Once again, we have arrived at Christmas and New Year. I always like to wish those of you that read the blog, holiday greetings and blessings for a new year. Blogging is much different now …
With the boat put away for the winter, the time has come here in Calgary to switch to shore fishing. Winter has arrived indeed, but we are blessed to get those chinooks that break up …
With mild temperatures running into the second week of November, and snow finally blanketing the ground today, I think its time to winterize the jet boat and close the 2024 boating season. Once again, it …
Fall fishing in swing and today we are joined by the best receiver in the CFL, Mr. Reggie Begelton and his teammate Mr. Tre Odoms-Dukes. As most of you know, Reggie is a seasoned angler …
Recently I have seen an increase in poaching on the Bow River while out fishing. Poaching is bad for our fisheries and can cause severe decline in fish populations rapidly. Not only is it against …
Have you ever felt the need to just pack up and go, get away from the concrete jungle and noises of sirens blaring into your room at night? Have you just packed up your camping gear on a whim, hooked up the boat to your truck and burned rubber heading straight to a mountain paradise? That’s exactly how I felt; precisely what I did this past weekend! I felt the need for some rest and relaxation coupled with perhaps a few Bull Trout the lake has to offer. To be honest, it was more about the rest and relaxation then it was about the fish, they would simply be a bonus.
I made the hour and a half drive from Calgary Friday afternoon after work arriving at the campground before the sun went down. I never had much time to get my gear unpacked and set up, but managed to do it without any hassle. First the tent, then the air bed and blankets, followed by the stove and cooking supplies for morning breakfast. I had wood with me and decided to light a fire before retiring to bed for the evening. I sat in my lawn chair and listened to the crackle of the fire pondering where and how I was going to catch my first fish the next morning. I let the worries of life fly away like the smoke rising from that crackling campfire. When I am here, I am alone and the troubles and stresses of life seem to naturally melt away. It’s as if the place has magic powers, removing all worry from my mind. Maybe it’s the fresh air, or perhaps it’s the sheer beauty that surrounds one in a 360 degree view. I let the fire die down after an hour and slipped into my sleeping bag to retire for the evening; by this time it was 11:30 and I was dog tired.
It’s been sometime since I wrote a blog post so I felt the need to sit down this evening and tap the keys for a few hours and let you all know how the fishing has been on the Bow River. I have been out quite often shore fishing, as well as several guided fishing trips on the Bow River. The brown trout fishing has been stellar to say the least. After the rainbows went up the Highwood River to spawn, it left the Bow River wide open for some killer trophy brown trout angling. Both I, and my clients have caught several jaw dropping browns, both from the boat, and on the banks of the river. I have been looking at some new lures and new colors to try this year for trout on the river. The lure that caught my eye is the Rapala Shadow Rap Shad, in the Halloween color. I gave this lure a good thorough work out, both from the banks and the boat, and it’s a trophy taker indeed! Early season brown trout fishing on the Bow River has been much better than seasons past. Shortly after the rainbows head up the Highwood River to spawn, it leaves the browns hungry and ready to feed up.
For the most part, I have been fishing the stretch of water from Policeman’s Flats to just below where the Highwood River converges with the Bow. The water has been stained up too much to fish any further below the Highwood! I acquired some new Rapala lures and was dying to give them a shot on the Bow. I am always looking for new ways to catch bigger and better fish each and every time I step in my boat. I asked my good friend Steve if he could join me on a trip to try the new tackle I was itching to cast. He agreed and we headed out of Policeman`s Flats to find some bruiser browns. When I acquire new lures that I have never fished, I am always curious as to how they look in the water, and what techniques will work best to catch the intended quarry. The day we fished, the water had a slight stain but was clear for the most part.
The Rapala Shadow Rap Shad has some very realistic looking colors and also boasts a rattle inside the lure, which will get the attention of some of the most sluggish of fish. We launched the hook down into the river in all the usual locations, and in the first forty five minutes of our journey downstream, we both came up empty handed. It was bizarre to say the least, and it was not for lack of trying that’s for sure. When this happens, it can usually mean a few things,
(1) The fish are tight lipped and not feeding that particular hour or day.
(2) You may be fishing the lure to quickly for the water temperature that hour or day
(3) The fish may be laying up in different types of water (ex) slower water.
We slowed up the presentation of the lures, and added a pause on the retrieve, and we got hits. I decided it was time to fish slower water, water that most anglers would scoff at or totally ignore outright. Remember friends, fish move into all kinds of different locations of a river. The fish are not always in the same spots and in the same kinds of water! This will change week to week and day to day. That’s why I absolutely love fishing a big river like the Bow, its challenging every single time you fish.
After moving into different water, we found fish, BIG FISH. Steve reeled into some tank brownies and I caught some absolute beauties myself. The Halloween Shadow Rap Shad was slaying monster browns all day and I looked at Steve and said with a smile, “we have a winner here“. If you have not already tried the new Rapala Shadow Rap Shad, or the Rapala Shadow Rap, I would strongly suggest you pick some up HERE up and try them on your local river or lake!
Now to switch gears and start fishing the lakes of Alberta while the Bow River finishes it’s run off. Huge thanks to all my friends and clients who fished with me in April and May.
The water has cleared and it’s the beginning of a brand new fishing season. New licences for the 2017 season were issued today! I had to make a quick pit stop at Canadian Tire to acquire my new licence before heading south to launch my jet boat on a solo mission. I make the mad dash for the licence and then launched the boat at Policeman’s Flats at around 11:15 AM. Upon arriving in the parking lot at Police, I saw a few boats with trailers parked and several cars and trucks in the lot. Those vehicles are usually anglers who park there and walk either up or down the river to the prime holes located close to Policeman`s Flats parking lot. I rolled up slowly and angled the boat towards the awaiting water. I could see the nice blue coloration as I exited my truck, quickly getting my waders on and tying up my lures before backing the boat into the water. I parked the truck and locked the door, and as I was walking down towards the boat, a fly fisherman had stopped to chat with me. He rolled down his window and stated “the fishing was awesome today, they were hitting on bead headed nymphs“. I politely said “that’s rad, thanks for the heads up“ as I swiftly made my way to the awaiting boat.
I jumped into the boat and decided to head down river instead of up. I warmed the jet up for a few minutes before gunning it and blasting a short distance down river into a back channel that usually holds some monster trout. I had tied up a Live Target smelt and decided it was time to launch it out in to slow deep pocket of water in the back pool. On my first cast I got action. My rod tip dove over but this fish never hit like a trout. I caught a quick glimpse of the fish as it rolled and came to the surface; a monster Pike had taken my offering. The new regulations came into effect today, and as stated, all fish must be released including Pike. The fish was hooked deep and I think I may have accidently killed the fish trying to remove the hook for the back of his gills. I took as much care as possible to release the fish as per the new regulations, but I will say I never cried over killing the Pike. I stayed in the back pool for a few minutes and came up empty, so I opted to fire up the motor and keep trucking downstream. Not far down, say three hundred yards, there is another deep run I like to fish. In the summer it usually holds some big fish, but when the water is cold like it is now, it`s always hit and miss. I lifted the motor to try my luck. After one pass I came up empty and kept moving down river to more prime locations. Continue reading
I packed a day bag and headed north to Edmonton this weekend. Their annual boat show was on and I had never been, so I woke up early Saturday morning and took the two hour drive. I arrived shortly after noon to a packed parking lot of cars and truck. The line-up of vehicles when I arrived was long, nothing like I have ever seen for a boat show before. After twenty minutes of waiting, I finally paid my parking fee and entered the Expo Center to a full house of die-hard anglers and hunters alike!
I slowly made my way through the masses and over to the Fishin’ Hole booth, which was full of savvy shoppers looking for a deal on their next deal on a rod or reel. I could not believe the amount of people that were there compared to the Calgary show. There was possibly thirty thousand people there by 12:30 PM. I saw my friend Steve Meredith helping some customers so I waited until he was done chatting with them before I said my hellos. Turns out they were looking for a Vexilar product and I was able to help them with product info on the T-Pod. Was great to see Steve as I had not seen him since last summer when we were out fishing in the jet boat. We chatted briefly as there were many customers to help.
I made my way out of the Fishin’ Hole booth and wandered the show. There were many friends I wanted to stop and see. I wanted to visit the people who follow me on Instagram, or are friends with me on Facebook. I like to put faces to names. I headed out to find my friends at Anglers Atlas. I was honored to make their magazine’s cover shot last year and wanted to thank them in person for choosing my image. I wandered at least thirty minutes before noticing their booth was straight across from the booth at the Fishin’ Hole. I spoke with Alison and thanked her and her staff for selecting my image to make the cover shot. It was a great chat with many laughs shared. I moved on and as I headed deeper into the fishing booths, I picked up on the scent of mini doughnuts. It took me about ten minutes to finally find the booth. I can’t make a fishing show without getting some mini doughnuts.
I walked most of the show and ran into some friends and clients alike. Was really great to see Wally and Robert at the show! Thank you for going out of your way on a Saturday afternoon to come for a visit. As we walked by the Shimano booth I saw Sean Conrad representing in the booth. I made a point to stop and chat with him. Sean and his brother Adam are guides on Lake Diefenbaker and hold many line class world records for both trout and Burbot. They are known as “The Fishing Geeks”. It was great to talk brown trout fishing with Sean at the show! My feet started to get sore and by that point, I had seen all of the show I wanted to see.
If you have never been to the yearly boat show in Edmonton, I highly recommend you go. There were some great deals to be had, many great fishing lodges attending, and a first class experience all the way from the entrance to the exit. I will be back next year for sure. Now, let’s get outside and get back to some open water Bow River trout fishing shall we?
