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There was a definite buzz in the cab of the truck as we swung out onto Highway 1 near Chilliwack early on Thursday morning for the long planned trip to Dragon Lake near Quesnel. The same old jokes were still funny :lol: , and the mood was definetly one af great anticipation. Two pontoon boats, waders, boots, fins, fly rods camping gear, food, gas and other supplies filled the back of truck to the roof, and the 12 ft. Harbercraft with the 9.9 also filled to the gunwales with deck chairs, tarps, tents, rode smoothly behind.The drive to Quesnel was absolutely beautiful, with all the fall colours painting the landscape orange,yellow and various shades of green. The Aspen and birch trees in the Cariboo were particularly beautiful following several frosty nights.
Although we did not stop to closely observe the fish in the Thompson, there were plenty of fish in the river as we saw many jumpers from the highway while in full flight to our destination. Clear skies accompanied us for most of the way. As we neared the Lake, the skies took a turn for the worse and a grey overcast met us at arrival at the campsite. :shock:
The twenty minute drill was in full effect, as we wanted to get the camp set up quickly, inflate the pontoon boats, unhitch the boat and get it launched as well as have a cocktail and some food before hitting the lake for the evening fish..What a bunch of laughs we had!..As a fairly seasoned outdoorsman, I stressed the importance of camp first, fish later as the skies continued to darken. Both Kevin and Mike worked their tails off to get all the
tasks done asap and before long, we were heading out onto the lake.
Although we had not seen a single fish surface since our arrival, our spirits were quickly given a kick start by the viewing of several fish close to the shore in the 3-4lb. range cruising thru the weeds (that were soon to be tricked to a fly late at night.....but more on that later!)...With what little time we had on the first night, Mike was lucky enough to fool a few nice bows, bringing one of them to hand. After a short time getting our feet wet so to speak we headed in for some drinks and fish stories, just in time as the evening rain came down. Which ended up staying with us through out the night...No worrys though, we had set up a well fortified camp that could with stand that drab Cariboo weather. Besides downing a little Crown Royal anti freeze always helps the internal heater. :lol:
The following morning we woke to a fogged in lake which later turned to mostly clear skys. Had some breaky of bacon and eggs.
Then we had carefully rigged our gear with what turned out to be a real killer fly for the weekend....the purple bugger it was dubbed by Finder......We set off to start out day and, it didn't take long before 'Finder was into a nice fish and after a few leaps and long runs the first of many fish came to the pontoon for our first photo op.
Indicators and trolled and cast & retrieve methods through out the first day worked equally well and most of the fish seemed to be in the 6-12 ft. depth,including what I thought would be my biggest rainbow in stillwater.
Although several fish were caught in less than a foot of water late at night.
Several nice fish were caught on that first evening, including my biggest rainbow in stillwater. a beautiful, scrappy fish that was a chrome bullet. (looked like a summer steelhead :shock: ) A fish of 6+lbs who fell for a black leach pattern in the weeds at 6 ft. :shock: :shock: After a great battle Finder tailed it for me and held it for a quick snap before sending it on it's way. ( He insisted on it after seeing the size of it. :lol: )
Over the next few days after surviving the pounding rain on Thursday night, ( Thank You guys for gettting the tarps up) the minus 6 degrees temperatures and a bit of a choppy afternoon on the lake, all of us caught fish to 6lbs with a couple of break-offs that were much larger. However we were too far apart for good photo ops. much of the time, and so we missed out getting some of these hogs on film...but they will be etched in our minds for some time to come. It is tough to fish with 4lb flourocarbon leaders and land fish of this size, but switching to heavier tippets in the 6lb. range seemed to do the trick, At times the strikes definitely were few and far between, as we had to do a fair bit of moving to find the fish. However once we did find them, we still managed to fool a few every time.
A lot of fun and drinks was had in the evenings around the campfire, and I am really glad we brought some nice big chunks of dry wood along as it was a little scarce in the campsite. Even tho our butts and backs were freezing, the front side was kept toasty and it drew quite a few people out of their trailers and campers to come and swap stories with us and share a warm drink under the now cloudless sky. The stars and the full moon rising over the mountains just east of us was quite a sight and provided us with some evening entertainment.
As we were sitting at the edge of the lake I noticed something move in the glass smooth water, under the full moon....Looked like a snake at first, but a closer examination revealed a lot of BIG dark shapes slipping thru the weeds just 2-3 ft. from shore. With the full moon, there was plenty of light to see and be seen. Several flyrods were quickly and drunkenly grabbed in a mad dash and scramble, and 10-12 casts brought two beautiful 3-4 lb. fish to the beach and a gentle release back to the lake. The scenerio was repeated the next night when Mike brought a couple of bigger ones to hand in the 4-5lb. range. Seems they cruise the lake at the same time every night knocking the bull rush and cat tails, then devouring what falls off.
Crazy!
Yes FFM that's your leech, and the faces are curtiousy of Crown Royal! :lol:
On our last day we whipped the lake pretty hard and although productive, it wasn't really "hot" fishing, so we came in and had dinner and then headed back out to our favourite spots.....It wasn't long before I caught 4 fish within a few minutes on a beautiful pattern 'Finder had ttied for me. He assured me that although it wasn't like the fly I had lost, and the hackles were sticking out too far (according to me) it would do the trick. :wink: As fate would have it, I caught my biggest fish of the trip just inches from shore on the edge of a weedbed when you could hardly see the water. It was so dark on the way back to the campsite, I alsmost ran into the shoreline near a small island in the lake.
In the morning, we knocked down the camp and headed back to the lower mainland and started planning for next year.....Would I ever have thought I would catch trout this big? Never. Thanks to Professori, Stone, FishFinder, his friend Mike, and a whole lot of other people who gave me the info I needed. The learning curve with the flyrod is finally beginning to move in a positive direction.
Now, "Finder, it's about those winter steel I have yet to catch on a fly. :wink: ..............Tight Lines, ............Ortho 8)
(I am sending my pictures to 'Finder and he will throw them onto the board as soon as he finds time)
