For the Masses Fishing: Post-Flood Highwood River Report, August 24, 2013

We went back to Alberta's Highwood River, between Hogg Park and Longview, on Saturday for a second attempt to fish the river since the flood. The water has lowered quite a bit from the last time we were there and it has cleared considerably. Despite still being a little higher than normal, we were able to cross the river in several spots.

The fishing was pretty good. I cast small inline spinners and managed to catch 8 fish; three rainbows, one bull trout and four Rocky Mountain whitefish. White and red was the colour of the day. I lost a few fish as well. My friend Terry managed to catch two decent whitefish in the 18-20 inch range. He got them both in a single long pool that had been significantly lengthened by the flood.

We saw many other incredible changes to the river brought on by the flood. Debris was found wrapped 10-15 feet up tree trunks a good distance from the river. A cliff with a large undercut that we used to fish is now just a large rock in the middle of a rubble field as the river cut the cliff away from the bank and then moved itself 100 feet north. (see pictures below)

Also, the deep pool that used to be where Pekisko Creek enters the Highwood is much smaller with a much larger rapid going into it.

It was a great day exploring a familiar, yet different river. There is lots of new fish-holding structure and the presence of fish of every size leads me to believe that there's a good chance the river will be fishing well for a while longer.

Enjoy the pictures below.