Bow River Blog – Page 47 – Is Your Fishing Resource For Spin Fishing The Bow River

Sep 11

Trout Fishing With Kids On The Lower Bow River

By Mike Robertson in Ask Mike- Tips & Advice

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/DFwdfhZsqvg" width="425" height="344" allowfullscreen="true" fvars="fs=1" /]

Bow River Fishing With Kids of All Ages

You sure can tell that fall has arrived here in Alberta. Not so much by the daily temperatures of 26 degrees Celsius, but by the signs the trees now show. The bright greens of summer have now started to reveal signs of yellow. Along the bank of the Bow River, I stood and watched the leaves falling from the Cotton Wood’s that are abundant south of the city of Calgary. Every year I am always amazed at how fast this transition takes place. As we walked under the overhanging branches of the now yellow leaved cotton woods, a snowy owl took flight and swooped away above us. He was too fast for me to capture on film. I believe he makes his home across the river near the Cotton Wood Golf Course.

After watching him fly off, we focused on the task at hand. We are not bird watchers, we are fisherman! I decided before our fishing trip that I would bring my video camera along and shoot some video tutorials. Nathan is thirteen and I asked permission to video tape our conversation. My purpose is to help other young anglers learn from or discussions we had along the banks of the Bow River. If any of you have questions you would like to ask, feel free to post a comment and I will answer your questions here on this Blog post.

I would like to thank my good friend Brad for fishing with me yesterday. I would also like to thank Nathan for a great day on the river and his permission to pass on what he learned to other young aspiring anglers. Please watch the video and share it with all your fishing friends.

Sep 01

Pinpoint Cast’s Will Land You More Fish!

By Mike Robertson in Fishing Tips And Tactics

Pinpoint casts put fish in the boat!

Have you ever went fishing on your local trout stream and caught nothing? How about fishing your local trout river for two or three hours and only catching one or two fish. From shoreline, pinpoint casts are not overly vital but float fishing a river, it is paramount. One thing I focus on is casting accuracy; so much so that I used to practice in my back yard throwing a lure with no hook at a hula hoop. The more I practiced landing that spoon inside the ring, the better my casting accuracy was on the river.

In a craft with a motor, casting accuracy is a must for more trout to the boat. In a drift boat where you only get one pass at a prime location in the river, whether it be a rock or an over hanging dead tree submerged in the water, you need to be on the money with that cast. If you miss your spot behind that rock then that trout lurking there is not hooked and landed.

I was out on an overnight camping trip on the Bow River this past weekend. We ate dinner Friday night and fired the boat up for a late night fish. We motored upriver to prime Brown Trout territory; shut the motor off and drifted quietly near the south bank of the Bow River. I spotted a large boulder sticking out of the water that left a nice seam behind it. “Right there Todd said”. “Oh I know buddy, I see it too”. I launched the Rapala towards that seam and my lure fell short of my mark by about two feet. Needless to say I never hooked that fish I predicted would be behind that rock.

I asked Todd to drive me back up to that spot once more, I had a gut feeling there was a monster lurking in that area. I was disappointed that I never made a pinpoint cast behind that rock. We lit up the motor and burned back upstream for one more kick at that location. “Pull a little closer to the bank so I don’t miss it again” I stated to Todd. “Go for it; yard him out of there because if you don’t, I will”. I clicked the bail back and stood ready to fire, and then I let loose. The lure sailed passed the rock just over the seam it created. A perfect cast it was! As soon as the lure smacked the surface I clicked the bail over and gave it two revolutions. A trout slammed the Rapala and make a run for it upriver. I turned him and began to quickly reel in the line he peeled out. This was no minnow, this was a BIG fish. As I was fighting this monster he breached the surface and spit the lure out like a baseball player throws a fastball. That trout left me thinking all night by the campfire. The one that got away! At least I got to see him was my only solace.

It does not mater to me if I landed the fish or not, it would have been nice but oh well. What really matters is the pinpoint cast I made to hook him. If you are fishing from a boat, make sure you key in on accuracy. Believe me, if you drop that lure on the dime, you will get into more and bigger fish!

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Aug 18

A City Float Trip From Graves Landing To Policeman’s Flats

By Mike Robertson in Client Thank You Posts

Bottom Bouncing Panther Martins On The Bow River.

It was planned for two weeks; Al and his eleven year old son were booked and ready to fish. Al called me a few days before the trip to ask if there was anything he needed to bring fishing. “Just bring a camera and a smile” I said. When we met up both Al and his son were smiling, fishing the Bow River will do that to even a seasoned angler! I was set to float the lower section of the river from Policeman’s Flats to McKinnon Flats. Al asked if we could do the city float, which is Graves Landing to Policeman’s Flats. Al wanted to learn the shoreline holes within the city. Fine by me I replied, I made a quick phone call to the shuttle company who drives my car to the take out point from the put in and we were good to go.

We launched the boat at eight thirty in the morning. I tied up a Rapala on Al’s rod and I had a Panther Martin going for Blake. I also had my rod ready with a Rapala Countdown. I like to do some casting demos for my clients so they get to see what I do and duplicate the cast and retrieve method. Most people learn from watching as opposed to just listening to instructions. I fired my lure into and drop off in the river where trout love to hang out. As I was explaining the stop and go method I love to use on the Bow River, a 21 inch Brown Trout hammered the crankbait. I think I was in the middle of saying “and that’s how you do it”. Al says to me, “Is that how you do it Mike”. That’s how you do it buddy!

The weather got very hot quickly which makes the fish stick to the bottom or go into faster moving water. The river also is weedy now with the late bloom going on. I decided to switch Al’s lure to a minnow spinner. This hook will fish shallow or you can slow the retrieve up and make it swim deeper. No action for the first hour or so. As a guide, I hope all my clients get into lots of fish all of the time. Reality is, that sometimes does not happen. Al finally hooked a rainbow after the second hour near the Riverbend section of river. He managed to get the fish to the boat and then it popped off on him. That fish counts Al. I saw it and he was at the boat, that’s one in my books. Blake was next, a small little brown liked the Panther Martin and chowed down. Not really what I had hoped for his first fish but there was still plenty of time left in the trip. Then the river got quiet again. I knew the fish were not really chasing the crankbait so I switched Blake to a yellow Panther Martin #9.

The color change made all the difference. From the silver to the yellow and then it was three trout in a row for Blake. Another fish was hooked and landed shortly after his three fish. Al and Blake never caught a lot of fish but we sure did catch a suntan. Blake is pictured above with his third fish caught on the day. Blake was casting like a pro by the time we finished the float trip. I am very sure Blake will one day be a master of the Bow River trout species. That I have no doubt about. Thanks for the trip gentlemen, I had a blast!

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Aug 07

Crankbait Fishing The Lower Bow River

By Mike Robertson in Lower Bow River

Old Friends And Bow River Trout Fishing Memories.

It’s been sometime now since I have seen my old friend Jamie. Jamie and I went to high school together. I bumped into him once in a local Calgary Dairy Queen along time ago but lost contact since. Then we reconnected on good old Facebook. Its funny how many friends from school are on Facebook! Jamie meant to fish with me last year but work put the kibosh on those plans. This year Jamie made a point of taking a day off of work to go and play on the Lower Bow River.

As I sat watching TV on Friday night, a nasty storm blew in and dumped a pile of rain. I was hoping that the rain fall would not stain the river too badly. We arrived at Policeman’s Flats to dirty water conditions. So straight away my brain started thinking about the best lure for the water conditions. My choice was bright in coloration, a brook trout pattern. We tied up and set sail. The fishing was slow as the water was mucky. I rowed us close to the banks as we chucked Rapala’s into the undercut. Still no fish we hooked or landed. As we made a corner in the river I spotted a nice cove which I figured held fish. Jamie’s rod was loaded and ready to cast. I asked him to hold up and suggested he plant that Rapala into the cove I was eyeballing.

Jamie fired his Rapala perfectly into the slack water that was meeting a slow riffle along the bank. Three revolutions and fish on! It looked like a monster to me but I could not see the fish. I asked Jamie if it was big and the answer is seen in the picture above. He took his time and guided the fish into the awaiting net I held out. “Yeah baby” I hollered out loud. “That’s what we are here for buddy.” Jamie stated that was possibly the largest fish he had ever caught. Many fish were brought to the boat today. It was a good day despite the water conditions.

We fished the countdowns deep to catch the fish near the bottom of the river. The stop and go retrieve was working well today. Sometimes the fish want the lure presented a certain way or else they won’t touch it. Jamie keyed in on how the fish wanted the bait presented and as a result, caught eight nice fish. As the saying goes, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

The Late February Thaw

Merry Christmas And Happy New Year 2025

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That’s a Wrap on the 2024 Bow River Season

Bagels, Browns And The Bow River

Trout Fishing With Kids On The Lower Bow River

Pinpoint Cast’s Will Land You More Fish!

A City Float Trip From Graves Landing To Policeman’s Flats

Crankbait Fishing The Lower Bow River

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