Trip Report

I went fishing with a friend today. We headed out to the Castle
Wilderness, in southwestern Alberta. The area is beautiful, and is about
an hour and a half drive from my home. The scenery was awesome; the area
is forested, many wildflowers are in bloom, and there was no one around.
We had the stream to ourselves.

The area is dominated by cutthroats, with the occasional bull trout
around (we didn't see any). I used a hopper-dropper combination, a small
stimulator with a bead-head nymph tied on. The stimulator was constant,
the nymphs changed.

The fishing was quite good. We caught a lot of cutts, ranging from small
to about 14". I actually caught one on my second cast of the day. We
fished the pools, runs, and riffles; they seemed to be everywhere. I
think one of the highlights was when I hooked two cutts at the same
time, one on the dry, one on the nymph. I played them for a while, but
only landed one. I noticed a few things about the fish...they were all
in good shape, and very good color. I am not sure if that is because of
the limited access, or the mandatory use of barbless hooks. I wish I had
the writing skills to describe their colour....the sides were a
golden-brown with black spots, and the bellies were a salmon color. Real
pretty.

We walked along the stream for about 6 1/2 hours, followed by a 10
minute hike to a road, and a half hour walk back to the car. I was
pretty beat. All in all a good day.

Tim Lysyk

On Aug 7, 8:49*pm, Tim Lysyk wrote:
I went fishing with a friend today. We headed out to the Castle

Thanx, is it mostly Pine of what and that side of the Rockys? Bull
Trout are threatened in the Cascades. Are they protected in some way
in Alberta? Is it true that all Albertans have gold toilets and all
the gas they can use for free?

Dave

On 7-Aug-2008, Tim Lysyk wrote:

went fishing with a friend today. We headed out to the Castle
Wilderness, in southwestern Alberta. The area is beautiful, and is about
an hour and a half drive from my home. The scenery was awesome; the area
is forested, many wildflowers are in bloom, and there was no one around.
We had the stream to ourselves.

The area is dominated by cutthroats, with the occasional bull trout
around (we didn't see any). I used a hopper-dropper combination, a small
stimulator with a bead-head nymph tied on. The stimulator was constant,
the nymphs changed.

The fishing was quite good. We caught a lot of cutts, ranging from small
to about 14". I actually caught one on my second cast of the day. We
fished the pools, runs, and riffles; they seemed to be everywhere. I
think one of the highlights was when I hooked two cutts at the same
time, one on the dry, one on the nymph. I played them for a while, but
only landed one. I noticed a few things about the fish...they were all
in good shape, and very good color. I am not sure if that is because of
the limited access, or the mandatory use of barbless hooks. I wish I had
the writing skills to describe their colour....the sides were a
golden-brown with black spots, and the bellies were a salmon color. Real
pretty.

We walked along the stream for about 6 1/2 hours, followed by a 10
minute hike to a road, and a half hour walk back to the car. I was
pretty beat. All in all a good day.

Tim Lysyk

Nice TR

Tthanks
I'm going to fish the Crowsnest and the Bow in BC & Alberta in a few weeks
Probably similar conditions on the Crowsnest - I hope
The Bow flows thru Calgary which is where we are headed for biz - not as
remote

Re the coloprs of the fish- bring a long a small digital caomera
I have the waterproof Olympus 720 with a bright screen
Its good to have on a river

And yes Its true in Alberta They do have gold toilet bowls w American $$ for
toilet paper and the gas not frree but 15 cents per litre

Fred

Tim Lysyk wrote:
I went fishing with a friend today. ...

Nice TR. A very pleasant read this morning.

I noticed a few things about the fish...they were all
in good shape, and very good color. I am not sure if that is because of
the limited access, or the mandatory use of barbless hooks. ...

I'd cast my vote for the low fishing pressure. There's a
mandatory barbless rule on the San Juan in New Mexico and
some of those fish are totally beat to ****.

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Aug 7, 11:49 pm, Tim Lysyk wrote:
I went fishing with a friend today. We headed out to the Castle
Wilderness, in southwestern Alberta. The area is beautiful, and is about
an hour and a half drive from my home. The scenery was awesome; the area
is forested, many wildflowers are in bloom, and there was no one around.
We had the stream to ourselves.

The area is dominated by cutthroats, with the occasional bull trout
around (we didn't see any). I used a hopper-dropper combination, a small
stimulator with a bead-head nymph tied on. The stimulator was constant,
the nymphs changed.

The fishing was quite good. We caught a lot of cutts, ranging from small
to about 14". I actually caught one on my second cast of the day. We
fished the pools, runs, and riffles; they seemed to be everywhere. I
think one of the highlights was when I hooked two cutts at the same
time, one on the dry, one on the nymph. I played them for a while, but
only landed one. I noticed a few things about the fish...they were all
in good shape, and very good color. I am not sure if that is because of
the limited access, or the mandatory use of barbless hooks. I wish I had
the writing skills to describe their colour....the sides were a
golden-brown with black spots, and the bellies were a salmon color. Real
pretty.

We walked along the stream for about 6 1/2 hours, followed by a 10
minute hike to a road, and a half hour walk back to the car. I was
pretty beat. All in all a good day.

Tim Lysyk

Thanks.

On Aug 7, 10:49 pm, Tim Lysyk wrote:

I went fishing with a friend today. We headed out to the Castle
Wilderness, in southwestern Alberta. The area is beautiful, and is about
an hour and a half drive from my home. The scenery was awesome; the area
is forested, many wildflowers are in bloom, and there was no one around.
We had the stream to ourselves.

[little snip]

We walked along the stream for about 6 1/2 hours, followed by a 10
minute hike to a road, and a half hour walk back to the car. I was
pretty beat. All in all a good day.

Thanks for the report, Tim. I still hope to fish the Castle one of
these days. So how have the river levels been this year?

As to Dave's question about bull trout in Alberta: They are
protected, and have been for quite a while
(since 1995?).

And Albertans definitely have gas.


Chuck Vance (that was the question, right?)

Tim Lysyk a écrit :
I went fishing with a friend today. We headed out to the Castle
Wilderness, in southwestern Alberta. The area is beautiful, and is about
an hour and a half drive from my home. The scenery was awesome; the area
is forested, many wildflowers are in bloom, and there was no one around.
We had the stream to ourselves.


Thanks for sharing, it's good to read about FF once in a while here. ;-)


--
Hope to read you soon,

Denis
www.uqtr.ca/~lamyd

You'll have to eat the SPAM to E-mail

Thanks tim nice report

wrote:
On Aug 7, 8:49 pm, Tim Lysyk wrote:
I went fishing with a friend today. We headed out to the Castle

Thanx, is it mostly Pine of what and that side of the Rockys? Bull
Trout are threatened in the Cascades. Are they protected in some way
in Alberta? Is it true that all Albertans have gold toilets and all
the gas they can use for free?

Dave
The forests in the are mainly lodgepole pine, I think, and white spruce.
In all honesty, I am not very good at tree identification, in spite of
three years with the Canadian Forestry Service.

Bull trout are listed as a sensitive species in Alberta. There is a zero
retention limit for them, but you can still fish for them, c and r only.

My toilet is porcelain, and gas sure as hell isn't free here. Runs about
1.30 a litre, which would be about 5.20 a U. S. gallon.

Tim Lysyk

Ken Fortenberry wrote:
Tim Lysyk wrote:
I went fishing with a friend today. ...

Nice TR. A very pleasant read this morning.

I noticed a few things about the fish...they were all in good shape,
and very good color. I am not sure if that is because of the limited
access, or the mandatory use of barbless hooks. ...

I'd cast my vote for the low fishing pressure. There's a
mandatory barbless rule on the San Juan in New Mexico and
some of those fish are totally beat to ****.

I think you are probably right. I'll have to get up into some of our
more heavily fished c and r waters to see how the fish look, now that
the barbless regs have been in effect for a few years.

Tim Lysyk