about fishing and learn about new tactics or places to fish when the ice is gone off our lakes.