Fishing Report - Summer

Elliott wrangles a Bow river bruiser.
For a bit there, the Bow was more swole than Schwarzenegger in his prime. Depending on who you asked, the fishing was either excellent or terrible, but that's almost always the case on the Bow. High water kept many anglers away from the river but those who persevered were rewarded with some trophy brown trout on streamers. TransAlta played yo-yo with the flows a few times, causing surges in water levels which made for tough guide days. Luckily, our late runoff seems to be completed as the Rockies are no longer holding meaningful amounts of snow and the Bow is running under 200 cms through the city.
  
Under 200 cms and looking good.
That's all she wrote for snowpack, glad we had a strong spring accumulation.
Reservoir levels across Southern Alberta are in good shape.

Guides and private boat owners alike have been flocking to boat launches to catch the golden stones well before sunrise, like senior citizens descending on the nearest A&W for the best seat in the house & the day's first small coffee. It pays to be the first boat down the river when tossing the big foam bugs and it's a minor arms race to see who can start the earliest. The hatch is starting to wane on the Bow but is still in full swing on other waters. As the summer rolls on and the heat is sustained, terrestrials will come in to play more prominently, with hoppers the main attraction on the Bow, & ants a sure bet on the mountain streams.

On The Bow River 

  • Golden stones are popping after a slow start. You'll need to get up early if you want to catch the peak action. Like, really early. 
  • You're gonna miss a few eats when fishing stones on top. It's a large, buoyant foam bug, and sometimes the fish can hit the foam while missing the hook. Be patient but assertive with your hooksets. It's not unheard of for a fish to hit a fly again after a miss so don't necessarily rip it out of there immediately if it gets slashed at.  
  • Daddy's Little Bug. Evening caddis hatches are now prolific, and the perfect hatch for dads to capitalize on. Get the ankle biters tucked in, then head down to the river around 8 PM - after dark and get 'er done. Bring bug spray for the skeeters. 
  • You won't often do well blind casting caddis, and will probably spook more fish than interest them. Wait until you see rises to cast. One rise is bare minimum, two rises is better, and a fish doing pushups in place or down a feeding lane is perfect. They are less likely to scrutinize your offering when rising in rapid succession.
  • Fish a tandem rig with a visible adult caddis on a 3X leader, trailing a smaller emerger pattern behind on 4X, 8-18" behind. The less visible or lower riding your emerger is, the shorter the distance between the two flies should be so that you have a better chance of detecting very subtle strikes. 
  • Small trout are dumb, and make big splashes when rising. Big fish are smart, and make little disturbance.
  • Buzzing in the trees? That's not hoppers. In fact, we do have a substantial cicada hatch in Southern Alberta certain years. Try a black & orange Chubby Chernobyl or dedicated cicada pattern. 
  • Ogden boat launch has been inaccessible due to placement of pumping infrastructure for people to collect river water for outdoor use due to ongoing water restrictions related to water main replacement work. No word on if that is still the case.  
  • As always, report anyone you see keeping fish out of the Bow, or anywhere fish harvest is not allowed - Alberta Report A Poacher line 1-800-642-3800.
  • Don't know if it's legal to keep fish in a given body of water? That's on you, bud. It's your responsibility to know the regulations in the areas you fish. The Alberta government is late getting the '24 regs out, so use what's currently here online.

 

Flies For The Bow

Dries

Nymphs

Strolis' Mini Ice Pick, Natural/Silver, #6

Sculpzilla, White or Olive, #4-6

BH Wooly Bugger, White or Olive, #6-10

Nymphs

Smethurt's Stone Bomb, Brown/Black, #8-12 

Keller's Peach Fuzz, Orange, #14-16

Tungsten Jig Perdigon, Blue Diamond, #14-18

Stones for breakfast, leeches for lunch, caddis for dinner.

I'm seein' double & I like it.
She's a little bit chunky & that's ok with us. 
Cam Winter found a dance partner at the riverbank rodeo.
Howdy, partner.
"I'll have the caddis tasting menu, please". 
Searching. 
Through the woods to the river.
Still searching.
Sandstone sculptures on the Bow.
This K-country clearcut is just the beginning of a larger stain on Alberta's heritage.
Francis in a cowboy country cathedral.
Good looking water in a Bow River side channel.
Mountain waters picking up volume and color as tributaries join the conversation on the journey eastbound & down.
Won't be long now until these peaks are bone dry.
Pulled over to send one to a picky eater just off the bank.
Might wait a bit for water to come down before threading this needle. 
Just a couple guys grinding it out on a wet & cold opening day. 
A Westslope Cutthroat doing its best sockeye impression. No wonder they're so hungry.
Searching for sippers at golden hour. 
Streamside nose pickers are no longer safe from the gubmint's all-seeing eye.
Cicada catchin' a daytime buzz like office workers during Stampede. Bet you didn't even know we had these bugs in Alberta. 
Aiden puts a bend in the green stick.
Prime wild strawberry season.
 
Mountain streams shaping up nicely.
One of 20 billion.