Mountain whites.

[trigger7mm]

The Rockies should be starting to school up soon. Does anybody have any spots they would mind sharing. Doesn’t need to be an exact spot. Thanks.

[dodgeboy1979]

always had good luck in the clearwater

[Red Bullets]

Like mentioned the Clearwater plus several of our other rivers. The Mcleod upstream of Peers, the North Sask river from RockyMtnHouse to Edmonton and the Red Deer river above Gennifer dam all have nice rockies. Further south I'm not as familiar with. The Bow river should have some nice rockies. The Alberta record rocky came out of Gap Lake by Canmore. Bottom bounce or drift a white fly or maggots in a little faster water over gravel. Pike and bull trout like to chase rockies too so try some hardware or rapalas if the rockies aren't biting.

[Runewolf1973]

Like mentioned the Clearwater plus several of our other rivers. The Mcleod upstream of Peers, the North Sask river from RockyMtnHouse to Edmonton and the Red Deer river above Gennifer dam all have nice rockies. Further south I'm not as familiar with. The Bow river should have some nice rockies. The Alberta record rocky came out of Gap Lake by Canmore. Bottom bounce or drift a white fly or maggots in a little faster water over gravel. Pike and bull trout like to chase rockies too so try some hardware or rapalas if the rockies aren't biting.


So maybe this is one reason why I've been catching all goldeye and never any whitefish? The goldeye are surface feeders and the whitefish feed closer to the bottom, is that correct? My flies are usually coasting somewhere around the surface.

[dodgeboy1979]

yes whitefish hug the bottom, use a bead head with a split shot up your line to get down to them.

[Red Bullets]

So maybe this is one reason why I've been catching all goldeye and never any whitefish? The goldeye are surface feeders and the whitefish feed closer to the bottom, is that correct? My flies are usually coasting somewhere around the surface.

Whites tend to feed close to the bottom. Dodgeboy's suggestion will get your fly down. I will also use a spin cast set up sometimes. I use a common nail (cheaper than buying pencil weights) for a weight (sharp end dulled) and put the nail 8 to 12 inches below a 3 way swivel. The attach the fly or maggoted hook 2 feet off the 3 way swivel. I will use a little lighter line on the nail weight so if it gets snagged while bottom bouncing I can break off the nail and get back the swivel and hooks. Nails rust back to the land but lead or bismuth pencil weights don't. Bottom bounce the set up in current and keep you line tight so you can feel the bite. Rockies bite lightly and have small tender mouths. I use size 10 or 12 snelled hooks for maggots. Only one or two maggots. Too many and they will just pull them off. Thread one maggot right onto the shaft and another maggot behind the eyes.

[JReed]

Caught my share of rockies on dry flies, they’re supposed to be on the bottom but sometimes they come up.

People can say what they want about them, but they are a great game fish. Pretty good in the smoker too. Saved me a few times from getting skunked.
I love when they stack up this time of year

[trigger7mm]

They do give up a great fight in fast water. Fun to catch.

[SNAPFisher]

Caught my share of rockies on dry flies, they’re supposed to be on the bottom but sometimes they come up.

People can say what they want about them, but they are a great game fish. Pretty good in the smoker too. Saved me a few times from getting skunked.
I love when they stack up this time of year

Agree! They are also awesome pan fried fresh. Better than lake whites in my humble opinion.

[Fishing4Trophies]

Agree! They are also awesome pan fried fresh. Better than lake whites in my humble opinion.

Still awaiting the rockies here! What's going on?

[SNAPFisher]

Still awaiting the rockies here! What's going on?

Maybe the cold weather put them in winter mode early ... :)

Speaking of whites,
I hit Sylvan on Sunday. Started off very tough, but, I stuck it out and after 2 p.m. it was game on! Quickly filled a limit without any trouble after that. Made some very nice fish burgers for this week.

[SNAPFisher]

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[Sundancefisher]

Very surprised F&W haven't made rocky mountain whitefish catch and release. Their populations are crashed from historical.

Looking at older F&W reports the areas now that have sport fishing during the spawning season are at 1/100 of the past historical levels or worse.

I don't fault anyone for sport fishing during legal season however any fishery that occurs during a spawn is not sustainable.

Unfortunately old school F&W biologists saw whitefish as garbage fish to discard in bushes. Now there is an understanding the whitefish and their various year classes fill an important niche in the food chain.

The upper Elbow used to have a sizeable population. Now it is barely a remnant. Some may discount that however it is usually based upon lack of knowledge of what the population use to be like.

As anglers we need to recognize these situations and convey to F&W to adjust and fix regulations before it is too late.

[fsa313]

40-50 years ago, I used to fish a lot for rockies in Jasper National Park. The rivers we fished were the Snake Indian, the Snaring, the Rocky River, the Miette and the Athabasca just below where the Snaring runs in. We fished fly rods (Tenkara style) with a Royal Coachman, white wings removed and three maggots with the last one sleeved onto the hook so that the tip of the maggot matched the tip of the hook. Also, one day on the Snake Indian, I think we ate a world record rocky. We baked a fish, in clay, on a flat rock in a riverside campfire. I estimated the fish at 6lbs and it was years later that I discovered the world record was 5lb 5oz. Truthfully, Neil.

[Lornce]

Just a heads up as you are no longer allowed to fish with maggots (bait) in most streams please check your regs.

[SNAPFisher]

I'm not so sure SundanceF. I know I can count the number RMH I've kept without exceeding my fingers and toes count...and yes, I have all 20 :)

I wonder how many on here specifically target them for food? I have no problem if anyone does but every angler I know pretty much C&Rs them and, like in my case, has sampled a few at most. Most of the streams up there are 5 over 30 cm and no bait. And, season ends before the spawn. I can't comment much south of RDR as I really don't target them further South than the RDR.

[Crankbait]

in the late 70's early 80's, it was no size limit with a personal limit of 15 and a personal possession of 30. the rivers ran completely grey from bank to opposite bank as if a river was flowing over a roadway of fish. it was elbow to elbow fishing, yet rarely a line was crossed.

and both you and I know that nobody was checking freezers for over possession limits back then.

same note, same time period; pike limit 10, any size. burbot as many as you could haul, but mostly you would see piles of them rotting on the shoreline.

imo, if you are not going to eat it, release it back to the water unless it's an invasive species. suckers should not be tossed to rot.

[ddddd05]

Great story Neil!

[dodger]

Whites tend to feed close to the bottom. Dodgeboy's suggestion will get your fly down. I will also use a spin cast set up sometimes. I use a common nail (cheaper than buying pencil weights) for a weight (sharp end dulled) and put the nail 8 to 12 inches below a 3 way swivel. The attach the fly or maggoted hook 2 feet off the 3 way swivel. I will use a little lighter line on the nail weight so if it gets snagged while bottom bouncing I can break off the nail and get back the swivel and hooks. Nails rust back to the land but lead or bismuth pencil weights don't. Bottom bounce the set up in current and keep you line tight so you can feel the bite. Rockies bite lightly and have small tender mouths. I use size 10 or 12 snelled hooks for maggots. Only one or two maggots. Too many and they will just pull them off. Thread one maggot right onto the shaft and another maggot behind the eyes.

Old school - I like it !!

Dodger.

[dodger]

Very surprised F&W haven't made rocky mountain whitefish catch and release. Their populations are crashed from historical.

Looking at older F&W reports the areas now that have sport fishing during the spawning season are at 1/100 of the past historical levels or worse.

I don't fault anyone for sport fishing during legal season however any fishery that occurs during a spawn is not sustainable.

Unfortunately old school F&W biologists saw whitefish as garbage fish to discard in bushes. Now there is an understanding the whitefish and their various year classes fill an important niche in the food chain.

The upper Elbow used to have a sizeable population. Now it is barely a remnant. Some may discount that however it is usually based upon lack of knowledge of what the population use to be like.

As anglers we need to recognize these situations and convey to F&W to adjust and fix regulations before it is too late.

How true. I look back in the 70's and shake my head at how we abused the fall run of Rockies. I agree that they should be closely monitored as other game fish in Alberta.

Dodger.

[slough shark]

I think I’ve kept 1 rocky in the last 10 years, population isn’t near what it used to be pretty well in all the rivers in southern Alberta. I don’t know if it’s overfishing, habitat degradation, poor spawning or the comeback of the bull trout but the Rockies aren’t what they used to be. Sadly nothing seems to get done about our lakes and rivers, seems the only tool f&w uses is shutting it down, shortening the season or making everything c&r, I’d be surprised if we will be able to keep any in our southern rivers within a few years or the rivers simply get shut down.

[Sooner]

I'm 50, been fishing the Athabasca river south of Whitecourt since my teens. Have seen some epic RMW trips over the years but have also noted the decline in the years prior to the big mine spill and the closing of the river to keeping fish.

Still caught fish but size and numbers way down the last 5 yrs before the spill. Haven't been back since the closure and that's sad as it is one of my favorite places in sept to fish/camp. Hope the closure has helped number increase.

We used to use coat hangers when they actually had weight to them and made a V. Tie your line at the point of the V. Go up 18 inches and tie on your favorite fly. The coat hanger dances along the rocks better than a split shot which tends to fall in between. Still lose some but with 18 inches of line, you can tie on a couple times before it gets to short.

[dodger]

I remember doing the coat hanger trick. We added a rubber band tide real tight to our fishing line so when the hanger did snag the rubber band would break. All you lost was the coat hanger and a rubber band.

Dodger.

[oil99]

I remember doing the coat hanger trick. We added a rubber band tide real tight to our fishing line so when the hanger did snag the rubber band would break. All you lost was the coat hanger and a rubber band.



Dodger.



Blast from the past. Fished the Bow as a kid, and used the same get up with the hanger and elastic. Orange fly, maggots and cast after cast of whites. The local Red Rooster owners loved them.

[Sundancefisher]

I'm not so sure SundanceF. I know I can count the number RMH I've kept without exceeding my fingers and toes count...and yes, I have all 20 :)

I wonder how many on here specifically target them for food? I have no problem if anyone does but every angler I know pretty much C&Rs them and, like in my case, has sampled a few at most. Most of the streams up there are 5 over 30 cm and no bait. And, season ends before the spawn. I can't comment much south of RDR as I really don't target them further South than the RDR.

As an anglers you’ve done nothing wrong. My point refers to fisheries management

[Spooner]

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Those are Lake Whites.

No streams in AB can support harvest.

[Sundancefisher]

Those are Lake Whites.

No streams in AB can support harvest.

He said he caught in Sylvan so to me it was a given he knew they weren’t RMW.

[SNAPFisher]

Those are Lake Whites.



Thank goodness!!! I thought I was actually fishing Sylvan River ..,the current did seem a bit slow where I was fishing. And I thought those are the biggest group of Rockies I’d ever seen.

Thanks for clearing this one up...



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