Cross-Canada: Into the Badlands and Across the Mountains

The Covid pandemic has pretty much shut down travelling worldwide so many travellers have been stuck in their home countries for most of 2020. Alex and I decided to make the best of the situation (and of our summer), by taking a second road trip across Canada. This trip would allow us to knock off some species we missed last time and explore some of the less touristy parts of the West.

Saskatchewan Scenery

The first portion of the trip was pretty much gunning it across the prairies to the city of Lethbridge in southern Alberta; we made it in two days. There were sampling reports of Spoonhead Sculpin in the irrigation canals around the city and I knew there were some populations of sterile Grass Carp in two urban ponds. But... we failed on both fronts :(

The Spoonhead Sculpin were nowhere to be seen, I bounced around several spots any never saw any sculpin at all :( However, our Grass Carp efforts proved slightly more fruitful. I finally saw some in the second pond and actually got two to bite! Unfortunately, both got off after screaming runs and that was as close as I'd get. At least we saw some!

The whole time we were in Lethbridge, the Rockies were on the horizon beckoning us closer. It was only noon of the second day when we decided to continue west into the mountains. Our destination was Castle Mountain Provincial Park, the newest park in Alberta and one of the least visited. Access was free and there was even organized free camping!

Castle Mountain Provincial Park

The park didn't have the world-famous views of Jasper or Banff, but was beautiful in it's own, unique way. The mountains here seemed to support far more greenery, and the streams much clearer and full of life.

At this point, we were far enough ahead of schedule that I knew I could squeeze in some bonus fishing time. We scouted out the trailhead for the next day's hike and fished the river we'd have to cross in the morning. I mistakenly left my waders in the car but I toughed out the freezing alpine waters and waded my way down to some nice pools. I had been casting a small Mepps spinner when I finally saw a trout follow the lure out of an especially deep pool. It didn't strike but I casted again and it hit right away, my lifer Cutthroat Trout!

Cutthroat Trout

It wasn't huge, but a beautiful fish nonetheless. Cutthroat Trout are actually one of the fish listed on the Quebec list of freshwater fishes found within the province. They were introduced into a few rivers in the early 70's, and were caught occasionally over the next couple decades, but seem to have disappeared during my lifetime. I haven't totally given up on catching one near home yet, but it was definitely nice to catch this one!

Spurred on by my success, Alex braved the frigid waters and started casting a spinner of her own. It didn't take too long before she had her lifer Cutty as well :) We ended the night at our awesome campsite right by the river shortly after.

The next day involved a big hike up to a set of alpine lakes supposed to hold Golden Trout. The trail was less maintained than we were used to seeing in provincial parks, and we loved it! The hike started with a stream crossing, before heading through the woods and then starting a steep climb up a barren mountainside. The view was awesome but unfortunately the fishing wasn't so great. I only saw one fish the whole time and it was way too small for any of my lures. There are a couple of other Golden Trout lakes in AB I'll have to try next time :)

From there, we headed north out of the park on the forestry trunk road through more parts of the Rockies that most tourists never get to see. This was all crown land and beautiful free camping spots were abound. The road was a little washboard-y, but it was all worth it to have a spot by the river all to ourselves :)

The next fishing adventure happened in Kananaskis Provincial Park, or "K-country". I had heard of an accidentally introduced population of Dolly Varden coexisting with the native Cutthroat Trout in one of the alpine lakes. They were originally identified and treated as Arctic Char, but then they discovered they were in fact Dollies. We were treated with a relatively easy hike up to the lake, and some impressive views:

K-country

Finally, it was time to fish! I rigged up a small panfish tube and started fishing a shallow portion of the lake where it drains into a small tributary. I quickly noticed a small Char swimming in the shallows... my target! I couldn't get it to commit but seeing one was enough encouragement to keep me fishing. I slowly worked my way around the lake. As soon as I got to slightly deeper water, the Cutthroat Trout started hitting. It was some of the best fishing I've experienced; beautiful wild trout every few casts!

Cutthroat Trout

Eventually, the grassy shoreline turned into loose scree and I got access to even deeper water. I tossed my lure into a deeper portion and got a hit on the fall. I figured I had yet another cutty, but this time the fish fought differently. It pulled hard and steady, without any of the rolling I experienced from the other trout. I got nervous when I saw the white leading edges on its fins... it had to be a Char! Thankfully, I landed it successfully and got to take a couple photos of my new lifer before letting it swim away.

Dolly Varden

Having caught my target, I handed the rod over to Alex so she could have a shot. Believe it or not, she got her Dolly on the very first cast!

The next portion of the trip involved a lot more beautiful mountain scenery but considerably less fishing. We skipped over the national parks, having explored them on our last trip, and focused on some new stops along the Coquihalla highway as we made our way down to Kamloops. I'll spare you the details to keep things fishing-focused here.

Kamloops wasn't quite what we expected, the Thompson River runs right through town but looked rather polluted and the locals watched us suspiciously as I started fishing. I don't think all that many people fish near town. Surprisingly, the fishing wasn't all so bad!

First, I noticed a bunch of small fish darting in the shallows, the same way that invasive Round Gobies would near home, in the St-Lawrence. But I knew there shouldn't be any Round Gobies around! My hook was way too big but I dropped a small chunk of worm between the rocks anyway and caught this cool Sculpin! I sent off the picture to some of my fishing friends in BC and they identified it as a Prickly Sculpin for me. Another new one :)

Prickly Sculpin

After discovering the identity of the sculpins, I casted out into the main channel in search of some bigger fish. The bites didn't come fast, and the sculpin were incessant, but eventually I did get a good take. I was fishing downstream of some pilons and the fish took the every chance it could to keep itself in the current around the bridge. Nevertheless, I got it to shore soon enough and saw another lifer: the Northern Pikeminnow! I don't know why, but I have a thing for big minnows and catching a native one like this was pretty sick. I was sure I would run into more on this trip, but it was fun to get such a nice specimen early on.

Northern Pikeminnow

Eventually, it was time to move on from Kamloops and make our way west to Vancouver. We drove through the night, up and down the switchbacks north of Whistler, and through the thickest fog I've ever experienced. We made camp under some powerlines before continuing down the Sea-to-Sky highway to our destination.

I'll end the post hear and hopefully not take another few months to write part II :)