Dry Fly Fish Alberta's Eastern Slopes Starting June 16th
It's June in Alberta, and everyone's favorite dry fly fishing is fast approaching. From June 16th onwards, most of Alberta's back country streams and lakes are open to angling. We all have that one friend, the persistent dry-fly-only angler who lives for opening day on the mountain streams and won't fish anything but dries. Then there are lots of anglers who've been fishing for a while and will try anything, but have that one dry fly pattern they love, LOVE to fish (for me, it's Fat Alberts - Hey hey hey). And there are lots of anglers who are new to the sport or new to dry fly fishing. Whichever you are, we've got you covered!
Our fly bins are full with one of the best selections of flies in Calgary. Pick up a little fly box, like the Tacky Box Day Pack, fill it with your top picks for the mountains and you're ready to go. Must-have dry flies in my Alberta Mountain Streams box:
- Fat Albert - Tan - Size 12 (Hey Hey Hey)
- Hippie Stomper - Black - Size 14
- Pavlovich's Yellowstoner Chubby - Golden - Size 10
- Super Spider - Tan - Size 14
- Chew Toy Stimi - Yellow or Orange - Size 14
- Swisher's Dancing Caddis -Tan - Size 14
- Para-Ant - Black or Cinnamon - Size 16
- Paradrake - Green or Brown - Size 12
- Rusty Spinner - RUSTY - Size 14 or 16
- Para-Wulff - Purple - Size 12 or 14
- Ethawing PMD - PMD - Size 16 or 18
Still not sure where to start your mountain stream dry fly adventure? The best advice is just to be prepared with a few different patterns, and to be sure your flies look like food that the trout will be familiar with where you are fishing. Orvis's Tom Rosenbauer talks about successful flies for small streams in this article on the Orvis Fly Fishing Learning Center: Successful Flies For Small Streams. Like Rosenbauer says, opportunistic mountain mountain trout are often looking up. Having a variety of things for them to look up at on June 16th and beyond, that's your best bet.