Bottom Bouncing Panther Martins On The Bow River.
It was planned for two weeks; Al and his eleven year old son were booked and ready to fish. Al called me a few days before the trip to ask if there was anything he needed to bring fishing. “Just bring a camera and a smile” I said. When we met up both Al and his son were smiling, fishing the Bow River will do that to even a seasoned angler! I was set to float the lower section of the river from Policeman’s Flats to McKinnon Flats. Al asked if we could do the city float, which is Graves Landing to Policeman’s Flats. Al wanted to learn the shoreline holes within the city. Fine by me I replied, I made a quick phone call to the shuttle company who drives my car to the take out point from the put in and we were good to go.
We launched the boat at eight thirty in the morning. I tied up a Rapala on Al’s rod and I had a Panther Martin going for Blake. I also had my rod ready with a Rapala Countdown. I like to do some casting demos for my clients so they get to see what I do and duplicate the cast and retrieve method. Most people learn from watching as opposed to just listening to instructions. I fired my lure into and drop off in the river where trout love to hang out. As I was explaining the stop and go method I love to use on the Bow River, a 21 inch Brown Trout hammered the crankbait. I think I was in the middle of saying “and that’s how you do it”. Al says to me, “Is that how you do it Mike”. That’s how you do it buddy!
The weather got very hot quickly which makes the fish stick to the bottom or go into faster moving water. The river also is weedy now with the late bloom going on. I decided to switch Al’s lure to a minnow spinner. This hook will fish shallow or you can slow the retrieve up and make it swim deeper. No action for the first hour or so. As a guide, I hope all my clients get into lots of fish all of the time. Reality is, that sometimes does not happen. Al finally hooked a rainbow after the second hour near the Riverbend section of river. He managed to get the fish to the boat and then it popped off on him. That fish counts Al. I saw it and he was at the boat, that’s one in my books. Blake was next, a small little brown liked the Panther Martin and chowed down. Not really what I had hoped for his first fish but there was still plenty of time left in the trip. Then the river got quiet again. I knew the fish were not really chasing the crankbait so I switched Blake to a yellow Panther Martin #9.
The color change made all the difference. From the silver to the yellow and then it was three trout in a row for Blake. Another fish was hooked and landed shortly after his three fish. Al and Blake never caught a lot of fish but we sure did catch a suntan. Blake is pictured above with his third fish caught on the day. Blake was casting like a pro by the time we finished the float trip. I am very sure Blake will one day be a master of the Bow River trout species. That I have no doubt about. Thanks for the trip gentlemen, I had a blast!
