Troutapalooza 2018

I gave our camping trip this past weekend a title, but you could label it whatever you wish; Trout fest, fish-topia, Slamjam 2018, Slay fest 2018. All those titles would have been fitting. It was a year planned and finally happened this past weekend with Rob, Ben and I making memories and catching some spectacular fish on the Bow River. Rob and his son Ben came down from Edmonton Friday afternoon to camp along the bank and fish the Bow River. Rob and Ben showed up Friday afternoon a 4:45 to join me in an epic weekend adventure. We loaded up the camping gear into the jet boat and headed off to Safeway to do some grocery shopping before launching the boat and heading down river to set up camp. We loaded the coolers full of food in the parking lot and made our way to a camping spot I had picked out for us some previous weeks earlier. After unloading all the camping gear and setting up our bedding for the night, we jumped in the boat and caught the last two hours of sunlight.

After firing up the Explorer Industries jet boat, we tied up our lures promptly as there was not much sunlight left. I drove a little up the river to a corner where the trout had been hanging earlier in the day; I had a guided trip earlier in the morning and had my finger on the pulse. Ben was first to kick us off landing a serious brown trout that came right up to the surface to smash his Shadow Rap Shad. Ben reeled the brown in like a champ to my awaiting net Rob was kind enough to give me. After landing the fish, I took a quick picture of Ben’s very first brownie and released back into the river. We all high fived each other for a job well done in celebration of Ben’s first brown trout. For me personally, it was such a glorious moment to be a part of. We fished until it was almost dark and retired to camp to relax and start a fire before retiring to bed before midnight.

(Saturday)

We arose early to the sounds of birds chirping and the soothing sounds of the river flowing by us in front of our camp. We slept in a little as we were all tired from the day before (Rob and Ben had a long drive from Edmonton and I was up early with a guided trip Friday) I cracked open the cooler and got the eggs and bacon on the go as Rob and Ben checked their lures and made lure changes for the mornings fishing activities. I called Rob and Ben over to the table and we all ate before getting into the jet boat and hitting the river. We landed some great rainbows in the morning but as the temperatures rose, the fish turned off and stopped feeding. We headed back to camp at about 1:00 PM and decided ice cream and some refuelling for the boat was necessary. We headed back to Calgary and stopped in at the local Dairy Queen for Blizzards and Peanut Buster Parfaits. It was a nice reprieve to sit inside an air conditioned building eating ice cream and reflecting on the mornings fishing adventures.

After our short break for gas and ice cream, we headed back to Policeman’s Flats boat launch to launch the jet boat and fish the evening away. We arrived back at the launch at about 4:30 and saw a truck sitting in the boat launch area, two young women letting their dogs play in the back pool where all the boats are launched and are taken out. I peeped the horn one time to let them know we were about to put the boat back into the water, and there was also another jet boat in the back pool waiting for them to move their truck out of the way. Rob got out of my truck and started walking to his vehicle which was parked in the lot at Policeman’s. As Rob was half way to his truck, the young woman started snapping at Rob verbally saying, “The next time don’t be so rude and honk the horn at us”. I laughed to myself as I started to get my waders on standing next to my boat. Rob had said in response to her snappy attitude “I was not the driver of the truck and did not honk my horn at you, however you are parked right in front of the boat launch and my buddy and this other boat need to get in and out of here”. Rob had said this to her politely, she started using profound colorful language and her boyfriend then came over and told Rob to “Shut the F**k up” etc. etc. I was baffled, and flabbergasted, to say the very least, after thinking to myself, “So you are blocking the boat launch from two boats getting in and out of the river, where there is signs clearly marking the boat launch area, and you have the audacity to start yelling and raging profanity at Rob”. It honestly blows my mind how entitled and ignorant some people are in this city.

After all that dust settled, we got the boat back in the river and were on our way down river to seek more of the Bow Rivers finest trout. I was glad Rob`s son Ben was asleep in the back of my truck and never got to witness that event. We fished until 5:30 and then headed back to camp for an amazing steak, corn on the cob and potato dinner I prepared for us all. There is always something about the taste of food when you are at camp. I think for whatever reason, it tastes ten times better. We sat in the shade and let our food digest before heading back out for the night bite!

We set afloat and drifted down river landing some amazing rainbows as temperatures cooled down later into the evening. As it got darker and cooler, the fishing got much better. Many times we would make two or three passes in a run and land fish on every pass. It was getting late and quite dark and we decided to call it a great evening. I fired up the boat and started driving back upriver from the Cottonwood Golf Course. The boat was under full power gliding on top of the water. I rounded the corner and saw two people on the bank shining their light on us as we approached and as I got closer to them, I had thought that they may be in trouble and needed assistance. It almost looked to me as if they were flashing Morse code. I slowed the boat and then came to a complete stop asking them (a guy and a girl)

“is everything ok, are you guys alright“. What came out of his mouth after checking on them blew both of our minds. He started verbally assaulting us both and threatening both Rob and I with physical violence, all because he was opposed to jet boats on the river and us using “Effing Rapala’s”. Before I drove off, and after his creepy girlfriend started recording us with her cell phone, which was all him uttering threats towards us; Rob had told him “If you are opposed to jet boats on the river, you should contact your local government office and complain to them, we are following all rules here and can operate a jet boat on this section of the river according to the law”.

I wonder if there will come a time where fly anglers and spin anglers will get along on the Bow River? I wonder when some people will lose the sense of “ownership” and of entitlement and learn to share the God given resources in harmony, and with respect for one another? In my opinion, that cannot happen soon enough. For the record, I could care less what kind of lure or fly you use to catch your quarry, as long as it’s legal to do so and you follow all the rules and regulations on your local body of water! Rob, Ben and I never let either of these incidents spoil our fishing/camping adventure! The three of us fished onward with a positive attitude the rest of the weekend. We caught and released some amazing fish that will remain forever etched in our hearts. The trip was a total blast from start to finish, so much so, that we will be making this a yearly event for many years to come!