Sheep River Bull Trout Never Disappoint!

It comes as no surprise to us that the Sheep River is consistently the most requested fishing destination for our angling friends from the east.  If you are curious as to why, the simplest way to explain it is by taking a look back to some of our earlier exploits such as Undeniably EPIC , Again with the “I want what Phil had”! and Fishing Alberta – Guest Post.  While we admit that the timing of our earlier trips was undoubtedly bang on, the potential to cast a fly to these incredible fish is a “lure” that our buddy Brian could not resist.  So upon his request we set out in the early morning for a chance at one of more of these incredible fish.

 

As experienced fly anglers we know not to take anything for granted when it comes to fishing and while we knew the likely spots to try and what flies would produce, we couldn’t be sure that the Bull Trout would be waiting for us since the river systems in Southern Alberta this year had experienced some pretty low water conditions and the timing of any fish migration is never the same from year to year.

 

We parked at our usual spot and as soon as we strolled into the floodplain we saw that as expected, the water level was very low.  It also became apparent that there had been some significant changes to the river channel from the high spring flows but we were fortunate to find and catch a few nice Bull Trout lurking in the odd pool.  To be clear, they didn’t come to hand easy and they needed a perfectly presented fly to be fooled but we each managed to hook and land one.  There was also a “one that got away” story when a monster of a Bull Trout got the better of Brian in a short lived battle but looking at his impressed face after it wildly thrashed, straightened his hook and disappeared back into the pool suggested to us that his ego wasn’t too bruised.

As with all our previous guests who have fished the Sheep River with us, Brian was eager to make another trip back to the river during his stay with us!