Trout fishing,
As the days draw longer and spring brings warmer temperatures, trout angler’s thoughts turned to fly-fishing. Not fishing in the dark, cold nights along the edge of the lakes or wading in icy waters -but working a dry fly down a riffle on a river. After one of the worst winters in memory a period of settle weather will be needed before backcountry streams and rivers start to fish well. Warm evenings equate to hatches of Cadus and mayflies and many rivers will respond to dry fly fishing as well as traditional wet fly or nymphing. This summer should see high numbers of hatches because the River has been stable all winter with none of the floods which can impact on insect life has occurred.
On the lakes it is time to dust off the Harling rods, the smelt which are the main food for the trout, spawning in the shallows in the spring and again in the autumn, and the” smelting fishing” as it is called starts in October and runs through the summer. The fish will chase smelt right into the shallow waters, and can be targeted by wading and casting to rising fish. Small smelt imitations like grey ghost, Parsons glory, Silicon smelt and green orbit all work well and the general rule is the brighter the conditions the brighter the fly. But Harling from my boat is by far the most popular approach and the combination of fly and lure works well. With a fly tied in a couple of metres up the leader is popular. This is slow trolled along the edge of the drop-off where the water changes colour or over weed beds. Like all shallow fishing, it is best dawn and dusk, although on windy days when the surface is choppy it is worth persevering during the day.