north ram river

[deerassassin]

hi, i was thinking about going to go try the north ram and its tributory cripple creek with my flyrod. I was just wondering if the fishing is any good. i've heard through the grape vine that it is a fraction as good as it was 30 yrs ago.

[steve]

I have had much better luck on the Lynx and below the falls on the Ram. Last summer Cripple was a foot wide and a inch deep at the trunk road.

[otto389]

The last two big(read huge)floods have changed the North Ram and Cripple creek pretty dramatically and IMHO they havent even recovered to where they were between the two floods much less before the first big one (2005 and 1995?? I think)For that matter the every creek and river from Nordegg to James river (those are the places that I know of personally) changed dramatically.
Trevor M.

[Ayr]

I poked around on Cripple BRIEFLY last summer, near the FTR. There was nothing going on at that spot, but maybe if a guy gets of the beaten path, who knows......? Unless you're a small stream junkie, you would probably be better off fishing the main stem of the North Ram itself.

Good luck,

Ayr.

[TundraBuck]

Closer to Nordegg there is some other systems like Hummingbird and Onion Creek... TONS of cutts but nothing huge. If I was you I'd be fishing the main river too.

[Wazzy]

Hummingbird and onion have cutts not brookies. I fished Cripple last year right near the FTR and did really well. Its funny I have heard nothing but negative about that creek recently yet I found small (8-9 inches max) cutts eagerly taking dries in just about any place there seemed to be decent holding water. I've never fished Lynx but imagine it would be pretty similar.

[mikeym]

The North Ram can be very good, but you have to time your visit and be prepared to hike quite a bit.

the river sees a lot of pressure mostly on weekends. so the fish become very hook shy and can completely turn off for a day or two. if you go about mid-week, you have a better shot at having the river to yourself and getting into some decent fish. on weekends by the time you hike to a hole, 2 or 3 other people have been by and put most of the fish down for the weekend.

i find that if you put in some miles and go during the week, you are going to have a lot better chance at success than on weekends. actually that is pretty true of all streams in that area.

and as the guys above have said, don't ignore those tiny tribs. hiking a bit upstream on them can get pretty rewarding.

good luck
Mike

[deerassassin]

Hummingbird and onion have cutts not brookies. I fished Cripple last year right near the FTR and did really well. Its funny I have heard nothing but negative about that creek recently yet I found small (8-9 inches max) cutts eagerly taking dries in just about any place there seemed to be decent holding water. I've never fished Lynx but imagine it would be pretty similar.

see thats what i've read in the backroad mapbook is that cripple has lots of small cutts that are easier to catch than in the north ram

[deerassassin]

The last two big(read huge)floods have changed the North Ram and Cripple creek pretty dramatically and IMHO they havent even recovered to where they were between the two floods much less before the first big one (2005 and 1995?? I think)For that matter the every creek and river from Nordegg to James river (those are the places that I know of personally) changed dramatically.
Trevor M.

so im assuming that elk and teepee pole creek are probably not worth trying either

[TundraBuck]

so im assuming that elk and teepee pole creek are probably not worth trying either

Elk flows into the Clearwater, focus on that area around Pepper's Lake and you'll get into some fish.

[TundraBuck]

see thats what i've read in the backroad mapbook is that cripple has lots of small cutts that are easier to catch than in the north ram

This may be true but you said it yourself, lots of small fish. The Ram and North Ram have big big cutts but you need to put the miles on to find them.

[deerassassin]

This may be true but you said it yourself, lots of small fish. The Ram and North Ram have big big cutts but you need to put the miles on to find them.

i've just started fly fishing over the last two years. the first year i started on trout streams in the lodgepole/cynthia area and did really poor. then i started doing northern rivers for grayling and that brought my confidence up alot so I think im ready for the next step and go after some little cutts first then i will try for big ones