[Reeman]

Here are some shots of two caught in the last few days waiting for the caddis hatch. Which only came on sparse in the morning and evening because of the high heat. Rats, foiled again. It has been over 6 years since I caught a hog on the dry up in the Cariboo, not for a lack of trying though LOL.

And one about 4 and a half lbs

Learned my lesson no more commercial tied bugs for this angler. On the first day one took me to within 30-40 feet of being spooled. With 8 lb tippet. Most likely a larger fish like the 12 lb fish I got on the same lake last year. For the third time in as many years I broke a hook on the fish when it went to the bottom and sulked. My brother got several fish over 8 lbs to the boat the same day, so I missed my chance at Walter this year.

The hooks that keep breaking are size 8-10 commercial brushed leaches from Umpqua, funny but seems they have started to cheap out on the hooks as their flies were first class 10 years ago. Anyone else had this trouble with the hook breaking past the bend? I think that they are tied with Tiemco wet straight shanks, which were at one time very good hooks. Even the size 10 2302 nymph hooks seem to be not as good as they once were and straighten out on larger fish even if you have 200 yards of backing and "let em run" the way you have to with 8 lb tippet.

Here is an evening video of the mayfly dance on the lake, which unfortunately was the last one as the heat the next day put the fish down and there were no more substantial mayfly hatches.

 

[StreamerTeaser]

Wow.... that fish sure looks tasty! Absolutely amazing. A hog is right. Wish we could get into some of those in the fraser valley.

 

[Reeman]

Fun on the same pond!

My brother caught one over 14 lbs a day after I left.

I took a little swim reaching for an oar that popped out of the boat I was in while pulling up an anchor.

The 60lb plus battery decided to slide over to the side I was reaching over for the oar. This sudden weight shift caused the little john boat to ship water, so I quickly bailed out rather than swamping the thing completely. Real PITA as the afternoon bite had just come on that day and it was only about 1 pm. We were both just starting to get into good fish. What really got me miffed was that I swamped my smokes. LOL.
All and all a great time. Most of the fish were caught on brushed leaches, some on really small chronies, size 16 and less.

One thing though, I did need to take a bath, the surface temp was over 60 F so no worries about hypothermia like if you go into the water just after ice-off!
We only ate one fish just over 3 lbs and released all the rest like this super hog. That was over 30 inches and fat as a pig. Only one fish fought itself to death on this trip. Some of the fish put on an air show and fight that rival steelhead as 60% the stock is from wide tail river strains

 

[Royal_Coachman]

Wow, nice slabs!

Lol is that you on the transom?? Looks like one of my co-workers poking thier heads over my cubicle...Ah I think I need a vacation

Hope you had some more smokes back at camp
:cheers:

-RC

 

[allofthisforyou]

Unreal. That super hog looks almost like a small chinook. :thumbup: Those were all caught up in the Cariboo?

 

[Reeman]

Unreal. That super hog looks almost like a small chinook. :thumbup: Those were all caught up in the Cariboo?

Yup..Here are some pics of how we deal with the ones we like to eat.

and an improvised smoker using cans and alder chips

My brother is a fishing machine, he out fishes the rest of us 2 to one sometimes. When all the trollers are in camp licking their wounds he is out there still nailing fish. I am no slouch, neither is my older brother, who was a guide on the Bulkley. But my younger brother is as close to a fishing machine as is humanly possible..LOL Generally if he does not get fish then they are just not bitin' period.

It is very tough sledding catching these fish, you absolutely need to be able to handle 25 feet of fluorocarbon leader and do it in a wind if necessary! And yet in some places indicator still fishing, really slow and accurately distanced off the bottom, is key.

Some of the "leaches" we tie up are imitating gomphus on the move as well, that is the only explanation as the red and black skinny profile indicates that the fish are keying in on more than just leaches and tiny glass worms and the like. Though I have always felt guilty robbing a fish of its dinner sometimes pumping a few really does help. Especially when waiting for a caddis hatch that might or might not occur. ROLF

Strange but the caddis seem to be coming later every year, this change could be attributed to higher water levels caused by the lack of forest retention in the interior plateau. Which in turn has been caused by the pine forest die off. The mean temperature for the winter season and the snow load was average the past 3-4 years, so changes in insect life cycles in the Cariboo are something which requires more study. However everyone who has fished there long term has noticed that the hatch timing has changed considerably in the last ten years.

So the methods and timing are very difficult and season specific to say the least. Essentially you absolutely must be keyed into the feeding habits if you are going to hook anything other than the ubiquitous "loon food" 2lb and under yearling fish!