The Elk River, for the discerning fisherman wishing to experience Canada's finest dry fly fishing, with local, licensed Guides...

There's no finer place to fish than the uncrowded 'Blue Ribbon' Elk River and no more productive method than from one of our McKenzie style drift boats or a custom rigged rafts.

Emerging from the heart of the magnificent Rocky Mountains and with over 50 miles of navigable 'freestone' water, this river provides a variety of fishing opportunities along its course.

From the narrow chutes and pools of its upper sections, through the meandering braids of the middle Elk, to the 500 ft deep canyon of the Lower Elk, this river is blessed with some of the best dry fly fishing in Canada.

Beside the banks, in the riffles or laying low in the runs, it's never too hard to find a 14" - 18" Cutthroat trout willing to 'smash' a surface presentation, with fish to 21" not uncommon.

If on the rare occasion a dry fly is not producing (or your heart needs a rest!), then the Elk also provides fantastic nymph and streamer fishing. Tie on a bead headed Hares Ear or perhaps the faithful Prince's Nymph and you won't be waiting too long for that telltale stall in the drift that signifies the start of another fight with a hefty 'Cutty'.

Sweep the pools and runs with perhaps a Muddler Minnow and the diligent fisherman can be rewarded with a Bull Trout. This indigenous Char often amazes the less experienced; any fish that screams off with your entire fly line and half the backing tends to get your attention! Ten minutes later, when your guide raises your opponent from the water, you'll be astounded at the fight a 5lb fish can give and awed at the thought of hooking one of the 20lb + fish this river holds!

 

The Elk comes into shape after the spring run off which is typically at the end of June. Fly fishing remains productive until the start of October.

Dry fly fishing is the norm on this fishery with visiting anglers enjoying a variety of hatches throughout the season.

Expect to be using Golden Stone patterns in June/July, Western Green Drakes in late July-August, Hoppers throughout August and Blue Winged Olives in the Fall. Additionally, Caddis and various attractor patterns work throughout the season! Visit our Updates page for recent activity reports.

A typical day of drift fishing on the Elk lasts between 7-10 hours and covers approximatley 8 - 12 miles.

Location: based out of Fernie, in the Southern Rocky Mountains of British Columbia.

Single or multi-day packages available.

Read about the Elk River and our Guide service in the Spring 2002 edition of the Canadian Fly Fisher Magazine.

Click here to download a copy of the article (requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader). Or read the article in plain text by clicking here. Thanks to Duane Radford and the Canadian Fly Fisher Magazine.for this informative story on this wonderful dry fly fishery.

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