Date: July 24, 2024

Water Level and Clarity: Flows spiked to 230 after the recent rains, but the weather has cleared and levels are now on the drop. Reservoirs had to release extra water due to runoff from Canmore, but that’s tapering off. While flows remain above seasonal averages, they’re trending back toward normal. Visibility is improving—mid-river still brown in color, but edges offer 12–16” of clarity and is changing by the hour. Still fishable, especially along the banks.

Water Temps: Cold.

Fishing Overview: A couple nights ago, the owner and guides floated from Ogden to Glenmore while flows were still rising—starting at 200 and climbing to 215 cms. In just 2.5 hours, they hooked four and landed two trout between 21–24", showing that despite high, dirty water, some very healthy fish are actively feeding. The Bow's trout are used to a buffet of food year-round, so they rarely feed out of hunger—but this kind of turbidity forces a temporary slowdown, creating a rare window where they’ll actually chase a meal. Right now, fish are tight to the banks. As flows drop and clarity improves, expect them to push off into seams, ledges, and mid-river structure. Most anglers will stay locked on the shorelines—don’t ignore them, but if you focus on transition zones just off the bank, you might find overlooked fish eager to eat.

Hatches:

• Stoneflies: When the river is high and muddy, stoneflies will be triggered to hatch once the levels drop and the water clears. Last week, that's exactly what happened (take a look at the Alberta Rivers graph below). Even though the river was too dirty for the fish to see the stones, they were still hatching. Reminder, adult stoneflies live up to 28 days.Those fish could be seeing, females depositing eggs for the next month.
• Caddis: Right now there's not enough clarity to effectively fish caddis, but you can always throw on a nymph under a big dry or indicator.
• PMDs: Again, not enough clarity to effectively fish.

• Stoneflies: Double Stack Chubby Chernobyl, Water Walker, Orange Bead Sili-Leg Stone, Clemens' Steelhead Stone, Hot Head Double Bead Stone
• Caddis: Rio's Puparazzi, Chartruese Mop Fly
• Other Nymphs: TB CDC Orange Bead Pheasant Tail, Jig Czech Nymph, Peach Punch
• Streamers: Galloup's Mini Dungeon in Black or Black/Purple, Galloup's Dungeon Olive, Conehead Crosseyed Muddler

Livingstone River

Below the forestry activity, the Livingstone is one of the cleanest pieces of water. However, upstream logging near the Racehorse is washing in sediment, making upper sections muddy.

Racehorse Creek

Very dirty due to ongoing logging—significantly reduced visibility.

Oldman River (Mainstem below Racehorse)

Fishable with 12–14" of visibility as of 8:00 PM yesterday. Still holding a fair amount of color.

Crowsnest River

The cleanest water observed, though still slightly off-color. Green drake hatch is delayed due to high, cold water, but PMDs are active and more productive. Also try ants, beetles, and other terrestrials.

Bull Trout

Water too dirty to sight fish—use streamers in pools and tailouts.

• PMDs: Paracripple, Last Chance Cripple, Sparkle Dun PMD
• Green Drake: Paradrake, Lucent Wing True Drake, Faulkinbury's Q.P.T. - Green Drake
• Ants & Beetles: Galloup's Ant Acid, Crow Beetle, Quick Sight Beetle, Foam Beetle