Alberta Fly Fishing

2011-09-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

September

2011-09-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

AHHHHH, the heat continues, water levels are low and the trout are finicky!! Lots of new patterns in the shop for those troublesome fish! Few stones sighted again, crow and oldman systems. Watch out for bears on the mid-upper crow..Winston is for rent, great bear dog!and not a bad guide.Yep it's B.W.O.time again!!all the best ,Susan crowsnest cafe and flyshop

HOT HOT HEAT!!!!!

2011-08-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

Hey all! We are in the middle of a heat wave down in crowsnest pass! While we all have been loving it on the river, in the cafe it has created for some long hot days! Thank god they have kokanee on tap during happy hour down the road haha!

The heat has done good things for the fishing after such a cold spring. The Crow, Oldman, and Castle have all dropped to normal summer time levels. Cold nights and hot days have made the fish very willing and the insects have started popping like crazy!

The usual suspect mayflies have turned up, caddis have been more numerous on a daily basis, and the stones are still kicking around. All in all providing a great smorgasbord of food for the trout! Pop into the shop for advice on specific bugs and pick up some of our new patterns at a good new price!
I am seeing more and more little hoppers bumming around on the banks, and the odd big guy too! Keep those fingers crossed for hoppers by the end of the month!

On a conservation note, there was a major bust on the Livingstone river in the last week. Apparently a very major number of trout were poached, luckily our Streamwatch Conservation officer busted the poachers and many tickets where handed out.
Keep those eyes open for poachers out there, report any illegal or suspicious behavior by calling 1-800-642-3800

That's all for now folks! Happy fishing out there I'm off to the river!

Cheers! John

Oldman/Crowsnest rivers

2011-07-07T09:43:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say the Oldman/Livingstone is fishing really well,most spots are crossable and fish are grabbin' up the dry flies!! Water viz is clear...Crow is almost at normal levels, running clean and the big boys are snappin' up the dry flies too. Lots of new patterns in the shop..open 8-5 everyday tight lines, Susan

2011-06-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

june

2011-06-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

Waters are dropping fairly rapidly,upper oldman system fishing good..same as upper Castle..no bugs yet, except Al saw some Salmon flies when the mid-day heat stopped in...more sunshine..more bugs!!!Susan

2011-06-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Opening Day Report

2011-06-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

The cool weather has the rivers dropping and clearing up .. the Crowsnest had a few feet of clarity yesterday .. Our young guide John Bransfield has returned from New Zealand .. After closing the flyshop we went for a few hours of fishing on the Crows Nest River .. both with out a camera , so no picture of my first fish of the new season which was a beautiful 21 - 22 inch brown fat and an easy 4lbs .. caught on a salmonfly dry fly pattern off the shelf at our shop ..although the water temps are cold 40 - 50*F the sun is bound to shine and bring out some stones and salmon flies ..with this cool weather all I have seen is midges ,caddis and PMD,s this week ...fish were caught in the Oldman and Castle river drainages yesterday according to our scouts ..seek and ye shall find , brother.. Gotta go Al B.

summit.lake

2011-05-31T18:21:00.000-07:00

A rewarding morning on summit lake just on the B.C. side of the Pass...the trout truck pulled up with a cargo of 3,200 rainbows. Gerards and Fraser valley rainbows were stocked,size from 7-8"- 16"up to 2 lbs. A little volley ball game broke out between a newly formed school of 12"er's determined to bounce my fat albert around....just curious to see what they might do..hooked and landed another nice brookie...really good to see ,Susan

2011-05-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

Yes Summit lake has been hit hard by winter kill...see Al's last post,...but after seeing a fair number of sizable rises the other day Gary and I decided to check it out.8 degrees,strong east wind, choppy...Gary had some good hits, and I managed to land this nice 16" Brook trout....judging by the # of rising fish I'd say there's lots more action to be had at summit. Susan

May long weekend fishing report /Summit lake

2011-05-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

Well it,s going to be a typical cool May long weekend . no snow is forcasted .. The cool weather is keeping the river levels down and the Crowsnest River is fishable by my standards just don,t plan on wading into it , unless you know exactly what you are stepping into .. expect 1-2 foot visability and possibly some dry fly but definatly nymphing .. Oldman is running mud coming from the mountains ,, the clear cutting up there has been brutal the last few years The Oldman bellow the dam is running over 100 cm/s ... Beaver mines Lake is still frozen .with 2-4 feet of snow at the camping area ... Lee lake is fishing good .. Beauvais has produced some good browns recently ,unfortunatly the ones I heard of got bonked ! bummer . The gov. only stocks a few hundred browns each year and thousands of rainbows ? Crowsnest Lake is free of ice / please release the big old lake trout .. they may be 50+ years old . Summit Lake B.C. which is 10 minutes west of our shop has had a huge winter kill with 1-2 thousand dead trout of all sizes floating around .. but there is still lots of fish rising , bugs permitting .. The deal here is that the water is totally GROSS ! .. It has two foot visability and brown , with stringy white entrails of trout floating about and an oil sheen on top( Fish oil ) I had to power wash the oil off my raft . DId I fail to mention it stinks also ! Check it out if you want to veiw bald eagles and bears .we saw a black bear come down to feed and reports of a grizz and 3 cubs at the outflow end .. We will let you know when there is a change in Summit lake conditions ... Gotta Go Al B.

Friday Report

2011-05-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

I managed to get out of the shop to test the Crow ... Well it is fairly high and brown and about 1 foot visability .. After more than a week of speyfishing , flinging a fly on a #5 weight is at first an odd experience ... as if you have nothing of any weight in your hand ... I had to check to see if I had accidently taken a #2 weight from the truck .. Any how , despite the muddy water trucking along , I did catch two rainbows in the first hour of the two hours I fished .. In the second spot I actually saw 4 rises and a 3 small mayflys looking like a small slate wing or possibly a blue wing olive . Well the nymphs came off immediately and a emerger was tied on and that was a mistake , and I was not to see a bug or rise again .... I have fished worse looking water , but the river will most surely rise some more ( also had a couple of adult Skwalla stones crawl on me ) .. Crowsnest lake is pretty much clear of ice with some ice sheets floating around (midges were about ) .. Summit lake has maybe 5 feet of open water around it and nobody has seen any winter killed trout, which seems to be the big worry . Young Kale reports seeing a mother Grizz and three cubs at the outflow end , Be Alert ... Lee lake is fishing good this week ... I would think Beauvis Lake is worth a look .. the Oldman is dirty and rockin ... Pike season is On .. Will be in the Kooteny,s tommorow having some fun scoutting out some Lake fishing ... Suzy will be in the shop at 8:00 , it is best not too bug her until 8:15 .. Gotta go Al B.

May 7 Crowsnest Report

2011-05-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

Suzy and I got back to Alberta to find winter is still hangin on .but just two days ago the creek that flows into the Crowsnest in front of our house started flowing above ground , prompting us to plug in the sump pump and load our fly boxes with bigger flies . We have seen blue wing olives and big midges . The little black stones are still around as spring is late .. Skwallas are expected on nice days along with the odd golden and salmon fly .. The Crow is not huge yet but dirty, expect 2 foot visability... The first Crowsnest grizzly bear was spoted about a month ago .. be aware . Lee Lake is open at the north end and could be fully open this weekend .. Summit Lake on the Border is Still FROZEN... Pike fishing is on ! Gotta GO ! Al B.

Fish of the Day

2011-04-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

April 15th ... winter just dosn,t want to leave ... three years ago I thought April was the best month of the year on the Crow .. two years ago .. not quite so hot .. and this year it,s been cold and alot of nymph fishing has been going on .. my dry fly only freinds have gone into deep depression .. me, I fish anything and everything .. Dave O and I went out in blizzard planing on a short fish ... it turned out to be beautiful, peacefull and big fluffy snow flakes added to the silence on the water .. Fish were caught , dogs swam... The snow was 4 inches deeper when Dave and I plodded back to the truck.. this is the longest coldest , whitest winter I have seen down south here in the Pass. If the weather stays the same count on little Black stones and midges ... Suzy and I are OUT of HERE ! ..West coast steelhead are calling us .. hope we get there before the blossoms fall off the fruit trees ..G##*&!!!-W*#!!&!!-M?!!-- Global Warming..the Crowsnest Cafe' and Fly Shop is CLOSED for the WEEK .... AL B.

2011-04-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

Too exhausted from snow shoveling to write...but now the slow melt is on,small black stones are out,(as well as a rare golden)the Crow remains low ,and clear.Yes spring is here. Still lots of snow in the mountains ,so we must hope for a long and consistent run-off....Skwallas should be on show on the Oldman soon...So don't forget to renew your licence and check out below highway 22 on the oldman...Crow is open for fishing from downstream of East Hillcrest bridge to the top of Lundbrek Falls,and downstream of highway 3. Lots of new patterns at the shop...all the best to everyone.Susan

2010-12-22T08:03:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas tidings ! Al has finished hunting ...lots of cdc feathers for next years little green men. We wish all of you a warm and happy season. Here's to warmer temps and great winter fishing!

susies first pike

2010-11-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

Mid November and BWO'S are still being taken up top...our sweet cdc elk hair caddis has been my fav this fall...really lucky to have had the month of October off to fish...and fish we did,perfect conditions with co-operative trout!The shopis open again 8-5 wed-sun...my first pike.

2010-09-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

finally SUNSHINE

2010-09-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

To those of you who persevered thru the last 10 days of grizzly weather,casting size 18 to 24 blue winged olives,astounded that green drakes were still coming off and figuring out emergers were usually,but not always the answer;CHEERS!!!Finally sunshine and the waters are cleaning up quickly.Maybe they'll turn onto hoppers,and larger insects, but give me B.W.O.'s anytime...pic of Al weathering it out and yes this brown was caught on a size 18 blue wing olive. Till later...Susan

september coming

2010-08-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

Waters are all low now and easily wadeable. The fishing; as usual is extremely productive even with the bigger trout starting into their finicky phase! Don't be counting on the big guys rising ,they're willing and ready ,but hanging back for a nice presentation of imitative patterns. Green drakes on the Oldman are still coming off,but we'll soon be seeing lots of the smaller insects in profusion.New patterns are in the shop,hours remain the same from 8-6 everyday.Get ready this September is going to be awesome!!Susan

august

2010-08-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

Whew, the heat wave has subsided ,rivers are all in great shape,and fishing well. Still some stones fluttering about,lots of PM D's...we have some nice new patterns in the shop. Crow rainbows are starting to be finicky,but still lots of action!!Shop is open 7 days a week from 8-6. Wishin' you good fishin', Susan

july!!

2010-07-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

The summer is finally here...and it's hot!The Oldman ,Castle drainages are clear and running at average flow now..Crow is just about back to normal levels,nice and clean.Good time for big dry flys!Just thought I'd post this as Edmonton seems to think we are under water with floods...??tight lines, Susan Crowsnest cafe and Flyshop

Canada Day

2010-06-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

It,s official ...Another beautiful green summer is unfolding like the wings of a golden stonefly tumbling on the surface of a gentle cascade ... well enough of that barff... Set The Hook!! .. it,s big fish time and the rivers are clear dropping fast .. good hatches are starting .. Wading can be dangerous and watch out for those spawning beds ... another hazard out there these day,s are river otters.They look cute and will taunt you're dog out for a swim . I was out with my old pals from Bamff Fishing Unlimited and there was a 28-30 pound laker landed on the second day.. just waiting for a picture from my guide buddy Scotty Campbell to post .. The Crows Nest Cafe' and Fly Shop is open 7 days a week now ..gourmet food for fisherman and gourmet flies for trout ... we have a new website for the cafe' which is crowsnestcafeandflyshop. something? G.LOOMIS is GOD of ROD Have a great Canada Day long weekend ... Al B.

2010-06-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Wild Turky Hunting and High Water

2010-06-12T23:27:00.000-07:00

About the end of March everybody was talking about the winter drought and the forest fires due this summer .. I guess they just forgot about where they live .. the Alberta Rockies .. Skiing might have been slim this year but we are going to get that snow at sometime (after the Ski hilsl close ) .... Well we have had the most snow and rain ever in the last month and a half ... it was cold enough the higher snow pack didn,t melt much and the run off has been high and steady , with more snow building higher up.. so a good run off so far this year and more moisture in the ground than I have ever seen .. I got selected by draw , to hunt a wild turkey ... on the last few days of the hunt, I pulled the insoles out of my hiking boots to accomodate my waders and hunted the soggy hills .. it sure was different to hunt in the spring time with every thing turning green , and wild life every where .. I came across three grizzly's and three black bears in just a few days.. also
hundreds of deer ,a mother fox with about 8 mice in her mouth and still, hunting the next one and had two cougar,s growl in the trees close by. I would imagine at me .. and the Wild Turkey is the goofy 'est thing ever .. and I learned lots about them over the course of two weeks (thanx for the hunting time Suzy Q ) .. And would gladly hunt them with a camera until the next time I get drawn for the hunt .. (although I will miss the gun ) and the fine dinners from the bird ..turky pies tonight were excellent .. And with that experience behind me it is back to fishing season.. We had some good fishing on the Crow then it blew uot .. then it cleared a bit and is still high but fishing good ..some salmon flies are about. I saw my first one a couple weeks ago .. caddis .. mayflies .. midges .. salmon flies any time any day .. but don,t expect all the feeding to be one the surface .. Summit Lake B.C. just over the boarder is fishing great .. those rainbows sure fight ! The Oldman is high but not that dirty .. most of the trout have finished spawning, but watch out for reds , because they are right were you would like to wade ... Our little fly shop will be open 7 Days a week starting June 16th.( untill we burn out ) Opening day for all trout waters in Alberta .. we have a web site for the Crowsnest Cafe and Fly Shop now ... crowsnestcafeandflyshop.ca ... I think ? Any how I have to leave for a quick millwright job on Edson AB, And will fish my way there and back ... definately fishing Lk. Minniwanka in Banff on the way back for lake trout.. So reports on other waters next week .. Crowsnest Cafe and FlyShop 403-563-8510 for fishing info .. keep your tip up Al B.

May Report Crowsnest /Oldman River

2010-05-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well , conditions change every couple of days with these May blizzards ...The Crowsnest looks beautiful and blue right now and a bit higher ...wade with caution .. I will check out the hatches tomorrow for possible blue wings , probable midges and some times a brown caddis hatch in this lousy spring weather... This snow will melt soon when the sun comes out this August ..and the river will get some colour.. keep in touch .. Gary T. caught a good Lake trout in the Crowsnest river in the lower section again (5-6# lbs. )Suzie has been tying streamers and fishing them this winter , they look like crap, but fish bite them (because they can,t stand the colours) ... she has caught some nice rainbows lately ...and Kirby just stands around muttering about DRY FLY Fishing and bothering people .. The Oldman R. is muddy by Ft. Macleod and upsteam to Pincher creek ....clouded above that ... and muddy coming into the reservoir ..then clear in the closed section ...not much for hatches in this cold weather... The Bow R. looked great around Canmore the other day also .. Suzy ,Gary ,Kirby ,dogs and I visited the Palmer Ranch Springs, and the wind blew , the sleet sleeted and then for a grand final'e .. a horizontal blizzard of dollar size flakes ... I could barely see the end of my rod for an hour, and fishing a white line as usual .... for near an hour I covered that water with various flies and techniques ... the white noise of wind, waves and big wet snowflakes .It was eventually hypnotizing .. lost in casting a white line into a blasting tunnel of snow .. when the blizzard died I saw the first trout in an hour slowly wag it's way under my now visible line.... 15 feet out ... the white noise repressed .... and soon I hear the beep of the Suburban horn , Suzie is done ..broke off a big one, on one of her crappy streamers , the heater is on ,and she ready for home . The boys are back... Gary Taje landed a classic Palmers Ranch chromer ...and he had a Queen Charolette island grin.. watch out for spawning reds .... Al B.

Crowsnest River Fishing Report /April 28 th

2010-04-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

The River has cleared up a bit with this cold weather ( visability was 4-5 ft .) , but with the full moon, miniscule midges plagued the water .. size #28 would be too big..making it tough fishing ... but I did catch fish on a #18 midge pattern fished deep on both the Crow and the Oldman. A few skwalla adults skittered about with out being ate . We did not see many May flies hatching even with the bad weather , but it is still April and it,s going to change soon .. Visibility was good this week .. Suzy and I will be fishing the Upper Bow River tommorow in the snow ...guess we picked the wrong week to have a holiday! The streets of Calgary will get a good wash with this weather but that will probably blow out the lower Bow ...maybe we will check it out around Cochrane and report back Saturday .. good luck out there ! Conditions will change soon .... Al B.

Peace River and back

2010-04-27T22:56:00.000-07:00

Heading north from Coleman at 6:00 am to the Mighty Peace River by Ft. St. John .... I was fueled for the 1300 kilometer drive by caffeine . Unfortunatly the last good cup of coffee was bought in Bragg Creek just two hours north of our Cafe' .. It,s amazing what people think is good coffee these day,s ... but I was forced to drive on... pulling into Ft. St. John at 9:00 pm. A couple of times I almost poured a coffee out the window but drank it down and cranked up Jimi Hendrix just to keep my eye,s open... After working on this compressor rebuild for a week I got my act together and drove up stream in search of clean water ... I am certainly spoiled, living in the mountians and I am not impresssed with the northern bush and rivers that have been flowing mud since modern industry rapped the north .. but I heard of the legendary clear water that flows from the Bennett Dam in B.C. After 45 minutes of driving , the Mighty Peace River was in veiw ...clear and blue , it was big, jet boat big ! So decending the valley I was soon standing on it,s banks or should I say shores . Ted Dansen (guy from Cheer,s) once said , "having sex with Whoopey Goldburg was like throwing a weiner down a hallway ". well thats how I felt casting a fly rod at that much flowing water... fairly insignificant .. and I didn't put on waders when I got out of the truck , my first thought was of the Alberta Didymo algae on my wading boots ... for the first time in years I had travelled to a potentially Didymo free enviroment . ... I fished up stream not able to reach good water without wading , so what did I dredge up on my heavy steamers but Didymo !! Hey I'm a tourist up here ! But what a beautiful place on this planet... I would love take a week and float that valley . Across from me was an island made up of just cliff face 80 feet high, that split the Peace in two ...each half of the river was far bigger than the Thompson River . Work was over a week later and on the radio they announced that Premier Cambell will have that part of the Mighty Peace River and all it,s farm land damed for hydro power .. So you have two years to go experience the mighty river ... Rainbows, Dolly Varden , Artic Grayling , Pike ,Walleye ,Goldeye and more . I suggest you contact Darren Thiel at BACK COUNTRY Outdoor Shop 250-785-1461 for info ..he is quite enthusiastic about his fishery ... GOOD BYE .. MIGHTY PEACE

2010-04-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

Dry Fly Time

2010-03-21T15:03:00.000-07:00

I left the fly shop the other day after closing with Winston the dog . We hit the Crowsnest River for a couple hours ,still using the same nymph combo from the other day . I touched a couple of trout but observed two rises on a slow foam line and switched to a flymph or floating nymph in the size #18 midge catagory ..Seems like those two trout were onto me already and I did not rise them to a fly. Winston was having some concerns and charged the woods barking a few times , we were downwind of whatever ?? and I could not smell the whatever ? so it wasn,t a spring bear, which don,t usually smell any better after months of napping . After a bit of trying,I got keen on catching my first dry fly trout in 2010. Winston and I walked upstream , heading for a cliff pool with a big foamy slow back current , thinking "where the foam collects the food collects".If there was a steady riser ,this was the best winter dry fly spot for this mile of river..I bypassed the runs in between... Reaching the cliff pool the foam was thick and coffee coloured and looked just like the creme'fresh on the espresso we try to recreate daily at the cafe'. We got this new espresso machine ( I AM NOW HOOKED ON IT ).I scanned the pool of coffee creme'...the current was so slow, the thick foam just jiggled a bit as it circled round , there was definitely a suspicious jiggle in the foam coming off the rock point .I stood watching the 40 foot round bowl of espresso for a rise.. I realized then that I had "no lead" or indicator on this new rod.. (TFO TiCrX) for the first time since I pulled it off the rack at the shop in December, I had on just a dry fly...I kept an eye on the suspicious creme' ,especially where it came off this rock point .. ..Not to disturb the possible riser I cast off to the side into the clear water of the main seam as it pushed along the cliff wall . I cast a while admiring the Z-axis type action of this 5wt. The TFO bounced 70 foot casts up against the wall and would have gone further if there was room or need ..The creme' jiggled just off he rock point , I had my riser ! and waited , not taking my eyes off that spot. The trout jiggled the foam again and I had my target pin pointed and a presentation straight up the back current from where I stood ... Forty feet of line , leader and tippet straightened out four feet over the water and hung briefly then dropped softly into the coffee creme'...cutting a straight line an inch deep into the bowl of espresso .. there was a quiet fizz of tiny bubbles breaking and the dry fly was gone ...about four seconds past and the creme' jiggled ... I set!.... the line went tight and solid , a feeling like only a hefty trout or snag can do . Creme' from the tight line had flung into the air followed by a tail slap that flung a wad of it against the rock face ...seconds later my trout shot out of the center of that perfect bowl ...it was like a fly fishing addict/espresso junkies dream .. the lined ripped through the foam until the tussle was over and a thick 20 inch Crowsnest rainbow came to hand ... the serenity of the pool was trashed for that single trout rising in the pool and myself , I looked up stream to the next pool .. the sun was low and light fading .. that was a good moment, I thought, I'm done ,that first dry fly fish of late winter .. if you can call sinking a #18 dry fly into an inch of brown foam dry fly fishing .... my patient retriever and I made our way back to the truck . Well that was three weeks ago now and more fish have been caught on a dry since .. expect to see little winter stones mostly black #18 and #16 and olive#16 of coarse some midges ..some Skwalas soon ..I am off to fish the mighty Peace River .. back in 3 weeks . Suzy will be in the shop to help you out .. Al B.

2010-03-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

great day

2010-03-11T19:41:00.000-08:00

We are so spoiled..The Crowsnest river is running low , cold and productive.As is per usual this time of year, nymphs are by far more productive, but even the most novice tied streamer..which I am just learning to tie has done very well..good time for any one who wants to learn.. weather dependent . little precipitation has helped and I am sure more will come. All in all this winter flyfishing has been well terrrific! all the best Susan

2010-03-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

March Crowsnest River up date

2010-03-10T14:51:00.000-08:00

We haven't bothered to ski Castle Mountain or Fernie for six weeks .. we are still waiting for snow ! Oh well , the fly fishing has been getting better and better the last three weekends (Monday and Tuesday for us) We close the Crowsnest Cafe' and Fly Shop two days a week until May, then Suzie and I go full out until Steelhead season in October. Any how ,the trout are starting to wag those tails and feeding less selectively on midges with this warm weather .. There may be some bigger nymphs moving around under those currents, as a variety of nymph patterns fished more actively without a indicator have worked for me the last 3 weeks ..Dave Osberg ,Susie and I have been out the last 2 days. On Monday Suzie decides to fish a dry .We haven't really hit a good midge hatch for a couple weeks ... Suzie fished a few good looking dries to no avail.She asks me for advice occasionally and sometimes she even listens but not often (marriage does that ). So I tell her what I have seen ,which wasn't much, a few black spiders and some blue bottle house fly's as far as terrestrials go and no midge hatch . So I suggest a small black rubber legged beetle/spider guy in her box and she pulls out the giant version of it ,size #4 and ties it straight on to the 3x leader she was fishing her streamer on "let me put some finer tippet on there for you Suzie". Ok fine... I tell her that I am going to catch up to Dave and" don,t waste to much time on the skinny water" as there is not many trout in it this time of year .. I leave her in the corner pool and tromp hundreds of yards up stream until I spot some fish .. white fish.. and some big ones . My first cast was short,just trying to get some line out really ,when my fish senses tell me to set the hook ! Just a little white fish , but it spooked them all out.. I fished the adjoining bucket of water but could not spot anything to keep my interest.. I wanted Suzie to be in sight ,but I was impatient , wanting to get to bigger slower winter water.. I tried to spot fish as I stalked along the bank ice and stopped at a favourite deep pocket, and fished it with out a glimpse of a trout through the clear waters .I thought I would at least spook a few ? Well finally I can see Suzie downstream working her huge dry fly , driving it across the river into the wind .. God ! She is taking all day... She never listens ! At least she is in sight and I feel better for her safety . I can watch her from the first big pool that Dave has no doubt already trashed and gone on to the next. I did see a couple rises in the slow water and saved those casts for Suzie . Now Dave has come back down stream and we watch together as Suzie works all that shallow crappy water ... We can't stand it after a while and we fish it all ... Suzie fished the nice little pool bellow were I tried and got nothing with my very successfull nymph rig and yanks a fish ..and it gets off . So she catches up to us finally with just a beaming grin ... What did you catch him on Suzie ? She responds .. on my #@$%**&&* dry fly ... were you not watching? I landed two and lost about four all in about a foot of water... That wife of mine she never listens to me ! Well I must have pushed them all to the other side for you ..I didn't spot Em ! Well to make a long story short Suzie has been chucking streamers lately, and trying too copy my ties .. one she cut the marabou tail short and straight as I was trying to teach her about fly/hook proportions the day before ..I tried to suggest to her that one should stay In her fly box as a lead eyed damsel fly pattern ..So she and Dave O are fishing yesterday and she has to go use it and catch the the big fish of the day .. Dave says at least a 21 inch fat rainbow ..We will get this picture off Daves camera and onto the Blog it... looks like a beauty; but she's not holding it right!! When will she start listening to me ? P.S Dave O hooked a twenty inch plus Brown trout ,that jumped twice and broke him off and yes the Crows Nest River is totally ice free from top to bottom and the lower section is open to fish for this month .. check the regs, Ill'e get that picture ... And Suzie Rules with Dry Fly... bye for now Al B.

2010-02-22T09:47:00.000-08:00

To Blog or Not to Blog ?????????

2010-02-19T22:16:00.000-08:00

HAMELET .....To Blog ... or Not to Blog ! That is the Question ! Whether ' tis Nobler in the World Wide Web to suffer the Slings and Arrows of outrageously abundant information ... Or to take Casts against a Sea of Natures Variables . And by Casting , Conquer them ....... To Cast to Sleep , to Cast some more ..... and between sleeps we tye , with the hope to end the heartache of natures thousand natural shifts -that fish are heir to ... 'Tis a Consumtion ! ..... Devoutly to be Fish'd ; ... To Cast ... to Sleep , Perchance to Dream - Aye- There's the Rub .. Muscilin for my line .... For in that Cast of Death ! No dreams may come , Til we have untangled this motal coil,- Tis a triangle taper.... Alas we must give pause; theres the respect that makes "calamity" of long lines .... For Who would beor the Whips and Scones of Immoral Timing . The Obsessors Wrong ; the proud Mans contumely , the pangs of Despis'd Love , the Rods delay .. The insolense of office , and the spurns that lack of patience are merit of th' unworthy takes.. when his quietus make ; To tye with bare bodkin ; What fly would fardels bear ? To Grunt and Swear Under Weary Rod , but of that , the Dread of Cast Learned only after Death! Still it's th' undiscovered country from whose bourn no angler returns , puzzles the will ... and makes us rather bear those casts we have that fly to others that we Know Not Of ?. Thus conscience does make cowards of us all ... and Thus the native hue of Lengthy Trout ! .... Line is sickled o'er sipping fish with vague casts , I thought ? ... an enterprize of great pitch and moment. With this regard their currents turn awry my offerings and loose the name of action ..G. Loomis... I Think ! ....soft you know . The fair Oncorhychus and floating nymph .... Whisper Creek in thy orisons ... BE All My SINS REMEMB'ERD .. ! OPHELIA ..... Good My Lord ...FISH ON!!!

nice winter rainbow

2010-01-23T17:35:00.000-08:00

january

2010-01-23T17:24:00.000-08:00

Well...Here we are...the freeze has subsided and there is open water...As is typical (it seems) the big ones are slow to respond, but respond they do..streamers and nymphs..the boys did well on tiny midges the other day and I lucked into some co-operative rainbows on size 6 streamers ...The Crowsnest is fishing well and with the last week of warm weather it's fairly easy to walk and wade. The beavers have not taken a siesta, nor have the otters...Al and Gary went out for late night Ling cod, a few hearty souls were up to the same and did well. The Cafe and flyshop is open Wednesday thru Sunday from 8-5 ,and if you need any info etc,please call toll free 1-877-363-3258 or at the shop 403 -563-8510.

2010-01-22T20:06:00.001-08:00

2009-11-30T19:11:00.000-08:00

Looking for us? Back from salmon/coho fishing ,and Al will be hunting the Oldman for CDC to keep the shop stocked with "Little Green Men". Same fly that worked so well the other day with sippers on the Crowsnest! Gotta love dries in November! Shop will open Dec.10 Thurs.thru Mon.

An evening on the Oldman River

2009-07-04T23:44:00.000-07:00

The Oldman River sure looks great , clear and green ...To wade across it may be difficult , but was worth the effort on Friday night .. I am blessed to have another great trout dog and friend , Winston ( nick named "little big dog" ) . He first hit the wintery water of the Crowsnest (when the ice broke) at the age of 3 months. Now he picks his route across like an expert . When in doubt , follow my dog , I tell clients . Standing part way into the rapid he gave me " the look" when I command him " Winston come". The fast water took him away ,and with hand signals I incouraged him to not turn back and show him my direction . After a big shake , Winston burns some donuts in excitment . Being a little heavier in my old age often pays off in crossing heavy water ... I fished my way to a place where a fast run forms a narrow shute . It would be doubtful that any body has fished this spot this year . I have been watching the water flows drop daily , averaging a cubic metre per second decline each day . I probably was first to get across .. With no foot prints in the sand I figured this was untouched water and big trout were slamming green drakes ..The fast shute was joined at a right angle by the slower end of another fast bit of drake water . There they rose to the fly . I had been trying out different fly patterns while fishing on the way to here . I fished likely looking patterns like a green tri-wing sedge , olive stimulator , a big "simple caddis" was still on my line . None had caught me a fish but some got a tail slap other wise known as the " fish finger ". I cast the big deer hair caddis across the fast shute into the converging slower run with a reach cast and all the extra stuff I could add to get a good drift ..all I got was a fist full of fish fingers after dozens of good drifts. Enough of fly experimentation , I tied on my favourite drake pattern from the shops collection . The biggest fish of the bunch rose in the middle , up thirty feet from the confluence .. but I started close with my olive offering as good fish were right in the edge of the rollers and the confluence mix . They occasionally slapped the surface , spraying water into the wind . Whether actualy taking the bug or drowning it,s hard to tell ? it happens so fast and you can hear the smack . It,s got to be the most exciting dry fly fishing in the Rockies . The first fish I chose to take in the rollers (the closest ) took more than five minutes to land , it used the fast water and I used side pressure and on that 4x tippet and many runs later a surprizingly large rainbow came to hand .... 22 inches with out the kipe . A thick , solid , 3+ pound rainbow ..well how big was that big cuthroat looking one out in the middle ??. I did not get to find out .. after pulling out a few more decent rainbows casting my way up to that biggest trout ...he was put down , only coming up once to slap my bug and give me the finger .. Fair enough...near dark I followed my dog out , he never forgets a route ... If you are reading this you are probably not here and missing some great fishing... Al B.

June 26 th . high tech report

2009-06-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

We had some rain last week and I got almost two inches in my bucket ( high tech ) so all rivers got pumped up a bit and they are are slowly going down and with good clarity 5 - 10 ft. . So I figured out that I get comments back on the Blog .. excuse me all , for not replying . Suzy and I are old school and not great with computers and tech stuff .. I will be checking in the future I just have to figure out how to add a photo or two ...Before I get back too my choice of three channels on the TUBE .. Here is a quick report ... Water temps. are still cold in the head water streams( 50*F ) in the afternoon , and bug hatches are generally sparse .. I got into a good green drake hatch while guiding in a Castle R. tributary yesterday but it was short lived . But the hatch was right on time and we got into it from start to finish and all was good . I floated the lower canyon today , and there was barely a bug to be seen (a few PMD's ) .. but it was fished well by my two dry fly guys .. and each tagged dozens of trout .. Be carefull ! the Castle is still like " Big Water" in the canyon as it gets squeezed through . Water temps. on the Crowsnest R. are higher than head waters streams 56 *F in the morning .. producing good hatches .. something new going on every day .. the Crowsnest Cafe' and Fly Shop is open 7 days a week 8am - 6pm .. Fish tales at the Rum Runner Pub in Coleman at 6:05 Spawn On ... Al B.

2009-06-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

This is an amazing June ! We should be pumping our basements and watching helplessly as river banks change ....so Pale morning duns , march browns ,yellow sally's , salmon flies , stone flies , and any and all midges...ON TOP !!! Finally!!.. It's just sooo nice to fish dry Crow is a wee bit high clear.. Castle med high glacial colour.. and Oldman med high and clear... TREAD CAREFULLY ... YAHOO it's SUMMERTIME!! Suzy Q

Duffy's got some questions

2009-06-18T23:36:00.000-07:00

Duffy googled "full moon fly fishing" and got my blog. He was floating the Gunnison River and his group camped for the night, awkened by rising trout on a black night shaded by a canyon wall ...they were going nuts on caddis .He woke up his buddy and they caught fish "till their arms were tired "(quote ) all the fish were Browns . His questions are Do trout feed more often at night during the full moon phase ? and What about caddis hatches ? Should I plan my trip around the moon phase ??? Before I answer you Duffy let it be known , I believe there is nothing black and white in the world of fly fishing ... there are to many variables ... for example, I had read in some magazine years ago about the golden stone flies hatching at night , crawling to the banks to safety ( written in California )... Where I was guiding in Banff at the time on the Upper Bow River (a Brown trout fishery ) . We worshiped the hottest sunniest days in mid summer to bring on a Golden Stone hatch, miday in the middle of a fast run , Browns smacking them as they topped a roller , it was the best! and rare on a sunny day. I assumed the variable for the Stonefly might be the water temp. ..our glacial river was never warm and always a cure for a hangover . Nothing is black and white in the fishing world and the trout know what to do and when to do it . It,s their world and we just stand above it and make our best assumption and or maybe try to replay a similar scenerio . So was it the caddis hatch or the nights light , maybe the water is cooler and perfect at night , I don,t know the Gunnison ? Tough to answer .. I have moved south, I like to fish the Crows Nest river in high run off and catch fish in the mud , it pisses off my friends who insist it can,t be done . So one evening I go down to where Todd Creek comes into the Crow. A travelling sedge hatch is in full swing and trout are cruising in slow muddy water. Only two inches of visibility,. Picking up on the caddises vibe or scent ? tracking caddis and sucking them down . The trout were right in the surface, bulging the water as they tracked down the caddis . the water was so dirty you could not see the trout , but follow the bulge you could guess their route and cast ahead and skate the fly too them . It was good fun . Beside me I noticed fish swimming up Todd creek doing the same .Todd creek comes out of cattle country and is twice as dirty ,so I should give it a try ... Trout know what to do and when and were to do it . I fished the bulges in the water and landed my fly perfectly on the biggest swelling bulge of the evening . The timing couldn't have been more perfect to hook that beavers nose as it broke the surface . My fly was gone with the bang of a tail . Not really an answer ? well there isn't one Next ... Do I think moon light has an effect on trout fishing ? definately , but not always . On browns more so than other trout definately ? but not so much on some rivers . From river to river I see different behaviors in trout . The Upper Bow river Browns were so tough during a long full moon phase ... One thing I do know for sure is sometimes they sleep in the day and they get locked into that night shift just like the sunny high pressure scenerio common with full moonphase gets locked in for a week , added torture for fishing guides . If we nymphed long and hard on those tough moon phase days, we would pull in a bewildered brown, like dragging in a wet rag . When you release the nymph from it's lip it would stay at you're feet .You have to nudge it do deeper water . It was pretty much asleep . I would fish any piece of trout holding water with a touch of shade or cutbank facing the right way looking for a trout not on night shift. Those Browns hated the sun so much I would prey for that single cloud to move and cover the sun, and when it did that clients fly had better be in the air ready to land . There would often be a immediate sip on the surface and it was over for the dry flier as the cloud passed. On my southern Alberta steams some moon phases are tough some are not ??? but I never catch sleeping trout.. we have numerous trout species and downhere and the Browns jump . I have some thoughts on that after twenty years guiding. So Duffy if you are planning your float on the Gunnison again, maybe ask yourself , how was the fishing during the daylight hours of that memorable trip ??? A QUICK RIVER REPORT A bit of rain brought up the Waterton and Castle while it barely hit the Crow , and the Oldman level continued to go down but it,s still cold water and not many hatches reported on the Oldman , while the Crow is quite buggy. .... all streams down here are open ... and the Crowsnest Cafe' and Flyshop is open 8-6 everyday untill October ... If you get a fly in your soup thats an extra $2.oo

Bug report for June 16 th. opening

2009-06-12T23:16:00.000-07:00

Just a qick fishing report ... Depending on weather ... Blue wing olives #20 , PMD's #16 ..sulphur Duns #14 ... were hatching when Suzy ,Gary, dogs and I hit the Crow after closing the shop on Tuesday. It was threatening rain , perfect .. Swallows worked the suface of water ,and they buzzed around our drifting flies , pulling out at the last second , kind of worrisome , as they would get so close you want to pull your fly away from them . I just tried to fish , and just after thinking to myself that I have never seen one make the mistake of taking a fly , Suzy catches one . The swallow came in easy and crashed into the grass at her feet . I was across the river willing to help, but the hook was just into the feathers at the base of the wing and neck , she got it out , and off went the bird ... Back to work with it,s squadron , birds dodged our lines and leaders mid air at full throttle , amazing creatures ! I caught one of those Bow river steelhead strain rainbows , and it fought like a fish twice it,s size . Upstream there was a decent fish rising on my side , by the time I got to casting range the setting sun peaked out bellow the clouds, and it stoped rising immediately .. I cast a few times in it,s zone and gave it a rest ,it was a big trout.... Keeping an eye on it,s feeding spot a cast else where . The sun vanished breifly behind the cloud and the trout came up again... the sun peaked bellow the cloud and it stoped before I could get a fly to it. Definately brown trout behavior .. Gary had caught one here the week before along with a 4 lb. lake trout . I put on a little nymph . I did not not catch the big trout but a 17 incher ( Rainbow ) that had a deep loonie size bite out of it,s neck . Most likely the bite came from a mink . The fish still fought hard , I felt badly for it . So the sun was out the last two days .. somewhere, some one on this river was in the right spot and saw an explosion of Salmon Flies (size big ) and little olive stones (# 10 ) may be a Golden or two .. The Crows Nest River has never looked this good in early June .. Clear and wadeable .. All rivers are looking good for the opening of the season , June 16 th. CROWSNEST CAFE and FLY SHOP now OPEN 7 DAYS a WEEK ...8:00 am to 6:00 pm .. Untill we go Steelheading ... Watch out for reds , mostly in the tailouts .... Spawn on .. Al B.

2009-06-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

It,s 11:00 oclock somewhere

2009-06-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

We had some hot days this week and the Crow cleared and dropped a foot at least Run off is over somehow on the Crow and should continue clearing unless hard rains come. Salmon flies are out and about , all you have to do is find them . I fished close to the shop for a couple hours this morning with no sign of a Salmon fly or shuck . While two miles down stream , swallows gorged themselves on the bug almost half their size the day before.... All I saw this morning was the dreaded tiny white midge, I call "Dust" . Still I wanted to fish my freshly tied Salmon Fly patterns , and why wouldn't a rainbow want ot ROCKET out of the water for such a colossal crunchy feast , slow and hapless , stuck in the surface film... Always the opptomist starting with a dry , I worked two runs on the way up stream. I gave the trout plenty of oportunities before I put on a big Salmon fly nymph. A trout was eventualy caught on the nymph and I worked up stream to the big corner.. Another nymph invention was tried , then another dry pattern was worked at todays turning point and then down stream for a bit . My third nymph was fished back to my starting point ... this whole time there was not a rise or even a fish spotted , they were all deep.. ...no trout were sittting in their reds.. With water so clear , any day time spawners would be osprey food ... I startled an osprey here the week before , it was flying upstream at 30 feet , seeing me , it flared and dropped a good 20 inch rainbow into a shallow riffle . No doubt the fish had some holes in it , but it hit the water like a beaver tail and tore into the deep . So decision time , back to the shop ?? ..the dog had some good swims ...a fish was caught , there is some success in that . But had I solved the problem that us fly fishers must solved ? ..the one that leads us too say " O.K. this is the last cast" until we are late for Mothers Day dinner.. the Problem of the Day (the problem of the moment is more appropriate ) . So when I go back to the fly shop today , other than salmon fly patterns for salmon fly season , what else do I sell my fellow anglers in good conscience ? Well a few more casts are in order . I think I know exactly what needs to be cast out...I think ? Suzie will be in a pickle if I don't get back too the shop before the lunch rush ... With the full moon comes the midge . The midge rules the river , even when the giant salmon fly is crawling , swimming , hatching and egg laying . Midge fishing can be great. When I see the DUST size midges buzzing the surface , I often feel out numbered, tossing another speck into a flowing river . What is it ? about the popularity of the midge .. Tastes good ? easlily digestable ? the numbers ? easy feeding rythm ? or security of not get caught on a hook that small ? The hook I tied on was a size #20 , probably three times the size of the" Dust" A bead head midge larva I tie. In a fly box or in a fly shop ,it may be the last fly you would pick to toss into a big flowing river . Subtle differences in the tie may or may not catch fish , but it gives me the confidence to toss it out . Any how , the full moon is now a familliar scenario, so out goes the size #20 into the spring run off .... tied back a few feet of the last Salmon Fly nymph , add some lead , indicator free . It was down with the fishes..it was down for less than a minute ..a hard take, and a good fight was going on under the fast water dumping into the pool . At this point all I want to know is," did it hit my big nymph or little nymph " so as to answer the problem of the day ! As I lifted the fish out of the depth , she responded with a jump. She was on the little hook . Now was that luck or had I solved the problem... back to the" one last cast before I go" ...I fished a little further back in the pool to let the fish settle ... So about a dozen" last casts later " another solid hit (those little hooks really stick ) . I brought it to up to get a view , on the little hook again . Moving up to the front of the pool and half a dozen" last casts" later a third raibow landed on the little midge .. So I wasn't late after all the "last casts " the problem was solved quickly today.. When I try to sell little flies like this in the fly shop, I get a variety of looks and not many takers . Often I read the look as ( I'm not spending two bucks on that little fly) . I too always hated fishing with midges and I always try something else first, at least something the client and I can see. A trout may spend 75% of it's life eating this little bug and often we are so reluctant to fish this tiny but plentiful speck of protein that trout focus on and go blind to banquettes of bigger bugs like the salmon fly.. But tommorow if there is a chance of sneeking away from the shop I will start fishing with a salmon fly . Fishing the big bug is also a beautiful thing. Just a few other things to mention .. where you will want to wade across probably has a trout red or two you will want to step around.. Also bears are out and about .. Two boar grizzlies killed half a dozen sheep near hwy 22 #. One was trapped , one wasn't. Also T.U. Lethbridge boys are taking out some fencing on Saturday on the Burmis Lake Lease if you want to help.. And two Lake trout where caught in the Crowsnest river this month ...whats with that ?? The Crowsnest Cafe' and Fly Shop in Coleman .... will be open 7 day's a week starting opening day June 16 th. Al B.

News at 11:00

2009-06-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

A rare event on the Crowsnest River..... The Salmon Fly hatch is on , and the river is clear , wadeable (watch out for spawning reds in tail outs ) with a visability of 5 ft... News at 11:00 .... Al B.

All About the Bugs /End of May Fishing Report

2009-05-27T23:54:00.000-07:00

Right now the river is going up ...still fishable for some...crossable ? ? Trout seemed too get a little tougher to catch last week ..some I watched spawning ,some are done spawning and some are late and hanging near a friend.. Wade with caution , most of the spawners we spot are in fast but shallow crossing areas in tail out and near banks ..eggs hatch in 50 days ? ( just an educated guess ) .. Catching fish was all about the bug last week ..big nymphs didn't work at all for me in the murky run off... trout would not bite what I wanted them to .. I fished some old run off favourites from old day's (charteruse chenile worm, big rubber legged nymph's ) and I hardly saw a rise even during a good hatch. Nymphing a size 18# or 16# was the ticket ... After an hour of fishless water, thoughts of all the trout spawning on that day would have pretty much turned too facts untill the right little bug twitched through the run and bang ! Hammered it ! a cast or two after releasing a nice trout , bang ! Hammered again . This happened for me every time out and always searching for a different bug every day .. So much for the notion of disinterested spawners .. Just Crowsnest trout being Crowsnest trout . On the last day out with Suzy and friend Bill , Monday was turning into another fishless day until mother nature gave me a hint . A pressure change brought out dozen of swallows anticipating a riverside dinner . I went and stood in a back eddy and pulled out a nymph box , after a minute a Western March Brown floated by . I had four bead head flash back hares ears of the appropriate size . I picked a hand tyed one with a flashy emerging shuck and attached it to the indicator set up . (if I use a indicator after the snow is gone I'm desperate ) , Some line was pulled out and thrown onto the water short of the inside seem . I watched the bobber immediately go down as I was pulling more line out, I struck the fish . This was not a lethargic spawner , straight out to the current , it jumped on it's tear down stream . Before I could move in the grass it was thrashing directly down stream like a stealhead and the hook popped out. Next cast, same spot a ten foot drift and a hook up on a hot fish that went straight out to the cliff on the other side .this trout was the fish of the month , 22-23 inch rainbow . I thought I had it on good , until I yelled for a camera assistant . The strong fish won , thats O.K. My visiting friend needed a fish today, I took off my good fly and tied it on for Bill. Suzy and I tied on the regular BH Hares flash Back Ears from my box.. Bill hooked a nice one in that spot within ten casts ..Suzy eventually took hers off and fished a dry as the skies darkened and the swallows soared way up there eating something .. I tried , the trout thought the regular pattern unworthy . Bills fish had the same battle plan as my first fish and did the steel head thing in the swift water . We crossed down steam and fished a back eddy in the next hole .. Swallows worked the water now . A few drops of rain were hitting the water by the time I had my dry Fly box out .Bills fly had lost it's magic as small blue wing olives now floated by.. reel in Bill . A dry was tied on quickly... this was Bill's last shot , he was too be two hours late getting home to wife in Banff. A rise was seen , and a target located , now two or three more rose in the same current seam . The trout he caught fought the battle in the back eddy and was landed , then immortalized digitaly and e-mailed to Banff . Bill did great for a rooky on the last two day's , even with the tough fishing he keeps trying and dosn't give up. He does what I suggest , and has learned good technique in the dozen day's of his fly fishing career.. The day before we fished a spot that two good anglers had dredged for over an hour with big flies and lead . I found my last little olive nymph that had solved the problem of the day earlier in the week. The little size #16 caught him a 20 inch rainbow and he stuck two more , basically out fishing me, but hey , I gave him the bug . " It's All Good " Off I go to this week to make a little money millwrighting as the rivers rise ... There has been no sign of the Crowsnest Salmon Fly yet .. Suzy will be running her Fly Shop in Coleman when they hatch, and I will be tying up some of the big bugs up in Fort Mc Murray, for when I return all Alberta's waters will be open to angling and the start of the 2009 season . We will have the bugs..

Daily Disasters

2009-05-26T23:41:00.000-07:00

The Crowsnest has held it,s own this month .. It blew out one hot day a couple weeks ago at about 10 cm/s ,rolling mud . Then the weather cooled right down ,so we fished somewhat high water for the last two weeks with reasonable visability . Wading was often touch and go and I went for a swim , casting and crossing a fast tailout on Sunday . My feet went out and water was up to my neck in half a second ( CAMERA !)... Had to let go of my fly rod to pull the camera out of the flooding bibb of my waders ..I held it high, turned down stream , tip toed suddenly weightless , pushed by the current , scooped up that floating fly rod , moon walked in zero gravity to the bank , threw the rod to a soft spot, ejected the batteries , ejected the camera card , popped off the lense cover ,dropped shoulder straps, dumped water to my waste belt ( always tight )and was standing there looking casual by the time my friend Bill had finished the drift of his fly . I walked upstream hung the camera in the sunshine and fished the next run. Bill eventually followed the route I pointed out to him , he looked sceptical .. Bill didn't try to fish his way across, and came across without tripping up on those bowling balls ...We walked up a rocky bluff to spy on sipping trout . Bill looked closer " you look wet" ... yea.. don't tell Suzy ..Bill knows , we grew up together on the same street.. We don't tell the women folk nothing ! Our poor mothers..if they knew of our daily disasters, they would not have let us out of the house .. Our moms only new of events that required stiches, left bruises,needed assistance or intervention from doctors , teachers, police and firemen. Being dragged home to the door step by any adult was a dead give away of a disaster, as was the knock on my door from that newspaper reporter when I was eleven yeas old..busted ! Mom answered it .. When Suzy and I were dating she was picking me and some clients up at a bridge on the Waterton River.. it was a dark and stormy night (sounds familiar ?) and almost 1:30 am when we reached that take out point. It was black out ( I told those guy,s to speed it up all day ).For more than two hours I was rowing away from any river noise in the moonless dark..dodging boulders... I was worried about my girl worring about me ! She was parked on the bridge . Anticipating tears when I opened her truck door ... she had her feet up swilling a beer, reading murder mystery as usual... that was ten years ago...She's so different I married her (also a great fly fisher ) My wife Suzy worries mostly about the dog and the camera , after I fried the last camera in the Thompson River two years ago and the dog had balls of cactus stuck to all four paws . The water in my clothes eventually reached my feet and it was time to BBQ up some deer for my visiting city friend . Well the camera survived and Suzy never reads this blog ...

End of April Report

2009-04-27T23:17:00.000-07:00

April might just be my new favorite time to fly fish the Crows Nest River ,or has it just been a long winter . The snow is been falling on and off for the last week and a half . In mid April , a few day's of stellar weather brought some higher dirty water from that lower elevation snow melt. With this colder weather water levels have remained up ,but the water has cleared nicely. Today I fished the Crow in sub zero conditions with lots of ice on the guides ...trout rose in some of the usual spots as March Browns and a very small black midge were on the water in good numbers. I had caught two nice rainbows before I busted the very tip off my fly rod while trying to break rather thick ice off of it . Thats a new one for me ! (my favorite Loomis) It has been a different kind of day on the Crow every time I fished it this month. Bug hatches ,flow , clarity , weather , etc. ... it's been interesting . Bugs To Look Out For...Size #16 black stone ,size #12 black stone ,size #16 March Brown ,size#18 Blue wing , size #14 tent wing caddis , #22 Tan micro caddis , Skwalla stones if the sun ever comes back out and any midge any time and hope they are bigger than a size #28.. Nymph accordingly ... If I was a bird watcher , I would get out there as the snow cover has sent birds to the river for food and migration is on full time. Watch Out for Trout Sitting on Reds.... a few early spawners are sitting in some fast shallow tail outs.. IN THAT .... PERFECT CROSSING WATER ..EGGS HATCH IN JULY INTO EARLY AUGUST ...WADERS PLEASE BE OBSERVANT

The New Season

2009-04-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

A lot of excellent fly fishing has occured since Aprils Fools Day.. Suzie , Gord( Kootenay Fly Shop ) , dogs and myself had a couple of stellar Crows Nest spring days.. Fresh tracks in the river side snow , sunshine, rising trout.. and multiple hatches .. On searching , one could find those pods of competeing rainbows.. Spring excitability was evident .. Working the rising fish with some delicacy , one pod could not be put down ... Even after an hour and a few lipping,s a change of pattern tossed out could hook a fish from this eager line up . I have mostly fished dry midge patterns and road tested a few little black stone fly nymphs and dries on that day and up too this present date.... Gord fished a variety and size of nymphs that day and did well with nymph and indicator .. After the dry fly run ,I fished my little tungsten nymphs O -naturel . I could see long fish feeding suspended in deep pools ,moving on the bugs ..Watching the fish , I set my hook on seeing the white from the inside of the big mouth , in an instant the mouth was closed and my line was tight.. I would bring a young British couple here two days later .. First a lesson on the water, all the while that same hungry dozen , rose feverishly thirty feet away..The keen one was the guy , he was a good gear angler back home ,you could tell he had a good fishing sence.. Now to get a crash course in fly casting ,then go through the fundamentals and mechanics of fishing a flowing stream ,then to stalk , hook and land a respectable Crows Nest rainbow in a afternoon ,is quite an accomplishment . After an hour at least on the risers , the lunch was relaxing and then a breeze hit the cliff wall ,no mercy for the rookey Brits .. Another hour he (we) tried on the risers untill they had seen every small midge pattern I owned.. We had to find some other risers.. The next rising pod were in one of those technical re-circulations , they didn't take our abuse.. Time to nymph . I could see those big fish , 5 feet deep in the off coloured flow.. big black midge shucks formed a foam in the back eddy...nymphing time.. I was already set up..The wife was the first to hook up solid . I guided her through the fight . Her first trout was to be a thick, 20 inch pissed off rainbow that hit the black nymph as it swung through the swift tail out.. The husband took over the coaching while I got in the water, camera and forcepts ready.. She was a natural and did not know it , she was really there for her husband and the scenery , but instantly she was completly into it.. the fishless husband was stoked , he knew he had just got a fishing partener for life ! I pointed him at the risers in the re-circ temporarily . I got the wife into a good position again and in 2 casts ,swinging through the tailout , another flash, and solid hook up in the fast water . A 18 inch repeat of the last performance.... It was a beautiful Alberta day ,the sun was getting lower in west , the thrilled but fishless husband whispered " we can go now , I am very happy my wife caught those " I Knew he was going to catch a fish here and now with no problem ..Looking over his shoulder I could see five or six of those long suspended shadows , mouths flashing white as they slid over and chomped on their bugs. That's fine with me sir , but could you just stand here and fish at these guy's ,while I gather the gear ... Here take this nymph rig , I tied a few of those nymph's last night and one's on this rod also.. I tipped him onto those fish suspended near the rock wall .. His good fishing instinct set the hook on the long trout that moved sideways abruptly ...there was a flash and a good fight, but a brief one.. One more hook up and release and the third came too hand , a nice 17 or 18 female rainbow. I have no where to go ... Nows the time..let me check out that rigging.. After he landed his second ever trout on a fly rod , his wife nudged him out of the hot spot.. The trout were onto our fly and snubbed it after serious looks. While she fished, I tied a midge pattern as a trailer on his. Now the two fished side by side. He immediately hooked into that first long fish on the trailer , then another . She gently took the rod from his hand ,his hand uncontrollably released from the cork...it,s O.K. take this rod I just rigged it up .. The couple fished side by side, new fishing partners and first time fly fishers .... I slowly packed up ... A great ending to a beautiful spring CrowsNest day.... We could have fished all the way back, but talk of some excellent Alberta Big Rock Ale at the Rum Runner Pub turned us west over the hill side and closer to the truck . ... AL B .

April Fools

2009-04-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

Don,t forget to buy you're new Alberta Fishing Licence...April 1st. is an appropriate date for renewal and officially kicks off another fishing season for us fools... This year there is a special Fly Fishing Licence in Alberta ..It cost $ 8.50 extra ..it's a government surcharge, called a casterbation fee.. Comments or Inquiries at albertarelm.com or Phone 1-888-944-5494 An Adult licence for an Alberta Resident Adult is $25.66 + $8.50 for a total of $34.16 There is no youth flyfishing licence as they are not allowed to casterbate.. Little Black Stone Flies were on the water today and those extra large spring midges that waited over the winter to hatch. We have some perfect dry flies at the shop.. I didn't see them but Suzie and Gary reported seeing some Blue Wing Olives and Suzie caught a nice rainbow on a size #18 ( Suzies little green Man) of course.. Gary caught a respectable fish on his first cast as he did the day before... the trout would immediately smarten up ,so that was it for that pool.. Some trout that live under a bank in a little side trickle ,came out to the seam to rise.. I touched 3 of them with no good hook ups ..then they stopped and did'nt come back out even two hour's later on the way back... no sign. The bigger pools had no risers just a pair of geese per pool ..swimming around . I found some bigger fish that had moved into a bigger trickle attached to a big pool.. they rose aggressively, they were going to get caught feeding like that... I crawled in over the smooth snowy island and worked the back fish first. I had on the smallest black sparkle dunn (# 20 ) Suzie had in the shop , I worked it gently through the rising fish on 6x , these bigger fish didn't take it ...I bit off the shuck as close as I could to the flies butt ... I rested the fish a couple minutes and they feed aggressively, occasionally one would pop straight up out of the water past it's pectorals, probably grabbing the occational black stone ..They took the little black clipped sparkle dunn , which for a change was actually smaller than the big#16 midge natural, floating buy...After landing two and missig two it was all over except for the yelling. The yelling was at Gary's big brown lab called Gus .. the stick crazy lab had, with stick in mouth ran into Gary's fly line and drove the sharp little #18 deep into his finger. There was blood and much yelling , as usual Gus was not fazed by the blood or yelling and bounced around tail a wagging.. Gary had his back to me for a while and was messing around on the edge of the ice, probably taking the hunk of meat off his hook .His brother being a fish cop ,Gary new all the laws about bait fishing on the Crows Nest river.. After some line untangling he turn to face the river and meet the bouncing lab ,stick In mouth again. Gary yelled commands at Gus which caused much excitment and higher bouncing...The yell turned into more of a scream as the bouncing Gus broke the ice at Gary's feet.. It was painful to watch as the broken slab tilted and the pair slid off into the river I have never seen Gary dance but he must have been good in the old Disco Days...Thanx to fancy feet, boot studs and flailing arms Gary didn't go swimming and there was much cursing #!!&**+#$#GUS!!^#!#!@GUS .. something like that... When I left my little island , I meet them down stream sitting in the snow bank watching for risers.. Pals again..

Tails a waggin or stuff for sale

2009-03-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

Spring is officially here in the Crows Nest Pass... I got in a three hour fish yesterday . Between my shift at the Crows Nest Cafe and Fly Shop and the Ducks Unlimited Banquet ,Winston the dog and I jogged into a spot on the Crows Nest River. My goal was to try out a couple of size #22-#20 midge larva/pupa patterns I had tied up. I hate using flies that small . Being a big guy I want to throw out big flies for big fish . Even though I know those winter rainbows spend most of their winter, expending as little energy as possible ,they just sit down there slowly waggin their tales opening and closing jaws on the tiny and abundant midge larva and pupa , still I want to throw out a hamburger size fly with a maraboo tail with a rubber legged articulating bead head stonefly as a trailer. The guys (Doug and Doug ) in Banff who taught me fly tying in the1980's loved to fish #22 midges. I thought they were nuts and resisted fishing tiny midges till the bitter end of the day...or not at all . That fishing strategy changed about two years after landing a job guiding with the company Banff Fishing Unlimited . Now I was fishing two hundred consecutive days a year . Now decades of those weekend fishing outings made sence (or more sense).. Sun , moon ,cloud, wind ,rain, spring, fall, hatches, no hatches....Fishing all day, everyday now , so many ideas can fall into place for the fly fisherman, but still there are those days when you can't even buy a bite ! or even spot a trout . The guides job is to catch fish , and to catch those evil #!*+?#@!* every day..I would still resist fishing those size #20 and #22 sub-surface flies in that big Upper Bow River , and from a guides perspective take a size #20 hook, add 5x tippet, add 3 split shot , add 7 ft. moving water, add one 3 1/2 lb.brown trout lip , add one first time tourist + total = 0 . Often a guides act of desparation on a tough fly rod river like the cold Upper Bow and hopefully not to late in the day,was the dredging of the#20 olive nothing on a hook. It would always get a fish (never say the word skunked) . It was there on the Upper Bow where I came up with the theory for those fishless days , the day you can't spot a fish and if you did spot one, it was on the bottom hardly waggin a tail . If You Can't Buy a Bite... FISH A #20 MIDGE Now all of the winter outings this year , in my boxes all the left over midges, were size #18 or even a giant #16 , it was hard work fooling a fusy Crows Nest rainbows but you always fool at least one per hole. So now I have #22-#20 olive larva and black pupa tied onto 6x tippet, split shot and stike indicator (bobber) ick!. Dead drifting the olive larva brought in the first bewildered looking 18 inch rainbow... it was a good fight..the little barbless hook came easily out of the tip of her tongue.The little olive offering on the two fly rig was catching them all , so I took it off ? I am not here just to catch fish . The little black pupa took a couple of trout when they were not given the choice.. All nice fish today 17-19 inch. All this time a few fish were rising in a fashion a little aggressive for midge sipping . I suspect the little black stone was hatching here and there in the sunny spells. In honour of that agressive tail wagging, I re-rigged with no strike indicator, just a single split shot, long 6x and #20 black pupa and fished not Czek nymph style , not the Leisinring lift, (how do you figure any one or country claims invention to that ) just good old Canadian fishing by instinct, mix it up , sink it , drift it , lift it , twitch it, set the hook when the hair stands up on your neck , strip hard, swing it , or don't...four more were caught and it was time to jog out to the truck to get to the Ducks Un- Limited Banquet ..I am always impressed how a size #20 hook lands a good size trout stuck into that tough skin on the lip...I think the reason I still resist fishing those little nothing flies is they look so insignificant out there in that big river and there is so much olive coloured algae and crap floating down the cleanest of rivers how do the trout pick the little olive offering out ?? My BIG tip of the DAY is this.. you are at a DU Banquet.. if nobody at you're table is drinking those two bottles of wine on the table ..don't be watching the Auction when you should be watching you're wife behind you drinking the wine and bidding on all this stuff...FOR SALE... two signed duck prints- One Custom Putter -(we don't golf)-one DU Martini Mixing Set 403-563-3258 .

Drilling holes and dropping lines

2009-03-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

A colder than usual winter calls for drastic measures, still waters...ice augers...worms..minnows... power bait, jigs and thirty inches of ice.... I had only fly fished Crows Nest Lake twice over the years as I have become exclusively a river fisherman over the years... My first row out onto the lake in my old dory, was on a rainy evening a few years ago. I netted myself a 10 -11 lb. lake trout on the fly...caught on a steep drop off, that fish peeled line from the reel from 10 ft. to 90 ft. in seconds ..... a memorable moment not to be recreated on the ice that day... in fact, where we hiked in was not exactly where we wanted to fish , but it was out of the wind so we drilled half a dozen holes each and could not find water over 20 ft. We were hoping for around a hundred ft. It was pretty slow fishing the bites were light except for what ever hit Gary's one rod ..the rod and holder almost went down the hole...that was the big excitement for the afternoon. A quick road trip to the West Coast happened with my old fishing buddy from Banff, Rolfe Furhmann , A good trip was had , but we sure have mellowed with age... The spey rod went along, but all the fishing was out on the Pacific at Pedder Bay a couple of Spring Salmon were caught at 169 ft. on the down riggers ..I saw killler whales for the first time.. very cool !! There was lots of snow on Vancouver Island .. every day the temp. went up, the snow up high melted and the rivers went up again.. The Vedder River was cleaning up on the trip home,it had colour still, but it,s greenish and resonable flow...steelhead are in ! Other than that, a few fly fishing afternoons have been had on the Crow... nothing special to report ,midges and not many of them..the March full moon phase will soon be over and hopefully this will be the last of the nasty cold spells for the southern part of the rockies and the fish will start to wag their tales a little harder. A few people have come into the shop and bought some of our size 20# midge patterns and heading out...in a few weeks the small winter stones will officially start off a new season of fly fishing.. so don't hurt yourself skiing!

cafe and flyshop

2009-02-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

The Crowsnest Cafe and Flyshop is open Wed- Sun during the winter months. Check out the many new Flyfishing items for 2009 and save on the many discounted odds and ends. The cafe is serving homemade and healthy breakfasts and lunches......eat in or take away..call 403-563-8510.

2009-02-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

Crowsnest up date Jan.21. 2009

2009-01-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

There has been a few outings with fly rods lately..Susan was totally excited when she caught a 23 inch rainbow on one of my nice little streamers....but the boys were down stream trashing the water ahead of her ( what ever happened to the polite notion of" ladies first") and no cameraman was available for a picture ,but other trout were caught and Suzie is holding a nice little 16 or 17 in. rainbow in the picture...Other highlites of the week would be Kirby catching a brown trout above Lunbreck Falls , not a big trout, but rare in the upper section... Bigger browns have been known to actually swim up the falls to spawn, and it is hard to imagine a trout making an accent of such height ..there has been witnesses to this epic swim... Down stream of the falls a few decent Bull trout have been caught, one by Gary was 4-5lbs. followed by a breifly exciting foul hooking of a 4 lb. rocky mountain sucker that tore off line down to the backing, and seemed unstopable for a few glorious moments..the ass caught sucker brought Gary back breif memories of our Queen Charolette Island Steelhead adventure this past fall... Suzie and I went out yesterday ,the temperature was great, a bit off tanning happened till the breeze stirred and by that time my wife had caught two rainbows and I followed her down stream , letting her fish bellow me. She worked one of my smaller hand tied minnow patterns, she really wants to catch a big Bull trout lately, usually she only winter fishes if there is chance of dry fly action (she is a beautiful dry fly fisher) I saw her hook one more fish before she disappeared around the bend.. I fished a much larger fly, with a tail that was a bit to long and missed a number of takes ,finnally hooked up on a small bull , 20 inches... easilly landed. Next ,deep under some fast water I hooked into and landed a solid 7-8 lb. Bull trout. it was a good battle for a cold winter fish.... Occassionally a fish rose to a hatching midge.. When I got back to my truck a fish cop had my dog ,thats a whole other story...and I couldn,t find my angling licence. and thats a whole other story....Suzie had said to me when we left home" Al do you have you're licence??" I shrugged it off... so now she is giving me" the look" while I am trying too explain to the fish cop what a looser I am.. He was giving me a break ..but I stated ..I would rather have the ticket ...than the look I was getting from Suzie..The Fish Cop understood and Winston the dog got off too..

2009-01-13T06:38:00.000-08:00

2009-01-12T09:29:00.000-08:00

almost zero

2009-01-06T20:36:00.000-08:00

It was almost zero *C today... The excuses for leaving our Fly shop in Coleman and driving a short distance east , were new tires on the suburban, dog walking, and a few chores to be done in Pincher Creek..Mid afternoon, downstream on the Crowsnest River I was searching for some open water...I found a lot more openwater than expected after this 4 week deepfreeze. Caution on the ice was excercised by myself and Winston the dog , as the fishing situation was iffy , all the frog water was frozen. Multi coloured frozen goose poop on the ice, covered by a skiff of snow, looked like tops of rocks on the streams shallow inside bend.. The creaking of the ice made me look a little closer at what I was standing on.. After a change of position and only 2 casts a nice 17 inch rainbow was hooked and landed on my olive offering. The takes were subtle , more like a pull and a few trout were missed while I was thinking about that increasing tension on the line..( those trout were cold !) Frozen goose poop on the shore ice created other technical problems,the line hooked on those cheeze shaped ones while roll casting and line mending...but good drifts happened and more trout were caught than missed . The Stanleys Ice Off Paste worked again but this time the goose poo was the big technical problem..Seems there is always need for a new fly fishing product , but what would we call it ??? As I drove east towards Pincher Creek there were thousands of geese and ducks flying onto the grain fields . Thousands more birds than on my last frigid days of goose hunting season... they will stay if there is food and open water. It's too bad the migratory bird season is over, they are wrecking my drift and my ice.. Al B.

four days into 2009 and I ain,t caught a fish yet

2009-01-04T20:52:00.000-08:00

It,s hard too beleive that trout were caught on a dry fly in December not so long ago.. Just before the deep freeze or actually as the temperature was falling Gary T. the dogs and myself rushed out to the Crowsnest for one last chance to cast a fly and to test that Stanley,s Ice Off Paste that I usually find in the garage mid summer in a secret stash of fishing paraphernalia. This time I just grabbed some off the shelf at the wifes fly shop claiming that I should have it for free, for research and product testing and the betterment of all mankind( at least for the ones that flyfish in the Canadian winter ). Usually we like the temperature to be 2*C above zero at least, for our winter flyfishing but it was already 3*C bellow and dropping..I got out there first and greased my line with the Ice Off Paste ....the line floated noticeably high and did not ice up... Gary had shown up ,I gave him the paste he greased his line and his guides as the temperature continued to drop ,I wished I had also greased the rod guides at minus 10*C my rod guides finally started to freeze..Gary was still doing OK but we could feel it getting colder ...my dog Winston had swam across the river a few times following me .. trout had been caught... product tested...Gary ,dogs and I agreed it was time to go .. We had concluded that the paste was a excellent product to prolong the suffering of dog and flyfisherman alike...

2008-11-28T10:06:00.000-08:00

2008-11-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

Crowsnest Cafe and Flyshop home to Alberta Flyfishing Adventures

2008-11-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our new blog about Flyfishing in the Crowsnest pass and area. Here you will find relevant and recent info on fishing, river conditions and local fishermen's tall tales.