Guided Spin Fishing Trips On The Lower Bow River

When you dream, dream BIG

When we daydream or dream while slumbering, we might as well dream big, big like the fish you see in the image above. When the lure meets the water, whether it hits the back eddy, the seam from a corner or the bucket, most of us want at least one massive fish before the days have all expired. Today was a day where reveries materialized, where that vision had been allowed.

I was cheering on Adam from the start of our float. Derek was cleaning up on the hungry rainbows and amassed quite a lead for the first hour. Adam hooked and landed a few fish later but had a mini dry spell going. I was not counting the amount of fish Derek caught, ok I admit I was counting, and was cheering Adam on from the bankside. I kept saying, 26 inch Brown, 26 inch Brown. Adam had a sweet rainbow locked up but it popped off on him before it reached the boat, do those count? I don’t think so! Then we pulled off the river again in a nice area of the river where three channels of the river converge. I docked the boat and we all jumped out apprising Derek and Adam that there should be a few dandy fish hanging along the bank just before the two channels of the river met up. The water was back pooling here with a nice gentle seam making its way into the head of the pool, the location was just screaming big fish. Derek’s forth cast was rewarded, a voracious rainbow took hold and flew out of the water to spit Derek’s rainbow Rapala minnow imitation. No way was Derek letting this fish slip off. He coaxed the trout to a location where he could step down and land his prize. That’s one more fish to hand for Derek.

Adam was looking a little dejected; I could see it in his face. I wanted him to experience the buzz of battling some large fish. I asked him to try a few different techniques and work his lure in three different styles, I figured he might need a little guidance to land a few more fish, but he walked away empty handed from this location while Derek landed two major rainbows here; the second pushing twenty five inches. I turned to Adam I reassured him stating, “You might not get the most fish today but you’re going to get the biggest”. Adam laughed and replied, “Don’t say that you are going to jinx me”.

The lower section of the float was productive for both gent’s with both Adam and Derek landing decent sized rainbows. Our float was from Policeman’s Flats to MacKinnon Flats with many stops to fish the shore along the meandering journey. It was getting near lunch time and I asked the guy’s if they were hungry, we all agreed it was that time to sit and eat. I rowed the boat into an area of the river with a steep shelf with both men casting into the shoreline and retrieving back up into the shelf that was directly underneath the boat.

We were using Rapala’s exclusively today with natural colors chosen. With proper boat position, Adam heaves his Brown Trout Countdown into the bank landing his lure within a foot of the shore just behind a large boulder. He then put the spin on the reel and tweaked the lure a few times to make an erratic motion of the diving crankbait. Putting on the brakes every four or five revolutions, his day was about to change right then. I saw the fish smash his lure and immediately it was large. The fish was bull dogging him something fierce, then I saw the fish come to the surface and my heart started beating faster; I reached for the net and was ready to scoop up his prize catch. Under my guidance, Adam did a perfect job of keeping the line tight and swinging the monster back behind the boat and into the awaiting landing net. The fish was in the net and boy was it heavy, really heavy! Both Adam and Derek were dumbfounded and delighted all in the same breath. As I passed the brute to Adam I noticed his hands were shaking, the adrenaline was pumping through his veins; I’m sure his heart rate was seriously elevated. Another trophy fish landed from the world famous Bow River, I say another as this is not the first trophy taken but it sure was awesome for me to witness Adam’s battle with brownzilla.

Floating a river like the Bow can be very rewarding even for men and women who are relatively inexperienced. I asked both Derek and Adam to play with various retrieve speeds. Action plays a big part in success as well; some fish want that minnow imitation to look as real as possible before they will strike. We used the stop and go technique as well as added subtle twitches of the lure for extra effect. Go-go-go-go and stop, then twitch and pick up the slack line then go again. With this tactic, we landed an impressive thirty trout with several more fish escaping the fangs of the Eagle Claw hook.

Sore arms and big smiles wrapped up our monumental day. I am looking forward to next weekend’s fishing journey along the mighty Lower Bow River. When you retire tonight, dream a dream of colossal fish; fish so big you need the net.