Quick Report - August 21, 2026

by BRT Staff

Water Levels

Bow River Flies

Dries

RIO's Juicy Hopper

Chubby Chernobyl, Peach

RIO's Blade Runner Hopper

CDC Spinner Trico

Skippy Hopper

Streamers

Galloup's Mini Boogieman

Galloup's Silk Kitty

Lynch's Drunk & Disorderly

RIO's Precious Metal

RIO's Fruit Strip

Nymphs

BH Pheasant Tail

Partridge Soft Hackle, Hare's Ear

Tungsten Jig Perdigon TNT

Tungsten Jig Prince Nymph

Keller's Peach Fuzz

Flies for Other Places

RIO's Hi-Vis Parachute Ant

Heifer Hopper

RIO's Parachute, Purple

Glo Ant, All Colors

Hi-Vis Micro Chubby

Tips for the Bow

After a period of heavy rainstorms and unpredicable flows, the Bow is now dropping and running at around 90 cubic meters per second, with clear, warm weather in the forecast.
As water levels drop and water clarity improves, try sizing down flies, using lighter leaders/tippet, and focusing on giving great fly presentations.
Grasshoppers are now the main event for dry fly fishing on the Bow. While fish are not shying away from large patterns, carry a wide selection of patterns, sizes, & colours. There's a huge range of naturals hopping around out there.
Guides have still been fishing dry stonefly patterns like the Chubby Chernobyl with success.
If fish are rising to your hopper, ditch the dropper. Your dry moves better on the water without it. Try using a non-slip loop knot instead of the usual clinch knot for extra wiggle action.
Trico mayfly hatches are ongoing. Look for tailing or porpoising fish in 1-2 feet of water. Bring a 4X leader for these tiny bugs, and maybe some 5X tippet.
PMD's may also be hatching, small sizes.
You can go lighter on your sink tip for streamer fishing. Try an S3 instead of the S5 & S7 we fished all July through the high water. You could also ditch the sink tip all together and fish weighted streamers on your floating line with a stout 7.5'-9' leader.

Tips for Other Places

The most popular cutty waters are seeing significant pressure by this time of year and fish are becoming more selective as waters warm and drop. Try to fish weekdays, early in the morning, and in the evenings.
Size down flies and focus on good presentations. 4X tippet and leaders are usually the ticket for most of your cutty fishing.
Terrestrials really shine in August & September. Ants, beetles, & hoppers. Stimis will still move fish regardless of hatching stones or not. Keep some small Adams patterns in the box, especially purple-bodied variants.
Large sedge patterns have kept alpine lake fish rising when nothing else would.
Strive to keep fish in the water using a rubber basket landing net and minimize handling times.
Bull trout have made their way to headwaters and are now in spawning mode. Often spawners & pre spawners lose their appetite and will not react to flies.
Brown trout streams in ES2 are seeing many fish rising to PMD's, but are becoming extremely spooky, and stealth is the name of the game.
Don't leave home without bear spray as bears are super active this year, especially in Kananaskis.

Bottom Line

Fishing was tough for a couple weeks due to storms. Now that we're seeing more stable weather, fish are more comfortable and the hopper bite has been improving steadily. This weekend has potential for great fishing. While hoppers are most active in the afternoon, guides are reporting that being the first boat down the river in the morning tossing hoppers to the bank is paying off. If you like technical dry fly fishing, grab the 4 weight and pull the boat over to scan the river edges for fish making subtle rises to size 20 Tricos. Now is the time to take advantage of the great end-of-summer weather. Get out and fish hoppers on the Bow while it's still good. Cutties are feeling the pressure of many anglers throwing many flies all season, so treat them with extra care.

Please report any suspected poaching activities. It is illegal to harvest fish from the Bow river. Alberta Report A Poacher : 1-800-642-3800

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