Mousing

Recent hot summer nights at Fortress Lake have probably brought some of the most enjoyable moments of fishing I've had yet. We've had the odd brook trout caught at Fortress on a mouse pattern over the years, but nothing quite like our  recent experience. Our guide Dustin, myself and our guest decided to cruise the lake that holds a large number of good brook trout along woody structure. The sun was setting and the lake was glass calm. Our night began with some great success on an elk hair caddis pattern as the fish were rising steadily in a particular spot. We could sight cast to them and watch as these dark figures appeared from the glacial blue waters to engulf our flies. Hardly enjoyable :)

The thing to keep in mind when reading this post is that dry fly action at Fortress Lake is random at best throughout the early season. The brookies will come up from time to time (water conditions dependent) for a variety of different food sources on top, but knowing exactly where to put one's fly without a consistent rise within in a castable area is very tough. Even with a ton of patience, you can wait for hours without anything happening - that is - until this time of the year.
Our guest, Mike had brought a couple mice patterns with him for his trip and was eager to try. He insisted we all take turns with the rod, so Dustin and I had no problems agreeing to his request. The caster would get a good cast, while the other 2 would watch intently as the mouse was twitched along the top of the dark, silvery shadows of the lake, leaving a rather large wake in behind it. The first good smack at the fly brought on the biggest uproar of excitement from us all as it manged to be only a few feet off the log, and well within our limited viewing. This fish got off, but we all proceeded to hook one and land it that night.The anticipation of the rise out of the approaching darkness and the explosive takes in the stillness of the warm night was amazing. It's hard to beat the feeling of a large brook trout taking your mouse pattern on the surface when you are situated in the midst of the remote Canadian Rockies. As it turns out, Mike ended up catching the biggest trout of his life on a dry fly at Fortress Lake, so I'm pretty sure Mike went back to Ontario a happy man.