Part 3- Leeches

Leetches, YUK. Some people think these thing are just plain old GROSS. In a way they are, but of all the Insects, Terrestrials and other bait, These are by far the most sought after by trout.  The trout have these juicy morsels available to them on a year round basics.

Leetches belong to a group of segmented worms from the class Hirudinea and can reach a lenght of 6 inches, but on average are in the 2-4 inch range. They move in a way like a snake, moving their segmented bodies from side to side, thus causing them to move in the water.  They have “Suckers” on both ends of their bodies that they use to attach themselves to their prey, these include Insects, Mollusks, worms, and Crustaceans. There are a few species of leech that are blood suckers, but these are few.

Leeches are light sensitive and because of this are more active in low light situations. They will move around during the day if there is heavy vegetation or other cover, but generally they are far more active during the times between dusk and dawn.

Leeches will come in a large variety of colors.  They once again, like many other aquatic animals have the ability to match the color of their surroundings. They can be found in colors ranging from Black to red, Green, Browns and even shades of purple. The most common colors are Red (Maroon) and black.

I have found that the best time to fish these creatures is at Dusk. This is what I call the magic hour, I have had more sucsess 1/2 hour before to 1/2 hour after dusk with leeches than with ALL the other flies I have combined.

Rick Passek

“The FlyFish Fanatic”

Part 2 Damsel Flies

Damsel flies, these are the ladies of the insect world. They are very dainty and beautiful.  They are also a very important part of the trout diet in the lakes of the north west. They are alot like the Dragon, yet are very different.

Order- Odonata

Suborder- Zygoptera

Family- Coenagrionidae

Colors: Browns to Greens.

Size: 15mm-30mm

Once again, these insects live in the water as a nymph. They do not live as long in the water as the Dragon does, they usually have a 1 year life cycle with the odd ones having a 2 year cycle in warmer climates.

These insects hide in the vegetation for cover and are like a chameleon, as they can change their color patterns to match their surroundings. Once again like the Dragon, they are ambush hunters but do not eat the same size of prey that the Dragon does. The Damsel fly moves differently than the Dragon, the Damsel swims thru the water a little like a minnow. It is aided by the use of Its gills that are located at the end of their slender bodies.

The Damsel flies migrate in Mass toward shore to start their emergence. The Trout feed on them at this time and target them with vigor.

As the Trout start to target them you should concentrate on fishing in or near the weeds. I have had limited success when fishing the adult patterns, but the nymph is what you will have the best luck with.

Rick Passek

“The FlyFish Fanatic”

Bugs, Part 1 (Dragon Flies)

I thought that I would do a 6 part series on the bugs that we as Flyfishers use in the lakes and rivers of BC, Alberta, And the pacific Northwest.

The insects that I will cover will be as follows:

Part 1- Dragons

Part 2- Damsels

Part 3- Leetches

Part 4- Chironomids (Midges)

Part 5- Scuds (Shrimp)

Part 6- Caddis Flies (Sedges)

PART 1 (Dragons)

The dragon fly is a very important food supply for the trout in the lakes of the region. The one I will be covering is common here, but it is not the only species around.

Common name: Dragon fly

Order: Odonata

Suborder: Anisoptera

Family: Aeshnidae

Color ranges from Browns to Grey’s and Greens

Size: 30mm-50mm

Trout mostly target these insects in nymph stage of their life cycle, but have been seen taking the odd adult. Dragons live underwater as Nymps for 2-4 years and then emerge as adults climbing up anything they can find to get out of the water to transform.

These insects are very very aggressive predators while in the nymph stage. they will hide in the weeds, mud, and other debris that is found in lake bottoms and will stay very still until something comes by that is a food item. They are ambush hunters and are very quick.

If they are startled or surprised they do have a way of defending themselves. They are able to expel water through thier rectum like a jet. This causes them to move at very quick speeds in short 2-3″ bursts.

Because these insects are ambush hunters they are very good at concealing themselves in their surroundings, because of this they are difficult for the trout to find. The trout really start to target them as the migrate toward shore to start their transformation to the adult stage.

These are large food items for the fish, so the fish feed very aggresivly on thm when they are migrating. As these insects live in the lakes all year they are available to the fish all year round.

I have found that Dragons start their migration around mid morning during the summer months, and this can be a great time for the Flyfisher.
Rick Passek

Tight lines & Fun Times

“The FlyFish Fanatic”

Fall Fishing

Over the years that I have Fly Fished, I have found that fall is one of the best times to fish.

The fish seem to be more aggressive, and they have a larger average weight than at any other time of year. The biggest downfall with fall fishing in BC is that the weather can be very unstable. I was out at Tunkwa lake 3 weeks back and we had snow, rain and high winds all weekend. The fishing was slow to say the least But going down in elevation to a nearby lake was the ticket.

This is the type of thing that you will need to learn, do I go up or down in elevation when the fishing is slow? I have found that there are times to do both. I will usually go up in elevation in the spring and down in elevation in the fall when the fishing is slow.

This is a general guideline and I will deviate from this depending on certain factors, these are weather, time of year, time of day, weather pattern over the past few days, and the region that I am fishing in. These things took me MANY years to learn and I am still, after 17years learning. I keep a very indepth log that records weather, date, moon, barometer, elevation, region, temperature, flies I tried, water temperature, depth fish were caught etc…

The interior of BC is a greta place for fall FlyFishing and there are certain flies that I use religiously. I almost always start with a micro leetch, then if that does not work, I will switch to a Dragon Nymph, from there I will try a Scud, All the while having my floating line in with either a chironomid or a boatman. If none of these work, I know it is going to be a tough day.

Fall fishing can be GREAT, but it can also be very slow, cold, wet, and windy so for the big ones you will need to tough it out and learn the patterns for the lakes in the area you go to.

The biggest thing I can recommend is to keep a thorough log and make sure to be  dedicated to making entries every time you go out.

Good luck

Tight lines & Fun Times

“The FlyFish Fanatic”

It’s been to long.

I know that I have been gone for far to long. I have had a very busy and rough summer and that is why I have not bloged on either of my blogs for some time now.

To update those of you who read my blogs, My book is in the last stages of production and WILL be out by the beginning of the new year. It has taken time to do the editing portion, meeting with a publicist, talking to people about cover design, websites, cards, brochures, finding a printer and the many many other things that are involved in the writing of a book.

I had no clue at the scope of work involved after the writing portion was done. There is more to it than I had ever thought. I will be writing on a 3-5 blogs a week pace for the time being and hope that by the new year I will be blogging every day. Please let me know if there is anything that I can talk about in my blogs that are of interest to you. Any questions that you may have will be answered to the best of my ability.

Just leave a comment with any suggestions or questions and I WILL address them all.

I am also working on doing some pod casts in the near future and will keep all of you updated.

Tight lines and Fun Times

The “Flyfish Fanatic”