Stauffer Tomorrow
 

finally decided on my stream to fish tomorrow I'll be heading to this beautiful/frustrating stream and will report back tomorrow evening wish me luck!

Hoping for a nice caddis or mayfly hatch it's that buggy time of the year

Good luck.......you'll need it. :)

keep us posted
 

I was also supposed to head out to Stauffer tomorrow. Unfortunately, my dog fell ill and I have to take a rain check.

Looks like the weather is going to stay cooler. I went twice in June and was skunked (go figure).

GOOD LUCK!

Good luck
 

I wish I was fishing instead of working!

http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9qmwiksd.jpg




So tried for about an hr on stauffer first time out there what a magical little stream saw one little brown rise couldn't coax him into taking my dry

So drove to prairie creek and there was a ginger caddis hatch ended up landing a few brookies and browns tons of fun on the dry fly what a nice stream!

Was wondering how many of you guys fish prairie creek regularly?

The section I was fishing I got a little sketched out some big bear scat
On the river bank
Anybody run into grizzly on prairie creek?

What section where you fishing, there was a sow and two cubs that killed a couple of cows east of struble on the weekend and they also strolled through Teritema (SP) ski lodge a couple days ago. So be aware in that area.

Yikes I was only 7 min north east is struble lake

Had this spooky feeling and there was bear scat

Along with the sow and two cubs there is a large male that has taken up residence down stream a couple miles. It is believed he is the one doing the killing in the area.

I had an encounter with him a couple of weeks back where a bit of a Mexican standoff occurred. If not for the fact we had 2 guys and 4 large dogs, I think it would have gotten very ugly. This was on a cutline about a mile south of Prairie. We went back yesterday thinking he would have moved on but after a talk with a local farmer and seeing the sign along the river we decided it was best we move along back to the truck.

This is a large and aggressive animal, be very careful in this area. We were walking and talking loudly as well as shouting commands to the dogs and this thing had absolutely no fear. It easily could have avoided us but instead decided to make his presence known on two occasions. Once with some very loud thrashing around in the willows and again walking right out on the cutline ahead of us within 100 yards. These encounters were over an hour apart and in spite of us making an obvious and direct retreat from his area.

After yesterday, I would strongly recommend trying another spot until this situation gets rectified. As scary as the initial encounter was, the sign I saw yesterday (drag marks, blood, scat and beat down trails) clearly indicates that he has no intentions of moving on and is in fact establishing a territory close to a food source. Encountering a Grizzly is one thing, walking unarmed into his killing zone with two confirmed kill sites is asking for a very bad day. I could see where he had dragged an animal under/through an old barb wire fence and I could still basically see my truck so don't think by the bridge is a safe place to be.

MK2750,

Good info there. Thank you for sharing. I was contemplating taking my son to this area for his first fly fishing trip this weekend. We will look elsewhere. I had originally thought of the Little Smoky by Fox Creek for grayling but the forest fire and evacuations in the area caused me to think about this area.


SS

Seems like every stream in this province has grizzly

Yeah, no kidding MK2750, that is some great info you just posted and insightful. Thanks for letting us know.

The best flyfishing is in Bear country, just a fact of life. Just gotta get used to them. They are not the bloodthirsty animals that they are made out to be, but still demand respect.

Yeah, this is not an internet bear. It is a real problem animal killing livestock in a certain area. Do what you like, but this one should be avoided as should a mother with small cubs.

We are all in big bear and cat territory most everyday afield and we all can appreciate that the best hunting and fishing is found there. Being bear aware includes taking advise from other outdoorsmen and locals so you can avoid active kill sites, sows with cubs and problem animals.

When and if you choose to ignore advice and signs of an aggressive animal you are endangering not only yourself but the bears. A bear will defend its cubs or a kill site from a threat be it real or imagined. There is plenty of wolves and coyotes in the area so no doubt they are on alert. You wander unto a kill site or surprise an animal due to the river noise and it takes you out, its just a fact of life.

It is not a case of an animal being blood thirty, it is just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The area I described above is the wrong place and this is the wrong time. This is not a "you just gotta get use to them" type of situation and offering up a nonchalant "they demand respect" is very poor advice. There is little doubt in my mind that this is a problem animal that will need be destroyed or relocated. The respect they demand is to avoid this area until this is taken care of by real people not the virtual type.

Ya my grandpa helped the farmer bury the cow and calf with his bobcat. Basically dug a hole 4' deep and buried them but the boar dug em out. From my understanding they got a back hoe in and buried the carcasses 8' down and the bear left it alone. But you are correct there are 4 grizzly in the immediate area and have been causing a lot of issues for the locals. My grandparents own land on swan creek just up from where it joins Prairie and although they haven't seen the bear on their land yet the last few nights the dogs out there have been going nuts.

Be mindful of your surroundings and I wouldn't be going at her alone out there right now. This is a problem bear.

Agreed. Problem bears are different. Just got the impression that bears in general were a problem for the OP. If I'm wrong then sorry OP but its not just this thread that gave me that impression. Good luck with the fishing, stay safe.

I am very curious if these "kills" have been confirmed? There are bears and cattle in the area for sure but this does not sound like typical grizzly killing, more like a bear finding a dead animal and feeding on it. Actual kills are easy to determine, scavenging can be difficult to determine.

As for confirmed I personally can not confirm I am simply going off of what my grandpa was told by the guy whose losing cattle.

As i recall there was also a cougar siting in that area last August.

Lots of cats out that way. The grizzlys have been around for awhile tho as well.

I have also encountered a grizzly at stauffer so just be aware out there.

You did at stauffer? Damn that's not what I like to hear! I spent quite a few days on both prairie and stauffer in May and June and didn't see any bears or signs of.... Or I just didn't notice them lol. Oh well, still here to fish on the wknd