Get your mountain fly fishing fix without leaving the prairies! My Hare’s Ear drifted where some whitewater spilled into a deep run. In short order, the indicator dipped under the weight of a fish! It could have been a scene from the Crowsnest Pass, but I was on the Pembina River in southern Manitoba. The fish on my line was a 12-inch goldeye. The Pembina has riffles and runs, just like a mountain stream and even though the water is a little murkier, flatland fly fishers can have a high elevation experience close to home. Goldeye love to eat insects, just like trout so they can…
Author: Dale Martens
Dale Martens
Dale Martens is a travel enthusiast with a fishing addiction. As a recently retired physics teacher, his new life goal is using all his accumulated fishing gear.
Every so often, in the late spring or early summer, when the Red River is high, I have found some very hungry channel catfish where the floodway dumps in. These cats have been hungry enough to chomp down on fur and feathers. Our recent June rains got me thinking about this and wading into the floodway. To be honest, slick rocks and fairly deep water makes me wary of wading too far from shore. Throw in steep banks and nearby fellow anglers, and back casts become problematic. So spey casting was the order of the day. A bright-coloured fly…
Finding Water, Finding Fish A local Gem! The Whiteshell River, where it leaves West Hawk Lake, gives southern Manitoba anglers the chance to chase stream trout. I love it! I can feel the flow, pick out the spots, and make the cast. The river actually lends some water to a bank-side hatchery. The hatchery gives the water back, and a few hundred of its product each year. Occasionally, a few 20-inch-or-so brood stock get mixed in. Normally, the river exits the lake in a tumble of whitewater. Soon after, fishable pockets appear. Then a boulder garden. Then a few nice…
THE BOLIVIA CHALLENGE (Grande: A golden dorado with a big gold flank, big head, big teeth, big mean streak, and big jumps…) Toss an 8-inch fly into your typical trout riffle – or largemouth snag – and pull out 20-pounds of gorgeous, gold nastiness. That’s fishing for golden dorado on Bolivia’s Secure River. From June to October, thousands of sabalo, a tullibee-sized fish, run up the river and hungry dorado follow. Untamed Angling is an outfitter that puts anglers in the middle of this mayhem. INTO THE JUNGLE In late August, after a night in the city of Santa Cruz,…
A HIDDEN GEM CLOSE BY! The southeastern corner of Minnesota is loaded with spring creeks. They are the real deal – clear water, bright green weeds, lively riffles, and abundant brown trout. A couple of years ago my partner Deb and I sampled them for two weeks and had a blast. We also witnessed an electrofishing demonstration where state technicians hauled a dozen adult browns from a 30-foot section of stream. It was barely the width of your living room and not even prime holding water. These creeks offer fantastic DIY opportunities. To experience them, download the publication, Trout Angling…
Class III Brook Trout at Gods River Wild boat rides and wilder brookies…. David McKay, a Gods River resident and my guide, kept the outboard throttle cranked wide open. We sped toward a wall of whitewater that stretched from bank to bank, and David had no intention of slowing down. At the last instant, a chute of smooth water appeared. The boat shot through it, straight towards some rocks. David jarred the boat into a sharp left-hander. It was now on a collision course with the riverbank. A sharp right-hander corrected that. A lazy zigzag brought us near the…
A BIT OF WILL AND IMAGINATION IS ALL IT TAKES! Taxi rides, pushy swans, hand grenades, and aggressive sheep…. Would you like a Hare’s Ear alongside that Bordeaux red? Over the past several years, my partner, Deb, and I have explored bits and pieces of Europe. On most trips, I searched out a fishing hole. There is a lot of good looking water over there! What follows are some of the highlights and misadventures. Hopefully, you will find it informative and inspiring enough to carve out a small – or large – amount of fishing time if you find yourself…
Companion Friendly Arctic Char But still not so easy to catch… Wild arctic char generally dwell in inhospitable places. Camps that put anglers face-to-face with a char in Greenland or Nunavut are costly and remote. They are no place for a not-so-fish-crazed partner. Iceland, however, supports excellent populations of char and welcomes anyone with a taste for nature. Glaciers, waterfalls, icebergs, volcanoes, lava rock, hot springs, and extraordinary coastline are all abundant. There are also Atlantic salmon and brown trout, all close to a modern airport and paved roads. No float planes needed! An arctic char can get crossed off…
A DUAL TRACK APPROACH During late August, I spent a week at the Lodge at Little Duck in northern Manitoba. It lies just south of the 60th parallel, where a set of Wolverine River rapids connect Little Duck and Nejanilini Lakes. Being right on the tree line, the scenery is incredibly unique. Vast eskers look like sand deserts. Rolling hills are covered with colorful tundra. Caribou and moose meander between scattered stands of spruce, or even swim across the lake. Humans are rare in this part of the world, and the lodge is accessed via gravel airstrip. Despite the remoteness,…