A couple of weeks ago my cousin Jacob from Athens Georgia informed me that he would like to come up for a short stay between his semesters at the university. He wanted to do some fishing, so ideas started to pop up in my head. Which fishery should I show him that would represent what fishing is all about in British Columbia? It's a bit early for salmon in the Lower Mainland, especially with this year's river condition. Coarse fish locally aren't exactly exotic. Most lakes are a bit too warm for this time of the year. A trip to the salt chuck is too time consuming due to his short stay. The decision was rather difficult.
After a couple of good reports from reliable sources on Leighton Lake, I decided that we should visit it since
I have fished it before. I ran the idea through Mark/Fishersak and invited him alone. He accepted without hesitation of course, what else is there for a high school teacher to do during the school summer holiday?
There was only one more task to take care of before the trip, which was to stop by the FWR fly factory, aka Chrome Mykiss' bedroom. I phoned the flytier up at 3:00pm on Monday afternoon, requested some of those infamous bomber patterns. At 5:00pm, I picked up a dozen freshly tied goodies for the trip.
August 7th: Battered by strong gusts, tricked by many fishYesterday morning, we hopped out of bed at 4:30am and hit the road at 5:00am. A short stop at Reaction Fly and Tackle and Tim Horton's stocked up the rest of our necessities. By 9:30am, our boats were sitting on the bank of Leighton Lake, ready for the bow hunt. A few anglers scattered around the lake, not much action had been seen yet.
We made our way to the bay where we had some success back in May. After a quick run-down on how to operate the fly equipment, I sent Jacob's fly out and made him stare at the orange dot on the surface. The timing was pretty spot on. Within a few minutes, Jacob's indicator was no where to be seen. I looked over, the owner's eyes had wandered else where.
"Jacob, your indicator!!" He looked back, but the rod remained motionless in his hands. I reached over and yanked the rod high, but the fish was long gone by then. A brief disappointment it was, but it was certainly a good sign. The indicator went back to the same spot for more bites. A few more minutes went by, Jacob's indicator dipped once again and began swimming around under the surface. "Jacob, fish!" Again, the scenery appeared to be more appealing than the orange dot. This time, he gently lifted the rod as the indicator slowly resurfaced.
Meanwhile, my bobber seemed to enjoy being dry.
The breeze emerged around noon, which turned into wind, then gust. Waves began pounding the side of our boat. We moved to a new spot next to Mark, hoping to find some fish that are more eager/dumber. Depth measured, indicator readjusted, the waiting game once began. Finally, mine decided to go for a dive. A quick hook set and I was into my first trout of the outing. The average sized fish darted while I stripped my line madly. Within seconds its sudden burst of speed outswam my stripping. The boat remained fishless. Next, it was Jacob's turn once again. This time his timing was bang on. The rod bent to the cork in no time, but he hadn't been given the game plan! With fly line all tangled around his hands, it took no effort for the fish to pop off.
This is what fishless, wind battered fishermen look like
Jacob's trial and error process went on for the rest of the day, including one massive fish that flew out of the water and popped the hook. We reckon it was the largest fish of the trip. That late afternoon, We became one of the few fishermen who were keen/stupid enough to stay out in the gusty condition. We decided to give the spot where we hooked a couple of fish earlier in the afternoon. The choice was very wise, as the bite came on right away. Between 5:00pm and 6:00pm, Mark finally connected with some fish. In the meantime, Jacob and I continued to hook and lose our fish.
Persistence paid off
Just before dinner time, I finally managed to boat one smaller fish.
During dinner time, the cold gusty wind made us realize just how important it is to be prepared for BC outdoors.
Being such a knowledgable guide, I told Jacob to bring T shirt and shorts since August in the Interior is hot and dry.
I also told him to bring along a jacket which he had forgotten. Meanwhile, I had my fleece, but I lacked a pair of long pants to keep those legs toasty. It was about to be a long cold night.
After dinner, feeling frustrated by today's result, I decided to head out alone before it got too dark. The decision was wise, because the first cast brought me this beauty.
Second cast produced an even bigger surprise.
With two instant landings, I decided to call it a day before more bad luck popped up.
August 8th: What a turn of luck!The following morning, I woke up rather unmotivated when greeted by the cloudy sky. The good news was that the wind had died down. Jacob and I took our time and made our way out at 9:00am. We joined Mark who had been out for one hour and landed one fish by stripping a leech pattern. After sending Jacob's indicator out, he striked three times in a row. I was skeptical, thinking that it maybe small fish or weed. The next strike wiped away all skepticism when the reel began screaming. I turned around and Jacob was struggling to turn the reel as the line had wrapped around the rod. I quickly untangled it and the fight resumed. With a bit of coaching, the fish was guided into the net! Finally, after losing many chances, his first ever rainbow trout was caught.
Above the clouds
Until next time
My turn came soon after Jacob's success.
Happy fighting
Ready to be scooped
A good start
Jacob and I continued hooking several fish and landing some, including this beauty.
Meanwhile, Mark's boat remained lifeless except a 4 incher.
It was only a matter of time before he was rewarded.
Pretty chromer
There were several highlights of this day's fishing, including many double headers. At one point, I had my rod placed between my legs while filming Mark fighting a fish. I turned to see my indicator once awhile. It was no where to be seen when I turned back at one point, the rod was pulled out from me at the same time. I dropped the camera,
watch what happened next.
Another highlight was when I had my line hanging over the edge while fixing Jacob's line after a fish. The reel suddenly screamed and sent the rod dancing away. This beauty was did not seem to mind taking the fly beside a boat.
The aftermath, just another day at the office
Most fish were around 16 inches, but some were much bigger than that. Our biggest fish of the day were these.
One landed, another one to go
Not the brightest, but certainly long
The clouds burned off while this was going on. It turned out to be a very good day, BC's outdoor is unpredictable after all.
The anticipation
Fishing under pretty clouds
By the end of our outing, Jacob decided to hang his line next to the boat just to see what would happen. Sure enough, this energetic fish did not care where the fly was placed either.
Water clarity was much poorer than when we were fishing in May. Our fishing depth was between 9 and 12 feet. After adjusting the depth many times, we found that having the fly kept around 1 to 2 feet above the lake bed was working best. Our choice of rod weight was 4 and 5wt, as the fish were between 16 and 22 inches in length. They are also much broader than the fish back in early spring.
Enjoy your trip up that way if you plan to head up. Good luck!
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Topic: Leighton Lake August 7th and 8th, 2007 (Read 3014 times)