ES1 Opener
Jun 17, 2025
Our recent trip to Lundbreck and the Crowsnest Pass area provided us with an opportunity to check out river conditions before today's opening day.
Conditions seem to generally be really good for this time of year. The Sheep, Oldman, Highwood, and Crowsnest are all low and reasonable clear especially for this time of year. This is great news for the early season angler but could prove challenging later in the season.
Hatches on the Crowsnest were intermittent - Sallies, some larger drakes, PMD's and caddis in the grasses. There were a few grasshoppers on the higher banks as well.
River conditions should continue improving but can be affected by localized storms (like the hailstorm we encountered at Longview on the way home and the significant rain forecast for later this week.)
Flies to try:
Dries: Yellow Stimulators, micro chubby in black, purple, or pink, lime trude, PMD's
Nymphs: smaller stonefly nymphs, copper john or jighead copper john, Evil Weevil jig, prince nymph
Streamers: gartside leech, wooly bugger, kreelex minnow
Reminder: The Alberta River Basins website is a great resource to track stream flows, snow pack, and water temperatures.... For some insight on using the website check out this video. Here's a screen grab of the yearly graph for the Oldman River at Range Road 13a.
