july 06, 2008 01:00am
St.Mary's River June 3rd & 4th
The water on the St. Mary's was high running 12 times its normal flow. I was hoping for an increase during the spring runoff so as to enable a float rather than a walk and wade but this was excessive!
The color had clear somewhat and have a couple of feet of visibility. Usually a worm or a copper john are hot items this time of year. Not so! It was a very slow day but some nice fish were caught.
Friday was even higher with the water up another 20 cubic meters per second. The plan was simple
Float to the most productive area from last day and anchor. We stayed in the same place for 5 hrs. We caught enough fish to keep us going but it wasn’t quick action.
We then took out and headed for a pike lake. A major storm blew in and pushed us around the lake for a while but the pike didn’t seem to mind. They were on the feed and the action was fast and very fun. A great day was had by all.
Tight Lines and Big Smiles
july 06, 2008 12:42am
Bow River float July 1st
The weather was changing to say the least. A Sun shine and rain mix. The only constant was the mosquitoes which hovered in clouds. The fishing was slow, very slow with only a half dozen fish for the day between two fishermen. We were hoping to catch the annual stone fly migration to the shore but not a single take. Even the spring standby, the worm, only produced a couple of takes. We constantly switched flies throughout the day with no real action. Our only bright light on the day was the other boats seemed to be having no more or even less action than us. Despite the lack of fish it was a fun day with good company which is all good!
july 06, 2008 12:30am
Upper Oldman River June 30th
We arrived early and had a beautiful sunny day with lots of fish action.
The water is still a bit high but average for this time of year.
The nice thing is that it was reasonably clear.
We started the day using nymphs. The prince nymph and the gold ribbed hairs ear were extremely productive. The white fish seemed to be more active than the cutties. We spent a lot of time switching up the flies to see if we could interest a few more trout.
Despite a lack of apparent rises we switched to dries after lunch with some success, definitely slower than the nymphs. The best dry flies were the green drake in a parachute and the royal coachman with a few takes on some stone fly imitations. Our best fish of the day was an 18” cuttie with beautiful color.
june 27, 2008 10:24pm
Big Water & Muddy
Another check on the St. Mary's shows a slight improvement in water color. Visibility is a good foot or slightly more. There is a slight green tone to the muddy color which is a good trend.
The muddy color is now compounded by the fact that the water flow has increased by 8X what it was a couple of days ago and is now flowing at approx. 40 cubic meters per second. That makes it very difficult to fish wading across is next to impossible.
If the color continues to improve it should be fishable next week some time. It will be floatable in a drift boat. I would like to see the flow down around the 20 mark to really get things hopping.
june 24, 2008 03:34pm
Muddy Waters Continue
HI:
I was hopeful that the St. Mary's river was beginning to clear. This was due to the fact that the Oldman River @ Lethbridge had a hint of green in the muddy brown color. I checked The St. Mary's today and it seems to be as muddy as ever, maybe even more so than the last time I was out.
The visibility was only a foot if you have bright sunlight and good eyes.
Hopefully by next week we will see at least some green, what I call, bugger water.
The local news reported two drownings in the swollen rivers over the weekend. Be safe around the rivers, especially during spring runoff.
Tight lines, coming soon!
Smiles
Barry Byam
june 22, 2008 04:28pm
Water Advisory Removed for Southern AB.
Over the weekend the flood warnings have been lifted. That means the runoff has reached its peak and is slowly starting to come down.
The Oldman river that flows through Lethbridge is still quite high and muddy.
I made it out to the St. Mary's Thursday afternoon and found it high and muddy but not as muddy as on Monday. I gave it a try and through some line for about an hour. I was able to hook-up on 3 fish. I only landed one. It was a nice 20" male with beautiful spawning colors. You already know the rest of the story, “the biggest one got away.”
The mountain rivers clear up a good week before the prairie one so I would bet that they will still be a bit high and still have some color but will be fishable.
I will check mid week and see how the color is coming along.
Tight Lines and Big Smiles
Barry Byam
june 18, 2008 01:09am
The rivers are now open
The 16th of June is openning day for the rivers in southern Alberta. I went out in hopes that a tail water would be clear as the Oldman that runs through Lethbridge is fairly muddy. The river wasn't high but it was muddy. I was about to leave and come back in a few days when I notice a friends truck down river. I went for a chat and was presently surprised to find him catching fish despite the muddy conditions. He says, "if you forget about the mud and just watch your indicator you will hookup. Lesson learned!
may 09, 2008 01:55am
New Blog with RSS Feed
Alberta Rocky Mountain Anglers is pleased to now offer a blog to keep you updated with the latest news and offerings from Alberta Rocky Mountain Anglers.
