Finding New Fishing Waters
Looking for new streams to fish? Searching for that new honey hole that isn’t getting pounded unmercifully every weekend? Maybe some of the methods I’ve used out west can help you get a fresh piece of water in your area.
Moving from Hamilton to Alberta 7 years ago was a great move for my career but was a tough move on the fishing front. Where does one start? The Rockies and the back country that go with them are rather large. Some streams are too cold and sterile to hold good fish populations, other streams that roll through the foothills are too warm, too shallow or have too much agricultural runoffs. How do you narrow it down to make the most of the free time you’ve got?
First thing to do is invest in some good backcountry roadmaps or atlas’s. They show you the major rivers and their tributaries. They also tell the type of roads your dealing with. Once you get off payment there’s gravel roads, logging roads, bush roads, quad trails and cutlines. All of them important ways of finding access to that stream you’ve just got to fish. A four wheel drive or a quad increases your odds substantially on finding waters that are less pressured.
Utilize any fishing destination books that are published for your area and use them in conjuction with your road maps. By doing this you can determine if you have a realistic chance of accessing the waters you want to fish by determining bridge crossings and road qualities. Read between the lines when you use any destination book. Quite often the authors will give a major writeup on the major river stem and barely mention the tribs. of that river. These tributaries will often have some of the best fishing and the least amount of pressure. Take a hard look a your fishing regs. and compare it to your maps. Usually special regs. can tip you off on some good stream fishing and give you an idea of the species that are present.
When you do go out exploring try to have 2 or 3 different streams on your list to explore. Plan A may be a dud but plan B could be your flyfishing dream.
Lastly don’t let some unsuccessful adventures let you down. The way I look at it you’ve just narrowed down where the good waters are going to be next time. Like the old saying goes a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work. Tight lines and good luck on your fishing adventures. Mosbos.
