Ram River Cutthroat
From the Ram River's headwaters to the falls below the confluence of the North Ram there is only one trout species; westslope cutthroat trout. This is a beautiful thing. The river system was stocked with trout the first time in 1956 from south east BC, and twice more between then and 1963. Martin Paetz, the man who physically put the fish in the river, passed on in 2002 but his legacy will continue with one of the strongest populations of westslope cutthroat trout in Alberta in what is easily the most dramatic cutthroat trout river in Canada.

Below the confluence of the North Ram is a nasty set of waterfalls aptly named the chutes of the Ram. This impassable set of falls and churning, boiling water was the historic barrier for fish. Prior to the cutthroat being stocked the reaches above this were devoid of fish. Below this point, however, there was and still are bull trout and whitefish in good, healthy populations. With bulls to 30+", it's worth the effort to get in to this tough section of water.

The cutthroat trout of the Ram River vary by reach of the river fished in sizes and numbers. A good day at the peak of the season will see you land scores of fish in the 12 to 18" range. There certainly are trout  over 19" up to 22" . We have only come across one cutthroat over 24 1/2", a handsome 25-3/4" male that was caught on a stonefly many years ago. We'll do our best to get you what you are looking for. In one section we call 14 to 17" fish clones, in another 10 to 14" fish are clones. Catch rates also vary considerably. You can expect to catch anywhere from 10 to 100+ fish in a day, depending on which section we fish, conditions, ability, etc.  Where we hike and fish, 20 to 40 trout in a day is a reasonable expectation, whereas our raft trips take us to water where 30 to 150 trout may be caught, pending conditions, angler intensity and skill, and time of year.