Throughout the summer period the Crowsnest River, in Southern Alberta, finds itself host to a multitude of anglers trying their luck at catching some of the resident rainbows. The sustained pressure results in a very technical fishery which is evidenced by the presence of many highly-spookable Rainbow Trout.
After a few jumps and runs I started getting a little concerned - depending on the hook placement and which fly the fish had there was the risk of popping the hook.
The Eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies host one of the more favourable winter weather patterns I’ve experienced - Chinooks. The short explanation of a Chinook is that it’s a warm air mass that can raise winter temps in southern Alberta for a few hours or up to a few days.
Lift, sweep, cast… My line pops out just downstream of my position splashing my fly along the edge of a nice seam. It’s September and there is a small caddis hatch on but I don’t have a caddis pattern on my line…
The above quotation is from my friend Sam (whom we’ll be camping with) while he tries to explain how salvageable this weekend will really be. We’ve already had some great fishing this season so I’m somewhat skeptical about this being that much better…..Jackson, You don’t understand - this is dry fly fishing that will haunt you!!
Early in the afternoon a group of us ditched the Bow river for some stillwater action in the mountains. The previous day had high winds - we were happy to see this had calmed down by the early morning.
The past few days on the Bow River have been fairly productive; steady blue-winged olive activity has brought a new level of surface action in the Brown and Rainbow Trout.
With the popularity of sport fishing so high in North America the demand on many of our river and lake systems can not be matched by the waters’ ability to reproduce fish. Many popular rivers today have been protected with Catch and Release (C&R) regulations as a means to maintain the quality of fishery; […]
After yesterday’s Bow river fly fishing (Canada) outing I was eager to head out to fly fish the Bow river again. I was somewhat shocked by the amount the water level had lowered and the clarity. Water was over two feet in visibility today and had dropped by about a foot. That was enough […]
With no fishing plans for the day I decided to go out and scout locations to fish along the Bow. That way once the water improved enough I wouldn’t waste any time touring. On the off-chance I brought my gear; wouldn’t want to see fish rising and not have a rod nearby.
It was a good […]
After fly fishing lakes for a while now I finally got the itch to do some river fly fishing. The Crowsnest area has improved faster than the Bow here in Calgary so I decided to make the trip down and fish there.My first stop in the area was at the Crowsnest Angler - the local fly fishing shop to pick up appropriate patterns and get some suggestions on areas to try.
With the flooding in the Calgary area I decided to stay away from the Bow on my first Alberta fishing adventure. Not about to let that get in the way I headed out a few hours from Calgary in hunt for some rainbows. I had heard of some stocked lakes - figured it should be […]
I made it out to the Grand River for my second time this season. Today I met up with Coldreive and Comparadun for some Brown action…
We started out on the water close to noon since it was quite cold earlier in the morning. Upon arriving riverside we saw a multitude of sparrows hunting the midges […]
I went out for a few hours this morning to visit Grand and see what’s up. With the cold air there was a lot of fog which created some neat scenes…
I was hoping to catch some Trico action this morning and I was not disappointed. Early on there were fish sipping emerging insects. There were […]
As with many long weekends I headed up to the family cottage and spent some time out smallmouth fly fishing in Haliburton…
I’ve noticed that having a Fiance has seriously cut into my fishing time on weekends… So I suggested to her this weekend we should spend some quality time together - in the boat. […]
I took a much needed fly fishing break from work and headed out to the Grand river for all of Wednesday.
Finally we had a nice hot day and I was hoping that would transfer into a big-bug day (numbers-wise). While the large numbers I hoped for didn’t appear, there were still enough to steadily bring […]
The weather was great today so I decided to go out to the Grand River for the afternoon/evening at the last minute…
After about 30 minutes out on the water I noticed Rob O’Reilly out of the blue. We were fishing an upper section of the river and seemed to have it -almost- all to ourselves; […]
All 4 pieces of my SLT were reunited this week - they were itching for action. I met up with my buddy Sam(a person) along with Comparadun for some action on the Grand river.
Sam and Comparadun working a run
The forecast suggested it might be cooler, and that it might be a little windy. Both were […]
Wind River Stillwater Vest Review
Unlike many fly fishing enthusiasts I see on the water these days I’ve never felt the need to bring my entire closet along with me. So when I look for systems to carry my gear I look for products that seem to carry what I need (i.e. not want) and look […]
Today was a great day to be out on the Grand river - everything was provided: sun, bugs, big fish!,
I’m completely exhausted after today. I made it out to the river at an upper section by just after 6. My plan was simple - start out fly fishing streamers , then as soon as there […]
Mosquitos and Coffin Flies everwhere!!! Those are the highlights for me on the credit river tonight. Fridays always take a long time to pass by - sitting at work its hard to concentrate on much else except the time when I can get up and take off to the river. Tonight saw beautiful clear skies […]
I was out to the UC again last night (Sat) with Rob O’Reilly. The action played out pretty much the same as last night with the sulphurs coming off in good numbers and the browns coming up for them in turn.
The stretch we fished had very complicated currents so getting a drag free drift was […]
Well, after a little bit of work, I finally got my vacation time approved for last week. So I packed up my gear and made the quick (16.5hr) drive over to PEI. It would have been longer if I had stopped to fish half of the waters that I was tempted by on the way […]
Well, after a little bit of work, I finally got my vacation time approved for last week. So I packed up my gear and made the quick (16.5hr) drive over to PEI. It would have been longer if I had stopped to fish half of the waters that I was tempted by on the way […]