Fall Fly Fishing with Wayne Osborne
Just because most of the traditional summer holiday fly fishing anglers, who ascend on Fernie every year to fish the world renowned blue ribbon Elk River and tributaries, have gone home, it doesn't mean that the fly fishing season is over. Far from it, as those in the know will contest, fall can provide some of the best fishing of the year.
September last year was living proof of this claim. The water level dropped to form a myriad of crystal clear pools and gentle runs where the fish congregate. Nobody to date can shed any more light on the subject as to why so many really big unscathed Cutthroat appear at this time of year, but they do.
Crystal clear slower water, and hatches of predominately small Mayflies, such as Blue Winged Olives, requires the use of longer lightweight leader/tippet combinations - 12ft-15ft 5X and 6X ( 3-4lb ) over lighter weight rods in the 3wt and 4wt range are ideal. Light weight outfits and big healthy Cuthroats provide an excellent challenge and great entertainment, even for the most experienced anglers. This is what dry fly fishing is all about. Stiffer rods and light weight tippet doesn't work. The rod needs to flex rather than the tippet break, hence the necessity for lighter weight rods.
Proven flies are parachute mayfly patterns, comparaduns, Griffith Gnats and Renegades in sizes 16 - 20. Size 18 - 20 Royal Wulffs, and the H and L Varient, one of my go to patterns at this time of year, drifted then skittered, raises a large number of big Cutthroat. To skitter the fly you require faster water, lift the rod tip and slowly strip line. It's amazing the size of fish that can be taken out of skinny runs using this method. Another good trick is to float small rusty spinners through the slower water. This can produce excellent results, especially early in the day before any noticeable hatches. A consistent proven winner on Michelle Creek. Difficult to float and hard to see, just watch for the swirl.
For those newer to fly fishing, who haven't yet mastered the art of presenting tiny flies, there is plenty of real good news in that unmatching the hatch can also be very successful. By unmatching the hatch I mean doing the opposite to what you observe. If there are lots of tiny flies coming off or in the air try a big hopper pattern. Another big fly alternative at this time of year is watch for big orange bodied October Caddis and tie on a size 6 orange or royal PMX. One big feed may prove more appealing to the Trout than sipping large numbers of tiny flies.
Although I took fish on dries to November 5 last year, September is usually the last month to provide a decent window of dry fly fishing time per day. As the days get shorter and cooler, the warm period, ie. dry fly fishing time, reduces. But again, there is still a bright side in that Cutthroat, Bull Trout and Whitefish will take wets in the off dry time. San Juan worms, small Prince and Copper Jon nymphs, (don't tell anyone, Ice cream Cones) and BOP October Caddis are all deadly wets in fall.
A good dose of common sense understanding certain principles will get most anglers off on the right foot. So get out and enjoy our magnificent wilderness. Next months is all about catching real big Trout, like 30lb Bulls and Trophy Rainbows. Interested? Then watch this space in the October Fix, or give me a call.
Wayne Osborne, Fernie Fly Fishing. 250-430-2334, 2131 Highway 3. Contact Wayne for assistance on anything related to fly fishing.
