Highwood River

[tbone616]

So by the sounds of things Friday might be our last nice day of the year (god i hope not) so I'm planning on heading down to the Highwood for a little fly fishing to try my luck. I have never been there before and was just wondering if anyone had any tips they would be willing to share for that river and how the fishing has been as of late. Any input would be greatly appreciated :)

[fishstix]

Hey Tbone .. Im going to goto the highwood on friday aswell. I have fished there all season and had great luck. Earlier in the season i was catching cutts. My smallest was 14 inch , my biggest 20 inch, and i caught quite a few in between. The fly i was using was a #10-14 h&l varient. pretty big flys but i like them because they stay floating even after a few fish have licked them. Another popular pattern for me on the highwood was green or yellow humpy's. They were small # 16-18. Later in the season the rainbows were there. I had some good luck with them also. Averageing about 19-20 inch. My biggest bow this year was 22 inch. They liked caddis flies, H&L varients and humpys aswell. Those fish were taking on the rise. Now that the warm weather is gone and so are the constant hatches, i would be more inclined to use big streamer like a clouser minnow size 4 or a big rabbit strip streamer. Look for the deep holes and try for the bull trout. I caught a pile of bulls this season, smallest being a modest 18 inch and the biggest, a 26 inch that put my 6 wt rod to the test. I had 1 bull on that was a lot bigger but it bent my #4 clouser wide open and got away.....the one that got away...
Where are you planning to fish at? I like the stretch west of longview between the canyons and Cateract creek.
Fishstix...!

[tbone616]

Thanks for the tips fishtix sounds like you've had a pretty good year down there. I was thinking west of Longview as well, i heard it's beautiful and some great fishing to be had. I'm not sure where exactly though as i have never been down there before but i was just planning on heading west on the 541 and stoppping at any spots that look good.

[fishstix]

Turn west at longview and park at the highwood rec area. 100 meters past the kananaskis park gates(38km). Go upstream or easier go downstream. There are lots of holes to be fished.

[tbone616]

Thanks for the help fishtix i'll try it there for sure!

[tonyflyfish]

i had my best luck fishing the edge of the holes before going in and deep. that may be a no brainer for you but maybe a tip you can use. i also found that one side gave me nothing but if i crossed and came back to the other side it would produce.

[tbone616]

Turn west at longview and park at the highwood rec area. 100 meters past the kananaskis park gates(38km). Go upstream or easier go downstream. There are lots of holes to be fished.

Well heading out at 6:30AM tomorrow should be there about 9 ish. If anyone else is starting to not feel well (the old Friday Flu) and needs to call in sick tomorrow to recoup feel free to come say high and get your lines wet! Me and my buddy will be around there all day! If not have fun at work! :lol:
Sorry had to :)

[fishstix]

cant go till sunday now...let us know how it is!

[tbone616]

cant go till sunday now...let us know how it is!

Will Do!