Clearwater Adventures Fly Fishing

Crowsnest Pass and Willow Creek Fishing

July 3, 2007 · No Comments

June 30 to July 2, 2007

The Canada Day long weekend was spent in the Crowsnest Pass fishing with John and also with Scotty and Lynn who have returned again from Florida for a week of fishing the streams of south-west Alberta. True to form, the Crowsnest Pass was windy and it blew all day Saturday and Sunday and it really didn't calm down until later in the evening. On both days the best fishing for us occurred after 8:00 P.M. during the caddis hatch. On Saturday evening the fish were very active feeders and a little slower but still steady on Sunday. As expected, the fish really keyed in on elk hair caddis and pretty well ignored everything else including caddis emerger droppers. Many rainbow and cutthroat trout were landed both days. On Sunday we stopped for an hour at the Oldman River on the way back to Calgary. The water is now crystal clear and it was a lot of fun watching trout come up to take dry flies. A royal wulff with a beadhead dropper proved to be very effective with most fish taking the wulff. The water in both rivers has dropped over the past week and are in great condition.

June 23, 2007,

I've never fished Willow Creek before, so this morning I headed to a section of the creek that I scouted out last weekend. The water looked a little higher and was definitely dirtier than it was last Saturday. I got off to a quick start with one fish on and this small cutthroat landed after three casts but that was all the action I would see on Willow Creek. The section of the creek that I fished twists through sandstone cliffs in the Porcupine Hills and really looked promising but just didn't deliver.

I doubt that I'll head back to that section of Willow Creek but may look at checking out another section further upstream later on this summer. My next stop was the section of the Oldman River that I got rained out on last Saturday. The river is still running high but it was surprisingly clear with a good 8 feet of visibility. The fish didn't seem to be overly interested in any particular fly I threw at them but they did take small beadheads and I did get three cutthroat on a parachute Adams. Streamers didn't work for me at all today. Most of the fish I caught, took flies in slower, shallower water off to the side of the river. If you are planning on getting out on the Oldman and you need to cross the river, pick your spots carefully and take your time. The Bow River is still running high and very dirty and visibility is only at about 6 inches right now so I imagine I'll be back to the mountains next weekend.

[tags]willow creek, Crowsnest Pass, oldman river, beadheads [/tags]

Technorati Tags: beadheads, Crowsnest Pass, Oldman River