| We began
operations in 1996 as "Fly Fish Alberta", guide company.
We continue this service in conjunction to our Fortress Lake
Retreat operations. We are the longest serving, continual, full time
guide company on many of the waters we host. Our base
is Red Deer and Calgary, Alberta. Most people fly in to
Edmonton or Calgary International Airports. We recommend a float on the Bow River
when you arrive. The Bow has an excellent reputation globally, with
Lefty Kreh calling it the best dry fly river in the world for large
rainbow and brown trout. |
From there,
you will venture north or south to quieter, less crowded "secret waters". Our operating corridor
is from
Calgary north to Red Deer, then west to the tiny village of Nordegg.
This route can easily be traveled in a morning drive,
and opens the doors to hundreds of miles of untapped trout
rivers, where brown and cutthroat trout abound. The Red
Deer and Ram River systems are our focus, however, countless
tributary waters afford us hundreds of diverse miles of
trout waters. |
Arriving in Edmonton
takes you to world renown lakes such as Maligne, Medicine, and Pyramid
Lakes in Jasper. You are also within proximity to enjoy
the Red Deer or Ram Rivers. We welcome you to explore these
waters with us during your trip to Fortress Lake. Chances
are you will be driving right past a few of them on your way
to the float plane base, or flying past them on your way in
to Fortress Lake. For information on our
guide services on these waters, please visit our websites
via the links below. |
Please review the above map to see highways, city, and
the locations of our other trout waters in Alberta, Canada.
 Brown Trout
Streams
The area hilighted in
yellow in the map at right shows a large area home to at
least a dozen very good reaches of brown trout streams.
Waters 3 to 25 yards wide offer good periods of dry fly
fishing from late April through late September each year for
brown trout 10 - 24+". These waters are a perfect addition
to your Fortress Lake vacation and can easily be accessed by
flying in to Calgary or Edmonton. |
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Bow River
World renowned trophy brown and rainbow trout (18 to 24+" reliably).
Alberta's best all around trout river, hands down.
Expect to streamer, nymph, and dry fly fishing.
Drifts of 6 to 10 hours.
April to November drifts. Perfect compliment to people
flying to Calgary to then drive to Fortress Lake via Banff
and Lake Louise. |
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Red
Deer River
A little known, quiet river just
an hour north of Calgary or south of Edmonton.
Reliable dry fly fishing with large brown trout - expect to hunt risers
with dry flies. Typical browns in the 18 - 27" range. Drifts 6 to 10 hours.
The river opens late May and we fish through early October.
The Red Deer is a river for technical fly fishers, offering
a fussier sport than the brookies at Fortress Lake. |
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Ram
River
Alberta's most
dramatic cutthroat trout river with a deep (1200 foot) canyon and an excellent populations of cutthroat trout.
The Ram has reaches with exceptionally large cutts (18 - 23+") that we've
caught 3 - 10 years in a row. The Ram is a dry - dropper river, offering
good fishing on two fly rigs, providing high catch rates.
We've had many guests combine a 4 day trip to Fortress Lake
with 2 to 4 day floats/wade trips of the Ram. We offer single and multi day raft, wade, or camping trips
June through October annually.
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Secret Waters
An intriguing name. We lump a dozen streams and rivers into
this category as these are waters that we simply don't want to run into
crowds on. Our Fly Fish Alberta website gets a lot of internet traffic,
and we like our privacy. Our secret waters remain so named to give you
waters with few, if any, people on them. These offer anything from larger
waters with bull, cutthroat, and brown trout to smaller, charmed streams with
excellent populations of trout and intimate settings.
Please email us if you would like more information on adding a secret
waters trip to your Fortress Lake adventure! |
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