Rainbow Trout’s Galore

In the month of July the fishing gets really good on the rivers and streams here in Alberta. The water in the Bow River is still really high which provides great fishing for browns and rainbows alike. This year the fishing will be good until December I predict. I have had the opportunity to guide many folks this season. It has been my busiest season since I first started guiding several years back. I am grateful I have turned my passion into a part time business. I am also grateful to meet new and exciting people year after year; I am a people person and am blessed with the privilege of helping people learn the secrets of the Bow River. I get excited every time I see a request for a fishing trip in my inbox. I guide more for the love of the sport than the money it generates. The money is just a bonus, the real reason I guide is to help people learn how to have success fishing freshwater rivers. I teach my systems to others so that they too can find success on any river they choose to fish. By no means do I know everything there is to know about trout fishing, but I strive to learn all the time.

Tawfik asked me a few questions related to trout fishing recently via my website. I did my best to help him out and get him some lures for him to have success. I pointed him to the Rapala Countdown lure. In my past adventures, this lure will catch fish in most all freshwater trout rivers and lakes. He bought a few color patterns and set off to try his new goodies on a local Alberta lake. The results, eight fish were hooked and landed using the countdown system. He came back from the lake and sent me a follow up message. Here is what he had to say, “Thanks Mike, your advice about the Countdowns is amazing, the day was slow at first but late afternoon I got 8 rainbows released 4 smaller ones. The brown trout color is the one that worked great! It even worked better than few guys around using bait”. Shortly after our initial communication Tawfik booked a guided float trip to float the Bow River.

We arrived at the river to find the water silted and high from the weeks rain fall. This makes the fishing a little more challenging. But when you have fished in these conditions before, one knows how to adapt to be successful. I tied up the lures and off we went. I was not long into the trip and Sajee, Tawfik’s friend was into a rainbow. The fish piled out of the water spitting the hook. Hopefully it’s not going to be one of those days I thought to myself. The next fish came on a corner in deeper slow water. I rowed the boat to the far bank to get this fish and the prize was worth the heavy rowing.

Tawfik had his first fish in the net before the clock struck nine. I like places along the river that have high grassy banks. Food like grasshoppers will fall off the weeds into the river. The trout will sit close to the bank and take these and other such bugs with ease. That’s where I instructed them to cast, the closer to the shoreline the better. When the trout see a nice juicy minnow come through their lie they just cannot pass it up. Many rainbows were taken along the banks today, some of good size like you see Tawfik holding in the picture above. A monster brown was hooked and got away. He must have been camera shy as I would have surely taken his picture. Sajee stated to me at the end of our trip, “I can’t stop thinking about that big fish that got away”. I know what you mean Sajee, that’s what keeps us all coming back for more!

Summer Fishing Fun!

It was cool in the morning as the sun peeked through the thick mist rising off the river. My clients David, Jeff and I pulled into Policeman’s Flats at around six thirty in the morning. Surprisingly there were several vehicles there and just starting to launch out when we pulled in. As we waited to launch we tied our hooks and prepared for the feeding frenzy. Our turn came to launch and we were off into the mist that had not burned off the river. Another picture perfect moment to begin the day! The shutter closed as I rowed the boat to the opposite bank we launched from. A few moments and the Rapala’s hit the water. The top portion of the float was a little on the slow side, therefore only a few bites and no fish landed. Shortly after we put in, I pulled the boat off the river to do some shore fishing in a nice riffle that came off the point of the north bank. Since David does not own a boat, I wanted him to learn how to fish off the banks. He is a local Calgarian and wanted to learn the secrets of the Bow River.

We were casting the Rapala Countdown upriver and reeling quickly to keep the lure down on the river bed. The water was stained from the rain we received the previous day, thus I wanted the lure to make bottom contact and then be lifted up and reeled back into the bank. I explained to David and Jeff that the trout will usually hit after the turn in the cast. As the lure passes directly in front of you and then makes the turn, that’s when you will hook up. On David’s fifth cast a rainbow did just what I was explaining. This is the fish you see in the picture above, not the biggest fish on the day but the first one to be hooked and released. Then it was Jeff’s turn, he was casting a Rooster Tail in white color and landed a very decent rainbow in the same location David caught his. We then moved down river as you do not want to fish in one spot too long. It’s better to pick the river apart then stand in one spot for to long. I looked over my left shoulder and David was scrapping another sweet male rainbow. Three nice fish and we were back in the boat casting to the next fish.

A short drift around the corner and it was time to pull off the river again. This next hole we fished usually produces monsters. I wanted to see a monster on David or Jeff’s line. No monsters but a few good looking rainbows were landed. “The big fish are in the deep holes” I stated. “Lets try the spinner for this long shallow stretch and then we will use the crankbaits in the next deep hole”. Sure enough when we arrived in the next deep hole there was a big fish hooked. I asked Jeff to cast over a seam and reel the Rapala through. Rod tip down, lift the tip up to make the lure swim erratically. As soon as Jeff lifted the rod tip, a massive brown munched down on his lure. Awesome fish it was! Jeff was happy and it made my day as well. I helped David and Jeff read the river and by the time we were almost finished the trip, both David and Jeff were casting the Rapala exactly where I was looking. No further instruction was required on my part.

Before the end of the trip was near, I pulled the boat into a back bay just before MacKinnon Flats to let them catch “just one more”. I can’t tell ya how many times I have said that while fishing. David rifles his hook into the back beside some big boulders, reels in while pumping the rod and a 23 inch rainbow is locked in.

“Nice fish David, that’s the kind we are here for” as we exchanged a high five. We ended our trip on a great note, a 23 inch note! It was the perfect day for fishing. Nice weather combined with nice fish. I look forward to the next time we fish the Bow River together.