DonnieM

Yah I will throw in my two cents on the fly course as well. The Ghost Res to Cochrane section of the bow can be one tricky piece of water and you really need to know what to look for and where to fish. Spend the 150 bucks, learn your stuff and it will save you months if not years of head banging!

Smoked rocky mountain whitefish is by far one of the most delicious things you will ever eat, ever.

Oh god, I am addicted now! I just read your post about the fish eating a duck and came across this one......words cant express...

A friend of mine just sent me this and I felt like I needed to share. Didnt know bass were that aggressive... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBlx4kqhT3I

Im not to picky, pretty much anywhere with white sand and the chance of 90 pound roosters is good enough for me haha.

Hey, welcome to one of the most beautiful little towns(or what used to be a little town) in the world. I grew up in Cochrane and have been flyfishing those parts since I was about 7 years old so Ill throw yah some advice because I know access can seem really daunting on the cochrane-banff stretch, or at least the cochrane to ghost lake part. Of course you have highway 40 not to far out of Cochrane on the way to Ghost lake, and if you look on a map of highway 40(The Forest Trunk Road) you will see a million little creeks that are fantastic fun, as someone earlier mentioned Barry Mitchells Trout Highway book is a good start. But if you want to fish the Bow this is my suggestion....at the big 4 way intersection where highway 22 crossects with the road to ghost lake you will see a little dirt road turn off that runs along the right hand side of west valley and along the railroad tracks. Now if you drive down that little dirt road(best if you have a 4x4 and some good tires but my grandpa used to do it in his 1988 buick when he lent out his truck to my uncle, oh what we do for good fishing). So if you follow that road down you come to a bridge....this is as far as I can tell you, cant tell yah specific spots.....but if you walk over that railroad bridge it gives you access to the entire stretch between cochrane and ghost lake, just depends how far your willing to walk Hope that helps a bit! PS...make sure you listen for trains before you run across the bridge...when I was about 15 me and a buddy were in the middle when one came around the bend and lets see I made it by the hair of my nose from becoming a pancake. Good luck!

Oh I got another one that was pretty bad. For some stupid reason when I was about 8 years old a buddy and me found some old fireworks in my basement, nothing crazy just those single light rockets. We thought we would be smart and we put a plastic bag over one of them and set it off in the kitchen...it made huge sparkles and went racing around the linoleum burning a little U shape into our floor. I was *hit scared so when my parents got home I said I had been cooking fried egg sandwiches and spilt some of the grease onto the linoleum and thats how it burnt....they believed me and I wasnt allowed to cook until I was 16 haha. They know the truth now 20 years later....lesson in point....dont leave fireworks for kids to find them in the basement!

When I was about 12 years old and started fly tying I may or may not have gotten the five finger discount from Jays Fly Shop in Cochrane on some elk hair due to not having enough allowance and a hard need for some elk hair caddis's. This is something I have always felt absolutely terrible about and the only time in my life I have ever really stolen something. And of course it was made all the worse by the tragic history of that shop. Im going to cry in the corner now and watch So You Think You Can Dance, which as another poster already said, is a bit of a secret pleasure. Wow, feels much better to say all that!

What you need to do is throw a few thousand 12" Bull Trout into there. Problem solved!

Great question. Yah know, I have had the opportunity to live in some of the most beautiful places in Canada....Tofino, Revelstoke, Canmore, Cochrane, but you know as much as I love each of those places, when my wife and I move back to Canada in a few years from here in Sweden I would really love to settle down in Longview, on the Highwood preferably. I find that place absolutely magical. Then again Tofino wasnt bad either, that would definately be my second choice =)

I dont care what anyone says, I will take smoked rocky mountain whitefish as my favourite smoked fish anyday! Reminds me of being a young teenager waking up at 5 am to bike down to the bow with my best friend and fish for em with maggots on #14s with weights made out of cloth hangers and have my grandpa smoke em up for us in Cochrane, nothing better than that.

Great Topic! Seeing as I am stuck in Sweden for this year instead of Calgary Ill have to make due with Scandanavia´s beautiful fishing! The season starts on March 31st here with some fantastic highland "eastern slope" like streams full of wild browns. Along with that there is some of the best sea trout fishing along the west coast here where I am living, I really want to get out for that, never fished for Sea Trout before. They also got some monstorous pike here that live in what they call "brackish" water, half salt, half freshwater, and they grow freaking ginormous....would love to take one on a mouse pattern or something crazy like that. And of course we cant forget about some amazing atlantic salmon fishing here as well, its going to be a busy spring and summer for me I think! This summer I have a week road trip planned up to the far north of Sweden into the "Lappland" they call it to chase some Char and untouched stocks of wild browns. Should be fun! In September its back to Calgary for a month and hopefully a chance to take part in the Canadian Nationals if someone has an opening on a team or needs one more? Let me know! Just in Canada for the month of September but I really want to get out to my one true love, the Highwood, the Bow of course and while in BC after some steelies. After September probably down to Mexico / Central America for a month or two chasing some Roosters. Oh man my feet are getting itchy now, why cant the season start now!

Another great video man! Keeps the dull winter blues away!

Haha! I was just down in Mexico not to long ago fishing around the Barra de Navidad area, we caught so many puffers on clousers from the beach while going for roosters, they are damn aggressive man, thank god for long pliers =)

Nobody ever told you that the reason why baby kittens die is because you "flyfish by yourself" at night......

Haha, yah you know some of them PETA´s are pushin the 300-400lb mark, and I can say personally we always hang a fish that size up by the feet on the dock. Would make a great picture, you could sell pictures of tourists with it for a couple bucks!

And then the lord said... "Head south on the deerfoot my son and ye shall find what ye seek". Lots of access points at all the bridges south of the city. If you hit Okotoks you have gone to far, go back and pick a bridge. Good luck man!

Had an absolute blast of a year as well! I have been fishing on the north bow (Cochrane to Ghost) since I was a little kid and know that stretch inside and out so I really took this year to spend exploring on the south bow (Calgary to Carsland) and had a blast doing it! Was on the south bow probably 2 days a week on average and up on the Highwood river exploring 3 days a week for the whole spring/summer/fall. What a great time, as it was my first time on the Highwood and god damn I love that river and it makes me realize everyvtime I wet my feet in that beautiful water why I love flyfishing in Alberta so damn much, those views, that fresh air and those chunky trout. I also spent a bunch of time exploring up the trunk road, finding a bunch of fun little gems. In the spring I chased some pike which was also a first for me on the fly and wow, tons of fun as well! Got to make a trip out to Vancouver Island for Salmon/Steelies in the fall and just last month also a trip down to Barra de Navidad, Mexico for Roosters, Dorado, Tuna and even a 404 lb Blue Marlin on 50 lb test. Now Im back in Sweden for the next year and cant wait to get up north for Char and fat fat wild Browns in the spring! Merry xmas everyone and a happy new year. Good fishing!

Cheers! Thanks for all the info guys, you have been a great help. Its been really interesting to track down the history, I may just have to start a collection myself, old rods are absolutely beautiful....but Im not saying Im not in love with my new Sages either though haha. Thanks again!

Hey and Merry Xmas to all! Quick question, I am currently in Sweden visiting my wifes family(she is swedish obviously) and my father in law just gave me the most awesome xmas present. He was looking around in the attic and came upon all his fathers old fly fishing equipment and since he doesnt fish he has now passed it along to me. There is an amazing rod, which I think is bamboo( Ill post some photos in a day or two once things settle down here after christmas) and its called "King Salmon" or made by a company with that name. The reel that came with it is a Gyro Fly No.53 and looks quite old as well. My question is if anyone knows about either of these companies or has any background info? I dont think its really of any value, just old, but it looks like an old combo package you would find at canadian tire or something along those lines or whatever the Swedish equivelent is of that over here haha. Also gave me some really old fly tying equipment which is quite cool and a handmade fillet knife, and some really really old flies. Overall a great present! Thanks for any info and Merry hoho to all! Donnie

When I was younger there used to be a good population of suckers between Highway 22 bridge in Cochrane and where Jumpingpound Creek enters the Bow just a little bit further up. Cheers!

Good on yah, you and your roommate man! The Bow is a wicked challenging fishery that has secrets upon secrets about it. It can seem really intimidating but once you start learning how to dial it in the rewards are there to be found in the size of monster trout as you have now seen Good luck to both of yah!

THNT? Tim hortons no tangle......type of casting?

Welcome!! I'll be in Sweden in a few months and might make a trip over to the Netherlands, hope its ok if I hit you up for some info!

There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chuck Norris lives in the USA.