• Streamer fishing is prime. Make sure flies are getting deep enough - you'll need at least a loop on sink tip to efficiently fish the Bow at this water level. Swing for the fences and bust out the S7. Once it hits the bank, strip that thang off like a dirty shirt on a hot day. 
• Yeah, I know, we always talk about olive streamers, but I'll admit straight up white has been crushing as well lately. Some people I know swear by yellow, but I don't trust 'em! Go to black if visibility is less than 2-3 feet. 
• Run a dry dropper rig for your stoneflies on a 5 or 6 weight rod with a 2X or 3X leader. 1X even if you are prone to losing flies or tie bad knots. Go for a big, buoyant foam bug up top, with a heavyish stonefly nymph off the bend of the hook on 2X or 3X tippet, 2.5 - 4 feet long. The longer your dropper is, the harder it will be to cast. You can try a 7.5' leader instead of a 9 footer, it'll be easier to turn over.
• If fish are keyed into stonefly adults on the surface, consider ditching the dropper and running a single dry that sits a little lower on the water, to imitate a skittering stone or egg layer. Good examples include RIO's Juicy Stone or The Flintstone from Curtis at Freestone Flies.
• Spey fishing on the Bow is still great. Don't worry about getting nips deep out there my dudes, hang out in calf to thigh deep water and swing it all the way downstream of yourself. 
• Caddis are doing their thing on the Bow and fish are becoming more interested in rising to them in the evenings. Head down to the river after dinner with a 4 or 5 weight, 3X or 4X leader, and a dry/emerger tandem rig. You can try leaving the floatant off your emerger, and make sure not to run the dropper too long. You want about 8-10" to effectively detect strikes. 
• PMD's are hatching in good numbers around 12-4:30 PM each day and some large trout have been keying into them, especially subsurface.  If you're not seeing risers, try a PMD nymph under a foam fly. 
• Small fish make big splash, big fish make small splash. Look for the subtle rises near cover and deflections, & tailing, sipping, or porpoising trout that have established a feeding routine in place. Large rising fish often actively avoid showing their size above water.
• Alberta Report A Poacher phone line - 1-800-642-3800. You may have seen that some guys got busted recently fishing bait and set lines up by the Bearspaw Dam, and apparently had been doing so quite regularly. Even if you never intend to harvest, it's still your responsibility to know and understand the regulations where you are fishing. You need to know if it's legal to keep fish in any given waters - it's also your responsibility as an angler and a good citizen to report anyone you see illegally harvesting fish. And, guess what? You get paid cash if your call results in a conviction. It's not snitching - it's keeping your house clean. If you know your local CO, buy them a beer - these people work hard, mostly thanklessly, to ensure Albertans can enjoy our natural resources year after year.

Swung up a young player who was feeling a bit extroverted.

Other Waters

Picture this: wave after wave of crazed, slack-jawed, wild-eyed, foaming-at-the-mouth degenerates relentlessly descend upon the unsuspecting innocents. Is it the zombie apocalypse? Average day in downtown Calgary during the drug crisis? The G7 delegates arriving? Nope! It's anglers hitting mountain stream season opener in Southern Alberta! June 16th the waters opened for the summer in ES1. It's that special time of year we've all been waiting patiently for. Now go get yourself some cutthroats, but maybe leave the nymph rod and bobbers at home - haha just kidding (actually, kinda not kidding). Bless their hearts, those poor, dumb little cutties get hit so hard from angling pressure that it's just not really sporting to dredge 'em up deep from resting lies when they'll almost always take the right dry fly. Not to mention, many of these fish are a native subspecies of Westslope Cutthroats, currently listed as threatened in Alberta, so it's good to take it easy on them. If they just won't come up, rip a streamer for some bulls or trophy size cutts instead. You could put a dropper on, if you were feeling a little trashy, but you might not brag to the homies about it.

BRT staff Matt and Cam hit the water down south for opener and had good luck foolin' them on dries. Size 14-16 mayflies and smaller Stimulators were getting the job done. Fish didn't seem to be fully turned onto stones on top just yet like they are during peak golden stone season. Crowds can be pretty big and anglers sometimes get a bit competitive jockeying for spots on well known waters during opener, but it wasn't too bad down around the G** this year, probably due to the fact it fell on a Monday. Try to give other anglers plenty of space out there, avoid walking right past people fishing if you can help it. Courtesy still goes a long way on the water here.

From Alberta Parks.

• Unless you're seriously informationally challenged, you know that the G7 summit is happening in our beautiful backyard this week. Highway 40 is closed from Highwood House junction at highway 541 to the Junction at Kananaskis Lakes until June 21st (dear world leaders, don't let the door hit your asses on the way out).
• There is, understandably, a huge police and military presence in the Kananaskis area. They're doing hot laps from Invermere to Banff in the Stratotanker. They've got tanks and anti aircraft missile batteries hidden in the woods on the banks of the Highwood down highway 40, and many, many, ghost cars of all types parked & observing at all the major roads and junctions. The hills have eyes, and ears, and guns. Be on your best behaviour and whatever you do, do not let them catch you nymphing for cutties. That's straight to Guantanamo buddy.
• They'll be chomping golden stones off the surface all day down on the Oldman system in no time, make sure to have some foam & stimis in the box.
• It's early in the season for terrestrials, but ants are always a great choice on the cutthroat streams, especially when nothing else will work. Small hoppers are starting to appear on the banks, too. Try a parachute ant size 18 or a lil' micro chubby, size 12. 
  
• Fish Stimulators for cutties. A big ass, bushy bug covered in hackle, maybe some rubber legs if you're feeling fancy, juiced up right with some FlyAgra - fish it til it disintegrates. Sometimes even the bulls will come up for a stimi. Hoo boy, that's a real nice afternoon.
• ES1 gets all the attention, but don't forget about little old ES2. That's a vast expanse of less pressured waters, and in addition to the browns in the Red Deer system, there's cutties & bulls up there too.
• The Elk river and other waters in SE BC are open as of June 15th, too. Although it gets very busy these days, it's a really fun river to float and the cutthroat dry fly fishing is mint. If you forgot, you'll remember quickly that BC stands for Bring Cash.
• Green and brown Drakes will be important insects to imitate on waters in both ES1 & ES2. Sizes 10-14.
• We're told that Salmonflies on the Crowsnest have mostly concluded hatching for the year.
• Keep 'em wet! A clean net job when the fish is ready to come in, keep them in the net & off the rocks, a couple quick pics then send them on their way. Cutties don't do well with excessive handling. Consider carrying a stream thermometer this summer and stop fishing before the water hits 19C.
• Bear spray!

Get your foam boxes ready!

Flies For The Bow

The Flintstone, #10

RIO's Juicy Stone, Golden, #6-8

Comparadun, PMD, #14-18

 BH Peacock Bugger, Any color, #6-10 

Galloup's Mini Peanut Envy, White, Olive, #6

Galloup's Mini Boogieman, Olive, #6