Western Trib report - best day for me so far!

Finally got the go ahead from the wife/boss to take a morning and go chasing salmon. Last year was my first year targeting them. It was a learning process that ultimately had me joining OFF. I had mixed success with a spinning rod and none with the fly.

I decided to hit up one of my two West Tribs of choice between the QEW and the 407. Got in just after sunrise ready for salmon.

Got to the first pool and saw something dark and large breaking the surface at the tail end. Took some time to tackle up my rods (a medium heavy spinning rod and an 8wt fly). By the time I'm done the large dark thing is in front of me. Nice size snapper. I love those things. Watched her work her way up the rest of the pool before I moved on.

That was the highlight from that creek.

I moved to the other creek and decided to ditch the salmon setup (and the waders) and target trout. This is a pretty popular creek but I guess most were either taking the day to enjoy the heat or fishing farther down where the salmon are. The only people I met were shortly after I arrived and right as I was leaving. I had the whole thing to myself for most of the morning!

I don't really know what I'm doing with a fly rod. I can usually be found either trying to get my fly out of the weeds behind me or deciding whether the wind knot is worth trying to untangle or just cut.

I did both today. But I also keyed in on some fish! I took my first little rainbow with a pheasant tail under a bridge. My first trout on a fly! And on a fly I tied! Then two more rainbows from a nice little channel with the same. And finally I found a lovely spot at the head of a pool. I first had success with a prince nymph. I then switched to a caddis as there were a few fish breaking the surface.

Now I know what you guys are on about. I think I landed about 6 and lost a few more. But the way they smashed the fly - so good! They were all 6-8" long, some still had parr markings, but it was fun.

A lot of debt is owed to the active people of OFF. Thanks for posting so much and being such a good resource for noobs like me.

Good on you! Way to go man. Those little guys can be a lot of fun on lighter gear.

Your brand new to the sport .
And to be clear I have absolutely no issues with you personally.
And these are not the first such pics posted on here.
My first issue.
No one in their right mind should be even on the water in these drought conditions.
To post smolt size fish such as these in my opinion ,that look dead now anyway .Why?
Tons of mature fish just a rain fall away from running.
Best now that you recognize whether to fish chins stranded in a pool because of no water, sporting or not.
And if catching smolt are worthy of even taking a photo.
I like to believe forums such as this are here to educate the new fisherman and avoid posts such as yours.
Live and learn. Right?

fenwickfisher said:

Good on you! Way to go man. Those little guys can be a lot of fun on lighter gear.

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GOOD?

TI - no big issue taken. I admit, I was a bit excited with any action. I respect your opinion, and mostly agree with things you have to say,

To your criticisms, I hope that when I get into bigger fish, and learn to match my outings with their presence I'll be leaving the little ones behind.
I'm excited because I managed to target water that held trout. True, small trout. But I'm learning their patterns. That's the goal. My choice of fly led to results. Again, learning.
I hope to scale up from there.
The creek up there is mostly spring fed. Water levels are low, but even chins will be able to move up it when they come (no, I will not fish them there, too shallow for them).

I made sure all the fish swam away under their own power. Those two photos of fish in my hand were the only two that left the water because of me. All others were dehooked in water.

Its like my son and I fishing off the dock. I've keyed into the larger panfish and bass. He doesn't have the equipment, technique or know-how. So he gets some smaller fish. He wants the bigger ones, and we make sure the little ones (and the big ones) go back nice and healthy. And he gets one hell of a kick out of it. Today I got a hell of a kick out of it.
He and I are just learning.
And I'll take a damned photo of him with a 3" sunfish :razz:

Congrats on your first fish on the fly! If you were fighting big fish till exhaustion in this heat there would be an issue, but I doubt you fought these fish more than 10 seconds, they will be fine... good job.

Congrats on catching fish, on the fly you tied! Isn't it awesome when a personally tied fly work? work your way into some barbless fly tyings...helps to get them little fish quicker back into the water. other than that, you will be fine and this is the best times to go for resis...when everyone is busy going after salmon.

DILLIGAF?! said:

Congrats on catching fish, on the fly you tied! Isn't it awesome when a personally tied fly work? work your way into some barbless fly tyings...helps to get them little fish quicker back into the water. other than that, you will be fine and this is the best times to go for resis...when everyone is busy going after salmon.

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Fly you tied?
These fish are young and stupid.
I can throw a bare gold hook in and catch em. Lol
What next ?
Start posting photos of your first goby.

tossing iron said:

Fly you tied?
These fish are young and stupid.
I can throw a bare gold hook in and catch em. Lol
What next ?
Start posting photos of your first goby.

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I don't think so TI.
If that was the case I would be getting more than just 8 fish yesterday. But no, the only fly i've been catching fish yesterday are hare's ear fly. can't get them in any other fly i threw.

Fish or fry Dill .
(Resi) or (nursery) fishing.
You see it one way.
I see it other.
Now the Grand headwaters,has depth and width.
I call that resi fishing.

Best tip I can give you as someone who grew up Fly fishing is to learn to get the fly to kiss the water. It makes all the difference.

Takes practice but when you learn to land the fly perfect you'll catch a ton more.

I always try to read the water wherever I go...If there's a hatch, one thing I always watch for is surface activity. It if it's loud and violent...it's the little ones. If the surface activity is subtle and close to like something just sucks hatches beneath the surface...you got yourself resis.

Cant expect everybody to be a "conservationist" it was good on him that he went out and did the leg work and not sit behind a computer and ask questions.... I agree it may not be the most ideal conditions for targeting trout but i give him credit for at least putting in an effort as he can learn about conservation in the future if he chooses to do so

That's awesome. Congrats!

tossing iron said:

Now the Grand headwaters,has depth and width.
I call that resi fishing.

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I'll be in Orangeville tomorrow for pain blocks and thought I would check out the Grand around Grand Valley while I was up there.

Not TRYING to be Joe conservative.
Don't claim to be a fly fisherman either.
Just seems common sense to me , if your catching fry and parr simply up your size.
Kudos to anyone that would in boiling hot or the freezing cold have the balls to put in the leg work.

And when you catch a fry there so fragile even though they swim off they probably wont make it far.

The fingerlings are fish you'll want around in a year or two so just leave them alone and up the size as tossing iron said or move on to bigger better fish.

tossing iron said:

Fish or fry Dill .
(Resi) or (nursery) fishing.
You see it one way.
I see it other.
Now the Grand headwaters,has depth and width.
I call that resi fishing.

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You mean resident stocked trout that just don't migrate? I've caught a couple little browns in there that look wild (16-17 month old fish in late April BEFORE the stocking is done, without any obvious fin damage), but I'd say that's maybe 1 or 2 in 20. Probably well over 90% stocked. And even though there's only browns in the upper Grand (not the headwaters - I assume you mean the Shand Dam discharge), they're still easier to catch for the first few months than any wild rainbows.

Congrats @bharkasaig on catching those on your own hand tied flies! Definitely good to remember temps and fish handling, but great job!

fisherman2280 said:

And when you catch a fry there so fragile even though they swim off they probably wont make it far.

The fingerlings are fish you'll want around in a year or two so just leave them alone and up the size as tossing iron said or move on to bigger better fish.

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I would only agree with the "moving on" part if you're concerned about damaging a bunch of YOY or yearlings. Upping the size of your offering doesn't necessarily make sense when you're using a size 16 nymph or size 22 dry or something like that. The hatch is what it is. Bigger trout don't just eat bigger nymphs and flies than are present in the stream. Fishing in the morning or evening with barbless hooks for young fish is fine when it's in season. Just handle them with great care.

fisherman2280 said:

And when you catch a fry there so fragile even though they swim off they probably wont make it far.

The fingerlings are fish you'll want around in a year or two so just leave them alone and up the size as tossing iron said or move on to bigger better fish.

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sizing up your fly can be lethal to smaller fish. matching the hatch doesn't rely on appearance only size goes with it. there will always be smaller rainbows and browns alongside salmon during this time. Everyone wants a record breaking fish...OP just seems happy to have caught one from a self made fly. I would be too if it works.