Outdoor Video Magazine

Location: Central Alberta
Level of Skill Required: I rate this river at a 4 on a 5 scale for required skill. Not for beginners!!!
Time of Year: Season Starts at the beginning of June through to the end of September I believe.
Type and Size of Fish: Brown trout pin size to approx. 23 inches, Rocky Mountain White Fish pin size to approx. 17 inches.
Depth and Width of Stream: Depth ranges from 1/2 a foot to 8 feet, Width ranges from 6 feet to 20 feet.
Choice of Fly: Dry fly go with a size 10-12 “stimulator” (Stonefly imitator) if you are a beginner, Wet fly go with a size 12-1 Royal Prince.

The Stauffer Creek has been a ‘life safer” creek for those days when other rivers are just too dirty. The river clears up quicker because of its short length and abundance of vegetation on the banks. Access points to the river; just off the highway (you can walk down or up stream), turn west at the Stauffer store and head to the Buck for Wildlife bridge.
When fishing always fish upstream, so make sure you have a good “leak free” pair of waiters. My choice for waiters are the Hodgman lightweight breathables, they have extra padding on the knees for when you are crawling under those Willow bushes and trust me you will have to bend down a few times if you really want the “big fish” in the creek. It’s a good idea to always stay in the stream while fishing, Brown trout are very easy to spook. The one cast you should master for this stream is the “roll cast”, I do know some fisherman that don’t use it but it will make your day that much more enjoyable and less irritating. The other cast is the “bow and arrow”, you use this cast for getting under willows and banks (the toughest places to cast to are usually where you find the big guys!). So the type of rod for this river is a 6 to 8 1/2 foot rod usually around a 4 weight, but you can of course use whatever you want depending on your level.
The types of dry flies I use for this river are: Stimulator, Caddis, Yellow humpys, Adams, Green Olive, Pale Morning Dove, Black Knat (male and female), Yellow Hopper. The size of the flies ranges from 4-18. The type of fly really depends on the what part of the season you are fishing, eg. Hoppers in mid august to late september. I try not to use wet flies, but when the fish are not surfacing you gotta go deep. So really the only dry flies I’ve used are the Doc Spratley and any bead head like the Royal Prince.

If you have any questions about the river or fly-fishing in general ask away!