Camp Trip 2009 - Day One

May 5, 2009 was the beginning of the Mayfly trip for 2009. Every year we speculate on the timing. Too early? Too late? Right on time? The good thing about the may fly, is you can make any of those situations work. This year, we were right on time.

I fish a small lake near the camp. Three small connected bodies of water with a unique structural layout. Rock bars, drop offs, weedy coves. The lake is nestled in between two hardwood hills, and gets a natural windbreak because of it. The winds prevail most of the time from the south, and in this lake, as long as the wind is manageable, it serves as a fly feeder to the trout. The nice thing is the lake is deceiving. Many an angler has passed it by without even wetting a line in it. It is small and shallow around the shorelines, and nearly impossible to fish without a boat. Yet it holds Brook Trout over 3 pounds. In Nova Scotia, that is trophy quality. A few years back, Stephen F and i had a double header. Both Trout over 18.5" and 3.5 pounds. It is truly a special piece of water.

We arrive around noon, canoe strapped onto the truck, and begin the process of hauling in food, gear, etc for the week. It can be an arduous task but on day 1 there is always a spring in everyone's step. By 5:30 everything is done, supper is eaten, and it is time to hit the lake. The winds are up and the air is pretty cool for early May, but the fly are thick on the bush and with a little work, I fan them out over the upper end of the lake, and wait.


Fly fishing is a game of patience. Especially around the camp. They are tough lakes to fish. The Trout do not rise without good reason. They do not rise in great numbers, and they do not rise consistently. We have to work these lakes. That means we send a lot of fly out to cover a lot of water, and then if you wait long enough, the fish will move. On night one, about a half hour in, and the first fish is moving. It takes 10 or so casts before i hook up with a fat 13" trout at about 1.5 pounds. Before dark, another one moves, and in two casts, a 15" male comes to the boat, about 1.75 pounds. Both caught, both released. A good start to any trip

First Trip - Let There Be Light

The first trip into the camp every year is one part anticipation, one part trepidation. After a rough winter there can be any amount of bad things that can happen to a camp deep in the back woods. So this year Steven F and I made small talk and made the walk. The last section of the walk is over a hill. At the top of the hill i took a look, and saw the chimney and commented to Steven it was still standing. I followed that up with an "Uh-Oh".

Our camp is built in the middle of a small nestling of trees. A couple of those trees are large. The largest, a Spruce too wide to wrap your arms around, was no longer visible. At least not the top of it. Visible over the camps roof line, was the snarled broken trunk of the giant tree. The rest of the tree was no longer visible. We were relieved when we came alongside the camp and saw the branches had hit the roof, but the trunk went two feet to the side of the building. Avoiding destruction of our roof, if only by a matter of inches.

So now we have some work to do. A large tree will have to be limbed, cut up, and hauled away into the woods. It will be a lot of work, but it beats the alternative. On the bright side (pardon the pun), the camp is wired the generator is working, and i caught my first fish of 2009, a beautifully coloured 14 inch brookie. The big trip starts on May 4th, and the timing in terms of the hatch looks dead on, and the water level and temperature is right on. If everything holds true, we are in for a hell of a fishing trip.

The First Camp Trip - In 10 Days

The preparations are being made, and on April 25, the first official trip of the season begins. Steve F and will be on the road early on that Saturday and wiring the camp for our new small generator, and doing some prep work to get things ready for the big trip on May 5th. We will christen the new generator with a hockey game on a 19 inch TV, and a few lightbulbs instead of propane lamps.

As usual, i can't wait. My wife will tell you. The word fishing comes out of my mouth far too often. I clean and re-clean rods, reels, i organize flys. Anything to keep me connected to fishing. She puts up with it, and sometimes even humours me with it. In 10 days i will spend a night in the middle of nowhere and get some of that out of my system. Then she has to look forward to me talking about a trip less than two weeks later.

In the end, she makes sure i get my trips in and i enjoy them, which is more than enough. I have said it before, i owe her may times over. Someday, i will really will pay her back. If only she ate trout.

More Than Ready

The Painful Wait For An Ice Out

It is April 7. For what seems like forever, I have been waiting for the ice out. It is the annual event that signals the real start of fishing season. Sure, fishing season has been open for a week now, but open in name only really. In the last few days though, holes in ice on the local lakes has appeared. It has helped breathe new life into me as an angler. Tonight I put new line, backing, and a braided loop on my reel. I think I found the breathable waders I am going to order.

So maybe Spring finally has sprung. My wife and I talked tonight about photography trips coming soon. Everything will be good very soon.

I think I will clean my other reel and line tomorrow. The fish are almost ready, and now so am I.

A Fly A Day - Day 10

Nova Scotia Blue Upright

The Mayfly hatch is a magical period in Nova Scotia's Trout fishing season. Commonly known as the Black Quill, these flies hatch off and swarm the bushes and lakeside trees, and fill the air thick and black. It is a sight that possesses the fly fisherman here, and for a 2 week or so period, the action is almost non stop.

As a young fly angler, the brother of my best friend gave me a fly when i ran out of Black Quills. It was a Nova Scotia Blue Upright. It became the staple fly of my fly box for the mayfly. Far more consistant than the Black Quill, the Blue Upright is the fly i now use to go trophy hunting in my favourite backwoods lakes.

The key to a Blue Upright working so well over a black quill with black hackle rests in it's profile. Cast the two flies side by side, the same size pattern, and the black quill will look bigger. From below the water, it looks bigger still. The blue hackle on an upright allows light to pass through it, giving it a slimmer profile, and a more realistic look to a rising fish. I rarely use a black quill anymore, although i carry some for darker days. However the Blue Upright is Nova Scotia's premier dry fly, and a fly no one should be out the first of May fishing without.

Pattern:

Hook: Dry Fly sizes 12-18
Thread: Black Or Grey
Wings: Grey Duck Quill, tied Upright
Tail: Blue Dun Hackle Fibers
Body: Stripped Peacock Quill
Hackle: Blue Dun Cock Hackle

A Fly A Day - Day 9

The Ginger Quill

Well it is day 9 of my fly a day until the start of the season. With less than two days to go, it is snowing. I am not one to try the season much on the first day, but snow is not what i was looking for. I could pick a bright side and argue how it will help with water levels in the early season, but rain will too. Anyway, this fly has a bit of a back story i can write on a snowy pre-season night.

We were at our camp, towards the end of the may fly hatch. After an early rise and breakfast in the pale light of dawn, we hit the lake early. Trout were already active, and fly were on the water naturally. A Blue Upright, the best dry fly in Nova Scotia for me, caught nothing. Not even a raise. Same for an Adams. Same for a black fly. For lack of other options, i tied on a fly i use in the late June Brown Drake hatch. The Ginger Quill. I had no reason to think it would work, but for the next hour, it did just that. The interesting thing is it only has results for me in May in early morning fishing on clear days. Once the sun breaks fully over the horizon, it is done. It is another regular in my flybox for fishing from early season to July.

Pattern:

Hook: Dry Fly size 12-16
Thread: Black
Tail: Ginger Cock Hackle Fibers
Body: Natural Peacock Quill
Wings: Brown Duck Quill
Hackle" Ginger Cock Hackle

A Fly A Day - Day 8

The Dark Montreal

I have literally stayed up nights tying this fly at the last minute before a trip. Some flies you never leave home without, for me the Dark Montreal is at the top of that list. The fly itself, looks like nothing, and yet it imitates everything. It works in the earliest days of the season, all the way through the dog days of summer, into the cool waters of the fall. I have hooked probably thousands of Trout on this fly. I even hooked a Salmon on one. If you were in Nova Scotia and had a new fly angler with you, this would be the best fly to give them as a first try to actually get a fish.

The fly was first tied by Peter Cowan, and named after the city of Montreal. (As a Montreal Canadiens fan i like to think their team colours played into it, but i can find no proof of it). It has a claret barbule, or sometimes a red duck quill tail, a claret floss body, wrapped with gold tinsel, and a turkey quill wing over the back. The hackle is claret saddle hackle. I often tie this fly without the wing, and the hackle when wet sways back and moves along the body of the fly with the movement of the water.

At any time right before the start of a hatch, or after the fish are glutted, the Dark Montreal will take fish. For seatrout, it is one of the most reliable flies i use. Here is the recipe:

Hook: Mustad 3399 Or Equivalent, #8 - #14
Tag: Flat Gold Tinsel
Tail: Claret Barbules(hackle) Or Red Duck Quill
Body: Claret Floss
Rib: Flat Gold Tinsel
Hackle: Claret
Wing: Turkey Quill