Horsefly Strain Rainbow
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Thanks for sharing. I've driven by this lake many times and haven't stopped. My bad.
Quicker reactions help. Do not squish it so you can tie it on a bare hook...
That electric outboard looks pretty cool
The horsefly rainbow can also bite you - they have well developed teeth (more like a cutthroat than a rainbow).
They are found in the large lakes in the upper Fraser where they are well adapted to feed on smaller fish. Talked with a BC bio last year about the use of the hosrsefly rainbows in some of their lakes. The bios are pretty excited about their potential; they are a late maturing fish that can reach significant sizes. The bio reported that in their brood stock collection in Quesnel lake they trapped a 24 pounder!
On the line I have found them to be great fish capable of making some long runs and spectacular twisting leaps. While noted for their piscivore tendencies they will also readily take chironomids. My best horsefly fish to date took a size 14 chironomid. Hope to be catch more of horseflies in a month.
Don't know whether WDFW could get their hands on any but based on past experiences with other BC rainbow broodstocks that late maturing traits are not likelyto carry over in our waters. That said it would be very interesting to see how they performed in CnR water. Potentially they could perform much like a more catchable brown trout.
curt
They are found in the large lakes in the upper Fraser where they are well adapted to feed on smaller fish. Talked with a BC bio last year about the use of the hosrsefly rainbows in some of their lakes. The bios are pretty excited about their potential; they are a late maturing fish that can reach significant sizes. The bio reported that in their brood stock collection in Quesnel lake they trapped a 24 pounder!
On the line I have found them to be great fish capable of making some long runs and spectacular twisting leaps. While noted for their piscivore tendencies they will also readily take chironomids. My best horsefly fish to date took a size 14 chironomid. Hope to be catch more of horseflies in a month.
Don't know whether WDFW could get their hands on any but based on past experiences with other BC rainbow broodstocks that late maturing traits are not likelyto carry over in our waters. That said it would be very interesting to see how they performed in CnR water. Potentially they could perform much like a more catchable brown trout.
curt
With that tendency toward piscatory, those horsefly rainbows could be killer in lakes that have invasive brook trout that need some thinning.
Steve
I think you will have to travel north to catch Horsefly rainbows. The old WDG stocked BC Pennask rainbow trout in Lake Lenice in the 70s. Since Pennask fish are later maturing than WA rainbows, they thought they would grow to an older age and larger size in WA waters. It turns out that latitude and climate are major factors affecting trout species maturation. The Pennask that matured at age 4 in their native lake began maturing at age 2 in Lenice, same as WA rainbows. So if Horsefly rainbows were stocked in WA, they would probably mature at an earlier age and not reach the age and size that they do in northern BC.
I wonder if they’d do well in Ross Lake, which is full of those red sided shiners. I don’t know what strain of rainbows are in Ross currently, but they seem to be thriving on the shiners. It was a fun fishery the couple times I got to do it.
Plus to @salmog’s point, Ross is further north and closer ti where the Horsefly bows are now.
Plus to @salmog’s point, Ross is further north and closer ti where the Horsefly bows are now.
BigSplashTom
Steelhead
Thanks for sharing. Rowley always makes it look so easy.
Seems like I aways something to learn from his videos.
Like fish early spring to avoid those bothersome 4 engine mosquitoes commonly found in the Caribou.
Seems like I aways something to learn from his videos.
Like fish early spring to avoid those bothersome 4 engine mosquitoes commonly found in the Caribou.
Ross lake has it's own strain of rainbow trout that are collected and used as broodstock for some high lakes still.
That's exactly what I was thinking.
Just checking Google maps, that lake is 7.4 hours from my place. Well with range for a 4 day May trip. And can keep 1 of those fish per day, the bigger fattest ones might be interesting on the smoker.
Guess I better look into a Canadian trout license.
Guess I better look into a Canadian trout license.
To keep things in perspective, Phil is well prepared and capable of finding fish in Stillwaters. He landed 5 fish that trip. 5 fish that he worked his butt off for. Something to think about before a 7.5 hour Drive.
ifsteve
Steelhead
That's why I much prefer fishing reports that give me some real data and not just a persons perspective. Oh best trip of my life. Man it was off the charts. Boy did it suck. Its great to read those things but then give me at least a little of the "rest of the story." LOL
I'm thinking the lake he fished is about 4 hours from my house here in Edmonds. The trip North is worth it. Where are you going to catch fish like that in our state?
The last few years have been fishing a lake where a portion of the planted trout were horsefly fish (since 2021). In recent years it looks like about 28% of the plant has been horsefly fish, the rest were blackwaters. Typically, only about 15% my catch was consisting of the horsefly fish though for those fish over 22 inches the horsefly fish accounted for nearly 50% of them.
If I ignored the throat samples and fished larger profile flies I would do better on the horsefly fish including some nice fish. As I mention earlier the bio I talked with is hopeful that lake will soon produce some large fish. Of course, I took the info hook, line, and sinker and now are expecting to exceed 8# this spring,
curt
If I ignored the throat samples and fished larger profile flies I would do better on the horsefly fish including some nice fish. As I mention earlier the bio I talked with is hopeful that lake will soon produce some large fish. Of course, I took the info hook, line, and sinker and now are expecting to exceed 8# this spring,
curt
Looked to me like the show was shot on a early spring day? Think the fishing is always tough then.
My thoughts are in a prime time setting Mid May - mid June and warmer water temps I'd cater to their aggressive nature & strip small baitfish patterns to stimulate strikes