Fishing and Biking around Rocky Mountain House
 

I've been researching a solo camping trip for this spring. I'm probably going to head to Rocky Mountain House with my Fly Rod and Mountain Bike for a few days to do some fishing, riding and truck camping. I was wondering when the rivers are good for trout, where some good spots to fish are and where I can camp? If anyone is a local or has fished and camped in the area before I would appreciate some advise. Thanks.

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With a name like that you can only be from one place!! Id totally go on that fly fishing trip with you, listen to some stompin tom!!

there is some trails by nordegg and they have a mountain bike race there in the summer . We will be doing some of the trails this summer I hope but I have only hunted out that way so far.

there are lots of places to fish and camp arounf RMH.
the best time to fish in that area is after mid July. before that the streams are usually blown out due to the melt.

just outside of Rocky is Prairie Creek for mostly browns. there are two campgrounds on the river, one at Strachen and one further up. both are nice campgrounds and the rivers are pretty decent at either location.

furhter west you get onto the forestry trunk rd and some incredible fishing streams. north of Hwy 11 is Blackstone, Brown, Chungo, Shunda, and further is Cardinal, Pembina, brazeau, etc.

South is the N Sask, North and South Ram (both incredible cutthroat rivers), Clearwater and tons and tons of tribs to these rivers.

there are lots of campgrounds and random camping spots throughout the whole region. on a lot of the rivers, the farther you venture away from the access spots, the better the fishing due to less pressure. some like the N Ram sees lots of pressure throughout the year in the easily accessible locations, but if you venture a couple of miles up or down, the fishing can be pretty good.

of course there are alos tons of lakes in that area also if that is more your liking.

rgds
Mike

mikeym hit it on the head pretty much. Too many lakes to list. Depending on what time of year it is, you may want to stick with the tribs. If you go in the spring early enough before runoff you'll be ok, if not, if you want some good action for cutthroats, try some of the Ram tribs such as Hummingbird or Onion Creek. If you feel like getting off the beaten path a little more, Tributaries to the Blackstone system are also a good bet.

You should bike from Nordegg to Hwy 752 on the trunk road. That will take you through some awesome places and the amount of places to fish are abundant. Also there is an adequate amount of campgrounds along this route as well.

Word of advice be careful of your trail choice. Went biking up near there last spring/summer, and virtually every trail eventually turnerd into a giant mud bog due to heavy quad use. Because of thick brush to each side had to carry our bikes through a couple hundred yards of thigh deep mud(gave up and had to trace our steps back through the mud). Biking and mud can be fun but not when I spend more time carrying my bike than riding it.

dude that was by Caroline ! remember...... too many brews after I guess lol

Thanks for the advice everyone. I hate it when quads rip up the bike trails. That was a big problem back home, even in areas clearly posted some folks would rip through tearing up the trail and ripping out any bridges we had built across the water crossings. I'm not saying this as a slight to all quaders, but every group has it's bad apples.

Make sure you make some noise when cruzing through the bushes with your bike. Lots of bears out there! But there right about the quads, try to find an area or trail that doesn't have quad access and you'll find the fishing will be a lot better. Most of the streams in the rocky mtn house area are open after apr 1 but most of the streams around nordegg with cutts in them open after june 16, so check your regs before you. I solo it all the time out there. Have fun!

You'll be in the right place for fly fishing... If you can find it pick up a copy of Barry Mitchell's Albert'a Trout Highway.. Its great... a must have... Not sure where you'll find it though.. I've only seen it in the local shops around calgary... Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for the tips about the book and the bears. I ride with a bear bell on my bike. I'll be carrying spray too. But it doesn't mean much if you run into sa bruin doing 60 clicks.

A wise man told me a good trick for that sort of an area. The grizzlies are the dangerous ones so identifying the scat is useful.

Black bear scat is fibrous and generally full of berries. Often accompanied by small tracks with non visible claw marks.

Grizzly bear crap has bells in it and smells like pepper.........................

I know its an old one, but good words to live by, ha.

yes that does happen here , as Nanuk was saying the trails around caroline are screwed from quads . But there is lots of protected mountain bike trails in places like Sybill flats ,Kananaskis , and braggcreek . not as many as BC but theres lots of trails in this province to ride