Elbow River In Calgary

[FraserN]

I hit the Elbow river in Calgary this morning for the first time this season. In 5 hours I put 5 trout in the net. 4 browns and surprisingly a tiny Rainbow, also (a rare catch for me in the city stretch). Nothing big (largest brown was 11 inches), all taken on tiny nymphs and dries. It is different from the Bow river,and a surprisingly nice change of pace from my usual day on the water. 5wt. rod, long fine leaders, very small flies, and intimate water. A prairie creek type of brown trout stream in the center of a major metropolitan city. Great stuff!

[fishfreak]

There's some decent water on the Elbow right in Calgary, and the fishing can be pretty good before the raft/tube armada appears. There are some juicy looking spots that I've wanted to hit this year but haven't had the chance. Great job on catching some fish!

[Guest Sundancefisher]

I electrofished the Elbow from the Dam down to the Bow. There are some...um...surprises...in that river.

 

There are definitely stretches that have 99% of the fish and long parts with zilch...

[trailhead]

Yes in Calgary we are incredibly fortunate to have two fine trout streams.

[Christofficer]

Yup, lots of small fish to catch. Don't let it fool you though, there's some big trout in there. Pike, browns, whities, rainbows, and even some perch. I like to fish it out of the city though above the reservoir, much more peaceful, less dogs, and some bull trout. Fish are smaller but who cares, I caught some big whities though and some browns above 16" last year. I even caught a big pike just above reserve land on a muddler minnow, with 5X tippet to boot.