I went on a trip to the Athabasca river with some friends. It was a gorgeous place to visit and we stayed in Jasper at a great AirBnB. Overall the trip was awesome, but the fishing wasn’t the best. It may have just been too early to really get into it on the river. The water was beautiful and relatively clear, it just seemed like it was still a bit cold and the fish either weren’t feeding or hadn’t move up into the sections of the river that we were fishing.
Either way though it was stunning and this is a panorama of a section that was just beautiful. The water was emerald green and forests were incredibly lush. We were there just a few days likely after the snow had all mostly melted from the river banks as well.
We also took the time to stop at the Athabasca Falls while we were there and it was equally as beautiful. The falls themselves were frozen, however the creek flowing out as well as the water in it was the most beautiful blue. On this trip I had the chance to take out my new 7 wt rod, the Echo Base. This thing was awesome, it is the heaviest rod in my collection and definitely budget friendly, but it performed awesome and casted great. I didn’t have any issues and was pretty confident blasting streamers across the Athabasca pretty quick.
On our way there and home we also drove the 93 highway through the Columbia Ice Fields. This was a beautiful highway just surrounded on all sides but stunning mountains that at this time of year were covered in snow. It was breathtaking and I would highly recommend checking this out if you ever have the chance!