There is no question leeches are an extremely important food source for Stillwater trout and char. Leeches are long-lived and are available to fish all year long. Despite reaching large sizes in terms of overall length, trout really do seek out even the smallest of leeches. They come in a wide variety of colours with predominant ones being black, mottled brown and black, brown and green and shades of green. When tying leeches consider materials that will add movement to the fly. Long fibered dubbings, rabbit hair, marabou all work well in creating flies that swim. Real leeches swim horizontally through the water and that is why tying balanced leeches make sense. Fishing leech patterns and particularly balanced ones under an indicator presents … Read entire article »

It’s summer time in the southern interior regions of BC. We have been under a heat wave for about the past month with daytime air temperatures regularly reaching the high 80’s to low 90’sF. Water temperatures in many lower elevation trout lakes are also getting quite warm which has put a end to the progression of aquatic insect emergences commonly found in these productive lakes. Mid-summer trout diets often consist of zooplankton and more zooplankton. However there is some good fishing to be had on fisheries that have been established on irrigation impoundments. Well known lakes like Campbell, Scuitto, Jacko, Six Mile, Edith, Tunkwa and Leighton lakes all located in the greater Kamloops area can offer a somewhat unique mid-summer chironomid emergence that is typically … Read entire article »

While some of the regular low elevation lakes around Kamloops came off a bit earlier than normal Mother Nature quickly adjusted he thermostat to make cold days and frequent snow squalls over the past couple of weeks. There has been some great ice off fishing action but early season chironomid hatches are just starting to show up. During the past few days I have been seeing more and more #20 – #22 chironomids coming off and the odd #16 so it is time to get serious. The weather forecast for this coming week shows highs in the mid to high teens and sun!! Not only will this get the chironomids emerging but it will also get the ice off a bunch more mid elevation lakes that … Read entire article »

It is early March and the local lakes are still well frozen. We have had a very mild winter in terms of air temperatures but a fairly decent snowpack which will really help out with lake water levels. I am busy tying up chironomids and leeches which will get a fair bit of use as soon as we do get open water. In the mean time I have been out chasing wild rainbows in the local rivers. It won’t be long so now is the time to get your gear organized. … Read entire article »

I’ve had a lot of questions about UV resins for coating chironomids. The product I use is the Deer Creek UV tack free resin out of the UK. It comes in regular and thin consistencies and I use the thin version. This product is probably available at some fly shops so check with your local shop. If not it can be ordered online through www.flymart.ca. You will need a UV light or torch to set the resin. A few seconds of the light on the fly leaves a totally dry, glossy finnish making a durable fly with UV enahncement built right in. Lots of time to tie some patterns up before ice off. … Read entire article »

We are finally seeing some big chironomid or bomber emergences on area lakes. They are coming off in both shallow and deep water. An emergence can be located by watching the birds such as night hawks, gulls or terns who will all come out to feed on these big bugs. If you see pupal shucks drifting by on the water there is a good chance they are emerging somewhere close by so pull anchor and go for a little tour. These bigger chironomid species come in the same colours as smaller ones. just super size your tying. … Read entire article »

It has been an interesting spring fishing season in the Kamloops area. We had a good snowpack and a cool, wet spring which has seen many lakes fill almost to record high levels. While good for the general aquatic ecology of the lake, this large amount of water flushing through has kept water temperatures down. This has slowed the intensity of the chironomid emergences and we have been seeing quite sporatic hatches. It has been common to have a good but short emergence one day and almost nothing the next. We are finally getting some warmer weather trends so the chironomid emergences should become more predictable. Some lower elevation lakes are seeing some good callibaetis mayfly emergences as well. We had some good deepwater chironomid … Read entire article »

Winter arrived again in kamloops, -14C this morning!!  Cross country skiing has been great but we are certainly not getting too much closer to spring ice off on the local lakes.  I have a few speaking engagements coming up in the next 2 months and then it is time to go fishing.  I will be presenting at the Fraser Valley Boat & Sportsman’s Show in Abbotsford, BC form March 2 – 4.  At 4:30 Pm on Friday I will be giving a free talk on the Biology of Productive Trout Lakes and at 10 AM on the Saturday will be covering Fall Stillwater Tactics, both presentations are in the seminar room to your left just as you enter the Tradex building. I will also be doing tying demonstrations at 2 … Read entire article »

My last day on the lakes this season was on Nov 10th. It was actually not that cold but still cool enough for me to bring “Big Red” out of the closet, my heavy duty down jacket that makes me look like the Michelin Man!! Whatever makes it comfortable to get the last few days on the water before freezeup. We went to Stump lake and it was windy so it confined us to fishing a couple of the side bays that are fishable even in a strong southeast wind. It was a great few hours on the water, catching some very nice rainbows on small leeches suspended under an indicator. Here is one of the fish caught and released that day. Time to put the boat away until next … Read entire article »

It’s time to catch up on my blog after a very hectic season of guiding, fliming TV shows and seminars. Our fall season is coming to an end as ice is forming on many lower elevation lakes. This was a very unusual fishing year on the lakes around Kamloops and I suspect on lakes throughout the interior of BC and perhaps into Alberta and eastern Washington. We started out with a late ice off, followed by a cold and windy spring. I did not experience great chironomid fishing this past spring. What was typical were light emergences and short bites versus what we normally experince : extended emergences lasting several or more hours plus equally long bite periods. Summer arrived in early August and went … Read entire article »