Saint Mary river fly fishing

Flowing out of the Purcell Mountains this beautiful river delights the Flyfisher for it's entire length similar to the Elk River, The Saint Mary's has a lake at the top end that acts as very similar to a reservoir above a Tailwater River complete with very stable flows and minimal spring scouring during run-off it is a very scenic River to Float, to the west The Purcell Mountains is the backdrop and as you float east you are always looking up at The Steeples, which is the backside of the Rocky Mountain Range. Along the way you float under Hodo's which over the course of time the river has eroded and formed. The Saint Mary's River is home to a very good population of Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, CuttBows, Bull Trout and the occasional Eastern Brook Trout for the Last several seasons we have been introducing our Clients to this remarkable fishery, and we cannot say enough about it. Like The Elk, The Saint Mary's is a Dry fly fisher's paradise although the average size of the Trout is smaller than on The Elk, it makes up for it in numbers.

Fishing The St. Mary River
During the past few seasons we have been focusing our attention on the 2 bottom stretches of this river, we have found the fish to be larger and the river is more fertile, as it has had a chance to warm up and pick-up some great little tributaries along the way. Like Drift boat fishing any where to the key on this river is to get the longest drag free drift possible, which can be easily obtained by casting 45degrees downstream of the boat. Like the Elk, this is classic Western style dry fly fishing at it finest, during none hatch periods we are using attractor type patterns when the hatches do start we re-rig and use more hatch specific imitations, and the hatches are strong, During the month of July Golden Stones, Green Drakes, Caddis and P.M.D.'s are present, August brings out Hoppers, Flavs (Little Western Green Drakes) ,Yellow and Lime Sallies and the occasional P.M.D. , Blue Wing Olives, October Caddis and Red Quills make an appearance as August turns into September. Streamer fishing can also be very productive and very thrilling especially when a monster Bull Trout eats your Clouser! The Saint's Mary's River is definitely a "must do" and we do offer this trip on a single day or multi-River Package. Click here for the S.E. BC Hatch Chart

Lodging
The Saint Mary's river is a hour away from Fernie Alpine Resort and our Flyshop therefore it is very easy to combine a day on The Saint Mary's River with other rivers in are area and return to the resort each night. For Clients that are interested in Fishing the Saint Mary's and other rivers in that area we have a variety of accommodations available ranging from Riverside cabins to a 5 Star Hotel.