From: 05/09/2020
To: 05/14/2020
Type of Water: Freshwater
Species: Rainbow trout
Timing is everything they say and this was a perfect example of such.
Turnover is bad, but post turnover is epic. If you know what to use and bring your fly tying kit.
Gwen became ice free around May 1. It sits at 4,100 ft elevation.
On the 2nd day of my visit to this lake just outside of Merritt BC the water clarity was clearing up quickly and fish were really becoming active and feeding hard.
I have fished this lake and several others in the region(Thompson - Nicola) for decades but have not come across action like this for some time so it was entirely welcome, especially after being cooped up for far too long.
After turnover is complete the hatches start. Rainbow's will be keying in on chironomids, one of their main staples. And the midge hatches were going full tilt. Once the View more...Timing is everything they say and this was a perfect example of such.
Turnover is bad, but post turnover is epic. If you know what to use and bring your fly tying kit.
Gwen became ice free around May 1. It sits at 4,100 ft elevation.
On the 2nd day of my visit to this lake just outside of Merritt BC the water clarity was clearing up quickly and fish were really becoming active and feeding hard.
I have fished this lake and several others in the region(Thompson - Nicola) for decades but have not come across action like this for some time so it was entirely welcome, especially after being cooped up for far too long.
After turnover is complete the hatches start. Rainbow's will be keying in on chironomids, one of their main staples. And the midge hatches were going full tilt. Once the colour, size and depth was all lined up it was fish on and on and on for days. On average I hooked into 20 - 25 trout per day. Sizes were nice. Plenty of trout in the 16 - 20 inch range and one particular beauty of 24 inches.
Condition of the trout was great. Strong and chromed but with that famous rainbow hue and spots. Plenty of battles were well into the backing and some fish were 6 feet in the air! A few were kept for food and wow did they taste great cooked in a cast iron fry pan.
This is chironomid stillwater fly fishing at it's best. I use a G Loomis 4 wt 1084 that I purchased back in 1994. I mostly fish from my trusty Outfitters float tube that I purchased back in 1996.
I'll be going back to this region 3 - 4 hrs east of Vancouver next week to pursue some bigger Rainbow's. So it's back to the tying bench.
