Cataract Or Etherington

[Bull]

HI, Newbie here to the board,fly fishing and camping in Alberta. Heading down to lake Koocanusa at the middle of this month( wifes idea of camping is a lake and sandy beach). So once we are done there with her camping trip idea she has to go on my camping trip( fly fishing and no beaches). Looking for something on our way home to S.W. Calgary . Looking for a campground with river or creek fishing near by. Having never been to Cataract or Etherington, looking for opions or new camping places. Thanks to all that reply

[wongrs]

hi there,

 

i've camped at cataract a bunch of times and it's a nice campground. the park people tell me it rarely fills up (long weekends it does of course) but you shouldn't have a problem finding a campsite there. it's first come first serve and with both campgrounds you have some nice brookie fishing nearby. nothing massive of course but really convenient. and it's a short drive down the trunk road to get the livingstone river which has bigger bulls and cutts.

 

fishing cataract and etherington should be pretty simple. just bring your dries in 14-18 in different colours of parachute adams, caddis, humpy's etc and maybe a few smaller stimulators. most of the brooks in there are 8" long but there's a few largeer brook trout in there but you might have to hike a little ways away from the campground. if you hike downstream on cataract, there is a nice waterfall and there can be some bigger fish downstream of there. it's a nice and easy hike for you and the GF. i haven't explored too much upstream of the campground.

 

you could also try the livingstone falls campground which is on the livingstone river. i've only parked there but the fishing was alright there as well.

[Hawgstoppah]

Dutch Creek, Racehorse Creek... also offer good fishing on the small creeks nearby, plus access to the larger fish of the Oldman and Livginstone is very close..

[Bull]

Thanks guys for the info. Think we will try Cataract and spend a day driving around checking out the other campsites. We will heading back on a Tuesday from Koocanusa, so figured getting a spot shouldn't be to hard. Seems like there are lots of campsites around that area.

 

Wrongs. Quote "if you hike downstream on cataract, there is a nice waterfall and there can be some bigger fish downstream of there. it's a nice and easy hike for you and the GF." wife probably won't come we have a 3 month old and 4yr old. Is the hike suitable for my 4 yr old fishing buddy?

 

Thanks again

[danhunt]

It was pretty slow this weekend at Cataract. The water was nice and clear but still high and cold, and all of the fish I moved were on a #16 evil weavil. Upstream of the bridge that you cross on the way in to the camp is a meadow that has some good water. The falls are probably too much of a hike for the little guy.

[PeteZahut]

Yeah it might be a little far for a 4 year old. It is just shy of 3 km from the campground with a minimum of 1 river crossing or as many as 3 or 4 if you don't find the right trail. Below the falls is really nice though. The meadow section above the campground and the section from the campground down to the falls has a lot of easy to get to, small Brookies.

[Guest bigbadbrent]

almost pointless to camp there if you're in SW calgary, i'd say camp along the livingstone or the oldman. Cataract is only an hour and a bit away from calgary, not much of a stop

[rhuseby]

Both nice campgrounds and some decent fishing in the immediate area. Etherington Creek itself has cutts, no brookies. Better fishing is probably a bit furthur south in the Oldman drainage, but it gets awfully crowded for my tastes, especially the Livingstone.

[rhuseby]

Forgot to add in the last note, if you have a BC license, there smallmouth bass in some of the little lakes in and around Kikomun Creek park. If nothing else, take some leech patterns like a wooly buggers and some streamers. Even from shore you can get fish, although casting space can be tough to find. Watch out for the turtles though. I damn near hooked one of them with my kids along a few years ago, and lord knows how exciting getting a p-oed turtle off the hook would have been.

[reevesr1]

Watch out for the turtles though. I damn near hooked one of them with my kids along a few years ago, and lord knows how exciting getting a p-oed turtle off the hook would have been.

Really exciting! We would sometimes catch Snapping Turtles in Lousiana. The only thing I have ever been afraid to take the hook out of. Think missing finger. My brother, however, is insane so I let him do it! Ole nine fingers we call him now!!

[Bull]

Thanks for all the info, I thought about getting a B.C. fishing license.I had heard from others there was some good fishing around Koocanusa.I probably won't thou as that part of the vacation is a beach family vacation.The fishing part of the vacation starts when we are heading back home.

 

thanks again