Holy Moly! What a July!

We've just had a slight break in the heatwave that's taken up residence over BC for about 2 weeks. Beautiful weather and lot's of jumping in the lake.

So much has been going on at the lodge that we haven't had time to keep up on new posts. We'll be adding a few over the coming week. The photo right is by Jill of Lou and me fishing from our new Blue Boat. It's a twenty foot flat-bottomed riverboat built by our old pal, Freddie Williams Jr. in Tachie village. Thanks Junior! It`s great boat.

We`ll be writing more about Freddie and our boats soon. What else happened besides a heatwave, a new boat and spectacular dry fly fishing? Well let me tell ya.....

Fish, moose and hatches...

What a busy couple of weeks! Lots of guests in and out, great fishing, fish smoking and so much more. We've been feeding the eagles, spotting moose and bear, and even a mule deer on the drive into town. The most impressive sighting was by our Japanese guests, who, while adjusting to the time, were up at 2 am to see the aurora on Monday night. They watched it for about 15 minutes, and one fellow even got a few great hand-held shots.
Lou has become an avid fisher-dog. He patiently watches the fly on top of the water, and then once a fish is caught, he gets very excited until the fisherman releases it back into the water. Very funny to watch, and the guests are getting a kick out of his antics.
Last night was a big caddis hatch, as Tad would say, 'Mothra Caddis', and fishing has been wonderful. Back to 'work' now, will post more as time permits!

It's Twins!

After seeing no loon babies since arriving here at the end of May, we thought maybe it was going to be a year of none surviving. But, Frank and Rob encountered the first family coming through the narrows on Tuesday. These two are pretty young, and the Dad tried very hard to lure the boat away from Mom and young. With luck they'll survive the eagles and gulls, with their parents' help, and come back next year. Still a little rainy, but we did have a few dry days this week. Lots of fishing fun, and we watched a loon out front eating his catch, too!

Return of the Giant Caddis

As I am typing this, Rainbow Trout, around the dock and out across the lake are feeding, making splashy rises. One of the reasons for this is the return of the giant Caddis (pictured left). Caddis are one of the aquatic insects that are mainstays of the trout diet. Others include: Mayflies, Midges, Damsel and Dragonflies.

All these insects are great trout food but the giant Caddis (over 2.5cm long) are a whole trout banquet in one gulp. That's why the splashy rises. They are one of the reasons that dry fly fishing is so good around here. And because they hatch sporadically, not in big waves as many aquatic insect do, trout are always on the lookout for them. Giant Caddis or "Travelling Sedge" come in a range of colours, varieties and sizes. My Japanese fishing brother, Tad has called the biggest species "Mothra Caddis".

Rainbow Trout will make a great effort to chase down giant Caddis. That's where the "Simulator" Dry Fly comes in. More on Caddis and the Simulator soon.

Email Us at the Lodge

Mountain Goats - Wilhelm & Nina plus 13

Here's a photo of Jill using our telescope to spot Mountain Goats from the sundeck. The family of Oreamnos Americanus on Grizzly Mountain numbered 13 members last fall.

The nannies and kids generally feed and travel in small groups. The old billy "Wilhelm" is usually off away from the other flock members. He is sometimes with one or two others which are most likely young billies. This year we (Jill actually) have spotted a total of 15 Mountain Goat, visible at the same time. A total of 5 kids born this spring. Of the five kids, it seems there is one set of twins. Oh, they're so cute.

We'll keep you posted on the flocks activities over the summer.