Alastair's Indispensible British Columbia River Flybox

[Alastair]

It's interesting reading through the other virtual flyboxes, I recognize very few of what I'm sure are very well established flies.  I don't have photos of my flies, but I'll find some as I get the time and post them here.

I fish mostly rivers and small streams, so my flybox is heavily influenced by the large salmon runs that we have here, particularly the streamer section.  In late winter/spring the Aelvins emerge from the reds signalling the start of a trout feeding orgy so if you don't fish minnow patterns at that time you'll often get blanked.  Another influence is that, with a few notable exceptions, we fish right through the autumn and winter.

DRIES

1.  Elk Hair Caddis - Probably the #1 fly for rivers in BC.  #14 hooks are ideal, with peacock, tan and rust the best colours for the body.

2.  Olive Comparadun - Never, never go fishing without these in size 18 during October.  Tan also works well.

3.  Griffith Gnat - Size 18 - 22.  Works when what we call midges are hatching (they don't bite here).

4.  Parachute Adams  - #12 - #18.  Can be tied to match any mayfly that's hatching, just change the body colour and size.

5.  CDC Stone - Large fly (1 1/2 inches) tied on a 3 or 4XL hook in sizes 2 to 8.  When the large stoneflies hatch in early summer on the Thompson River, cast this out and wake it on the swing.  Hold on tight or else a 24 inch wild rainbow could rip it out of your hands.

6.  Stimulator - In larger sizes (#2 to #8) fish it like the CDC Stone.  In smaller sizes (down to #16) it will match just about any hatching stoneflies.

EMERGERS

7.  DHE - This is about the only fly I have in common with any of the other flyboxes.

STREAMERS

8.  Olive Woolly Bugger - For some reason seems to work better than the traditional black.

9.  Egg&I - A deadly Aelvin pattern for when salmon emerge from the redds.  The key appears to be light pink or orange in the throat to imitate the yolk sac (#12 - #6)

10.  Polar Fry - similar to the Egg&I, but without the yolk sac.

11.  Epoxy Minnow - another minnow pattern except the body is covered with epoxy.  This makes for a heavier and more robust fly.

12.  Black O'Lindsey - Originally tied to immitate an emerging fry, it also works well as a nymph.

NYMPH

13.  Bead Head Hare's Ear - you guy's are probably familiar with this one.

14.  Black Stonefly Nymph - In size 14, works well for black stoneflies which emerge typically in January and February.

EGG PATTERN

15. Glo Bug - When the salmon are spawning, trout and charr hold just downstream of the redds and pick off stray eggs before they get covered.  Over the Winter, the redds can be disturbed by high water washing out the eggs.  At these times, an egg pattern drifted through a pool or riffle can be deadly.

[Wildfisher]

A cracking selection, I even recognise some of  ?em!  :lol:

Some of the  very small sizes of the dries are interesting. As a young lad, 30 odd years ago I puzzled for years how to catch trout on our local small streams on warm summer nights. Although they were rising, they seemed impossible. Then I got some size 20?s and 22?s. and tied up some simple dry spiders, usually white. Although the fish were hard to hook on these small  sizes they worked! Mind you my eyesight  was better back then!

[Alastair]

If the river you're fishing is not too deep or fast, then you won't need anything other than a floating line.  With faster water or deep pools a sink tip works better.

I've found the best way is to cast directly across or slightly downstream, letting the streamer swim across the current while working my way down the river, making sure I cover all the water and all water depths.  Most takes are near the bottom and at the end of the swing.

In slack water and at the end of the swing in rivers, I strip the fly in, varying the retrieve.

[badger]

Alistair, an interesting selection there.Have you ever tried the variation of the Elk Hair Caddis that doesn't have a body hackle? Basically I mean the version attributed to Bob Wyatt. I've been using that here in the summer on streams to great effect (late evening especially), and personally find it more useful.

Another thing, I'm pretty sure you must be the same Alistair that posts over on the FishBC forum..? If so, you may remember me from my trip to BC a couple years ago, I fished with my brother on the Skagit. In not, ignore all that..!

Thanks for sharing.

[bluezulu]

very interesting selection and some of your comments make me think of childhood holidays in BC.

many of these patterns (olive wooly b's -not black- elk hairs, stimulators, tiny dries) were super effective in Patagonia when i was lucky enough to fish there.

i fish with very small dries a lot here in drought ridden  southern england- 22's and 24's even, but as soon as i head north i always seem to be tying on 12's and 14's. wonder if thats a mistake and there's a place for much smaller flies in scottish waters.

[Alastair]

Hi Mike, I remember that day on the Skagit well.  A slow start to the day, but it finished very very well.  (Mike and his brother caught about 40 fish each in the last 2 hours of the day).

About half of the Elk Hair Caddis in my fly boxes are of the no hackle variety.  I find they work equally well as the hackled version.

Alastair

[haresear]

Alastair,

Fly patterns seem to be more international these days. Maybe it's the internet, with the worldwide coverage.

Like you, I find an Elk Hair Caddis works most places. Likewise an Adams.

I'm still trying to Stimulate a Clyde brown, but I did get one to take a size 8 L/S Chernobyl Ant last summer after using them for the first time on the Elk in B.C.

Clyde fishers will fall down at this point! :lol:


Paradoxically, I do OK on the same river on tiny dries!


I also found a fluorescent chenille egg pattern to be my best fly this autumn/winter, but oddly enough this was before the trout and salmon started spawning :?

I tried streamers on a sink-tip at the start of this season, but had no takers. Had no takers on nymphs etc. either, so it was probably down to conditions.
I'll give it a go again, next time we have high water. Do you find the streamers more effective in high/coloured water or not?

Who knows? We just try stuff and sometimes it works..... :?

[Alastair]

I've never really noticed whether streamers are more effective in high water than low.  90% of the time I'm fishing streamers to Coastal Cutthroat Trout, and what really determines how many fish you catch is whether they are there or not.  Coastal Cutts tend to school a lot so if you catch one, you're likely to catch several more.  

I usually don't fish streamers in coloured water, not because they don't work, but because there is a particular river near where I live (Harrison River) which will still run clear after 5 days of torrential rain.  If other rivers are coloured up, I'll go fish the Harrison instead.

[haresear]

Alastair,

I've had cutts in freshwater and found them great fun. Free rising and good fighters.
The biggest was maybe 2lb 4 oz.
A friend told me that coastal cutts are bigger. How big do they go?

[Alastair]

There were 14 different subspecies of cutthroat, but two are now believed to be extinct.  Lahontan Cutthroat Trout (not extinct) have historically been reported around the 40 pound mark but I don't think any have been caught even close to that in the last 40 to 50 years.

I believe the record coastal cutt was somewhere around 14 pounds.  Interestingly, the largest fish are not sea run (like sea trout) but lake resident fish.  My largest is about 4 pounds, but I hear of 8 to 10 pounders every now and again.