Gratitude for the Bow River watershed
Another fishing season kicks off for me here in beautiful Alberta, Canada. It seemed like the grips of winter would never leave this year. With so much snow and rough weather in April, it seriously put a damper on sport fishing the Bow River. On the Easter Long weekend last year (2017), I had my jet boat up and running targeting some of the rivers finest brown trout specimens. Normally I have guided fishing trips booked for April, but not this year. I don’t ice fish, so winter seemed to drag on forever, leaving me with that empty feeling of dejection and the boat still in storage.
I would like to give a huge thanks to Dave, Kathy and Lachlan at Explorer Industries Jet Boats for the safety inspection done on my boat, as well as the new accessories added for the 2018 fishing season. This year we added grip strips to the bow of the boat for safety purposes. We also added a new stripe on both sides of the boat, as well as cup holders in the bow for my clients. An oil change was performed as well as a new impeller and sleeve, and the boat was washed down and coated with shark hide making her sparkle from bow to stern. I am deeply grateful for all your hard work, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
I picked the jet boat up in mid-April and took her out finally near the end of the month. The fishing was on the slow side as the water was still quite dirty. I was just there to test the boat, making sure everything was in proper working order. I wanted to test run the boat before my first guided fishing trips in early May. Everything checked out flawlessly and the first week of May could not come soon enough!
April was an unusual month here this year as winter had delayed everything by about three weeks.I finally had my first guided trip on Saturday May 5th, whereas last year I was already fishing the Easter long weekend. Rod and his friend Ryan, whom are new clients to me this year, were the first to head out in search of the Bow Rivers biggest brown trout. Rod and Ryan both had an incredible day landing some giant fish. I had another trip the very next day with a long term client. Riaz landed and released some amazing browns also, and the 2018 trout fishing season started off with another huge bang.
I was also blessed to shoot another television show with Mr. Wes David of Fishing the Wild West T.V show on the 12th of May. This “Brown Trout” episode will be the first show to air in season three next year. I am very grateful to be able to be featured on this amazing fishing show. Wes and I caught some amazing browns and look forward to seeing and sharing the episode with you all next season (2019) on the World Fishing Network and many other local cable outlets. I guess being a Bow River fishing guide has it’s perks.
The fishing was by far easy; I had to work smart and harder than usual to catch quality fish. I feel a lot of the browns were still up in the city section of the river and had not migrated into the stretch of river from Policeman’s Flats downstream. The fish were holding in back pools as the water was still quite dirty from all the snow melt coming out of the storm sewer drainage’s. Most often when we fish smart, and the challenge is greater, each and every fish we catch and release is ten times more rewarding. When fishing dirty or stained up water, we also have to consider lure selection. The proper colors and rattling capabilities come in to play here. If the fish can’t see or hear the lure, chances are you are not going to catch many fish!
The Rapala series baits were the go to choice in May! We had great success on the Shadow Rap Shad series baits, the X-Rap series lures, The BX Series minnow imitations, and the new RipStop lures. Choosing the right colors of lures, combined with the depth the lure dives, and the type of water we fished, was the secret to success.
It filled my soul to be back out on the water watching the eagles fly, smelling the cool crisp air, the wind on my face and the sound of the Yamaha jet motor buzzing as we headed for the next trout around the corner. There is something about fishing that soothes every pore of my being. Why do you love fishing? Feel free to leave a comment on the blog post sharing why you love the sport of fishing.
