Apr 21

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Bow River Rainbow trout fishing

It was a cool and brisk morning as we arrived at Policemans Flats on Saturday. The forecast called for plus 12 and mildly windy weather. In Calgary, we all know that can change in the blink of an eye. As we say here, “If you don’t like the weather, wait an hour”. The sun wanted to come out between thick scattered clouds but that was not to be for several hours later. We bundled up with several layers applied pre-launch. Lucky I brought extra clothes with me. You can take the extra layers off but you sure can’t put them on if you don’t bring them with you! The thermostat on the dashboard of my truck read 5 degrees celsius, but with the 25 kilometer an hour wind, it felt like minus 5. Nothing was stopping us today, barring a tornado or a hurricane!

We loaded up the boat and off we went into a narrow opening between a small entrance from the back pool to the main channel of the river. Lucky I brought my waders as the water is very shallow which required me to get out of the boat to drag it through the narrow opening. The Good thing is we made it out of Policemans Flats safely and without getting my feet wet. That would have made for a long cold day of misery and pain. I rowed us out from the bank we launched from and we were away for another six hour journey down the slow flowing chops of the Bow River. MacKinnon Flats has been closed for the past few months and finally opened Wednesday April the 15th, making the lower stretch of the Bow River completely accessible to anglers. Another good thing is we can now float to the Carseland Weir, which happens to be my favorite section of the Lower Bow River.

The bad part of our trip started early. I had some serious issues with the line getting all caught up under the spool of both my clients reels. Sometimes when it’s windy, the line can do some really weird things. It is important to have the right tools with you to deal with all types of issues that arise on the river. A cigarette lighter was the tool of the day for me. Instead of wasting valuable fishing time on the water, I was able to solve the line issues with simply burning the line with the lighter. This happened three times in less than an hour but the lighter saved me from wasted fishing time. Everyday is a new adventure out on the water and things do not always go well for even the most skilled anglers.

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Mar 31

Time to Float The Bow River Once Again

Bow River trout fishing March 10 2015

 

Winter, what winter?

It has been a long time since I witnessed a winter this mild after living in Calgary all my life. Usually it is still cold and fishing is entirely out of the question, float fishing is anyway. I would guess to say this has been our warmest winter on record, so warm in fact that I have already floated the Bow River. I can’t believe in the second week of March, the boat touched water. We had a phenomenal day on our float from Policeman’s Flats to MacKinnon with ten killer sized fish caught and released. It was a slow float as it took us approximately seven hours to complete the trip, with hardly a breeze blowing that sunny Tuesday morning. I was asked by a former client and friend Ben to row his Hyde Low Pro drift boat for him and his buddy Barkley. It was a big difference from my inflatable Saturn raft, but once you are a skilled rower it really makes no difference as far as I am concerned.

The top end of the trip started out with a bang, both Ben and Barkley had their first fish in under an hour, two sweet rainbow trout were hungry and willing. The fishing was sporadic at times but we did seem to have good bites between fish that were actually boated. Just being able to be on the river at this time of the year had me smiling from ear to ear. I went down to MacKinnon Flats a few days before the trip to see if we could actually get the boat out over what was a pretty steep ice ledge. There was a nice place to dock at MacKinnon and one decent place to drag the boat up and over the ice. I am sure glad we floated this section of river. I think it would have fished better than the city stretch of river due to the low pressure and lack of boats that could get down here.

March 10th 2015 at MacKinnon Flats

The trip was less about the fishing and more about getting happy and escaping the interior walls of our houses. For Barclay Ben and me, it was seven hours of pure trout bliss. We docked out at MacKinnon just as happy as when we arrived at Policeman’s Flats. The boat was a bit of a challenge to get on the trailer but with some rope and some brute force, we pulled it off with no issues.

I will be pulling my boat out of it’s winter hibernation and be ready to float the Bow by this coming Friday. For those of you, who would like a float trip prior to the Bow River run off, feel free to contact me and we can drift the day away.

Feb 04

2015 Calgary Boat and Sportsman’s Show

Calgary Boat And Sportsman's Show 2015

Once again this year I will be attending the Calgary boat show to represent and support my current sponsors Northland Tackle, Vexilar Electronics, Live Target Lures. I will be at the Fishin Hole booth Thursday (1-5), Friday (1-6) and Saturday from (10-3 PM). This year we have special guest Mariko Izumi signing autographs and talking fishing Friday and Saturday from 3-5PM. Mariko is the daughter of Pro angler Wayne Izumi, Bob Isumi’s brother.

Mariko has her own popular fishing show on the World Fishing Network called Hookin’ Up with Mariko Izumi. Some background information from her page on the WFN website. “Mariko Izumi is best known as the host of World Fishing Network’s flagship original production, Hookin’ Up with Mariko Izumi, and the reimagined follow-up series, Hookin’ Up with Nick & Mariko.Both series are popular fishing, travel and adventure shows that combine fishing and fun in some of the hottest locations on the planet. Mariko’s natural presence in front of the camera and her lifetime of experience on the water are contributing factors to her ongoing success.

The daughter of Wayne Izumi and niece of Bob Izumi, her experiences with the family fishing show, Bob Izumi’s Real Fishing, took her across North America and around the world from a young age, doing everything from kayak fishing in Louisiana to salmon fishing off the northwest coast of British Columbia. Mariko’s education in public relations and foreign languages has been instrumental in her growth as a television personality.

From her early beginnings with World Fishing Network in 2007, Mariko has presented a web series on current events of the fishing industry, hosted her own travel and adventure series, been used extensively as the face and voice of the network in promos and station IDs and built an extensive network of fans through the use of social media. She always looks forward to fresh adventures, meeting new characters and exciting times both in front of the camera and on the water. Join Mariko for all-new adventures in 2015 as Hookin’ Up with Mariko Izumi returns for its fifth season”.

I always wonder why the Boat show is so early in the year, there is still snow on the ground and the weather is usually always cold. It seems to me the show should be later in the spring, in say May. I feel this would draw a far higher crowd of people to the show! The last few years’ attendance has been down considerably with the early time for the show probably playing a factor. None the less, the show promises all the latest and greatest Rods, lures, sonar equipment and boats for your outdoor pleasure.

If you are looking to purchase new gear for the 2015 fishing season, please come down and see me. I will be happy to both educate you and help you make the best possible decision for all your tackle needs.

Hope to see you there,

~Mike

Feb 02

2015 Guided Fishing Trip Price Change

Bow River Blog price change

2015 Price Changes

After keeping my prices the same since I started my guiding business back in 2009, I would like to inform my regular clients that I will be raising the price of the trip this season to 500.00 from the 425.00 I was previously charging for a one day float trip. With the cost of tackle, gas and the shuttle service that went up the past few years, I had to adjust the cost of the trip accordingly.

My main goal is to still keep the cost of fishing with me affordable for all my new and existing clientele. To break it down in simple math, the cost per person has only gone up 30.00. 2015 promises to be a great fishing season after what was a severe flood on the Bow River in 2013. Last year the number of fish caught went up with some clients having 30 fish days!

We also saw larger fish being landed and released which is optimistic the fish population is on the rise. It will take approximately 5 years for the numbers to come back to what they were pre flood but I am confident they will return to pre flood levels in the next 2-5 years.

I still have a couple of prime fishing dates available for July, July 12 and the 19th and Aug 29th and 30th, so if you plan to float this coming season with me, I would reserve one of these dates as soon as possible.

I am looking forward to seeing you all out again this year.

Cheers,

~Mike