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The kayak fishing season hasn’t just arrived – its already underway! The first kayak fishing tournament of the season took place the weekend after May long at Open Creek Dam. I was there, of course, you know I’m not one to miss an opportunity to catch some trout!
Open Creek Dam is a really nice venue. The campground, owned by Rimbey Fish and Game, is situated in a deep valley along the foothills. It is a small lake and is well protected, even during heavy wind and rain the lake is manageable in a kayak. Along with rainbow trout, there is a healthy population of suckers and, I’m told, perch as well. The campground is comfortable with lots of amenities like playgrounds and outhouse facilities but there is no power or reliable cell service, perfect for completely unplugging and enjoying nature!
Over the winter of the 2018/19 season there was a complete winterkill of trout in the lake but thanks to stocking efforts there are still some massive rainbow trout to be caught! One of the largest trout of the tournament was nearly 26 inches long!
Unfortunately it wasn’t me who caught the big fish of tournament day. Although I caught plenty, there were all freshly stocked 8-10 inchers. The lake surface temperature was a perfect 12°C and the trout were roaming throughout the water column. My tournament strategy consisted of trolling a 3″ minnow imitation on a sinking fly line as well as fishing chironomids and micro leeches under an indicator. Both strategies worked well and surprisingly, I caught a white sucker on a chironomid suspended mid water column. It was also a warm, sunny day and midges were hatching by the hundreds. Many anglers were also having fun catching rainbows on small dry flies in the few sheltered bays on the lake.
Highlight Reel:
Here’s a quick video clip of some of the highlights of the Trout on the Fly tournament.
More Tournaments on the Way:
Trout on the Fly at Open Creek was just the beginning, there are so many opportunities for kayak tournament fishing ahead. Check out the latest schedule for the stops on the Western Canada Kayak Fishing Trail!
For more information on the Trail, check out the Facebook link below:
https://www.facebook.com/wckft
