Tag Archives: Fly Fishing

Fly Fishing Glen Haffy

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When local rivers are running high and dirty, some unsafe to wade and others only marginally suitable for throwing big streamers, it’s nice to have another option. Moreover, when the short resident trout season ends at the end of September and the only fishing left is migratory species near the mouths of rivers and some warm water fishing, it’s great to have somewhere to turn.

To this effect, I decided to try something new this year. The trout ponds at Glen Haffy’s Fly Fishing Club offer some excellent stocked Rainbow Trout fishing for about 8 months out of the year. As an added benefit, they also enjoy a healthy population of native Brook Trout that enter one of the ponds from a small spring creek. The ponds are nestled within hundreds of acres of conservation land and offer excellent fishing in a truly serene atmosphere.

Early morning view from one of Glen Haffy's trout ponds

Early morning view from one of Glen Haffy’s trout ponds

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Twice Broken

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Earlier this season, I purchased a new 6 weight Sage VXP, with the intent of using it for Bass and large streamer fishing for Trout. After having used it only a couple of times, it was part of an unfortunate incident involving a car window. Though it seemed unscathed at the time, it snapped in half while casting large streamers on the Grand the next day.

Distraught, I phoned Sage and explained the situation. They instructed me to ship the damaged sections to their Warranty/Repair department in Washington. I would be responsible for the shipping cost, along with a $50 US handling and return shipping fee. When all was said and done, I was out about $80. Worse yet, the season was just getting started and I would have to wait almost 2 months for the repair to be completed and shipped back to me, since this is the busiest time of year for rod repairs.

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(Un)Happy September

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September is always a month of mixed feelings for me. It’s easily my favourite time of year to be on the river, with the cooling temperatures, colourful scenery and hungry trout. Unfortunately, it also brings much shorter days and the end of open season for most fly fishing in Ontario.

I spent my Labour Day with a bit of a change in scenery, opting to fish the Brook Trout water above the Cataract on the Credit. I’m usually hesitant to give specifics about where I fish, for good reasons. However, I think in some cases, secrecy and tight lips can lead to lack of awareness about issues. This is water that has been in a state of decline for the last decade or so and only more recently are these issues coming into the foreground. There are definitely still healthy Brook Trout here, but in much smaller numbers and generally  in smaller sizes as well, especially at the more easily accessible locations. Catch & Release and barbless hooks are more important than ever here.

I fished a long stretch of this section Monday and caught mostly tiny brookies, in the 4″ range. This is water that, not many years ago, was teeming with brookies in the 8-10″ range, some larger. It wasn’t until I made my way much further downstream, around dusk, that a fairly thick hatch of some (unidentified) large mayflies got things going. I assume the bugs were either Isonychia or Hexagenia atrocaudata (Late Hex). I tied on the largest fly I had in my box, a size #8 Robert’s Drake. I cast it upstream into the corner of a back eddy where a large amount of foam was accumulating and this fish smashed it as it hit the water.

A nice Brook Trout taken on a large drake at dusk

A nice Brook Trout taken on a large drake at dusk

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Freshwater Sharks

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Last week was an odd one on the fishing front. It began with a drive down to Windsor to drop our kids off at their grandparents’ place for the week. Since I was only staying for one night, I thought it best to leave most of my fishing gear back at home. However, as their place is on the water, I packed one of my spinning rods along with the kids fishing stuff – I figured I’d be able to sneak at least a few casts in the evening. I brought only a single lure: a weedless frog, still in the package. The canal they live on weeds over pretty heavily in the summer and there are lots of bass to be caught if you have the right gear.

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More Exploring

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In continuation of my last post about exploring new waters, I ventured out to yet another new section of an old river last week. This is another spot I’ve driven past many times, but never realized was accessible due to mostly private property and lack of parking. However, a long chat with a friendly fellow on the side of the river a while back tipped me off, so I decided to give it a try.

On my first visit, unknowing of what the river would hold, I decided to fish upstream. It was a warm, calm day and the river was fairly wide and shallow here, with some nice riffles and runs and lots of small boulders for fish to hold behind. Overall, the combination of easy wading and fairly easy casting and drifts was a welcome change. The main challenge here was presenting a fly upstream in the clear shallow water, where the fish were spooked extremely easily.

I hooked into two browns almost immediately, the first which I lost after it unexpectedly ran at me and I failed to keep enough tension on the line. The second was gently sipping bugs off the surface under a fallen tree before my yellow stimulator fooled it.

Nice little Brown Trout caught beneath a fallen tree branch

Nice little Brown Trout caught beneath a fallen tree branch

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Testing New Waters

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It’s surprising how much time can be spent learning all the subtitles of a river. While the knowledge gained on a single river is transferable, there will always be unique challenges and secrets to discover when fishing new water. Often, it’s difficult to pass up fishing your familiar stomping grounds – that spot you’ve put countless hours into and feel the most confident fishing. It’s easy, it’s fun and there’s a high chance that you’ll net a good number of fish. Exploring new water often results in fish-less days, which can be frustrating, especially when your fishing time is limited. However, not only will fishing unfamiliar water make you a better fly fisher, but every once in a while you’ll discover a hidden gem.

Every year I spend a great deal of time exploring new water. Most of the time I’m simply scouting out new sections of my favourite local river, though occasionally I’ll travel to a new river or stream. My most recent fixation is a section of water that I’ve overlooked for years, mainly out of laziness and a hunch that it would be unproductive and impossible to fish. This is a smaller branch of a local river, with much different characteristics from the main branch. The river here is narrow, fast and broken with lots of little pools. Turns out, it’s exactly what I love in a river: scenic, full of character and challenging. This is the type of water where stealth, patience and effort pays dividends.

This scenic river section has lots of rapids, creating many small plunge pools

This scenic river section has lots of rapids, creating many small plunge pools

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Detroit River Bass

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I grew up on the Detroit River in LaSalle – a small town near Windsor, Ontario. This river connects Lake Erie and Lake St. Claire and is a very popular and productive fishery. The most targeted fish here is easily the Walleye, but it is also teeming with Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass, Silver Bass, Northern Pike, Perch and it even has healthy populations of Musky and Sturgeon.

It’s the Bass that have always occupied most of my time here. My parents live on a canal that has proven to be one of the better Largemouth Bass spots (that I know about) on this river and I’ve spent countless hours fishing for them. Historically this has been with spinning gear, but more recently with a fly rod.

Last weekend I was down at my parents place and we headed out in the boat Sunday morning for some fishing. I was casting red and white buggers on my six weight with sink tips and it turns out the bass were into the flies moreso than my dad and brother’s lures and bait (I’m not bragging dad, really!). I landed a few smallies, with one particularly large fish surprising me when it smashed my fly as it hit the water just in front of a weed bed.

A nice Detroit River Smallmouth Bass caught on the fly

A nice Detroit River Smallmouth Bass caught on the fly

I certainly appreciate the local trout rivers that I now have access to living near the GTA, but I also miss the great fishing, boating and ease of access to rivers and lakes in the Windsor area.

Preparations

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June turned out to be a busy month both on the water and on the fly tying bench. The rivers are now teeming with bug activity and you just never know when that epic day on the water might arrive… where everything comes together to produce those perfect conditions that bring even the most wary of trout to the surface.

This is the time of year where our fly boxes need to be the most diverse. Depending on the time of day, river and hatches, you might be casting streamers, nymphs, wet flies, emergers, tiny dries, large dries, or even huge topwater patterns. Consequently, I’ve been hitting the tying bench a lot lately, trying to cover all my bases. In what has been an increasing trend of mine, I’ve concentrated more on sub-surface patterns this season to up my odds when fish are either not rising, or when they’re rising but refusing dry flies. Below are some flies I’ve been tying and fishing on some of my local waters.

Grand River

If you fish the Grand River, you know how frustrating it can be if you rely on dry flies to match the hatch. Although I don’t spend as much time on the Grand as I do other rivers, I’ve come to realize that it’s a largely sub surface and emerger river. In response to this, I tied a bunch of the following emerger patters in various sizes, mainly for caddis and blue winged olive hatches. I’m sure that by simply swapping out different colors and materials, these could be used to imitate a much wider variety of caddis and mayflies.

Caddis or BWO emerger, loosely based off a Snowshoe Emerger pattern

Caddis or BWO emerger, loosely based off a Snowshoe Emerger pattern

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Stillwater Rainbows

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A couple days ago, I got out to do some stillwater fishing for rainbows before work. I joined a fly fishing club this year that has some spring fed ponds which boast populations of native brook trout and stocked rainbows. The club is normally opened a few months outside of regular trout season, which (in addition to the opportunity for decent stillwater trout fishing) was my main motivation for joining. Unfortunately, late ice kept the ponds closed until trout opener this year and I’ve been busy fishing rivers for resident trout – so this was my first time getting out to the ponds.

I left early (5:30 am) to ensure I’d have access to one of the few boats that are available for use. I was pretty surprised to find a couple others already on the water when I arrived at 6:15. I headed to a second pond that was still quiet and empty. It was as perfect a morning as they come and the water was like glass. It was refreshing to be out fishing without having to wear bulky waders and a vest/pack for once.

A quiet and peaceful morning on a trout pond.

A quiet and peaceful morning on a trout pond.

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Sneaking Out

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For some reason, everyone in my house was awake at 6:30 am Wednesday morning. That may sound normal for a house with working parents and school-age kids, but it’s certainly not the norm here. The combination of flexible job hours, a night owl for a wife and kids who really like their Zzz’s keeps us all snoozing closer to 7:30-8:00 am on a normal day. Actually, who am I kidding… it’s a rare sight to see me awake at such a time, unless it involves fishing.

I’ve been itching to break out the 3 weight on my local stream this year, but early spring steelhead makes it too risky until they drop back out to the lake. With everyone awake early, the sun shining through the bedroom blinds and birds chirping, it seemed like a good morning to sneak out for a couple hours before work.

I love small streams and all the perks and challenges that come with them: solitude, stalking wary fish, light gear and technical casting. Sure, fish size generally correlates to stream size, but when you’re casting a 2-3 weight rod with 6-8x tippet on a small stream, an 8 inch trout can be just as exciting (or more so) than a 12 inch trout on a larger river.

A wider-than-average stretch of the stream I fished Wednesday morning

A wider-than-average stretch of the stream I fished Wednesday morning

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