In Search of Grandpa
Grandpa trout that is! I have been impatiently waiting to get my but to the river and fire out a lure into the rising waters of the Bow River. The water is swelling and run off has started now on the Bow River. I have been watching the river rise the last two weeks and I figured I would head south for some Brown Trout. The Rainbow Trout have made the way into the Highwood River and it’s tributaries to spawn leaving the Bow River prime for some rod pumping Brown Trout action. I fuelled up on Tim Horton’s coffee and burned down to the river.
What a perfect morning to fish, there was cloud cover but the weather was warm with no wind. The spot on the river where I fished is very hard to access by car and it took me about twenty minutes to walk to the river. I was hoping to not see another fisherman but with the sport gaining popularity, that’s a rare thing to not see anyone else. I arrived huffing and puffing a little and sat down to tie my first offering. A Countdown Rapala was tied on and I was fishing in no time flat. A boat was anchored across the river from me where a couple of fly fisherman were casting into the bank. I was casting into the end of a fast chute where the water gradually slowed down. After the first few casts were made and no fish hooked, I walked a little further down river to some calm deep water. The second cast in this calm water my first fish was hooked up, a scrappy Rainbow about fourteen inches in length. I landed him and let him go back into the water. I was happy to hook up a rainbow but I was looking for those massive browns I felt were in this stretch of river.
I needed to keep moving into slower water so I fished and moved, fished and moved until I started hooking some weeds from the bottom. I then stopped there and set up shop, I knew there would be trout sitting on either side of these weeds. First I cast way beyond where the weed bed was, hoping to hook a monster way out there. On the third try I had what I was there for, a big fat Brown Trout. I reeled her in and left her in the water while I popped the hook from her yapper. She bolted out back into the water and I reloaded for another cast. I put the lure into the same area of the river to see if there were more fish where she came from. I was quite surprised when I hooked another fish from the same area. I then made some casts on the opposite side of the weeds and was rewarded with another decent Brown Trout. I left this spot and continued to move down river hoping to catch a twenty eight incher. But there were no big Browns to be found.
I was happy with how the day went, after all ten fish over sixteen inches is nothing to scoff at. My only fish less than sixteen inches was a mini Brown Trout. This fish ate a one inch Buzz Bomb and was the length of my hand. It was a two year old fry that was one hungry little trout. I guess it goes to show you that those little trout’s will eat the big baits. I took a picture of this wee one and let him go. I then thought to myself, “Now I need to catch your grandpa”. I am looking forward to getting out and floating next week. I will bring the video camera along and shoot some movie for everyone to enjoy. Until then I will be thinking about those Grandpa Brown’s.
