Finally back On the Bow River 2022

Jet boat fishing the Bow River 2022

It’s been a long cold winter, but I was finally able to drag my jet boat out of hibernation this week. With the boat launches still covered in five feet ice shelves, I was barely able to get the boat in the river. Spring is always a great time to fish, as the trout have been through five months of harsh living conditions. They are super hungry and willing to take most anything thrown at them! This past winter I started my own tackle company, Robertson Tackle. I have been using the lures from shore waiting impatiently to get back in the jet boat and chuck the lures from there as well.

I invited my friends Daniel and Matt out for the first trip of the season to test the lures from the boat. Neither Matt or Daniel have fished the Bow River from a jet boat, so I thought it would be a nice treat to split the cost of gas and go. We met up at 9AM and had the boat in the water after some tricky maneuvering over a few obstacles. The boat fired up with no issues, then off we went downriver to find some willing and hungry trout.

After fishing a few great spots, and seeing fish following up to the boat, Daniel landed the first fantastic rainbow to get the party started. The fish was right in a slow corner, exactly where it was supposed to be! Daniel joked, “I think you have all the fishes addresses”. We fished almost all the way down to the Highwood confluence, capturing over thirty fish on our journey. We landed and released many browns, as well as several great rainbows pictured above. I also landed several great fish on my own brand of tackle. You can see my new website here www.robertsontackle.com if you are interested in purchasing high quality lures that work.

Both Matt and Daniel had a great day. We made memories that will last forever! It was very wonderful to finally have my boat back on the water. I am sincerely grateful winter is over, and spring has finally arrived here in Calgary. Big thanks to both Daniel and Matt for coming with me on the maiden voyage of 2022.

~Mike

Price increases for 2022 Bow River fishing season.

As the cost of food, gas, fishing lures, insurance has gone up the past few years, I will be raising the cost of both the full day fishing trips and the half day fishing trips. Since 2016, the prices have remained the same, but as costs continue to rise, I will have to adjust my rates as a result.

For the 2022 the rates will be as follows.

Half day guided trips
Our half day guided trips run from Monday – Thursday in the evenings (5:30-9:30PM) starting July 15th until September 15th.
The half day trips include rods, reels, tackle and non-alcoholic drinks. These guided trips last four hours in duration.
450.00 CDN not including gratuities.
Maximum of two anglers fishing per trip.

Full day guided trips
Our full day guided trips will increase to 750.00 this season. The full days trips are for two anglers and include rods, reels, lunch, tackle, non-alcoholic drinks and lunch. These trips last eight hours in duration.

With spring just around the corner, I am taking bookings for the upcoming fishing season. I am looking forward to seeing all my repeat clients once again. I am also looking forward to guiding new clients this year. Please reach out and secure your 2022 fishing date now.

Thanks,
~Mike

Introducing Robertson Tackle

After researching high quality fishing lures designed in Japan over the 2021 season, I have now started my own lure company calling it Robertson Tackle! I never really knew how hard it was to get lures that were high quality until I started my research back in January of last year. Sourcing products is much more difficult than I had first anticipated, which normally resulted in me staying up way past my bedtime. After acquiring tackle that looked good on the computer screen, and then getting the lures shipped from overseas, I soon found out that what you see is not always what you get.

As a professional fishing guide and tackle enthusiast, I will not use lures that are low quality and don’t catch fish. I also wanted to help the consumer save money on high end fishing lures, as many of us could use to save money on fishing tackle. After finally finding high quality crank-bait lures designed in Japan, I am now offering these lures for sale to the public here in Calgary and worldwide.

I have personally tested these amazing 2.7-inch crank baits, which offer sinking action, rattling properties and high quality, lifelike realistic finishes. The lures come stock with BKK treble hooks, which are razor sharp and durable. With both large Rainbow’s and huge Brown’s in the Bow River, it was important to have high-end hooks on the lures. After testing the lures and finding great success on all sport fish of the river, I now know all my hard work the last year has paid off.

I am in the process of designing an ecommerce website for the lures, which will be online very soon. I should be finished the new site by the end of February, and all the products for sale will be listed there. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to me via email at bowriverblog@gmail.com to purchase your lures today. The lures come in five different colors pictured here and are 13.00 Canadian per lure.

Thanks,

~Mike

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

On behalf of myself, and the Bow River Blog, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a prosperous new year. Santa Claus was good to me once again this year. I am looking forward to warmer weather and getting back out on the Bow for some winter fishing action. I hope Santa was good to you all and you can use your Christmas goodies on the ice, or the open water very soon!

I would also like to thank every client who came out fishing with me last year. I am very grateful you could all join me in the new G3 jet boat for another epic season. I hope to see you all back once again in the 2022 fishing season. I have some exciting news to announce here soon, so stay tuned to the Blog for that in January.

Cheers,

~Mike