Brook trout spots?

[slivers86]

Looking for a spot to fish brook trout within 2 - 2 1/2 hrs of calgary?

If you know of any good spots, and care to share, let me know.

I'm spinning and from shore, so if you have any tips on whats working I'd be more than open to suggestions.

Help is greatly appreciated :) Cheers!

[chubbdarter]

Looking for a spot to fish brook trout within 2 - 2 1/2 hrs of calgary?

If you know of any good spots, and care to share, let me know.

I'm spinning and from shore, so if you have any tips on whats working I'd be more than open to suggestions.

Help is greatly appreciated :) Cheers!


catarac creek

[densa44]

You know that these are a non native species? A fly rod will help a lot. At Cataract creek you will be wading. It is a very beautiful stretch of water.

Once you get a rainbow on a line you will never search for the noble brook trout again.

Trust me on this!

[Braun]

whats are the brooktrout like in cataract? i was cruising k country the other day and came across it. didnt bother stopping though. average size? natural reproducing i would assume. where does cataract flow into?

[chubbdarter]

You know that these are a non native species? A fly rod will help a lot. At Cataract creek you will be wading. It is a very beautiful stretch of water.

Once you get a rainbow on a line you will never search for the noble brook trout again.

Trust me on this!

He just wants to catch brook trout to be able to say he has......i think thats ok

[commieboy]

Once you get a rainbow on a line you will never search for the noble brook trout again.

Trust me on this!

For myself, I would disagree. Yes, I think Rainbows put up a better fight, but with the range of vivid colours on brookies, they are my number one pick for most beautiful fish. Cutts in spawning colours are also high on that list. Plus, I find brookies to be more aggressive on the take. If I want a fight, a rainbow will do, but if I'm out for the environment... brookies.

Anyway, as I mentioned in a thread I started, Jumping Pound Creek has many brookies, but most of what I have caught have been very small, and you would be wading for the most part. It's very shallow in Cohcrane, though. Easily doable in shorts.

Is size of the fish an issue for you?

[boot]

Looking for a spot to fish brook trout within 2 - 2 1/2 hrs of calgary?

If you know of any good spots, and care to share, let me know.

I'm spinning and from shore, so if you have any tips on whats working I'd be more than open to suggestions.

Help is greatly appreciated :) Cheers!

Elbow Lake (tons of them, but very small).

[HunterDave]

Is size of the fish an issue for you?

On this forum....I'd have to say YEAH! :lol:

Nothing beats a feed of pan sized brookies.........away better tasting than RB! :)

[Scott N]

Elbow Lake (tons of them, but very small).

X2.... they're stunted, but hungry.

[slivers86]

hey guys thanks for the overnight replies.

size isn't an issue, i used to pull little pans out every day as a kid, just as fun. like stated above, they are a beautiful fish. The colors are amazing. Just want to catch a few to say I did. I'll probably go out to cat creek, and try to find a good spot and run a range of anything in my box to see what the results are. Will probably go out Monday around noon.

[bowriverbrown]

I fished Cataract about 3 years ago, stayed at the Campground, from there I walked for a about 3Km downstream. I never changed my hook once, using a small black w/gold spinner panther martin produced a fish on every other cast in just about any part of the creek, especially along the shoreline under the trees/bushes. Near the end of my walk before I headed back to camp, there was a 90 deg turn in the river with a solid rock wall, which formed a nice hole about 4'-5'. I pulled a 12" out of that hole. There's also a nice hole when you cross the bridge into the campground, but everyone was fishing there.

I always wanted to go back and explore further down, but never did. I quite sure the creek drains into the Highwood,(from what I can see on Google maps) that's where I'll start next time I head up there.

[Sundancefisher]

X2.... they're stunted, but hungry.

X3...very, very tasty them Elbow Lake brookies!

Last time I was in there I took a burger cage...put the cleaned brookies in there with some butter and salt...cooked over an open fire...

YUMMMMMMY!

[Dust1n]

ebow lake and johnson lake. johnson for quality and elbow for quanity.

use small dries and leeches but spin.
i like cd3 in silver in elbow but they wont touch it in johnson.

[tacklerunner]

Elbow & Johnson Lake

Never been. Can I effectively fly fish from shore. I probably can't toss a fly more than 50 feet (depends on wind). Or do I have to spin?

[Braun]

Elbow & Johnson Lake

Never been. Can I effectively fly fish from shore. I probably can't toss a fly more than 50 feet (depends on wind). Or do I have to spin?

the requirement to fish these lakes is to be able to actually walk to them...... your out for at least another 2-3weeks bud.



oh and they are spear fishing only. no flies or spinners allowed. lol

[boot]

Elbow & Johnson Lake

Never been. Can I effectively fly fish from shore. I probably can't toss a fly more than 50 feet (depends on wind). Or do I have to spin?

For Elbow Lake, it's about a 30 minute hike uphill. Also, you'll probably want to wade into the lake and if you do that, 50 foot casts are more than enough. In fact, 30 to 40 foot casts will be adequate... in the evening, they rise and bubble up everywhere.

[Dust1n]

Elbow & Johnson Lake

Never been. Can I effectively fly fish from shore. I probably can't toss a fly more than 50 feet (depends on wind). Or do I have to spin?

johnson lake is in banff so youll need a permit.little baker is by the skoki Area. yeah theres some quality brookies in there the water is super clear and sightfishing isnt possible lol.the key thing to fish johnson is to find a log jam on the little nooks in the lake and fish it with a leech. the lamods fly fish shop has a good section of flies i used a glass bead mircoleech in marabu and cut the tail so its about 1/4 in size. on the both far ends of the lake theres lots of room to cast(10-15min walk) i usaly take the brookies about 10-15 feet out.they come out of nowhere hiding in the shoals weeds.there supposted to be huge bows in there too but i havent got anyfrom shore.
theres a creek that runs out of johnson and it has bigger brokies then the lake itself. pushing 17inch on the 2nd log jam. and theres also a huge pool beside the hiking bridge out of the way so you cant see it and a creek runs into it making it the honeyhole. the smaller creek that runs into it has lots of super small brookies.

elbow lake the brookies are stunted as mentioned and wil go after everything i like using dries there but before i started to fly fish a size3 cd in silver worked good.lots of room to fly cast. long casts are nessary the short more accurate the better

[tacklerunner]

the requirement to fish these lakes is to be able to actually walk to them...... your out for at least another 2-3weeks bud.



oh and they are spear fishing only. no flies or spinners allowed. lol

I'm up and about. I'm determined. But back to the Doc for 11:30. Something's not right LOL

[walking buffalo]

catarac creek

And keep your limit every time. :)

[slivers86]

the requirement to fish these lakes is to be able to actually walk to them...... your out for at least another 2-3weeks bud.



oh and they are spear fishing only. no flies or spinners allowed. lol

Hey tr, scuba gear for 2? lmao

[slivers86]

well, completely skunked for 3 hrs at Cataract creek today. Everyone I was with caught brookies but me.. used a variety of small pms, mepps, and various other small spinners (including the ones that worked for others) and nothing...

sincerely frustrated and stinky,
:mad3:

[Dust1n]

try a Pm with a little pheasent tail nymph behind your as good as gold because they can go for both
sorry to hear...

[slivers86]

might go tomorrow, for a second try... will be in the area, so it couldn't hurt right? :)

[calgarygringo]

When I get some time, hopefully real soon I will lead a charge up and as several of our group has done caught many Brookies in a day there. Tip for you is to park in the turnoff before the picnic area and walk upstream not down stream and watch for the beaver ponds on the right as they hold lots in there as well. You should be able to catch them all day long. We have done a couple of group trips where i guided up the creek and done very well. My favorite small stream to go and catch lots of fish in a day.

[slivers86]

After being skunked, I am going back to cataract this week. Any advice. I'm thinking of taking the FTR in, should I go up or down?

[Dust1n]

After being skunked, I am going back to cataract this week. Any advice. I'm thinking of taking the FTR in, should I go up or down?

always go upstream fish cant see downstream and the more remote places are often upstream including dark ble pools and waterfalls big canyon walls ect.