Last night around 9pm my friend Nathan, a fellow teacher, called me and asked if I wanted to give Crooked Creek a try today.  I asked for permission like I always do and told him I could go.  He picked me up at 5:30am and we were there and ready to fish by 6:30.  Crooked Creek is my favorite place to fly fish for trout, more particularly, rainbow trout.  Over the past 15 years I have spent many days fishing there.  I have had great lucky using the royal coachman fly in catching the rainbow trout.  This is the fly I used again today. Nathan also used a royal coachman today as well.

We started fishing where the first bridge use to be.  As soon as I fished a little ways up from the bridge I realized that the first decent spot we normally start at looked a little different.  There was a tree down and the way the water was moving was different from other years.  Up a little above this spot the water was also flowing down in a different location as well.  I found this interesting and was anxious to see what the other parts of the river were going to look like.  We also noticed that the water level was quite low.  This also surprised me as we have had lots of rain which usually means the water runs high and hard here.  When we got to the first nice pool around the corner I noticed the top part was running different as well.  The pool was still nice.  We did not see any fish in this pool.

We continued to make our way past the second bridge and cut through the woods to get to the next good pool.  Nathan gave this pool the first try and after a few casts to the top of the run he hooked into the first rainbow of the day.  It was probably about 10 inches long.  We tried the same pool for a little while longer with no luck.  After trying the next pool with no luck I tried a run a little ways up the river.  As I casted to the top of the run and let the royal coachman float down a nice rainbow hit.  It was my first rainbow of the season.  It was about 12 inches long.

As we continued up the river it became quite evident why the river had changed so much.  Like I mentioned at the beginning I have fished here for a very long time and the river never changed at all.  I am amazed with how different the river looks just after one year.  There were downed trees everywhere and at one spot the bank was gone(picture in post).  Also at the last hole we went to there was another part of the river running into it.  With all the snow this winter and all the rain during the spring there must have been so much water running in the system that trees were thrown around and new little runs were created.

The pools that were always there have been affected for the worse from the changes.  I am hoping perhaps new pools will be created from the water running differently.  We also tried the lower part of the river as we were leaving and there were also many changes to the system down there as well.  I would never have thought so many changes could happen in just one year.  It is amazing what nature can do.

Overall, I caught two rainbows and two brook trout.  I just kept the one rainbow.  Nathan kept one as well.  The road in was in about the same condition with quite a bit of bush growing over the road.  It was great to get back to Crooked Creek but made me uneasy to see all the changes to the system.

I know there are a lot of people who fish who like to keep “their” places secret. If I was one of those people this is one place I would never tell anyone about. This place is Crooked Creek in Rivervside Albert. I have been fishing here for over ten years now and I make multiple trips each fishing season. I enjoy fishing here so much I get excited on the drive there every time. I live in Riverview so it only takes about 45 minutes to get there.

I fish here alone most times and have great fun but my most memorable times I have had fishing here have been with my brother-in-law Dave, who comes home from Calgary each summer. We usually get to fish here 3-4 times when he is home. The last couple of years he has been home we have used our handheld GPSs to try new entry points further up the brook.

Two reasons I love Crooked Creek so much are the rainbow trout we catch and the beautiful scenery. This is the only place I know of around here that you can catch rainbow trout. It is a great place to fly fish as the river is wide enough that you will not always get caught up in the trees. I love to fly fish with dry flies because I love watching the fish come up and hit the fly. The fly that I have the most success with at Crooked Creek is my personally made Royal Coachman. I have caught many rainbow trout at Crooked Creek with this fly. Dave has even asked me to use one on more than one occasion .:) Dave and I usually fish up the system as it is usually the least fished part of the river. We have had luck catching the rainbows in the rapids but catch most of them in the pools that you come across on the way up the river. The rainbows spook very easily so you have to be careful not to get too close to the pools as you fish them. There are also brook trout in the system but each trip there is in hope of catching some rainbow trout. It is great fun catching the rainbows on a fly rod. Usually when they hit you can see a quick streak of silver. You also know it is a rainbow as soon as it hits because they are much stronger than the brook trout. When you catch a rainbow out of a pool there are usually no more in that spot. I say usually because there have been a few times that Dave and I have each caught a rainbow out of the same spot in a short period of time.

We have had great luck fishing here over the years but I do need to say that we have also been skunked on a few occasions. Since it is in the gorge, there are times that we have been there and the water has been running very hard. If it has rained hard it is best to wait a few days to go there because the water runs down the mountains into the river. We have not had good luck when the water has been running hard. I do not usually start fishing here each season until the first part of July for the same reason.

If you enjoy fly fishing, would like to try to catch some rainbow trout, and enjoy a day in a beautiful spot then I strongly recommend a trip to Crooked Creek.

If you are thinking about trying fly fishing or are new to it perhaps you would be interested in this ebook: Fly Fishing From Scratch.

Have you ever fished at Crooked Creek before? If so, leave a comment and tell me about your experience there. If you would like to give it a try, get in touch and I will give you directions.