Dry Fly Alberta Grayling
Dry Fly Grayling
Some days you just have to get out and do something different; this was one of those days.
Early in the afternoon a group of us ditched the Bow river for some stillwater action in the mountains. The previous day had high winds - we were happy to see this had calmed down by the early morning. We started off the afternoon fishing some water known to hold big Bull trout. Optimism was high to start with - some new fly patterns certain to tempt a few monsters combined with favourable weather had us hoping. A few hours later, nursing a depleted stock of monster streamers, our hopes had been dashed. Nary a follow had been seen.
We decided to jump locations and head out to another smaller pond in the area that has a healthy Grayling population. The evening was just setting in when we arrived; the sun was getting low and the bugs were starting to hatch. When first arriving on the water there was not much activity but within 30min we heard the first splash.
It took a bit of time but eventually we got onto a few consistent risers. The hatch of the evening was Chironomids. We started off fishing emergers but we didn’t get much attention from the fish. Sam was the first to switch to a dry fly - as such he was also the first to hook into a fish.
A quick tussle and this guy came to hand
Pattern of choice was a large black midge in the #16 range - not having many #16 midges in our boxes the black ants made an appearance for the first time this year.
I was stubborn enough not to try a similar fly - instead trying every other fly I had that might do the trick. The one fly that did get some love was the Dandelion Fly:
After tying on the fly I cast it out and then promptly tucked my rod under my arm to adjust some of my camera gear. Upon seeing my gaurd down the grayling promtly pounced on the fly - nothing subtle, a full fish out of water take. By the time I set the hook there was nothing there. After that I started to get more refusals than anything.
Meanwhile Sam managed another nice grayling
With the evening moving on the wind died down and the fish became more active. You could spot dark shadows cruising a few feet under the surface - leading them with a cast would get interest but ultimately prove that the fly I was using just wasn’t quite right for the situation. As more insects hatched the fish became more keyed on the adults buzzing the surface rather than emergers.
Finally, I tied on a #16 Black Ant (ant/midge, same thing… 
) with a Gray CDC wing. While tying on the fly a grayling had picked a few flies off the surface in front of me. I dropped the fly in the middle of the last set of rings to appear. Within a few seconds the fish was on top of my fly pinning it to the surface. I set the hook and he was on! I mentioned before that I was stubbornly trying out other patterns - it was at about this moment when I kicked myself for just not using the obvious. How many times do we make it more difficult than it has to be? I know I’ll occasionally create a problem where one doesn’t really exist… Shortly after the strike I had landed and released the fish. It was a satisfying moment - the skunk was officially removed from the outing.
A few more fish were seen that evening but the setting sun eventually chased us off the water. It was fun to get out on some water to fish dries to some eager fish. I’ve got a few patterns in mind to bring out next time that will tip the odds in my favour. Will also be bringing the 3wt instead…
