On Monday I managed to get to the Elk river for the day. Kind of crazy driving for almost 2 1/2 hrs one way to go fishing for the day but I felt the need. Got there about 1 PM (not one for early starts me, also I like fishing the evenings) and was surprised to find other people on the river even some from Nanaimo. The were lots of fish in the river and both my new glass 5 wt (a bit heavy for those fish) and my tenkara rod saw lots of action. The dark fish were disinclined to rise to a dry but seemed somewhat interested in a swung wet (Peacock and grouse). So were some of the brighter fish... I wandered around a lot which might explain why my back gave out around 6 PM after getting a lot of dry fly action in a run I hadn't fished before. Lovely river, clear water and gravel bottom and it almost feels like fishing a real trout river (like the other Elk). Strangely it can also feel a bit like fishing for salmon, swinging a fly over fish that are sitting there waiting to spawn hoping to catch a brighter one. The "best" fish of the day was a beautiful silver cutthroat about 14 inches. The flies I used were the above mentioned Peacock and Grouse (most productive but also most fished), Grey wolf, and a Sexy Walt's. I got lucky with the water level, any higher and it would have been hard to get around. I also got lucky with the number and nature of the fish. Gotta happen sometimes...
Posts: 2,238 Name: Jamie Location: Nanaimo, BC Interests: Fly Fishing, Fly Tying, Rod Building, Football, Rugby, Cooking, The Great Outdoors, and Family Time
I fish the elk lots and I will give away the trade secrets when the fish first start to move in they love rolled muddlers,pheasant tails,small black stones and hares ears also a lot easier to catch on a dry as the fish darken up the feeding habit changes they start keying in on roe doesn't matter silver or coloured fish then ill fish with weighted egg pattern and 50 fish days r possible I was using a hook with nothing but a pink cone head and it worked
Pumped their stomachs and they were full of roe. Never thought rainbows would eat there own roe always new other trout would feed off each other like cuttys eating rainbow eggs or vice versa but eating there own eggs. Who would have thought it
Pumped their stomachs and they were full of roe. Never thought rainbows would eat there own roe always new other trout would feed off each other like cuttys eating rainbow eggs or vice versa but eating there own eggs. Who would have thought it
I've heard 'bows and steelhead (also 'bows) clean up loose eggs to lessen attraction of predator fish to spawning areas.
I fished the upper river a bit the day after you, because we were hiking to Landslide Lake. Only hooked a couple fish, but I was totally happy with that for the amount of time I put in. Couple of beautiful 12ish inch cutties and a 4 inch Dolly that took a dry!
What a beautiful river. I'd love to bring a micro Skagit system next time.
Is be interested in hearing more about a micro Skagit system. Are you talking single hand opst Skagit stuff?
Yea, that's what I mean. I don't actually have a setup, but something like a 3 or 4 weight rod with a commando head. If you follow OPST on social media, they're very into marketing that kind d of fishing right now, even including "micro intruders"
Post by Coastrider on Jun 16, 2017 20:48:16 GMT -8
What kind of distance does one need on the Elk? I find there is maybe only a couple rivers on the island that would require a spey setup. I used my 4wt with a heavy DT line for roll casting heavier flies to trout and it worked well. The trout LT is a great profile for single hand spey, if it had a shorter taper it would chuck big flies no issue
Is be interested in hearing more about a micro Skagit system. Are you talking single hand opst Skagit stuff?
I just built an 8' micro-spey, on an old Fenwick 8'1" glass blank, for a friend's 9-yr-old son. I lined it with a RIO Trout-max 11' head and 7' int sink tip, and took it out for a test. It casts beautifully, sh and dh (dbl spey, snake roll, perry poke, etc), requiring almost no d-loop, and easily shoots 50'-60'....just might have to build one for myself.
Last Edit: Jun 17, 2017 7:57:05 GMT -8 by herkileez
I fished the upper river a bit the day after you, because we were hiking to Landslide Lake. Only hooked a couple fish, but I was totally happy with that for the amount of time I put in. Couple of beautiful 12ish inch cutties and a 4 inch Dolly that took a dry!
Sounds like you were fishing the river along the Landslide lake trail? I haven't tried that, might be worth checking out later in the summer when the spawners have left the lower river.
What weight rod was it that you used Rick? I have an old Diamondback 5wt rod here I was thinking of stripping and doing that with
It was a 6 wt brown blank. He had a couple for years, and asked if I would build one for his son's b/day. Really a nice smooth casting blank. Not sure what series the Diamond is, but, might be worth a try.
Last Edit: Jun 17, 2017 10:38:36 GMT -8 by herkileez