Feb 19

Winter fishing for brown trout on the Bow River 2018

winter-fishing-the-bow-river-Calgary

A long cold winter

It seems like forever that I got the chance to fish the river. In reality, it has only been three weeks. When you have a deep burning passion for fishing like I do, a few days is too long. It feels like the Chinooks we get here have been few and far between, and when we get them, they are on weekdays when I am hard at work at the shop. The last time I fished was January 21st on a Saturday afternoon. I spent several nights making a plan as to where I wanted to fish, more specifically, what part of the Bow River. There are many over wintering holes located both within the city limits, and just outside of Calgary. I chose the scenic drive just out of town to where jumbo trout shack up in the winter months. If you know where to locate these bruisers in the dead of winter, there is a good chance you will hook a trophy with the right presentation and lure.

spin-fishing-the-bow-river-2018

I arrived at the destination and parked my new truck. There were not many vehicles in the parking spot when I rolled in, another reason I like to fish in the winter months, it keeps some of the weekend warriors at home. I geared up with warm pants that are water-proof and wind resistant, then fleece lined hoodies before finally putting the winter coat on top. I elected to tie up a Live Target smelt for my first offering. The lure has flashy colors, combined with a rattle. The lure suspends upon pausing and will stay level in the water column, rising ever so slowly imitating that slow death movement the fish can’t resist. Remember friends, when the water temps are cold like they are now, you must adjust your retrieve speed accordingly. I cannot stress this point enough. The fish are lethargic and do not move quickly like they do in the other three seasons of the year. I move the Live Target smelt slow, with many pauses in between short retrieves, duplicating that over and over again.

It is wise to start out slow with your retrieve speeds, and then pick up the pace a little as the day gets warmer and water temps warm up slightly. If you are having no success, you can switch lures and go deeper bouncing the bottom, or slightly off the bottom. A Panther Martin spinner or Rapala Countdown will do the trick here nicely. You can also move down or up the river accordingly. Remember, you are the hunter and you need to find your prey. The more you move up or down the river, the more success you will have. Look for weed beds on the rivers bottom in the winter or deep pockets of water where the fish feel safe to take cover.

how-to-catch-brown-trout-on-the-bow-river

After several casts upriver, there was still floating ice that had not melted into the river. The water was still too cold! I wandered downstream to find flowing water that dropped into a deep bucket. I knew the fish would be here, as they were stacking up in this hole in the fall. My boots carried me the five minute walk down, and I let the back pack fall off my shoulders setting up shop here. For me, it is important to cover lots of water during my outings; after all, we only have limited time to take advantage of the day. That four hour window seems to close quickly, so covering water by both walking, and casting far, will increase your success rate. When I fish the river in the winter, I do not use waders. The water is too cold for my old bones, so I chose to remain on the bank at all times. The key to success for me is to have a full spool of line on a large capacity reel. This will make my casts reach all the way to the other bank with a good weighted lure, such as, the Live Target smelt, the Live Target Trout Parr, the Rapala Countdown series lures, or the Rapala Shadow Rap shad series baits. The weight of the lures, combined with a full spool of line, lets me reach those fish that are “way out there” in the river system.

After many futile casts, I finally had action on a slow retrieve with a long pause. I tweaked the lure slightly after the pause and boom; I had my first fish of the day, a strong brown. My heart skipped a beat as I released the fish back into the chilly river. No matter the size of the fish I catch, I always look at them with a deep and respectful admiration. The deep love of fishing has never left me since I was a child, fishing the Bow River with my late grandfather Jack. Shortly after releasing my first prize, I made my way a little further downstream hooking up with another German brownie. This fish was chunky and dark buttered colored, and sparkled in my eyes as I let him back into the water. It was just after 1:00 PM and I decided it was time to make my way back up the river, to the initial spot I had started. Siv and I, who was my fishing partner for the day, took pictures along the short walk back up the river. Siv is a super talented photographer and also loves to fish both rivers and lakes here in Alberta and beyond. Through deep snow and ice cracking below our boots, we arrived back where we started. Siv had asked if she could change lures and I gladly tied up a new hook for her to offer the awaiting trout below. I also changed hooks to a new color of Live Target smelt. Siv chose the Rapala Shadow Rap shad in the Halloween color pattern, which has a deep orange underbelly, a flashy silver side and a dark black top. The rattle combined with the way the lure moves through the water is simply irresistible.

Rapala-shadow-rap-shad

 

Siv was casting the lure out as far as possible with no action originally. I was pacing up and down the river myself, looking for my next taker. I asked Siv to come stand in a prime location a little further up the river from where I had been casting. I moved down river and switched spots with her. I was really hoping she was going to get her first fish of the day. I was dialed in and focused, as if time was standing still. Often times, I get mesmerized and tunnel vision kicks in. I happened to glance over my left shoulder and noticed Siv’s rod heaved over almost touching the water. I knew immediately that this was a big fish, so I dropped my rod and hurried over to position, coaching her with a few tips, “rod tip high up and steady pressure, If the fish wants to run, let him go”. She fought the fish like a true champ and guided the monster male into my awaiting net. When reaching out over an ice ledge, it’s important to have a long reach net like this Lucky Strike net I bought a few years back. It has a telescopic handle which keeps you safe while reaching out over sketchy ice ledges that line the banks of the Bow River. What an amazing trophy brown trout. I snapped a few pictures for her before loading the fish back into the net and letting the fish return to its happy home. The day would have been totally complete right there and then, but Siv was blessed to land another fantastic brown trout. The sun started to dip almost below the horizon, so we decided to call it a day,  and a fantastic it was.

how-to-fish-for-big-browns-bow-river

In closing, I would like to leave you with a quick tip. If you are fishing without a partner, please don’t lay the fish on the ice or in the snow. The fish have sensitive eyes, and you could permanent damage to the eyesight of the fish by laying them down. It is better to take a quick selfie of the fish. Gain control of the trout with one hand and snap a few quick pictures before releasing the fish. If it is a chilly windy day, it is better to release the fish without pictures. Unhook the fish quickly and release it promptly back into the river. A GoPro camera can be used instead and you can save the memories of your catch with the GoPro footage.

Jan 14

Stop Female Angler Harassment. Let’s all make a difference

A Facebook group about page

Making a difference

For those who do not know me, my name is Mike Robertson. I am the owner and operator of Bow River Blog Guided Fishing Tours Inc. I am a fisherman and a fishing guide, a father to a beautiful eight year old daughter. I am forty five years old and grew up with my grandmother, my mother and my sister Karen. My grandfather passed away when I was just twelve years old, leaving me the only male in my household. I was raised with high morals and good old fashioned values that still stick with me today, and hopefully forever more. Both my mother and my grandma taught me how to treat a lady, as they were both ladies themselves. Some of those lessons included holding the door for a lady, moving her seat out and in when she sat down, opening and closing the car door, giving an elderly lady your seat when she had to stand, walking a lady to her door when you said goodbye, as to make sure she was in her house safely, and securely. These are just some of the many values I was taught growing up. From my early elementary school days, I learned to watch out for my little sister, after all, I was her big brother and I was her only other sibling. I have a deep respect for all women of the world, and it’s in my nature to uphold these values I was taught as a young boy.

I am staring a movement on all social media platforms to stop female angler harassment. I belong to many fishing groups on Facebook, and I follow many anglers on Instagram and Twitter, both men and women; after all, fishing is not just for the boys anymore. The sport of angling has become a universal sport, with many women of all ages entering into the world of fishing. In my opinion, it is great to see some ladies with a huge passion for Sport-fishing. Let’s face it, when we catch our personal best fish, we like to share these fish with our immediate friends and family as well as post our catches to the groups or fishing forums we belong to. Having a sense of community and sharing our love for the sport is a blessing for us, and we take pride in sharing the fish we catch. Sadly, these days, when female anglers of our community share their pictures, they face derogatory comments, unsolicited advances both publicly as well as in private messages, they receive unwanted pictures of male genitalia and sick disturbing requests that would make  you vomit upon reading them. This happens to married women, ladies who are in relationships and have that blatantly posed on their profiles, and single women as well. Some of these comments and advances are so appalling; I cannot even share them here. I do need to let you know how crass these messages are however, so you know exactly how bad it really is. This comment below was posted on a female anglers picture after she simply posted a picture of a Bass on Instagram.

Online harrassment

Here of some examples of what I am talking about. I remind you, this is simply from female anglers posting their fishing pictures online.

A Facebook female user who wishes to remain anonymous writes:

“Hi Mike, here are my biggest issues with my treatment from Men on social media. My first issue is, I post something like a pic of me fishing or being outdoors and being inundated by inappropriate comments such as, God you’re sexy, look at those legs, etc,etc, to the point where I get in trouble from my mother for it. She has stopped supporting my fishing career because she has the wrong idea of what I am trying to accomplish. Second, I will post something like what is the best hanging bait box to get, and a few perverts will make a comment like “yeah, I bet you have a nice box!” and I have to block them. Or too many trouser trout comments to count. Third, my inbox (Private messages) I have had men ask me to send them lingerie pics with a fishing pole, and when I refuse they will say, “oh yeah…I knew you weren’t really a female”. I find this very disgusting! Genitalia pics that are unwanted, I have taken to only opening messages from people I trust now, but I actually opened a message this past Thursday because it said be careful on the ice, when I opened it, it was a picture and a guy was pointing to his ankle insinuating he sprained it when in reality his genitalia was on display. I was so pissed off. I had to block the person and report it. Again I was completely disgusted. I occasionally face cyber bullying too from men who say I have no business talking about what I do (Fishing Lakes), and how many fish have I caught etc. The truth is I have NEVER once proclaimed to be an expert, just a lady who loves the sport of fishing and writing, so instead of scrolling past they feel the need (a few) to make me feel stupid”.

Another example of harassment

I find this extremely sad that this lady has to feel shamed by her own mother after facing this kind of online abuse. Remember readers, how many of us have our family members on our own personal Facebook accounts, I for one, have all my family members on my personal Facebook account. I want you to also know that this female angler conducts herself as a professional, both on her Facebook profile, and her Facebook Page.

Take a look at these comments and ask yourself, would you like someone talking to your daughter like that, your sister, your wife or girlfriend? Don’t you think it’s really wrong that a lady in our fishing community has to fear accepting a friend request by a male angler? Don’t you think unwanted advances and sick images are really wrong? Don’t you agree that this type of behavior needs to stop now?

He is not taking about the fish

That is why I started this movement, to stand up to the online rubbish, to stand with the strong women of the world who want this to stop, and stop now. I want to help all lady anglers by giving you a voice, by letting you know that it’s ok to stand up to this type of behavior, and to let others know that this is actually happening all the time, all over social media, day in and day out. I want your voice to be heard so we can make it stop, together as one family of anglers. Please feel free to share this Blog Post with the hash tag, #stopfemaleanglerharassment and let’s make a difference starting today.

Thank you,

~Mike

Dec 17

Custom made fishing rods for all your angling needs

Alberta made custom spin fishing rods

Hello readers of Bow River Blog and thank you Mike for this guest post opportunity. I am very grateful to be able to share my passion for building fishing rods with you. I am always asked why and how did you get into building fishing rods.

I have always been a fisherperson. From a very young age I remember sitting on the dock watching my bobber, waiting for it to dip, bounce and disappear. I love fishing, and always have. I love the excitement of the catch and in most cases seeing that same fish released back to fight another day.

A few years ago, I got into collecting antique fishing gear, with an emphasis on old, bamboo rods. With each flea market find I would rush home and spend hours inspecting the way it was built and wondering if I could restore the rod back to its original glory. I dabbled with restoring some rods and had both successes and failures, all the while, there was a little flame burning inside me to try and build my own rod.

As life slowed down and I found my passion again, I started to find serenity in fishing again. At this time, I started to experiment with fly fishing. I have always been creative and one day I started tying flies. Still, the desire to build my own rod continued to grow. I was reading about techniques online and was talking to my wife about it more and more. One Tuesday afternoon I walked into a local fishing store “just to look around” (anyone else ever say those famous words?) Indeed, I walked out of the store with a rod blank and all the tools to build my first rod.

There were many mistakes and retries and the odd curse, but after some time I had completed my first build. I could not wait to try it out. That first cast with a rod I built was like the best cast I had ever made. I was so full of joy and pride. I caught a few fish that day and while sitting on the bank of the river looking at my creation, I knew I was hooked. Have you ever been out fishing and had an idea to try something new only to have great success? That feeling you felt is much the same I felt that day.

After that I started to build more rods and expand my techniques and knowledge. I built a rod for the person who introduced me to fishing. When I gave it to him I saw something in his eye, and it was excitement. That same excitement I had when I took that first rod out to the river. I was even more hooked on this building “thing”. I knew in that moment I wanted to share it with everyone I could, and as such, Therapy Fishing Rods was born.

We like to work with a customer one-on-one to design their own, personalized rod. We could build a standard line of rods, but we want every customer to be part of the design process, so when that rod is complete and the customer takes it to the river or lake, there is a part of them in that rod. There is something so special about catching a fish on a rod you had a hand in building.

So why do I build rods? I love it! I love the whole process, but more than anything, I love to see that sparkle of excitement in a customer’s eye as they hold it for the first time. I hope we are helping to grow peoples passion for fishing.

Kevin Webb

Therapy Fishing Rods

Thanks so much for a great post Kevin. I encourage all my angling friends to head to Kevin’s website and take home your very own personalized spin or fly fishing rod. Please click the words “Therapy Fishing Rods” above to create your own rod today.

~Mike