Edmonton has no streams boooo

[davesilva]

Hey guys I was thinking to myself today why don't they stock the sturgeon river with trout so we would have some decent river fishing within 40 min of the city??????

I'm working up at the williams energy plant now just east of gibbons and on the way home passing by the north bank potato farms the sturgeon river looks absolutely beautiful there, it's a shame we don't have any trout streams near by and have to drive 3 plus hours

What are your thoughts? Enlighten me. :

[Chief16]

When I was there this fall it was not habital for fish. We walked the way down to the NSR and most water was only 8" deep and the rest was over run completely by weeds

[davesilva]

Really?
Fair enough looking at it the other day water was clear and high

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by davesilva

Really?
Fair enough looking at it the other day water was clear and high

Its called spring runoff. When its done, so is the water.

Do you consider the NSR to be close enough....

[davesilva]

NSR yes it is close... Good fishing for pike and walleye, trout?

Not so much..

[Red Bullets]

I am aware of two streams near edmonton that have trout. One is 40 minutes away and the other is a little over an hour. Do your homework.

The NSR does have the odd brown trout around Edmonton. They stocked the river with browns in the '90's.
Bull trout used to be in the area but were overfished back in the early 1900's. I remember there was a 25 lb. bull trout caught in 1967 at whitemud. When the men from Ft. Edmonton (early 1800's) were fishing at Sturgeon river mouth they were catching what they called mountain trout. They averaged 9 to 12 lbs.

[denniss13]

Actually the N. Sask is so under fished. There is a lot of great fly fishing to be had. I the Edmonton area you have Walleye and Pike along with goldeye & mooneye. Goldeye & Mooneye are great on a fly. The farther west you go the better the fishing gets.
I live in Edmonton and I was at the Clearwater in 2hr. so there are a few rivers that are closer.
Edmonton isn't as bad as you think as mention do your home work.

Tight Lines Always
Dennis S

[davesilva]

Okay, definately an eye opener I will definately take a look around because last I checked closest stream I fish is red deer river, and stauffer

Which is 2 hrs for me

[lannie]

Figure out a way to move to Calgary. Maybe a bit of a stretch but could be your best "move".

[Xiph0id]

Remember for trout, you can go north, south or west.

[WhitefishLady]

I would think the Sturgeon River gets too warm for trout, since it isn't high elevation run off. But I agree, it does look pretty nice around Gibbon. I even tried fishing there once in the fall but the water was really low (for pike and walleye).

Some good grayling fishing out west.

[Talking moose]

Less than ideal conditions for trout in parkland rivers. Would be the same as wondering why the walleye fishing sucks in jasper streams......

[FlyTheory]

Originally Posted by denniss13

Goldeye & Mooneye are great on a fly. The farther west you go the better the fishing gets.

OP, Dennis is right goldeye and mooneye are awesome. Not really prized by purists, but if fished on a 3-5wt they will put up a fun fight. Plus you can practice all of your trout techniques on them;dries, swinging streamers, indicators, etc. I love them since I used to catch a bunch in my childhood.

Also to add to Dennis' comment, east of the city has some big fish as well, I caught my personal best goldeye 1.5 hours from the city. The entire north sask system is a great and diverse river.

[sdimedru]

biggest challenge with the NSR and flyfishing is finding a good space to cast.... alternatively, I need to practice my casting and the opportunities might open up

[davesilva]

After researching the freeman river is definately an option I will try in June

1.5 hrs from my house

Going to try out on highway 32 north of whitecourt

Heard theres grayling? Or maybe further by swan hills?

[Xiph0id]

Freeman is a great fishery.

[FlyTheory]

Mcloud has trout too and it's just over an hour from Edmonton. Never fished it though

[smitty9]

Originally Posted by FlyTheory

Mcloud has trout too and it's just over an hour from Edmonton. Never fished it though

If you drive well over 150 km/hr... Lol