I remember last year when my buddy and I went out fishing on the Bow, we were bottom bouncing Panther Martins when my buddy’s rod bent over so far I thought it was going to break in half. He hooked into a estimated 30 inch Brown trout, we saw the trout come to the surface then he bolted off with all 200 yards of his fishing line and then SNAP. Every fisherman has his own preference on what type of rod he uses rite down to what type of line they use. I don’t have a biased opinion one way or the other, as long as you have fun while you are out there and you’re catching some fish. My preference when it comes to rods is a rod that has some back bone. I like a six foot six inch rod when fishing for trout on the Bow River because it is stiff enough to handle any size fish that I may encounter on my trip. Rods such as the Abu Garcia Work Horse, Berkley ugly stick, and Berkley Gorilla stick, are all good choices when it comes to rods with back bone and are fairly inexpensive rods. If a person so chooses he or she could go with something a little more expensive which would provide more sensitivity, therefore increasing your odds while out on your next fishing excursion.

I always and I mean always spool my Pflueger reel with Berkley XT fishing line. When I fish the Bow River, I prefer to use 8 lb Berkley Extra Tough because as I mentioned earlier in this Blog, there are Large Trout that live here. I’ve pretty much used every fishing line that’s on the market and found that I like the XT the best. I’m the type of fisherman who is fussy when it comes to fresh line on my reel, so before I float I usually respool my reel so I have no problems when I am out on the water. Berkley has a few different colors to choose from when you buy your fishing line, low visibility green, clear and a few others you can choose from. I always buy the low visibility green as it seems to match the color of the water I fish on the best. Some of the other fishing line I like to use include Excalibur, and Spider wire.

I am very fussy when it comes to the type of fishing reels I use. The Pflueger President has everything that I look for in a reel from its smooth reeling system to the durability every fisherman looks for. Lets face it, no serious fisherman likes it when he is floating the river and his 200$ reel blows apart. For this is a fisherman’s worst nightmare come true, your 5 miles down the river and the fishing is awesome, you’ve already landed 15 trout and then you hook into the fish of your dreams and your reel completely goes haywire. You then proceed to lose the trout and your mind, and spend the rest of the day watching your buddy catching your fish. Has this ever happened to you?

In today’s world there are so many excellent fishing rods and reels to choose from. I’m the type of fisherman who wants to try them all. The only down fall for me is that I’m not rich and cannot buy 15 different rods and 10 different reels so I try to keep it simple and reasonably inexpensive. I have 2 rods, a 6’6 Abu Garcia Workhorse and a 7’0 foot rod of the same make. My reels are made by Pflueger which is a division of Shakespeare. These reels are simply awesome and have 10 ball bearings and the price was a steel at 80$ Canadian.