Rainbow Trout Fishing the Bow River

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Bow’s Are Not Just For Boys

Many of us fishermen are not only fishing more, we are taking our family members along with us to let them experience the fun of fishing. After I was introduced to the sport I wanted to bring all my friends along with me for a fun day or weekend on the water. More and more I see on the internet and firsthand, men bringing their wives and or girlfriends along with them when they fish. After all fishing is not just for men, it’s for women and children as well. One example of fishing with your girlfriend is my good friend Dean, he and his sweetheart are often on the river with a picnic basket and their rods. What a great way to spend a few hours and enjoy each others company while having some fun.

Last week Dean had called me to tell me fishing stories of the day before. He stated that he and his girlfriend Angie were out on the river fishing. He told me Angie was on fire, hooking one trout after another. I chuckled and congratulated her on her great day landing the big rainbows from the Bow River. I know she gets excited when she hooks up and I bet she was full of adrenaline after her first fish. Dean was kind enough to send me a few pictures of her fish on the day. I asked dean what they were using for lures, Rapalas, Panther Martins were the choice of the day. I am so glad to see more people introducing their loved one’s to the sport of trout fishing.

There are so many great websites on the internet that are run by women who love to fish and share their passion for the sport. Some of them fish by themselves with no men around. Some write articles and share their journeys with others to enjoy. Here are a few of my personal favourite fishing sites run by women who love the sport. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. The first site is http://www.fisherbabe.com/ and the second site is http://huntslikeagirl.blogspot.com/

Spring Fishing The Bow River

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/EMA_0IPE9XM" width="425" height="344" allowfullscreen="true" fvars="fs=1" /]Gearing Up For the Spring Season

It’s that time again folks, a time where anticipation runs high and hooks are plentiful. Over the winter I have been socking away lots of fishing tackle gearing up for the 2009 fishing season. My tackle box, which is actually a back pack, is overflowing and bursting at every seam. Let’s hope the fish are hungry and looking to eat my new gear. The season the Bow River run off is late, usually by the middle of May the water is stained and sometimes un-fishable. It looks like we will see run off start in the first weeks of June. While the water is dirty and high in the Bow River system I switch my fishing to lakes loaded with Walleye and big Pike. I am going to try and fish places where I have never fished before such as Keho Lake, Badger Lake, and Newell Lake to name a few.

I was however able to fish the Bow River today with great success. I retrieved the Rapala Clackin Rap from my back pack after an hour of fishing with a Countdown. The Clackin Rap worked good for me fishing for Pike so I figured I would see if it would catch trout. Well it catches trout alright, big trout. My first fish hooked today was a monster Rainbow which came to the surface after I battled with it for several minutes. I never landed this fish but I was able to get a reel good look at it before it spit the Clackin Rap and headed back for cover. I estimate this fish at twenty five inches or more. This is a classic tale of the one that got away. Luck would not be on my side today as I hooked two more decent fish, well they felt decent anyway and they both escaped before coming to shore.

I was bound and determined to not let the next trout get away. I walked up and down, up and down the bank over and over again launching that lure half way across the river. You can really fire these lures out there, they are quite heavy. I was working the lure up and down, letting it hit the bottom every so often. Finally I felt a good strike, and then this trout blasted the perch pattern pulling and pulling to break free. I kept strong tension on this fish; there was no way I was letting it get away. I reeled in steadily and she fought me all the way in. I landed her and reached for my camera, I went to turn the power on and my luck today was not good, there was no juice left in the battery therefore no picture.

This was the end of my fishing day; I did try a few more casts with the Clackin Rap on my way back up river but no takers. I put the lure back in its rightful location for another day. I know now that these lures work excellent for trout on the Bow River. I am glad that I acted on a hunch and lowered the boom on some fat rainbow trout. I guess it pays to go with your gut. My camera is powered up and ready for tomorrow’s float trip down the river. Stay tuned for our next Bow River fishing trip, its going to be a good one. Get to your local tackle shop and get geared up!

Gone Fishing- Crawling Valley Reservoir

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Gearing Up For the Spring Season

It’s that time again folks, a time where anticipation runs high and hooks are plentiful. Over the winter I have been socking away lots of fishing tackle gearing up for the 2009 fishing season. My tackle box, which is actually a back pack, is overflowing and bursting at every seam. Let’s hope the fish are hungry and looking to eat my new gear. The season the Bow River run off is late, usually by the middle of May the water is stained and sometimes un-fishable. It looks like we will see run off start in the first weeks of June. While the water is dirty and high in the Bow River system I switch my fishing to lakes loaded with Walleye and big Pike.

I was out yesterday to one my old favourite places to fish for Walleye, Crawling Valley Reservoir. It’s only an hour away and I can usually manage to catch plenty of fish. I arrived and there were a few people fishing. I asked how their day was going and one guy stated it was slow, six hours and no fish landed. He told me that on the other side of the reservoir they had hooked and landed six fish. They were using minnows for bait which is what I bring with me when I fish there. I decided that I needed to use a lure and not go with live bait as they were not catching any fish with this method.

I rummaged through my ongoing supply of tackle and picked out something new just out this year, and new to me as I have not had a chance to fish it yet. It’s called the Clackin Rap made by Rapala. I purchased this lure in to different colors, the SB or Silver Blue and the YP or Yellow Perch. I tied up the blue and heaved it out into the reservoir. I have watched the videos on Rapalas website as to how to fish this lure. My technique was to let the lure hit the bottom, peel the lure of the bottom and let it drop again then retrieve at a medium speed. It worked on just my fifth cast, a two foot pike was hooked up and coming in to shore. I removed the hooks and released him. Several more casts later and again another Pike was onboard the Clackin Rap. “Ok this lure is good” I said out loud to the other two guys that were there before I. Then it all went quiet and no fish were biting.

Thinking back to the past years I have fished here I could not help but wonder why the fishing was so slow. I remember dropping my minnows down to the bottom and as they were sinking I would have a fish biting them. Sometimes I would hook two fish on one cast, one fish on the bottom minnow and one fish on the top minnow. It was not uncommon to have to send someone into Bassano to fetch more minnows after going through two tubs in two hours. They were Walleye of all sizes, and great sized Pike to keep you busy when the Walleye stopped feeding for an hour. This was once an awesome fishery but poaching and major fishing pressure has reduced this body of water to what I would now consider mediocre at best. I know you will write and comment about this statement but this is just my perspective. If you own a boat you will say that you catch fish all day long, everyday. I fish here from shore and don’t use a boat so I am limited in where I can fish.

The good news is I can always go somewhere else where I have never fished before and try a new spot. There are many great fishing destinations right close to the city of Calgary for me to enjoy. Next time I fish for Walleye it will be in a new location, maybe I should go to Lake Newell next trip? It’s going to be a good spring season; I can feel it in my bones!

Bow River Fishing Memories

dsc00037Fishing Memories of Days Gone By

I was in the south end of the city today for a visit to my parent’s house, turkey dinner and all the fixings always entices me. I returned to one of my favourite spots on the Bow River to try my luck and work up an appetite. This particular hole has rewarded me with many monster trout in the past. I remember walking in and tying up a Buzz Bomb or a Panther Martin and hammering trout after trout after trout. It was that good! If the lures were not working I would grab the flies from the tackle box and tie them to a six inch piece of fishing line. I would tie up two flies, usually a bow river bugger and a royal coachman onto my spinning gear. I would use a bell weigh attached to the bottom of the set up and fire that out into the river, bouncing the rig along the bottom and picking it off carefully as to not snag up. That would catch me fish for sure, sometimes very big fish.

I returned today with high hopes and a back pack full of gear. I sat on the bank and watched the water flow by as I tied a hook onto the end of my dull green fishing line. The river had me thinking of all the fish I hooked and landed from that hole. Big browns, fat rainbows, and even some huge rocky mountain whitefish were landed with ease and grace at this location. The area was perfect for trout, a nice gravely bottom with good cover and deep to boot. You knew fish were there and I knew how to catch them. I finally tied up and cast far outwards where the hole began to sink, should be fish in there I thought. Many casts’ later and no fish. Time to switch hooks to spinner bait. The rooster tail went on and outward but still nothing. I sat back and watched the river wondering where the fish were. I never even saw one trout’s snout, or even a dorsal fin for that matter.

I keep it going after the short break and still no luck. I was puzzled and a bit confused at the lack of action. After all this was my hole, I knew it like the back of my hand. After walking up and down the river several times I decided it was time to go get that turkey dinner in me. Back in “the good ol’ days” I would have walked out of my hole with at least four or five fish hooked and landed but not today. The river has changed in this hole, the once prime spawning grounds of the brown trout has vanished into thin air. Actually it was blown out by the nasty flood of 2005. Gone are those days of massive browns from this hole. It’s sad really but that is how nature works. There is little cover left and quite shallow.

The memories will still be with me as long as I live. I will move on and find another fishing hole to call my own. I know other fishermen and women can relate to this article. If you have a favourite fishing hole you would like to share with us than feel free to write a comment and share your story here. I know I would personally like to hear it! Until we meet again on the river, may all your fish be LARGE.