Oldman River

This page is the Oldman below the Oldman Dam. The dam, finished in 1991 north of Pincher Creek, holds back the river where the Oldman, the Crowsnest and the Castle meet in the Oldman Reservoir. From the dam the river runs about 125 km east as a big prairie tailwater, past the Piikani Nation at Brocket and through Fort Macleod to Secondary Road 509 near Coalhurst, just above Lethbridge. That is where the Eastern Slopes rules end and this page stops. The mountain freestone above the reservoir, past Maycroft and through the Gap, is a different river with different rules, and it has its own page as the Upper Oldman. Rainbow trout and mountain whitefish make up most of the catch near the dam. Brown trout share the river, and a few grow large. Pike turn up more often the farther east you go. Few anglers fish here compared with the Bow, and little is written about it, so expect to learn it yourself.

The dam runs this river for irrigation, not for trout. Read the Brocket gauge, about 6 km below the dam, which shows the dam release before Pincher Creek joins. From November to March the release usually sits near 6 to 10 m³/s (210 to 350 cfs), low and clear, and you can wade the riffles and runs. It climbs in spring, and from late June through August it often holds near 50 to 70 m³/s (1,750 to 2,470 cfs) to feed the canals downstream. At those flows the river is big and fast: fish it from a raft, or wade only the edges and the side channels. In a wet June the dam can spill past 100 m³/s (3,530 cfs), and then it is no place to be. The release drops in September, and by October the river is low and clear again, which makes fall the easiest time to wade it. The reservoir holds back the silt, so the water near the dam stays clearer than a mountain river in runoff. Expect midges and blue-winged olives in spring and fall, caddis and PMDs in summer, hoppers on August afternoons, and streamers for browns in the fall.

Plan for three things. First, the river runs about 40 km through the Piikani Nation reserve, from the Pincher Creek mouth to about 9 km above Fort Macleod. You need the band council's permission to enter or cross reserve land, and that includes walking the banks. Off the reserve, the Oldman Dam Provincial Recreation Area surrounds the dam, and the Oldman River Provincial Recreation Area sits on the river near Fort Macleod. Elsewhere, reach the water at bridges and road allowances and stay below the high-water mark, or ask the landowner, because ranch land lines most of the banks. Second, the wind: Pincher Creek and Fort Macleod sit in some of the windiest country in Canada, so plan on gusts by midday and bring a rod that can punch a heavy fly. Third, the rules: the river is open all year from the dam to Highway 509 with a bait ban. From June 16 to October 31 you may keep 2 trout, but every trout goes back from November 1 to June 15. When the Bow runs warm and low in July or August, Alberta can close every ES1 stream from 2 pm to midnight, this one included, so check the advisories before a summer trip.