River · Alberta, Canada

The Crowsnest

The Crowsnest River west of Coleman, Alberta.
The Crowsnest River west of Coleman, Alberta.

Freestone through the pass. Technical dry fly water, heavy pressure below the highway, and the gorge fishes best when everything else is blown.

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Current conditions

The flow against the date, the week's weather and the latest member readings. Open the detail for the working.

Reading the gauge…

When to go

Daylight & forecast

Choose a date for daylight, weather and seasonal rules.

Plan your day →

Hatches & flies

What has hatched here, month by month, out of members’ reports.

See seasonal notes →

Water guide

What swims here, what to know before you go, and the province's rules in its own words.

What swims here

  • Brown troutintroduced
  • Mountain whitefishnative
  • Rainbow troutnative
  • Westslope cutthroat troutnative · present, not the draw

Westslope cutthroat trout. Threatened in Alberta. Genetically pure populations survive in only a handful of headwater streams, so check the current closures before you go.

Where it is

AlbertaOldman River watershedMajor river · Oldman basin

Find it on the map

Before you go

Reading the fire-ban system…

Whirling disease. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency declared the Oldman River watershed infected on 1 May 2017.

  • Clean, drain and dry your watercraft and any equipment that has been in contact with water, completely, between trips.
  • Never move live or dead fish or fish parts from one waterbody to another. This is illegal in Alberta, and so is using live fish as bait.

The province on whirling disease, opens in a new tab · Clean, drain, dry, opens in a new tab · The CFIA's declarations, opens in a new tab

Regulations

Reading the official regulations…

Nobody has written the plain-English summary for this water yet.

The official regulations, opens in a new tab

Regulations change. Check the official source before you go.

Reaches, upstream to down

Reading the reaches…

Reading the reports…

Counting the flies and what was on the water…

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