Bow River Blog – Page 71 – Is Your Fishing Resource For Spin Fishing The Bow River

Jul 07

Float Fishing The Lower Bow River

By Mike Robertson in Lower Bow River

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Brown Trout on the Bow River

As the last day of my holidays is today, I decided to spend it out fishing the Bow River. The week has seemed to go by fast, but I did manage to float the river five times during my week off. My best friend Tom called me on Sunday and asked if he could bring his dad out fishing with us. I cheerfully said yes and we had a plan together. We were to rendezvous at MacKinnon Flats for a four hour trip out on the water. We all arrived at the take out point at eight A.M and packed all the gear into my car, drove up to Policeman’s Flats and we were in the water at nine o’clock on the dot.

The sky was coved with clouds but I seemed as though the weather was going to co-operate with us for the day. The water is clearing up nicely but is still stained somewhat. It is ideal for fishing when the water is a little dirty; the trout can see and hear your bait but cannot completely make it out therefore resulting in many more hook ups. Tom Senior was the first to hook into a trout, a small rainbow to start the day off. He played his fish out and released it back into the water. The father and son duo started the top end of the float off with a bang; several large Rainbows in rapid succession came aboard the boat. I started to wonder when those scrappy trout were going to dance on the end of my line. It was not long after that thought came to mind I too was stating, “Fish On” lads. His aerial assault was spectacular with many high jumps and screaming runs, that is the rush of sport fishing for me.

I checked my hook after this feisty fish was finished, the line was intact and the hooks were in the proper position. Another launch of my Panther Martin netted me yet another spectacular trout, trout after trout were hooked up and landed into the boat with the silver Panther. We were only an hour into the float and thirty to forty fish were aboard between the three of us. Drifting into a slow calm hole, we all made a cast into the choppy liquid and bang, bang, bang a triple header. We all had fat large fish hooked up; two Rainbows and I had a monster of some sort. It’s amazing we never got tangled up but we all have years of experience, I finally got a look at this hog and it was indeed a massive brown Trout. Run after run this fish took me wherever it wanted to go. Five minutes later I was able to net him and snap three pictures of this brute. Massive is a good word to use for this beast. I smiled and let him go to be caught another day.

It was fish after fish today; Tom Senior stated this was the best day fishing he has ever experienced. This coming from a man who has fished all over the world. That statement speaks volumes of our precious river we have flowing through our back yard. We were all exhausted from the sheer strength and numbers of fish we hauled in today. I count my blessings to be healthy and to be able to fish the Bow year after year. It was nice to give back to Tom, he took me fishing and camping when I was young and made me feel as if I was a part of his family. I am truly grateful for all he has done for me, both as a child and as an adult. I will never forget all the good times we had going up to the trailer in Rocky Mountain House, camping, fishing and just plain having fun. I hope he will never forget our trip today on the Bow River, I know it will always be with me forever. I love you papa and I hope we can do another trip very soon.

Jun 28

Trout Fishing the Lower Bow River

By Mike Robertson in Lower Bow River

A Few Browns, And Loads of Rainbow’s

Five o’clock comes early for me on the weekends, my body is not used to getting up that early anymore. When I was younger I could snap up out of bed, hit the shower and be off to the river as fast as you could say “Fish On”. It now takes two alarm clocks, one on the cell phone and one that makes irritating buzzing sounds, to get me up at four thirty A.M. Today I was meeting my good friend Dean for an outing on the Bow River. I arranged to meet Dean at his house and we were then to drop his truck at McKinnon Flats. After we drop the truck off we drive back into the south side of the city and launch the dingy out of Policeman’s Flats. The weather man predicted a high of twenty eight degrees Celsius for today; this explains why I like to fish early in the morning. It is cooler and the fishing is better at this time.

I fished last week floating the same stretch of river and the fishing was good. The water is cleaning up here weekly after our annual spring run off. This week I must say the fishing conditions have improved to very good. We started our float fishing trip concentrating on the east bank and five minutes into the trip Dean was into his first of many Rainbows. He chose the yellow Panther Martin sonic spinner and casted into the bank for his first fish. He hammered four fish in less than ten casts. After Dean hauled in his fourth fish my silver Panther Martin started to hook into some Rainbow’s, and I too was involved in some scrappy fish. I battled my third big rainbow and netted him into the boat. Barbless hooks make for an easy release and he was gently revived and released back into the murky water.

The rainbows are returning from their spring spawn and they are going back into the classic spots in the river. We casted into undercut banks with excellent success, tips or points of islands were also producing some bigger rainbows and the odd brown trout. Nothing was beating the slower deep sections of the river; this is where we cleaned up on the trout. Not only were there plenty of trout there was lots of other wildlife to enjoy as well. We saw many White Tailed Deer, pelicans, cranes and Canada Geese. Traveling the river this early in the morning has much less fishing pressure, so your odds of catching many fish are greater.

Dean and I lost count of how many fish we caught, but believe me it was over forty. I know you probably think this is far fetched but we were there and witnessed it happen. I warned Dean before we went out that this way of fishing can be very addicting and usually leads to more fishing at a later date. True to my statement Dean asks at the end of the trip if I was busy this coming week. I laughed and offered to take him out this week as I have the whole week off of work. Anyone want to go fishing this week?

Jun 14

Fishing With Spinners Part 2

By Mike Robertson in Lure Fishing

The Seasons and Spinners

From season to season minor adjustments need to be made. But with the changing of the seasons, summer and fall can be great times to fish the spinner. Fall provides the right water temperature and the angling pressure can be low which helps your odds on high pressured rivers and streams.

When fishing in the summer the most important factor to consider is the water temperature. This may require you to start fishing earlier in the day or later on in the evening depending upon where you live. Places where it is cool enough to support trout over the summer may not be cool enough to keep them feeding on a consistent basis. A good idea is to measure the temperature of the water you intend to fish. Test the water to see if it is within the trout’s feeding range. If the water is too warm, your odds will greatly decrease. You might catch the odd fish but why waste the time and effort? If the temperature is too warm move on to another river or stream which has cooler temperatures more suited to your preferred species. Once you reach your intended river with cooler temperatures you will find few changes in the trout’s habits.

Here are the ideal water temperatures for various species of fish:
Rainbow & Steelhead like 56 degrees, Brookies and Browns prefer 59 degrees. Salmon, such as Coho’s and Chinooks like 54 degrees. Pickerel like to feed in 63 degree waters. Bass feed in much warmer water, Small Mouths like 66 degrees and Large Mouths like it at 71 degrees.

As you know, early morning and late evening provide the best times to fish spinners in the summer because the water temperatures are usually within the trout’s feeding range. Sometimes water levels can be low in the early summer which causes trout to be wary or spooky. Trout often will sit near the banks in a river and will hide more than usual under fallen trees, rocks and under cut banks. Since the water level is low, casting a spinner near their hiding spot will scare them and they will not feed. Casting far beyond their hiding spot and bringing the lure across this place will improve your odds of hooking up. Try a heavier spinner with lighter line at this time of year as you can cast further with that combination.

Trout can also see and hear better at this time so fish well away from where you think the fish are hiding out. I fish well upstream of where I think there will be fish as trout cannot see as well behind them. If you have to approach them from the sides or from above, keep a low profile. Stop well short of where you would normally stand and make a longer cast. If you don’t, you will scare a lot of your potential trout. Remember in the summer that trout will not slowly eat their prey; they tend to take as little time as possible to catch their food. Expect them to dart out quickly from their hiding place and then turn and swim back to their hiding spot immediately after hitting your spinner.

This may be the most exciting time for me to fish trout because of the sheer power and quickness the trout poses. Retrieve speeds vary so test which speed is working best for you on that particular day. Try letting the spinner bounce on the bottom a few times before retrieving it in. Keep trying different tricks and find the best one for you on that day’s outing. Make sure that the stretch of river has not been fished, if you see a fisherman fishing ahead of you find another location as chances are he has scared all the fish from that stretch of the river. Find an un-fished stretch of river and your success will greatly improve.

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May 25

Trout Fishing With Spinners

By Mike Robertson in Lure Fishing

Using the Spinners

I have written several articles on finding fish and articles on different types of lures. I would now like to share some information regarding the use of the spinner. My intention here is to make your experience on the water more productive. Not only will you improve your odds you will have more fun as well.

Every fisherman has the privilege of seeing different colors and sizes of spinners when he enters the sporting goods store and looks at the shelves. We would all agree the selection is impressive but how do you select a lure which will best suit the river or lake you intend to fish. I used to believe in the old superstition that was based on hearsay, what appealed to my eye or the last fisherman I talked to at the river. What I think happens to most anglers and has happened to me is we select lures “A” “B” and “C” from the shelf. We then go out and fish these lures we selected. We then successfully make a satisfying catch with these lures and then conclude that we have found the “perfect lure”. The fisherman then fishes his “chosen” lures catching a fish every so often. Once in awhile an outstanding catch is made and the fisherman believes he now has an exceptional lure once the fish are “on the bite”.

I now look at things a lot different now I know more. I believe the angler makes a catch when his “chosen” lure coincides with the conditions that are best suited to his “chosen” lure and the style he is fishing it. The result is a predictable one, sometimes he catches a decent fish and sometimes he gets skunked and every so often he catches a monster. This is a classic example of anglers who fish for Trout. I believe the reason that fishing spinners has never been taken seriously is that many fisherman do not take the scientific approach to fishing them, what I mean is matching the lure to the prevailing conditions just like the fly fisherman who carries with him a dozen different fly’s to match the hatch. I believe that anglers when fishing hardware have to consider size, degree of flash, color combination in relation to the water color, temperature, and light conditions. These considerations will produce good consistent catches of high quality fish.

The main objective here is to put spinner fishing within a specific framework where the choice of a particular lure is based upon tangible environmental factors. This will help you dictate what color, size and weight of spinner should be used. An example, a fly fisherman in May will not tie a big fly on the line as this is when the May Fly hatch is coming off here. He will tie a small fly that looks as close as possible to the May Fly, he will use the same colors and will keep the fly at the top of the water surface. Same thing with spinners, use a smaller spinner that is light and has the same colors in it and you will find success. This is the framework I speak of here. There is absolutely no reason why trout cannot be negotiated with spinners regularly in all conditions. A great deal of practice combined with some patience and an accurate thermometer will be your greatest asset. A note book to write down your experiences will also add to your future fun fishing the spinner.

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