It was a perfect evening to try out some minnow patterns in the flats of the shores of West Vancouver. I sought out two of the many streams tumbling from the mountains over the rocky barnacle shores into the salt water. In the first streamlet I checked I saw the scurrying flashes of fresh salmon fry. A walk out to the beach and I could see what looked like some merganser ducks diving and chasing but I saw something else too...Swirls in the water where ducks were not popping back up to the surface.
I put on the waders and tossed my first weighted minnow pattern. It landed and about 12 swirls across the surface spooked at the splash. Some quick strips in failed to invoke a strike so I switched to a sculpin and tried again. The swirls started to move down the beach so I followed and soon discovered that the hole in my waders was letting in some very cold salt water.
I switched to a sparse muddler minnow style fly with bit of red just behind the head and tossed it as far across the swirls as I could. A feisty yank pulled the sink tip taught and a scrappy little battle ensued. While not a monster, it was a nice touch as the sun started to set. A few splashes further down the beach signaled that there was more quarry to be had. As I stepped into the shallows a few mighty boils right in near shore let me know I should have been more careful as the cruising fish bolted for deeper water. Live and learn. I'm sure there are more to come as April unrolls and the schools of fry get thicker along the shorelines. Tight Lines!
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