Anatomy Of A Central Alberta Brown Trout Stream

[snuffy]

I haven't spent a lot of time on these waters, but I have an affection for small/medium size creeks and June 16 is too long to wait. That said, I'm getting kinda frustrated.

 

My recent explorations have taken me to places like the Little Red north of Water Valley and the nearby Fallen Timber by the Fallen Timber Rec Area and have mostly consisted of epic walks for a very few fish, although of surprising quality. I've noticed that these locales are markedly silted up, making the bugs hard to come by. Accordingly, I was wondering:

 

1. Am I correct in thinking that these heavily silted, gravel bottomed areas are marginal fisheries, or would the right conditions bring the river alive with fish only guessed at?

 

2. If so, would the higher, rock-bottomed or lower, mud-bottomed sections be better areas to focus on, or are these simply sparse fisheries throughout?

 

3. Is this siltation a peculiarity of that area or is it what makes these streams brown trout streams?

 

4. Where are all the brookies that are supposed to break up the monotony?

[bjbailey]

Hi Snuffy,

 

I can't speak for the Little Red Deer or Fallen Timber specifically; however, I've spent some time on the brown trout streams near RMH (Prairie, Stauffer, South Raven). I'll try to answer the first two of your questions and hopefully somebody with more experience on the water valley area can correct me if I am wrong and fill in the rest.

 

1) While I believe that a several years ago the Little Red and Fallen Timber were subjected to a series of drought and flood years, I believe that they hold a good population of browns today. It often takes the right conditions (light, temperature, hatches, etc.) to see what these rivers can really produce. I've fished the streams mentioned above and had days ranging from marginal to phenomenal. On the days where it seems that you just can't buy a riser, I often find stripping streamers (wooly buggers being a favorite) near undercut banks and log jams to be the most effective.

2) I fish the gravel bottom sections more than the mud-bottom sections but that is just my preference. I wouldn't even try to argue that the gravel sections are better as I've seen and heard of some great fish coming out of the slower, mud-bottomed sections.

 

Don't get discouraged as these can be incredible streams to fish!

 

Brandon