Spring Creek Fly Fishing
~ Central Alberta Brown Trout ~.

Spring creek: "A creek or stream that gets its water from a ground flow or spring sources, rather than glacier/snow melt or surface run off. Spring creeks are generally at a temperature of the average rainfall temperature over the course of the year and hence usually do not warm significantly in the summer nor freeze in the winter."

There are few true spring creeks in Alberta; fewer that are publicly accessible. The North Raven River ~ aka Stauffer Creek ~ flows out of a large boil beside a gravel knoll north of the village of Caroline, Alberta. Stauffer has its own unique character, and not everyone likes it. Lined with willows and alders, with few access points to the best water, the walking and wading can be tough. You will put a few miles on your boots through the day. The fishing can be excellent, however. Hatches on spring creeks, particularly Stauffer, can begin in earnest mid April and continue through late October.

There are other spring creeks that feed into larger waters as well. This 28-1/2" male brown trout was caught out of a deeper pocket of water in a 2 foot wide creek. Several such tiny, spring few tributaries can be fished in conjunction with other brown trout waters.

When spring creek fly fishing it is best that you come prepared to catch but a few trout. Yes, there are days where 20 to 30+ fish might be caught, but these are the exception, not the rule. These waters are brown trout streams - the water clarity means picking the best times based on weather and hatch conditions. Some days will certainly be tougher than others. Cloudy days or evenings can be best, but depending on the insects hatching the opposite can also be true.

Typical catch rates are around 10 per angler day for average fly fishermen. 20 isn't out of reach but we need to have a few factors going for us. Higher numbers await experienced anglers when the conditions are in our favour. Trout sizes really vary from stream to stream. There are spring creeks that house large trout (35") but you may not catch anything. Others are more forgiving and have higher populations of easier to catch trout, these ranging 6 to 20" with possibilities of well over 20". When we do find a hatch of insects, we may literally have trout rising anywhere and everywhere, how many you catch during the window is variable.