Up and at 'er again ! The Crowsnest cafe and Flyshop is open Thursday thru Monday from 8:30- 4:30.We have a great winter sale on now from flies to Waders. Crow is fishing well right now with moderate temps outside and mix clouds it's perfect! Nymphs and streamers are probably your best bet..tho I've been lucky to catch nice rainbows every month on dry flies....any questions hook up with us thru our email or call the shop 403-563-8510...Susan

Well it's time for a catch up! We've been enjoying warm weather and little snow so the Crow has offered some excellent winter fishing! Al did really well the other day ,catching(and releasing) a brown, a cuttie and several rainbows on his golden boy nymph ,which I believe he will be tying for the shop. Both of  us hooked into some beauties yesterday . I was streamer fishing and Al still had on his golden. The shop is having it's annual Christmas sale G.Loomis Pro 4's -15% ,Patagonia, ..lots!! Boots , even our Flies are on sale....until Dec. 20th. Hope everyone is enjoying the days before Christmas and we wish you warmth and Merriment all season...Susan

Well the season is slowly coming to a close for us ..Holidays ! A very enjoyable and busy season with lots of good anglers fishing hard throughout the area. Most are more than helpful and considerate to the sharing of waters and opinions on what those trout are taking. This chopper realizing the long hike we had made to get there, kindly rev'd up and flew to a different spot... you just never know what to expect out on the river! With so many people visiting the southern waters and using the forestry (esp.Oldman/Livingstone) it's even more essential to demonstrate fly fishing manners. Some just plain don't get it...and never will...so shrug it off and carry on.....hope everyone had a terrific summer..looks like the fall here will be spectacular! all the best, Susan

stay back, present nicely, hold your breath........and mend mend mend!!!!susan

September

Nice low water, clean and clear...and yes even the greedy cutthroat are paying close attention to your presentation , fly choice  and knot tying skills . If you are keen on exploring the Elk River we have openiongs for mid September ...and yes even the Elk Cutties are sizing things up! Lots of new patterns in the ,from fat cool hoppers to tiny hi -viz midges..amazing! tight lines, Susan

The heat has lifted and a much welcome fall is here..and with it are the particularily fussy trout. This is the real stuff...big mends , long tippit , smaller flies....oh yeah ! Great day on the oldman yesterday , man there are some BIG cutties sippin midday....Al has been hard at it guiding ,and fortunate to have  enjoyed an all round awesome summer........so welcome the upcoming B.W.O's ,terrestrials and don't give up on the P.M.D's!! Susan

Ok Ok enough already!.....lets just say this big bull (weighing approx 16lbs) made johnny's summer complete! ...and nice guide work Al.....Susan

Duo

Colin and John had a blast last evening...as usual the more finicky trout dropped their guard and both caught and landed these cutties at the same time! Waters have dropped considerably , and the P.M.D's are plentiful....

Fear No Fish

Once in a while you catch a trout so big your client refuses to hold it for a photo ..you should have seen the power of this fish when it jumped! That tail slap would have left a mark ! So here I am holding Jeffery Simmons big brown trout..Which was actually fairly co-operative for the picture and release . This was Jeffs first fish of his week of being guided and all of the fish were smaller as the week went on .. I like guided weeks to go the other way, but hey Jeffs coming back again this summer so I guess the little 20 inchers and such were not a disappointment after this big guy ..Fear No Fish .. Awsome fish Jeff

 and tight lines to you all ....Al B.

feelin Hot

Great summertime weather and the trout are responding accordingly! We are having a blast with BIG flies...Drakes, stmi's and golden stones on all our rivers..yes even the sly Crowsnest rainbows are taking FAT food. We have a new staff member Colin Huff who has just returned from the world flyfishing juniors in France...Lots of new fly patterns in the shop.....Waters are lowering nicely and looking like a great season ahead...all the best and look forward to seeing you ...Susan

Hell or high Water

To Blog or Not to Blog that is the Question ?.. Oh wait I already did that! ... Sorry for not blogging ,to all of you out in Blog land... Suzy bugs me to Blog all the time and I eventually get BLOGGERS BLOCK ..But I promise to get on it with the fishing reports .. Lets start at Christmas both Suzy and I went out on X-mas day and caught our X-MAS FISH .. Mine was at least twenty one inches and there was much rejoicing .On boxing day another big trout was caught and there was more rejoicing . On New Years day another decent trout was caught,and well you get the idea.I will skip too June 29th. as we did little skiing and lots of flyfishing with our mild winter.We had some great fishing recently while everybody else had high water but that changed a few days back with the rains . Yesterday afternoon I had heard reports of high ugly water on the Oldman and Livingston Rivers .. so I checked out 5 streams south of hwy#3 which also translates into south of the clear cut logging practices of Albertas department of un-Sustainable Resources and Development(SRD). The Oldman and Livingston river system had flow increases close to 300% in a day and a half ... while in the recently unlogged Castle river system ,the water flows only increased by 25%. obviously the logged out mountian slopes had no ability too absorb or hold back the rain .. Trout were hooked and or caught on all five streams , by various flyfishing methods.. I checked it out for all you flyfishers (It's a tough job,but somebody has to do it!) and on Thursday these streams were green with 3-5 ft of visibility and with decreasing flows they should be better from here on. I saw mayflies ,stone flies ,caddis and midges(we have some great new patterns in the CROWSNEST CAFE'and FLY SHOP this summer.. We probably have the only fishable streams in Southern Alberta and British Columbia right NOW !(DON,T EVEN THINK ABOUT B.C.) I invite all you fine flyfisher people down to fish the Castle River system and when you are standing by the stream admiring the beauty of it all, picture it logged and Bull dozed to within30- 90 feet of the water but don,t worry the last few feet of trees will blow down . Folks from the Castle Special Places group will be around handing out some information The Alberta Goverment will be clear cutting around the campsite you are staying also ( YIPEE !! A BUCK A TREE FOR THE SRD )DON,T WORRY IT'S ALL LEGAL FOLKS... GOOD LUCK FISHING THIS WEEKEND aND happy Canada Day ...

tight lines Al B.