After some filming work at Lafarge Lake around noon today, I headed out to a couple of North Fraser tributaries for an afternoon of coastal cutthroat trout hunting.
The fly setup used was rather simple, since I don't do much flyfishing in the first place so I just grab whatever is available around the house. I used a Rainshadow 4wt with a Islander IR reel spooled with floating line. I used 9ft of 6lb mono and finished it off with another ft of 4lb test before tying on the fly. The fly, minnow pattern, taught by Chrome Mykiss.
I spotted lots of salmon fry. Most were schooling, a few were rather lonely. There were also quite a few injured or dead fry, signs of heavy predation.
First cast out with absolutely no expectation resulted in a hard tug just several feet from shore. It completely caught me by surprise so after a brief headshake, the fish was long gone.
Perhaps it was a pikeminnow.
The next couple of hours, rises could be seen occasionally. At around 3pm, surface activity became more constant. After shooting out a better cast of the day, I felt two quick tugs as I stripped the line in. The reflex set the hook, but not hard enough again! A couple more headshakes the fish was off once again!
Surface activity ended around 5pm, so I decided to head home so I can catch Survivor, which I am watching right now.
I saw two other anglers during my outing. Lots of water to work on, so be sure to get out while this feeding frenzy is still around. Good luck.