It was a picture perfect fall season here in Southern Alberta, with mild temperatures and a few strong September precipitation drops keeping foliage green well into October. Late season anglers were treated to consistent action from BWO's, midges, boatmen, leeches, and streamers. Fishing on the Bow was still great as of Sunday, Nov. 17th, until the first snowfall of the year shut things down and created havoc on Calgary roads. We're now locked into darkness until the end of next month but don't let that get you down, just a few degrees above zero is all you need to get out there. Don't get caught unprepared like a newly arrived Vancouver transplant; summer tires spinnin' on the Yaris in a Calgary snowstorm - read on for winter fishing tips on the Bow.

  

• Looking for a dry fly fix? Well get familiar with midges, pal. It's gonna be a game of fine tippets and tiny flies until March.
• Try fishing a visible fly like a Griffith's Gnat on a 4X leader with a small emerger like a #20 RS2 tied 8-12" off the bend of the hook on 5X tippet. Set the hook if you see any action within the radius of your dropper.
• Go ahead and use a tiny unweighted nymph like a zebra midge or a brassie in place of the trailer dry as well.
• If you're going to fish a nymph rig this winter, try a New Zealand yarn indicator. They're not as easy to handle with cold hands as an Oros, but are superior in terms of detecting those super subtle winter strikes.
• Leeches should be a main focus during the winter months. Strip, drift, or swing; just get the dang thing in the water.
• Streamer fishing can certainly still be good but generally fish are keyed into smaller meals so skip the triple articulated half-chickens until we see high water again.
• It's time to pick up a two hander if you haven't yet. Spey casting is the easiest way to cover large cross sections of water efficiently. This applies well to off season fishing on the Bow, when a high fly shown to fish ratio is important as trout are more lethargic and it can be harder to find a player. 
• Trout were still smashing water boatmen just before the cold snap & likely still will be if it warms up soon. They hit 'em hard, especially if swung as a trailer on a spey setup.

Flies For The Bow

Dries

 Griffith's Gnat, Peacock, #16-20

CDC Transition Midge, Gray, #18-20

Bucky's Midge Cluster, Gray, #20

Ritt's ARF Midge Adult, Black, #18-20

RS2 CDC, #18-20

 Streamers

 BH Peacock Bugger, Any color, #6-10 Galloup's Dungeon, Olive or Black, #2

Jake's CDC Squirrel Leech, Any Color, #6-10

Squirrelly Little Bugger, Any color, #8

Micro Dolly Llama, Black or Olive/White, #6

Galloup's Mini Boogieman, Olive, #6