Fishing Reports:

2009 FISHING REPORTS

(Report #5, 2009/06/28)

The St. Mary River is Rounding into Form Early in the Season.

Our fishing trip today took us down the St.Mary River from the Golf Course - aka the Pump-house, down to the Wycliffe Bridge. Our previous float was from Wycliffe down to the Kootenay River so this trip was going to give us a chance to inspect the third leg of the St. Mary River we fish.  The weather was again gorgeous with a high of 25°C, about 77°F.  There were just a few, high puffy clouds and only a very light wind, nothing to concern us.

The water is now clear to the bottom of the River and the level is dropping daily.  The back channels are a good place to find the cutthroats feeding on the surface.  They seem to be holding in these calmer areas where they do not have to work too hard against the current to snatch the odd morsel of food. That said, we can now see that since last week many cuts have moved into their mainstem summer lies and we are seeing them in the runs where we expect to see them come summer.

Our approach on today’s float was to mostly drift and fish, however, we did get out a few times and fish some of that classic looking water where you just have to get out and walk and wade. We also made a few forays into the backchannels, which sometimes had the feel of little lakes, and we proceeded to catch a few of those ‘lazy’ cutthroats!

The fish were definitely hungry today.  As soon as we started the float we casted into a nice little run and “bang!” a fish came up and hammered the fly. Just a reminder to remember to let them take the fly down, or you will pull it right out of their mouths! I am saying this to you because early in the season we all can use a little reminding as we all can be a little bit rusty!

The first fish caught was a nice cut-bow which again jumped high out of the water and then started to pull the line out – so we just let him run! It was a nice 16 inch cut-bow, which has the look of a cutthroat with the red cut along its jaw line, but also has rainbow characteristics in the body and overall shape.  Today was a great early season day as between the two anglers they caught and released around 50 fish.  The average size was about 14 to 15 inches with the biggest running 17 to 18.  We released a number of females that had just finished spawning so they were not as chunky as their male counterparts, but on other hand, they were feeding very well and were hitting the fly with gusto.

In terms of the insect activity we saw Stoneflies, Grey Drakes and Yellow Sallys hatching on the River. The most effective imitations were Stone flies, both yellow and orange sizes 10 to 12, Fat Alberts, sizes 8 to 10, and Royal Wulffs, Parachute Adams, Truk’s Trantulas and Yellow or Orange Stimulator’s in the 8 to 14 size range.

At this time of year we always seem to see a mother deer or two with their young ones along the River as we did today. She was hiding them in the tall brush, but we could see them as we quietly drifted by. We also saw an eagle and more merganser ducks with their chicks in tow. A couple of times we casted along the bank edges only to see the ducks quickly scurrying their young out of the way, very cool!  

The fishing has started off very well this season, so if you have some time to come out with us, just give us a call to book a day. You will greatly enjoy the scenery as well as the fishing.

Kelly Laatsch, St. Mary Angler Fly Shop, 1-800-667-2311.

(Report #4, 2009/06/22)

The St.Mary River is Shaping up Well Early in the Season.           

Today we decided to float the St. Mary River for the first time in 09’. Yes the winter is over and here we go again, even if it is only a test run. With all the water in the system we took the opportunity to float two sections of the St.Mary today. We put in at Wycliffe and floated all the way down to the Kootenay River where we pulled out below Fort Steele. This trip was our chance to see how the River morphology has changed and where the fish are holding now. We did not experience a large ‘bank topping’ freshet this spring so we didn’t expect too many new channels or braids to have been cut along the River.

The weather was very nice as the day began and the temperature flattened out at 25°C, about 77°F.  We had a couple of rain bursts to contend with, but it remained warm so we were not bothered much and the wind was absent.

The water levels on the St.Mary are coming down steadily and the clarity is very good for this time of year.  We now have about 3 to 4 feet of visibility. As there is very little snow left in the high country, from here on in we expect the River to stay clear. With the spring water levels there are quite a few back channels on the lower St.Mary and it appears the fish are just finishing up the spawn and starting to move back towards the main channel. The fish that have yet to leave the back channels were aggressively feeding on the surface today.

While we covered a lot of water as we moved over two sections of the River, we dry fly fished as much as we could. Our real mission was to inspect all the water we could experience, so we did not spend too much time on any particular pool or run.

The fishing was very good for the beginning of the season. During the float we found the fish concentrated in certain areas along the River where we would catch 3 or 4 of them in quick succession.  We would then continue to float for a bit until we observed more fish feeding along the bank edges and under the riparian vegetation and continued our quick casting as we were swept downstream. The fish we were hooking up were on average 12 to 14 inches. Just before the confluence with the Kootenay River we caught a nice 17 inch cut-bow. It was very feisty as it jumped out of the River three times! Wow that was fun! Between the 2 of us we caught and released around 25 nice cutthroats. Overall, the River fished very well as it starts to settle in for the 2009 season.

The Stoneflies are now hatching and moving up the River, we also saw Yellow Sallys and the odd small beetle on the water. We responded with Stoneflies sizes 8-10 that worked well.  In addition, we tossed Parachute Adams, Yellow and Orange Stimulators, Royal Wulffs and Big Truk’s Tarantulas, which also produced fish.

During the float we observed a good sized Bald Eagle’s nests with the immatures feeding and the watchful parents patrolling over head. We also saw a number of Ospreys as well as a number of Mergansers with young in tow. We startled a deer with her two fawns drinking at the water’s edge.

Rivers Report:

Given the freshet is over early this year, we will be guiding clients this week. The Elk River is shaping up nicely as well.

Hope to see you up here this summer.

Kelly Laatsch, St. Mary Angler Fly Shop, 1-800-667-2311.

(Report #3, 2009/06/11)

Premier Lake Report: evening is a fine time to get out and fish!

Today we decided to jump in the truck and drive up to Premier Lake to cast a few lines in the early evening. The weather was just beautiful throughout the day and into the evening with the temperature hovering around 22°C (72° F.). There was no wind to speak of apart from an occasional light breeze, so the water was like a sheet of glass.

The water in the Lake is now clear down to about 20 feet in depth and one can regularly spy fish cruising around below.  

On the drive up to Premier we were anxious to get the rods in the water.  Upon arrival we quickly pulled our pontoon boats off the truck and rigged up our fly rods. Our thought was that there might be a chironomid hatch this evening so we built a 16 foot leader/tippet. We then added a strike indicator, a b-b shot and a fly to the line.  Once that was all done we got into our pontoons and rowed ourselves to the first bay at about 6.00 P.M.  As we positioned ourselves we noticed a pair of loons leaving the bay, which caused us to muse whether that was a good or bad sign! After a few casts we did not see any fish cruising, so we decided to follow the loons lead and leave the bay. We rowed across the Lake to another one of our favourite spots, changed the fly to a leech and fished it on the chironomid set up.

The fishing turned out to be pretty good.  We caught and released about a dozen fish between the two of us.  We caught a couple spawners, but the rest were the silver bullets Premier is famous for.  The average size was a bulky 17 inches and they jumped clean out of the water upon hook-up. The biggest fish we caught was a nice 19 inch rainbow in great shape.

In terms of bugs we saw a chironomid hatch, as well as a small Calabatis Mayfly hatch. In terms of the most effective flies, the Black Leech was best, but Damsels, Dragon Flies and certain Mayflies (i.e. Copper Johns, Pheasant Tails and Prince Nymphs – sized 12 to16) worked well.

We were off the water and packed up by around 9:30 P.M.  After we put everything away we went over to the rocks and looked into the water one last time.  Through the polarized sunglasses we could still see many fish still cruising along the dropoff ledge looking for food. So we left a few for you!

River Watch:

The St. Mary River has come down quite a bit and is clearing up nicely.  We also are hearing that the Elk River is clearing up well.  It now appears the bulk of the snowmelt has passed. We will be floating the St.Mary River next week so we will let  you know first hand how it is rounding into shape.

I hope you get out on the water soon.

Kelly Laatsch, St. Mary Angler Fly Shop.

PS Feel free to call us at 1-800-667-2311 about available days.

(Report #2, 2009/05/24)

Lazy Lake is not a place for lying around in the spring! 

Today three us decided to fish Lazy Lake, a beautiful spot nestled in the backwoods of Kootenay-Columbia country. The weather was very nice until the mid afternoon when the wind picked up. Three people fishing from a boat can be challenging enough even before the wind comes up! The temperature on the day reached around 20°C (68° F.), most pleasant indeed.

The run-off from the winter snowpack is noticeable now as the level of the Lake has recently risen. However, it remains clear and since it has already turned over, the conditions are great! Our approach today was to go out in the boat and fish the drop-off ledges. At each ledge we checked to see if there were any fish swimming around, and if so, set up our gear to depth and started casting. In most instances we were rigged up for 15 to 20 feet of depth, but did change to 12 to 15 feet on a couple of occasions to meet the local conditions.

The fishing was very good again today, but some of the fish were a bit ‘lazy’.  Today they were ‘plucking’ or ‘short striking’ the fly. We could tell they wanted the fly, but they were not hitting it aggressively, so we changed the fly down a size to a smaller pattern and that seemed to encourage them to strike harder. Downsizing the fly is a little trick you can use when they are not getting hooked up!

Between the three of us we fished for about 4 hours and caught and released around 35 fish.  We had one person in the boat who was a complete beginner and he managed to hook up a half dozen of them.  He did break a few off, but that is all in a day of fishing and learning new techniques.  Most of the fish fell into the 16 to 19 inch slot.  We did catch a couple big guys in the 24 to 25 inch range as well. The fish in Lazy Lake are all ‘Triploids’, that is while they eat and grow large, they cannot spawn. 

In terms of the hatches, in the morning hours small chironomids were coming off, but in the afternoon for about an hour and a half the fish were starting to key on the Calibatis Mayflies.  Some damsels were cruising along the bank edges and some fish moved in to key on them.  The dragon flies were also evident, but to fish these patterns you want to fish them later in the evening.

Every lake we go to always seems to have a pair of resident loons. They are always popping up close to the boat trying to mooch their next meal, and Lazy has it pair.  We saw lots of deer out in the fields on the drive up this morning and the eagle’s cry was prevalent at times when we were on the water. 

In terms of flies, we used a chironomids, as well as mayflies. We used Snowcones, Chromies, Prince Nymphs, Hare’s Ears, Copper Johns and Pheasant Tails. We could also have pulled Black, Green or Burgundy Leeches, Green Damsels and Green Dragons on this day if we had the inclination. Wooley Buggers and Doc Spratleys can also be good as a pulling pattern.

So there you have it,lLake fishing is basically outstanding! The Calabatis Mayfly hatch has just started and it is shaping up to be a great June on the lakes!

Rising River:

A quick look at the St.Mary reveals she is brown in color and approaching full runoff, but still climbing. We expect her to peak in early June… the earlier the better for all of us!

I hope you get out on the water soon.

Kelly Laatsch, St. Mary Angler Fly Shop.

PS Feel free to call us at 1-800-667-2311 about available days as they are booking up quickly.

(Report #1, 2009/05/17)

Premier Lake: our first destination of the season!

Victoria Day has arrived in British Columbia which tells us that spring is here and summer is on the way! It also means it is time to saddle up the pontoon boats and ply the waters of this productive Lake in search of trout.

On our maiden pontoon voyage of the spring the weather was just spectacular; sunny for the most part with only a few clouds and some light wind on the Lake. The temperature hovered around 18 degrees Celsius, 65° F. These conditions are perfect for fly-fishing. We even like a little wind rippling across the surface of the water as it means the fish feed regularly as they are less likely to be spooked by our activities.

Premier Lake has completed its spring turnover, but has yet to receive much increase in volume as the spring runoff is just starting. At this point in time the water clarity is very good. We expect the weather to heat up air temperatures in the next week which will jumpstart the run-off significantly. 

Today we used our pontoon boats to paddle around in search of trout. Our approach was to keep an eye open for cruising fish then anchor up at the drop-off ledges and deploy our chironomid gear.  Remember to always have your back to the wind when you are setting up your rig.

Chironomids are primarily what are hatching at this time of year and the fish are keying on them intensely.  Not to say that other patterns won’t work, but when there is a hatch of chironomids why try anything else!  Once you set up your leader to the depth you think the fish are feeding at, at Premier Lake this is usually in the 13 to 20 foot zone, put on your strike indicator, your b-b shot and your choice of fly. After that you are ready to go! Remember to cast towards the drop-off ledge and let the fly sink down for a few minutes before slowly retrieving the line. 

We had heard that Premier Lake was fishing very well of late and today it continued to perform. Between the two anglers, 35 fish were caught and released.  The average size was between 14 and 16 inches with the biggest stretching the tape to 19! This Pennask Rainbow was a real beauty.  All the fish landed appeared very healthy, with about 60% of them in spawning colors, typical for this time of year.

As the chironomids were hatching on and off throughout the day we had good success with Snow Cones, Red or Black Chironomids, Black or Burgundy Leeches, Doc Spratleys and Wooley Buggers. We are still waiting for the mayflies to start to come off in any real numbers.

On our ride to Premier Lake we saw a lot of deer and elk out grazing in the fields.  The bird life around the Lake was very vibrant and alive and we were greeted with the site of the sparrows diving close to the water on our arrival. This told us from the start of the day that the chironomids were hatching in good numbers.

River Rising:

During the last couple of days the St. Mary River has started to rise and has turned muddy as the freshet starts in earnest. The timing of this year’s runoff is about normal, but to date the volume has been a little less than in past years.  The overall snow water index for the Kootenay River Basin, of which the St.Mary is a small part, is 84% of normal. So we do not expect any significant flooding this spring. That said, hot weather is predicted for this weekend so we expect the runoff to kick into high gear shortly. With the opening of the rivers set for June 15th the St. Mary should be all sorted out and over the freshet by then.

Rules, Rules, Rules:

Please check the 2009-2011 Freshwater Fishing Regulations as there have been some changes to them this year. You can download the PDF at  http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/regulations/docs/0911/fish-synopsis_2009-11_region4.pdf

I hope you get out fishing soon and we look forward to seeing you on the water this season,


Kelly Laatsch, St. Mary Angler Fly Shop.

PS Call 1-800-667-2311 to find out about available days, or to book a trip.

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This page was last updated on June 30, 2009

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