Hawgstoppah

nice shots.

Good start. Now find where that 3 feet shelf with weeds on it drops into about 5 to 6+ feet of water, lengthen your leader to 5ft / 6ft (first and second fly) and strike hard at ANYTHING that moves your indicator or stalls it from a natural drift. If you miss (at least when I do or how I do it) you'll end up in a backcast, follow through and place the flies at the top of the drift again. 99% of the time you'll strike at bottom, weeds, phantom things in your head "I swear the indicator twitched" etc... but 1% of the time it'll be a take and boom, fish on! Having said that, you will miss ONE HUNDRED percent of your fish if you aren't setting the hook constantly. Good luck! I used to teach so many folks this simple nymphing system on the river and lots of guys just in your position soon started seeing good success

And one more thought that came to mind, is that anyone targeting bulls on really small waters might want to rethink why they are there in the first place. Especially this time of year. Leave 'em alone for pete's sakes! Any small tribs are spawning grounds for them.

Loved the shots.

I have hooked into more bulls letting a big streamer dead drift along the bottom of the run that I have by wearing myself out trying to provoke an "attack" . Just sayin. My BT rod is a 10 footer. Works OK for high stick / dead drift but a switch would be better. Only thing I'd be worried about is getting TO the river. If you have to fight through thick bush / forest it might be best to leave her broken down till you are on stream? Good luck!

Now living near Waterton Park, working in Lethbridge for a large home builder in a purchasing role. Used to guide all over southern AB but decided to get out of it as I was not fond of the politics and BS that goes on behind the scenes. Now I just fish and have never enjoyed it more. Used to fish the Bow when we lived up in Calgary, almost on a daily basis. Sometimes I miss it, but there is quite the diversity of opportunities south as well. Having said that, when the Bow is at it's absolute finest those were some remarkable days. Still my favorite thing to do (and I have had the fortune of doing it every time I have visited the water this fall) is to find nice fish sipping tiny bugs in quiet water. There is something peaceful about watching a fish rise, and I find myself often watching them from a bluff while enjoying the scenery, rather than fishing sometimes. Course' it is fun as hell to hook 'em too, and I've had my good fortune with that, too!

Right now. In case you missed news of it or forgot about it, it's happening right now. Weather is clear enough in Southern AB where I am to have a full view, hope your weather is good too! Enjoy!

Lets look at the way a government works in this regard though folks. Lots of phone calls and complaints (even if nothing becomes of them) is the measuring stick for actual need. Up that two hundred percent and then they have a statistic to work with. They don't care about touchy feely things like whether bull trout are dying or there are bait containers lying around... just a cold hard fact they need to see that number or statistic to verify an actual need for increased enforcement. We obviously are NOT reporting often enough. If we don't call.... some fellow in Edmonton looks at some numbers, says "well phone calls / complaints were only on par with last year's" and voila, no new officers, no thought towards increased efforts in the department at all. So get those calls in a hundred fold! Every time you see a violation, bait cans on a bait free river, actual poaching, (past or present) etc etc

If you can trailer the boat instead of having to put it in the back of a pickup or on a topper / rack, I really strongly suggest a driftboat. Get a used low profile (for lake wind) and it'll be the most comfortable thing you've ever fished from. Plus if you rig a double anchor system you can position the boat just exactly the way you want it for casting to weed beds, etc

yeah but I figured it would be too rude to point that out as well LOLOL Took me about 5 fish the other day at Bullshead to notice I missed a guide rigging up my rod. Ha, getting old now.

For spooky / tricky fish I also have noticed, you are not alone. I usually throw on a LeTort's Hopper or a similar pattern. I do love the big rubber leg bugs during stonefly season though, they can't be beat (both topwater and nymph versions of rubber leg stones are insane). Cheers.

That place. Well played, well played. Great vid, I enjoyed it a lot! Glad you could get out! I was chuckling a bit but was that first cast of the year the first ones in the video? That's what my first cast of each year looks like.

welcome aboard! lots of fine folks on this site to hit the river with and learn some tricks! welcome to your new addiction!

Too bad the rivers can't take away some pain today buuuuuuuuuuuttttttttt if you go fishing it WILL assuredly numb the pain (along with the fingers and joints!!)

I'd get fired from that job the first time I spotted a pod of risers!

this has been one of the most informative posts I have ever read anywhere on any topic. I also now realize why my 2 lonely Saskatoon plants are not fairing so well at year 5. Time to restart over again, there are lots of places to get them from around here

cant believe I missed these. Awesome shots!!

Love it. I've been up there before. Did the hike starting at 0 dark thirty and spent the day up there before heading out. Made for a long day trip but doable. It is simply breathtaking up there, never mind even catching fish, the lakes and area is pure bliss in and of itself. I was lucky enough that it was a somewhat calmer day and the fish were very active.

cool experiences both of ya!

What a bunch of bull this post is!

all great. loved them

Even the fish can't resist looking at a good booby.

All good except for a picture of SATAN himself, in the 4th pic (shudder) Jeebus cripes that's a big bee!

haha sweet! been the observer of a few events like that back when I guided too, always a sweet experience!

nice pics!