The Chironomid Cult

It's funny you know, when I first heard about chironomiding I didn't understand the whole chironomid craze. I got away from still fishing because I wanted to become more involved in the catching process. The fly rod to me was the "next step" in the fishing evolution. The art of tight loops, the constant searching for your game, trying to imitate food sources through different techniques and presentations. Chironomiding or fishing static presentations almost seamed like taking a step back. Staring at an indicator (a fly anglers name for a little bobber) for hours on end just wasn't my vision of what fly fishing was all about. Then I tried it. My first impression was less than favorable, I didn't see why it was so dam popular. I wasn't catching as many fish as when I was working weed beds and drop offs with a nymph on a sinking line. Of course I still didn't understand a lot of the intricacies of chironomiding like how important it was to be anchored. Like most things in my life however (with the exception of my guitar), I couldn't give up on it until I mastered it. So I did tons of research (mostly reading) and putting what I read to practice. I started catching more and more fish but still didn't see why so many had gone crazy for this style of fly fishing.

It was a warm afternoon in May on a local Edmonton trout lake when the "light bulb" finally clicked on. I launched my float tube and was making my way out onto the lake when I saw these large midge shucks (bombers) floating on top of the water. There were thousands of them with more hatching right before my eyes. I became rather excited as everything I had been reading about fishing chironomids had told me this should be an excellent day. I let my anchor down, slid on a strike indicator and tied on the biggest bomber pattern I had in my fly box. Well, it didn't even have time to sink when I saw the indicator rush under. I played a nice, active, 17" rainbow, brought it to the net and happily released it. Of course I didn't think the fishing would be anywhere near this kind of excitement but I was optimistic that it may be fairly active. Nope, I was wrong. For the next three hours, it was almost exactly like that. Maybe not a take before the flies sunk (although that happened frequently) but a strike on nearly every cast for almost three hours. I caught lunkers, stockers and all sizes in between. Now I understood the chironomid craze! Though the hour and a half to follow wasn't as stellar, I probably caught more fish in that short time than on a normal day of fishing. Although I never knew it at the time, that was my induction into the "Chironomid Cult".

Today I teach others how effective chironomiding can be as well as other styles and techniques through stillwater clinics and guided trips. It's a lot of fun to watch folks get there first hook up on a chironomid and sometimes I even get to see their light bulb turn on. If you're interested in a stillwater clinic or a guided trip, you can cut the learning curve in half by sending me an e-mail and booking a trip with AbertaStillwaters.Com today.

Here's fun video called The Chironomid Cult. I wish it was as exciting as this video all the time but when there's a good hatch on, this video is pretty close.

Here Comes The Rain Again

June in Alberta was one of the driest on record. Farmers in the Camrose area declared a local state of agricultural disaster as extremely dry weather conditions damaged to up to 80% of their crops and cattle producers are struggling as the majority of their pasture lands dried up. July however has been a complete turn around. Some parts of Alberta has seen well over 100ml of rain in a couple of days and reports of funnel clouds have been spotted in many areas throughout Alberta. We even had a tornado touch down near Bentley Alberta. If you had plans to hit some streams and rivers this week, you may be a little p.o'ed as the reports coming in on the Alberta Fly Fishing Forum are seeing blown out conditions. High, chocolate brown water around the Hinton area have been reported with the Wildhay, Berland and the Muskeg rivers having very high flow rates. A high streamflow advisory has been issued for the Smoky River and all its tributaries in north central Alberta and more rain is predicted for the future days ahead. Well, I feel for ya. But all is not lost. Alberta's trout lakes got some much needed topping up as lake levels have been very low since last fall and water temps in these lakes needed a litlle cooling off. The fishing around Edmonton's local lakes has been good and hopefully should get even better. Got out to Star Lake on July 5th with my buddy Phil and we did well fishing in deeper water using a static presentation with chironomid and leech patterns. We both got into some good size trout with the largest of the day being this 23" rainbow caught on a Redd October bloodworm. If you've had trouble finding big fish in the past or find stillwaters a little intimidating, why not book a stillwater trip or clinic with me and I can show you how to find Walter for yourself. Visit my website AbertaStillwaters.Com for more information.

Happy Canada Day... Eh?

I want to wish all my fellow Canadians a happy Canada Day. I, unfortunately; have to work today (so no fishing for this hosehead) but I hope all you folks that get the day off have a great time pulling in some lunkers. I am looking forward to the fireworks tonight however.

Here is a video of some of my proud Canadian brothers and sisters when my beloved Oilers made it the Stanley Cup.

Fathers Day Fishing Trip

The plan was for my 10yr old daughter Hunter to take me fishing for fathers day. That was the plan, but things changed. When we checked the weather report this morning it called for showers and a good chance of a thunderstorm. Hunter really didn't want to be standing out in the rain all day so she graciously bowed out. I can't blame her, she's fairly new to fly fishing and hasn't yet become obsessed with the sport. I on the other hand am beyond obsessed (see definition for addiction). So I loaded up the vehicle and headed out to Star Lake. I was going to meet up with Phil and his boys at Millers Lake near Edson but because of a dinner date with my oldest daughter Cassandra, I had to stay somewhat close to home. So off to Star I went. When I got on the water I headed out to the center of the lake and decided to fish the deep water before heading over to my favorite spot. I tied on 15ft of tippet to my 9ft leader and attatched a black thread midge on the point and a Redd October (blood worm) as the dropper. I got into fish right away and caught about 6 or 7 (all this years stockers) before I pulled the anchor and moved on. I then headed over to my favorite spot and anchored in 10ft of water. I fished the same combination of chironomids for about a half hour with another 5 or 6 stockers brought to hand. I was getting pretty tired of catching the small ones however, so I thought I'd target the bigger trout with some larger flies. I tied on an olive wolly bugger as the dropper to my black thread midge and on the second cast hooked into a nice lunker at 23 inches. Got one good jump out of him and then some bull-dogging but the fight was fairly quick. I fished this combo for a good hour and only caught two more stockers, both on the chironomid. Tried some other combos with mostly the same results (more stockers) and about twenty minutes before home time, decided to go back to the Redd October blood worm with a X-mas Chronie on the point. Hooked into a few more stockers and then finally on my last cast, I hooked into another gooder. It wasn't as big as my 23 incher (18&1/2 inches) but it fought a hell of a lot better. All in all a great day to be on the water. Only way it could have been better was if Hunter could have been there with me. Oh btw, I didn't see one rain drop all day, just dark clouds with the constant threat of rain.

Here's a very short video of the two bigger trout I got to the net.

How much do you love your fly rod?

I posted back in February about how I won a new fly rod. I don't win stuff very often, I'm just not one of those lucky types and usually if I do win something, it's not something I can get overly excited about. This time however, I won something that totally blew me away. The rod is called the Wind Warrior - Stillwater and made by a Canadian company (Amundson Outdoors). It was designed with me in mind. By that of course, I mean stillwater fly anglers. The model I received was a #5 - 10ft - 4pc and before I received it, my expectations were fairly low. After all, it's a new product from a company I've heard very little about. I already own a St.Croix Legend Ultra #6 - 10ft - 4pc which I consider to be a great casting, fast action rod. I can shoot line out of my St.Croix pretty good and although I originally bought it for casting big nymphs and streamers on the Bow, it quickly became my go-to-rod for hard blowing days on the lakes. Things have changed however as I now have a new go-to-rod for my stillwater fishing. I've had the great pleasure of casting the Wind Warrior Stillwater on my last four trips out and I'm really enjoying this rod more and more with every outing. The rod shoots line like a canon, has some good back bone that cuts line through the wind like a knife and the sensitive tip aids in detecting strikes. I don't plan on retiring my Sage RPL anytime soon but it definitely won't see anywhere near the use it once did. As a matter of fact, I like this rod so much, I've looked into selling them online at my new site AlbertaStillwaters.Com. Which makes me pose the question: How much do you love your fly rod?

Sometimes the fishing gods smile on you. And sometimes they just laugh!

It's been a long, cold winter and I've been looking forward to getting out on the water and hooking into some big stillwater lunkers since ice-on in November. I decided Wednesday was the day to finally head out and could think of no better way to spend it than on the water hunting for big trout with a good friend. So Phil and I made plans to hit Muir lake. Phil picked me up at about 12:30pm and we headed out, looking forward to some of those football shaped trout Muir is so famous for. Word was out that the trout made it through the winter even though the aerator on the south end of the lake shut down while the lake was still frozen (thanks to some furry critter that chewed through the power cable). My expectations were high, the thoughts of hungry trout and high catch rates filled my head (sort of like sugar plums dancing through a kids head at Christmas time but way better). When we got out onto the lake we headed over to one of my favorite spots trying to stay out of the wind. It was too shallow for strike indicators so we tried boatman and backswimmers using a washing line technique (floating boatman on the point with a wet boatman or backswimmer as the dropper). We saw many boatman in the water so we just knew we'd do well ('cause we're experienced stillwater fly guys). And after about 30 minutes we decided to move (so much for experience). The results where Phil one, Doc zero. Phil decided he wanted to try a little bay neither of us had fished before, so off we went. We anchored in about 2ft of water casting out to about 8ft. We tried leech and chironomid patterns under an indicator. End result here? Phil zero, Doc one bump. The day wasn't turning out the way I had visioned it. We fished in every decent spot on the lake and the trout were just not in the mood to feed. They were however in the mood for other things (like sex). Spawners were rolling, splashing and chasing in the shallows and we could have targeted them all day and probably done very well but apparently this is bad form (or so says ex-"BC" stillwater guy Phil). So we stuck to our normal fishy hangouts and kept plugging away. At the end of a cool, rain soaked day; the score was Phil six, Doc nothing. I did hook into and loose a few but couldn't get 'em to the boat. I'll tell ya, getting skunked on Muir is a humbling experience. Makes me re-think everything I've learned over the years. The fishin' gods were smiling on Phil yesterday but laughing at me. Not laughing as hard as Phil though, he was having a real good ol' time. Not sure if he was laughing so hard at me or my funny jokes though. Hey Phil, "Maybe I thould wefwase that, I'd like to thee her gallop thlowly".

Here's a real quick video of a male spawner that Phil caught on a booby. Hmmm... horny males going after boobies; who'd a thunk?

Spring Has Sprung

I guess it's time for me to start blogging again. I've been so busy with work, updating The New Fly Fisher website and just life in general, I haven't really found any time for blogging and I guess it shows since my last post was in February.

According to the rest of the world, the 1st day of spring is March 20. Of course if you live up here in the Great White North, the first day of spring is really when the ice comes off the smaller lakes (at least that's my interpretation of the first day of spring).

Friday May 1st was that day. Up until April 30th, most of these lakes still had ice on them but stillwater anglers all over the Edmonton region watched the wind clear our local lakes (at least enough to get a boat on the water). Our most popular lake in the area is Muir Lake located just west of Edmonton and on May 1st the lake opened for the first day of fishing. May 1st every year sees loads of anglers (usually of the fly fishing type) and the lake resembles more a bowl of cheerios than a trout lake due to all the float tubes. I heard that the fishing was pretty decent with some nice 24 inch rainbows being caught (at least for those that found a parking spot). I heard is was a lot of fun but i wouldn't know for sure as after three hours doing up a ton of paper work with month end reports, I headed over to Phil's house where we loaded my 'toon and tackle into his truck and headed east to meet up with Jokey (Joe). Jokey doesn't want me to post where we were as he likes this quite little fishery all to himself, so I won't mention it's name. I will tell you that we all caught just over dozen trout each. My biggest was a fat twenty incher, Jokey landed a nice 22 incher and Phil's biggest was about 19". When I pumped the throat on a few of these trout I saw loads of blood worms (midge larva) up to size 10, some size 14 boatman and some lake lint. Odd I didn't get one on a bloodworm or a boatman pattern even though I tried for a good 45 mins. Seems they sure liked the leech patterns though. We fished them suspended under an indicator and they almost always took it right after we twitched it. They didn't want lots of movement but other than the odd trout, they wouldn't take it sitting completely still either. Had a great season opener with a couple of great guys and some nice fat trout. Welcome back spring.

Need A New Fishing/Camping Machine?

I found this on you tube and I'm likin' it.

Now if a guy could get a hitch on there for his boat and they could make that a 4X4, it'd be perfect.

Staying Busy In The Off Season

Already February and I haven't wet a line since November. I have been staying busy however. With the new job, learning all the ins and outs of a new management position in the liquor industry, running my five online sites and tying a few flies here and there, I really haven't found the time to even plan a trip to drown some feathers. On top of this, I've been asked to update the New Fly Fisher web site. Nothing to major really just adding new pics, links, text and a new video. The site is looking pretty good if I do say so myself. You can check it out here.


A couple days ago I got an e-mail stating that I won a new fly rod. I've entered lots of things with a chance to win fly fishing tackle of one sort or another and this is the first time I ever won. I was checking out Tim & Andy's web site not to long ago and they had an online survey on their forum for the Amundson Fly Fishing/Outdoors company. taken from the Western Sportfishing Fourm "The company is Canadian, and they offer a wide variety of fly fishing products to the fly fisherman/woman. The purpose of the survey is to provide feedback to the company about what fly fishermen like about their gear, and what they would like to see." Anyway, I filled out the survey automatically entering me into the draw and now I got a band new WWF4-1005F Wind Warrior "Stillwater Series" rod which was designed in BC, for the interior stillwater type of fly fishing and is valued at $289.00. Big thanks to Jack Simpson from Amundson Fly Fishing/Outdoors for drawing my name. I guess I'll have to write a review on it this spring.

Another Chance To See Dave & Emily

So you missed the Dave and Emily Whitlock show? Actually, due to circumstances beyond the control of the Whitlocks, or the Northern Lights, Dave and Emily could not appear. In their place, Jim McLennan and Phil Rowley jumped in to save the day(s). Phil presented expert stillwater information and Jim with some outstanding stream advise. A high percentage of those who attended were very pleased with all the information presented and very thankful that these two gentlemen stepped up to the plate on such short notice.


If you would still like to see the Dave and Emily two day seminar, they have been rescheduled to appear on April 25 & 26 at the club's meeting hall. For those that had already purchased their $80.00 tickets, you can purchase tickets to the Dave & Emily presentation for only $25.00. For everyone else, you can purchase tickets for $80.00. For more information, check out the NLFT&F's website here.

Dave & Emily Whitlock Seminar

The Northern Lights Fly Tyers & Fishers in conjunction with the Edmonton chapter of Trout Unlimited are presenting a fly fishing seminar with presenters Dave & Emily Whitlock. The seminar will be held at Grant McEwan Community College at 106 St. & 104Ave in Edmonton Alberta, Room #6-212 from 9am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday January 17 & 18, 2009. You'll have the opportunity to learn from one of the most well known Fly Tiers & Fly
Fisherman in North America along with a number of raffles featuring some outstanding prizes to support this event. Tickets are available for $80.00 from the Northern Lights Fly Tiers during their Wednesday evening meetings and from the following Edmonton retail stores: The Fishing Center, Fishin' Hole West & North and Wholesale Sports.

Dave is a well known author of many published books including Dave Whitlock's Guide to Aquatic Trout Foods. For more about Dave and Emily Whitlock, visit their website here.

The New Northern Lights Chapter Of T.U.

I can't believe it's already January 10 of 2009. Time feels like it's just whipping by and yet in the same breath, it feels like I haven't wet a line for a really long time. Another Christmas has come and gone and a very long cold snap here has finally ended. We had many, many days of -30c temps (or colder) and not very many warmer then -20c in the last three weeks. Today it hit 0c for the first time since, well, I don't remember (a long time). The new job is going well. Another month at it and I should be ready for a few trips south for some Bow River fly-fishing.

Some news for North Central Alberta fisher folk. The Edmonton Chapter of Trout Unlimited will be merged in with The Northern Lights Fly Tyers & Fishers club. TU Edmonton was originally started by fly anglers as a way to get together to #1, start conservation projects on the waters in North Central Alberta and #2: meet once a month in the winter for informative, educational and entertaining programs. With the formation of the Rocky Mountain House chapter of TU, most of the waters we fish have now fallen under their chapter and with the NLFT&F's popularity growing each year, members were reluctant to come out to TU meetings as much the same programs can be seen at their weekly club meetings leaving conservation as the Edmonton chapter's only draw. And conservation just isn't sexy enough to put warm butts in the seats. This last Wednesday, the executive of the NLFT&F's and T.U. Edmonton pitched the concept of a merger of the two clubs with one meeting per month dedicated to Trout Unlimited and cold water conservation. The club will now be known as the Northern Lights chapter of Trout Unlimited. Memberships will have to be worked out as far as this coming year but eventually, to join you will need a T.U. membership. This will open up a lot more doors for the Northern Lights club as far as raising money for worthwhile causes as well as giving conservation efforts more exposure. I'm really excited about this merger and if you're in the Edmonton area, I hope you are too.

No fishing for this guy since November. The snow isn't going anywhere now, it's settled in 'til spring with a new blanket every couple days or so. The temps have been ok so far in December but they're forecasting for -32c on Monday (that's -25.6F for my American friends). Ya I know that's dam cold. I started a new job, back into management and back into the liquor industry. I'm basically concentrating on that right now but I am working on a new video project. It's going slow, might have it done by middle of January. I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet, like most guys I wait 'til the last minute. I can usually find some really good deals in the last days before Christmas so it's all good. My yougests daughter Hunter just celebrated her 10th birthday on Wednesday. She's making me feel old, seems like yesterday we brought her home from the hospital all bundled up with that little touque and the little mits. I can't beleive it's been ten years already. Back in Novemeber I got an e-mail from JibJab regarding their make a dancing Elf website. I did a few up, one with Phil and one each for both of my daughters but just the other day I was checking out the Rogue Angels Blog and seen they did one with their fishing buddies. So I decided to do another one up with some of the guys at my fly fishing forum.

Your feature presentation. Staring: Gums (monster Pike), Jokey (forum moderator), Phil Rowley (forum expert), Ayer (he posts the most pics on the forum) and myself (administrator). Hope you enjoy.

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/ukIhayqfhFz3ChjTGmZ4

So Now What?

Up here in the Great White North, at this time of year, fly fisherman (and woman) are storing their rods, cleaning their reels and lines and accepting the fact that fly fishing is over for another season. The lakes are icing over and the days are getting shorter. Some are breaking out their ice fishing tackle and may even be getting excited about the hard water. Personally I can't get excited about staring at a hole in the ice while freezing my nuts off. Ice fishing just doesn't appeal to me. Oh, I've tried. I even built my own ice shanty a few years back. I was pretty proud of it, making it from scratch out of plywood, hinges, latches and a tarp. It even looks pretty cool and I made it to fit in the back of my van (the fish mobile). But it isn't fly fishing. So now what? Well of course there is fly tying. It starts out by cleaning your bench, putting everything in it's place, maybe even labeling some things so you can find things easier. Then you get down to tying. All the patterns you use the most are done first. Make sure you tie enough to get you through your next season. After that it's the patterns you thought about tying last summer. Maybe a pattern you seen somewhere or one that someone introduced you to. After that you start searching on the net for something new, something you either think would be fun to tie or maybe something you could see working on your local waters. Winter is a great time to fill up your fly boxes and experimenting with new patterns and new techniques or tricks you learned can be fun. But it isn't fly fishing. Some guys get involved with clubs. It's another great way to learn new things maybe even a secret or two and you get to bond with folks that have similar interests. But it isn't fly fishing. So now what? This summer I bought a new digital video camera. I plan on making videos throughout the winter. Maybe some fly tying, maybe some set-ups I use for chironomids or Pike. That should keep me somewhat busy over the winter. But it isn't fly-fishing. So now what? I'm not willing to accept that the season is over. There's still the 3+ hour drive to the Bow River downstream of Calgary. You can fish there all winter as long as it's warm enough (pray for some chinooks) that the ice chunks melt off. The North Raven can be fished as well if you can find some open water on a warmer winter day. And of course there's Wabamun for monster pike. The water at the power plant discharge stays open all year and I beleive this is the last year for open water as the plant is shutting down it's last generator next year. All options for a fly fishing fix, that is if the temps are warm enough to keep your guides from freezing. Now I just gotta find some buddies who are willing to brave the cold. So now what?

Project Healing Waters

Mission Statement from Project Healing Waters USA:
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc., initiated and conducted by members of the Federation of Fly Fishers and Trout Unlimited, serves military personnel who have been wounded, injured, or disabled to aid their physical and emotional recovery by introducing or rebuilding the skills of fly fishing and fly tying and by using and enjoying these skills on fishing outings and as lifelong recreation.

While initially focusing on the military personnel in the Washington, DC area, the Project has expanded nationwide and is offering its services and program to active military personnel and veterans in Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals throughout the country.

The Project’s program provides basic fly fishing, fly casting and fly tying classes and clinics for the wounded and injured personnel ranging from beginners to those with prior fly fishing and tying experience who are adapting their skills to their new abilities. All activities and services are provided to the participants at no cost. Fly fishing and tying equipment and materials are provided to the participants, including equipment that accommodates their special needs.

The Project’s training and educational activities are designed to ignite or rekindle the participants’ appreciation and enthusiasm for a wide variety of fly fishing outings. While most of these fishing trips are conducted within a half-day’s travel from a hospital, the Project actively seeks opportunities to offer outings in quality fishing sites across the county.

Currently, a passionate fly angler and contributing author to the flyangler.ca website, Kerry Pitt; has put in motion steps to bring Project Healing Waters to Canada. At this time he's asking people to consider how they would be able to contribute to this project as it comes to pass, not a request for money but rather more a request for their time. I sent him a personal message for information and to let him know that I'm very interested in this project. If you think you could give up some of your time to help our Canadian Veterans click here: Bringing Healing Waters and here: Comments and suggestions for more information.

Video Blog #3

Scarrrry stuff kids; scarrrrry stuff!

Have a great Halloween everyone!

The Muir Lake Project

For those of you that frequent my blog, you've seen many posts regarding Muir Lake. I fish Muir more than any other lake for two reasons. First, the trout are now passing the 24 inch mark which means they are almost as big as the trout in any of the other fisheries in the Edmonton area and second, it's only 25 minutes from my door step. I recently bought a new video cam and have been experimenting with some projects. This is one of them. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it gives you a look at what Muir Lake is all about.

For a more detailed look at the Muir Lake project visit my information web site Fly Fishing Edmonton, and click on Edmonton Lakes.

Video Blog #2

If you're interested in fly fishing for Pike, here's the set up I use.

Fishing in no more than 10ft of water, I use a nine weight rod with 9 weight floating line and matching reel. I start my leader with 2ft of 30lb mono from the fly line followed by 2ft of 20lb mono. Attached to that I use Rio's "Toothy Critter" nylon coated wire leader. Flies of choice are cone head popsicle leeches (all assorted colors but white has worked best for me), 1/2 & 1/2's and clouser minnows. Best presentation for me has been a strip, strip, pause. The Pike usually take it on the pause. Other important equipment is:

Large landing net or cradle
Long forceps or needle nose pliers
Jaw spreaders

Good luck!


Still looking for comments on the whole video blog thing. Keep it or kick it to the curb?

Mel Krieger Passed Away

I just now learned that Mel Kreiger passed away last Tuesday. I never personally met the man but I've seen his casting seminars and many of his videos. He had a way of making learning fun as he was very passionate and enthusiastic about his teaching. And his patented "pop" or "click" sound that he made when casting always put a smile on my face.



Thanks Mel; for making learning fun.