red deer river

[Jigger]

Hey, i was recently at the red deer river delow dickson dam trying to catch some brown trout (iam from drumheller) and wanted to explore the river more seeing as how i have never cuaght a brown trout untill i went up below the dam. My dad, grandpa and myself were going to head up below the dam to try our luck this fall, does anyone know when the best fall month is to go brown trout fishing in the red deer, sept or oct. Im looking forward to the trip and thanks for the info!

[caddisman]

Hey Jigger,

I have had the best luck in the spring for the browns below the dam. Best fish last year was a beautiful male that went 25 " and shy of 7 lbs. You can catch 18-21" ones on a fairly regular basis. I have noticed that when the flow is slow and not much of a current the fishing is very very slow. I have only been fishing now for the past 2 years now that we have a place at Carefree Resort.
I fished this long weekend and only landed one 22" brown, but he was skinny just a tad over 3 lbs. I normally do alot better on walleye this time of year and only managed a few over a 2 day period. Maybe just too much fishing pressure lately.
The number of anglers below the dam has been increaseing every time I go.
I still see bait bags and pickeral rigs when I go and One person keeping a walleye. Maybe a lot of people are poaching there even though there is a sign in the parking lot.
Put the time in and the browns will come, I fish the Bow in and around Calgary and I have caught far bigger browns below the dam. Now saying that, they are not as eager to take the fly like in Calgary, they will slam a spoon far faster and it is more difficult to fly fish there.

[Jigger]

Caddisman, thanks for your information keep me updated for when you fish in the reddeer, is it the caresland dam you are talking about for the bow river. And also what is a good choice of spoon to use, do you know anyother type of lure to use for browns. Thanks again...

[caddisman]

Hey jigger,

No, I fish below the dam at Glennifer. I just fly fish the bow river around Calgary.
As for spoons, they seem to like orange and gold like a kamlooper spoon and buzz bombs work really well, I use an assortment of colors. Bring lots as you will get snags, but it is the price you pay to get the fish.

Later.

Well, i went and tried below Glennifer for the first time today. I tried to go fish streams further west but it was raining pretty hard. I managed one walleye around 24'' in the three or four hours angling (spent more of the afternoon checking out spots for the future). No one else seemed to be catching much, one guy was fighting a big brown early on but it spit the hook (was jumping lots out in the middle, would of thought it was a brown and yellow rainbow). Everyone else said the fishing hfad been good early in the morning and lots of little walleyes were being landed. Wish i would have had the fly gear as lots of fish were rising and some were very large, next time i guesse. The day ended early for me as my rod snapped in half, the rainclouds probably would have sent me home early anyway but its a shame when a good rod gives out. I need to go look for a new river rod before i can get out again.