Fishing the Bow River for Monster Trout

A couple of count down Rapala’s, a Brown Trout and a Brook Trout. A December day and twelve degree weather, one Berkley Precision Tech fishing rod, Berkley XT eight pound fishing line, no one on the Bow River but me, and we have a recipe for success. I looked at the weather forecast and we had a green light. I cleared a block of time for trout fishing the Bow River and off into the sunny blue sky I went. My stomach was growling and my heart was beating fast as I arrived at my parking spot. I wolfed down some Tim Horton’s chili and scrambled to string up my fishing rod, no time to waste I have trout to catch. The walk down to the rivers edge is usually about eight minutes but I did it in five. I had the Brown Trout Rapala already hooked onto the line, then I laid my back pack down on the long brown grass. My Tim Horton’s coffee was put right next to the back pack. I unhooked the lure and the first cast was launched far into the river.

As the adrenalin surged through my body I cranked the reel hoping for my first trout of the day. Nothing hit the Rapala for the first three casts. As the rush of the first few casts subsided, I settled down and slowed the retrieve for the fish to catch up. You know how it is when you first get to the river after a long break from fishing! After I calmed I hooked a fifteen inch Rainbow Trout with a slow retrieve combined with a slight twitch of the lure. I smiled and released the scrappy little one back into the water. I walked a little bit down river and another Rainbow smashed the Rapala. Back and forth he went until I reeled him into the shoreline; he was the same size as the first and just as pretty as he was powerful. Off to a good start after only ten minutes of fishing.

I walked my way down stream and stopped at a slow section where the rapids were ending and the water became calm and smooth. I fired the Rapala far into the middle of the river and ripped the Rapala as it dove down into the water, I rip the lure by reeling the line in and quickly picking up the rod tip high into the air from waist height to well over my head. After lifting the rod well into the air I pick up the slack line and make the lure move again. As I let the lure sit in the water with no movement my next trout clobbers my hook and proceeds to fly up out of the water, she is small and of the Brown Trout species. I let her go and think to myself “I need your grandma or grandpa next”. I walk a little further down and cast again, this time my line gets caught in the line holder attached to the reel and SNAP, the lure goes flying off.

I had to walk back up river where I started fishing to tie another hook up. What to use this time I thought while walking back to my back pack. I wanted another Count Down but which color should I pick. Digging down into the lower section of the many lures, I find a box with all CD-9 Rapala’s in it. The box is a little worse for ware but the lures inside a practically brand new. I see one I have never really tried before. A Brook Trout color pattern which has a bright red bottom to it. The reason I picked this lure was the red/orange bottom to the lure. When you look at a Brown Trout as it is in spawning mode, the bottom of the fish looks red/orange. I wanted to imitate a brown trout in spawning mode and thought the color scheme was perfect as I rummaged through my tackle. Boy did I ever pick a winner. I walked back down to where I snapped my first lure off and whipped my new selection as far as I could outward. The same speed and technique was used again with the same result, fish on. I came to a tree that was chewed by beavers and had dropped into the river. This location usually holds big fish so I crept up to the tree and stood right beside it touching it with my left hip. Casted out and twitched the lure a few times before being gobbled up by a twenty five inch brown. I never knew it was a brown until it arrived at the bank side; this fish was acting very much like a rainbow. A few more casts beside the tree and another monster brown was hooked up, he was so strong I backed off the drag to let him go for a reel screaming run into the center of the Bow. WOW what a fish, he made my day as that is what I was looking for.

I could go on and on as I hook and landed twenty two trout from one o’clock to three thirty. Four fish escaped from the barbless hooks of the Brook Trout Rapala Countdown. Do yourself a favor when the weather warms up like it did today, grab your fishing rod and some of your favorite lures and drive down to the Bow River. Stay a few hours and clean up on those monster trout that are sitting the waiting for a meal. Take your time working the whole section you are fishing, twitching the lure slowly letting it pause every so often. Remember the weather is warm but the water is getting very cold so slow is the speed until the spring arrives. Take a few pictures and pass them along to me so I can post them on the Blog. Enjoy the awesome trout fishing on the river in the winter months. December through until spring is the best time to fish the Bow River as the pressure is low and the fish are huge.