“Well, I did hear about this one place, supposed to be real good… It’s called Rainbow Alley.” I overheard the grizzled old-timer say as I picked through flies at the fly shop. He spoke loudly, as if inviting anyone else in the fly-shop to join in on his conversation. Rainbow Alley… I vaguely recalled a conversation with my dad from before I moved to Prince George. I think he had mentioned a place called Rainbow Alley… Trying not to be…
From rockslides to mining explosions, this Southern Alberta trout town is no stranger to catastrophe. Now, a fish epidemic threatens their world-class fishery. *Article featured in Hooked Magazine, Summer 2022 edition. This is the unedited version I submitted to the editor* The Crowsnest River drains from the continental divide out of Crowsnest Lake, flowing 40 kilometers east through the municipality of Crowsnest Pass—made up by the communities of Coleman, Blairmore, Frank, Bellevue, and Hillcrest— before emptying into the Oldman Reservoir….
I sat on a large rock and squinted as I attempted to tie on a small PMD pattern onto my fly line in the vanishing evening light. Moments ago, I drifted my large caddis pattern through an enticing run, prompting a large cutthroat to reveal his hiding spot amongst the cobbles- a brief flash of silver and crimson, subtle enough that it could have easily been missed. I covered the seam pressed up against a wall on the far bank,…
Hey all, a new video has been posted to youtube. You can check it out below! We did a two-day 50 km loop- 30 of hiking and 20 biking- and caught some pristine cutthroat trout along the way. Anytime we began to overheat, we cooled down with a plunge into a cold an alpine lake. It wasn’t easy but the rewards were worth it! It truly doesn’t get any better than this! Please like and subscribe if you enjoyed the…
This topic seems to have fallen off the public radar recently, so I wanted to take a moment to provide some updates, remind everyone the importance of decontamination, and briefly explain the parasite that causes the disease and its life cycle. There have been some frightening studies in the past few years that warn of trouble to come; we will also get into those. Whirling disease was first detected in Alberta in 2016, in the Bow River system. Subsequent testing…
An early season adventure through Central Alberta’s front ranges *Article featured in 2022 Spring Edition of Hooked Magazine* It was mid June in Alberta, and the provinces high-country streams had just opened for the season. Not accidentally, my cousin Garret and I had booked time off work, and had our sites set on the diverse waters to be found in the central part of Alberta’s front ranges. On our early season ‘to-do’ list were a couple tributaries of the Red…
As the name implies, a cutbow trout is a hybrid species that is the result of a mating event between a rainbow trout and a cutthroat trout. These species chromosomes arrangements are similar enough that they can mate and their offspring are usually viable and able to reproduce. After enough generations of interbreeding between the two species, the cutbow genes become the dominant genes and the pure genetics of the native westslope cutthroat are slowly diluted, eventually being lost all…
Hello bushwhackers, Thank you all for your continued support and enthusiasm for fly-fishing in western Canada. A special shoutout to all patrons; your financial support means the world and is vitally important to keeping the site going. THANK YOU! For those who might not know, I am an experienced guide and fly-fishing instructor who has been fishing for trout in Alberta’s high country for over a decade. I am taking bookings for guided trips and fly-fishing lessons in southern Alberta….
A reminder to ignore the weather forecast and go fishing anyways *Article featured in Hooked Magazine, Spring Edition 2021* “Rain, rain, and more rain….” I said to my brother in dismay as I looked up from the weather app on my smartphone. My brother, Mark, was loading up the car with the last things we would need for three days of camping and fishing for native cutthroat and bull trout in the newly minted Castle Provincial Park in southern Alberta….
A stunning journey in search of Western Canada’s most elusive trout *Article featured in Hooked Magazine, Summer Edition 2021* High in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, there is a resource that has promised riches to daring expeditioners for decades. The spoils did not come in the form of gold, silver, or jade. No, the spoils the daring men and women were after was a unique species of trout— the golden trout. And for many decades, this rare form of gold…