Run and Gun Spinner Fishing in the Southern Alberta Foothills

Even when the fish aren't biting, people who fish are generally luckier than many who don't. We're lucky because the sport that we love happens to take place in some of the most beautiful places in the world. This is especially true for anglers who are logistically and physically able to walk and wade the Eastern Slope foothill streams in Southwestern Alberta.

Last Saturday my friend Terry R. and I decided to try the canyon stretch of the Highwood River a few kilometers west from the town of Longview. Despite paralleling Highway 40, with river access gates right off the road, the steep climb down to the river keeps the fishing pressure on this stretch of the river relatively light, allowing anglers to fish the numerous deep pools and productive runs undisturbed. 

We scrambled precariously down the steep cliff, aided for some of the way by a rope someone left tied to a tree. We both tied on #1 red and white Mepps Aglia Spinners with a couple split shot about a foot above to help the lures stay down in fast water and sink deep down into the deeper pools.

The Highwood River

We fished for about an hour with limited success. The water temperature was quite cold and the fish were docile. I did manage to catch a medium cutthroat trout and a slightly smaller rainbow.

A pretty little Highwood River rainbow

A Highwood Cutthroat

Terry was wet wading (Terry's an old maniac who grew up in the area. After so many years wading mountain streams, I don't think he feels temperature in his legs the same way as most people) and when we came to a point in the river where we'd have to cross, we considered our options and decided it just wasn't worth it.

We decided to get back in the car and try Trap Creek. Trap Creek is a Highwood tributary that enters the Highwood just east of the Kananaskis Country Gate off Highway 40.

As soon as we got to the small stream, I cast my spinner into a tiny little pool near where we parked. A small cutthroat darted out and hit it immediately. This was proof that you can catch trout "no matter how fickle the trickle."

Trap Creek

Trap Creek

Trap Creek is a small stream with a few rapids and decent pools. Perfect for run and gun fishing. With the abrasive and fast moving presentation of a spinner, we were generally able to get one fish out of each hole before having to reel in and move on.

Terry and I spent the next 2 hours leap-frogging up the creek. I hooked and landed 3 cutthroat trout. I lost a couple as well. Terry caught the nicest fish of the day when he pulled a chunky 15 inch cutthroat out of one of the deeper pools in the little stream.

Terry's nice cutthroat. It was bigger than it looks.

A Trap Creek cutthroat

Another Trap Creek cutthroat

With the season drawing to a close I'm glad I got out for at least one last reminder of how lucky we are to be anglers in a country with as much opportunity and beauty.

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.

A 13" rainbow.

A Rocky Mountain whitefish.

A flattened tree on a new beach.

Flood debris wrapped around a tree.

A trailer.

Another Rocky.

That line of dirt in the bottom left is the high water mark.

The hole where Pekisko Creek enters the Highwood.

A 14" bull trout.

We used to cast into this undercut. This used to be a large deep pool.

The grassy shore used to continue to that large rock in the upper right (the old cliff/undercut).

A little rainbow.

Looking back to normal...but different.

Post-Flood Highwood Report

This June, as most people know, Southern Alberta experienced severe flooding that halted life in Calgary and basically destroyed several smaller communities, most notably High River.

Many people are still struggling to get their lives back in order but as life returns to normal in most flood-affected areas, people are getting their minds back on regular life stuff...like fishing.

After seeing the flood waters in Calgary first hand, I could not help but wonder what our favourite trout streams would be like this season. Late summer is the best time to walk and wade the many beautiful streams that flow out of the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains. My favourite of these is the Highwood River.

My friend Adam and I were especially eager to get down to our regular stretch of the Highwood this year to see how the raging flood waters had changed the structure of the river. We knew things would be different but truthfully we didn't expect much more than a few new trees brought down from the mountains and maybe some new undercuts.

We did certainly did not expect what we found.

What the Highwood River looked like this time last year.

Even before we got down to the river we noticed a difference. As we approached the edge of the coulee Adam asked, "Can we usually hear the river like that?" We could clearly hear the river roaring below which is definitely not normal this late in the summer.

When we actually got close enough to see the river we really couldn't believe what we saw. The water was still very high and chocolate-milk brown. The bank across the river had been washed away and there was rubble and exposed rock where the once grassy, tree-lined bank used to be.

The river as we arrived. It's usually half as wide.

As we got down to the river and began to walk up stream, the force of the floodwater became more and more evident. There was wooden debris a good distance up the coulee walls and a flat rock that we used to stand and cast off of was now at least 50 feet away from the river. The river had carved out a new channel as the floodwater pounded the cliff on the outside of the bend.

Wooden debris deposited well up the bank.

We used to cast off that flat rock in the middle of the picture.

This used to be the river bed.

On the inside of the bend, the willow bushes that used to come right down to the edge of the old high water level were now flattened.

You can see where the floodwater flattened the willow bushes above the high water line.

Most disturbing was the level of sediment that had and was still accumulating on the river bed which leads me to wonder what this will mean for the resident fish populations and the Bow River rainbows that spawn in the Highwood.

Despite the murky conditions, we did try to cast toward the undercut banks to see if there were any fish hiding from the rushing currents, to no avail.

One glimmer of hope is the new structure carved out and dropped off by the flood. I truly hope the river will recover and clear up soon so we can take advantage of what the flood left behind.

I can't wait to fish this when the water drops.

A nice new piece of fish holding water?