Bow River Trout Fishing

Let’s Just Fish Shall We!

I have been dreaming of Rainbows and Browns the last week while I am sitting at home surfing the internet. I see the pictures and read the stories and think to myself, “I need to get me some of those”. So out comes the rod and tackle and my cell happens to ring just as I am getting ready to leave the house. Tom says he is going down to the Bow River to flick a line out. We arranged to meet up and slam some trout. After battling traffic and a train I arrived just as Tom was quickly sliding his line through his guides. “What are you going with today, I asked Tom”. “The old Husky Jerk he says, I usually have good luck with this lure in this location. And you, what are you going to use today”. “Well I am going to go with a Berkley Frenzy to see if I can’t latch into a large Brown Trout I replied”.

So we were off casting away like mad men to see who could hook and land the first trout on the day. See if you don’t land the fish then you cannot count it as points. Tom decided after many casts that his Husky Jerk was not doing the trick so he went to his back pack to fetch another hook. I then walked over to his spot where he was fishing, a nice drop from a shallow run to a deep section in the river. On my fist cast with the rainbow colored Berkley, a speedy trout hacked at it not one but three times until he swooped back into his hiding spot behind a large rock. Shucks I missed him. On the next cast I presented the lure slower with a long pause in between reeling. My hook came to a very abrupt halt and the fish was on board. “Yeah baby”, I hollered to rub it in a little. Tom really likes it when I do that to him! The fish was scrapping very hard beneath the clear blue water and never stopped fighting until I gently brought her into the bank. I wet my hands and gently grabbed her to remove the hook from her tooth jaws, barbless makes for quick work with a set of pliers. A couple of quick pictures and she was off back into her hiding spot.

For those of you that are new to fishing, you wet your hands before handling a fish to keep from removing the protective slime which covers a fish. Fish need this slime to protect them from diseases. This slime coat acts as a defense against invasion by bacterial, parasitic, and fungal pathogens. The slime coating of a fish contains enzymes and antibodies to fight infection. The slime coating acts as a shield against disease causing organisms in the fish’s external environment. The slime coating also acts as a barrier to prevent loss of internal electrolytes and body fluids. When even a small portion of the slime coating is removed, the fish will bleed electrolytes from its body into the surrounding water. So be sure to wet your hands before handling a fish.

I then walked a ways down river to seek some more fat Browns. Tom switched his hook again to a Buzz Bomb which never caught him any trout. I however changed my hook to a Panther Martin spinner and was able to land another small brown. I asked Tom how he was doing and he stated “the fish don’t seem to like me today”. “The fish are not bias, they just might not like the color or how you are presenting the lure I replied”. I never told Tom that they seem to like a slower retrieve speed. I guess that he would have figured that out eventually if we had more time to fish. We called it a day and went our separate ways. The score if we were counting was two to zero. Two for me, zero for Tom. Watch out trout, I will be back sooner than later to test my skill level and patience.