Xplorer

Hi jriad, I fish the Nw all summer, haven't fished it in the winter yet, but hoping to in the next few weeks. I used to spin fish alot in the Nw when I was younger(in the places you mention and others). I did ok, but the fishing in the Nw section is alot different with fewer fish and smaller fish. I catch more fish, flyfishing in the Nw than I did on hardware but that may just be me. I seem to be catching larger fish too. I have pretty good success in the summer so I am hoping I will be able to do ok in the winter up here in the Nw. I went down south last fall in Oct and Nov and.....wow, it was amazing. Alot of fish, larger fish and ...more fish! I found fish in types of holding water down south that would hold nothing up north, water that I would wade in up here. I caught 3 18" fish down south without moving my feet, up in the Nw, I would catch one and usually have to move on to the next hole or run to find more. The problem with the south for me is the long drive across town especially in rush hour, so I devote alot of time to the Nw Bow. I have just decided to start fishing a bit in the winter, down south and here. Anyway, getting off topic. I would recommend trying any of the runs/pools you have been and maybe check out some of the runs/pools up by Bearspaw dam. Not sure if the water is warmer after coming through the dam (sure steams in the winter), so maybe that would help. I think slighty smaller lures with a slower retrieve might help too. Also it doesn't hurt to move around a bit, I usually seem to cover alot more ground in the Nw vs when I fish down south. The nymphing suggestions above are great advice, may even get you flyfishing too... I will post my results if I manage to get out and giver a go. Good luck

Hi guys, Thinking about upgrading my waders and moving away from chest waders. I rarely ever wade deep, I really can't think of when I have been to my waist in the last few years. Plus I do alot of walking and exploring so I was thinking the pant sytle of waders might be a better choice and cooler. I used to wet wade from may to oct, but I am getting older(maybe smarter) and wear waders more and more. I have read good things here and online about Simms products and was looking to see if anybody here has used a pair of these waders and what their experiences were. I welcome any opinions about other pant style waders too, the simms were just the first decent looking ones I had found. Also, where to buy? There seems to be less places selling this style vs chest waders. Thanks guys

Hey Guys, Does anybody know if there is a way to get past issues of the Alberta Fishing Guide? I have done someonline searches with no luck. I checked out Cattail Publishing's website, no luck there either. Thanks

Hi guys, I am looking at buying a new landing net and see a few different types of net material. I was wondering if one is better than the other in regards to doing the least amount of wear and tear on the fish. Also what size would be good for the lower bow? I never used a net till recently when I started fishing the lower bow, larger fish seemed tougher to handle than the smaller ones I catch in the Nw and mountain streams. The net I have now is too small for the fish down south, most of the fish ends up hanging out and that can not be good for the fish, so I stopped using it. Thanks

Thanks for the replies/votes. I have been feeling guilty since Weds about this poor fish, thinking I should have done something to help or end its suffering. I also remember a muskrat being very nearby this fish, do they attack/eat larger fish? thanks again

Hi guys I was fishing the lower bow on Weds and having great luck when I came upon a trout sitting at my feet. It was about 18" long, very dark colored and had very visible scarred and infected marks on its head. It kinda look like it had been picked up by an eagle or some other bird and dropped back in the water. The left eye was blind and I could not see the right. It moved off when I approached it but was definitly not well. I did not grab it or catch it with my net in time, but if I had what to do? Kill it and put it out of it's misery or let nature take its course? If I did kill it and let it float away what about being reported for wasting or illegal harvest? The fish was covered in silt from sitting on the bottom and obviously has not moved in some time. I just hate to see a creature suffer. Thanks for your opinions Lance

Hey guys, I fished the bow in the south for the first time and I picked up alot of weeds. I know that the weeds in the south are a normal deal but I was wondering if there is anyway to reduce the amount of weeds caught? I usually nymph with 2 flies, with the order from top to bottom on the leader being indicator,6 feet, swivel, weight, 8" tippet, nymph,12" tippet, nymph. Would shortening the distance from indicator to fly help to keep the flies from dragging as much? Is there a way to move the weight lower on the line and the nymphs up that still keeps the nymphs close to the bottom? I was wondering about leader and tippet size. I usually use 5x for both but got broke off twice yesterday down south. So for nymphing whats everybody recommend on the bow in the South? Thanks

Thanks for encouragement guys I am not so pissed off about it today, not sure why it got to me so bad yesterday. I tried streamers yesterday with no luck, but I never have any luck with streamers, which tells me I am not choosing the right flies or not fishing them properly. I never used to catch anything on nymphs either, but did alot better this year, so maybe now I need to focus on my streamer fishing? Sorry for the rant...

Hey guys, I was out on the bow in the Nw this afternoon, the last day before the closure. I didn't see any fish rising, so I mostly nymphed with Sjw's, beadhead prince's, copper johns and a couple of Backswimmer patterns with no luck. I lost a couple of bottom flies due snagging bottom. I switched to streamers, tried clousers, bow river buggers, small and large black and olive leech patterns, plus a few others I can't remember....nothing...no follows, no hits etc. I had worked my way upstream to the point where I normally turn around and fish back to the truck. This is where I met a spin fisher who was going to work his way downstream. He was very polite and asked if I minded if he fished down past me. I said sure, go ahead. I had just been fishing this water, including the section he was about to fish. His first cast, wham, he catches about an 18" brown. Ok, thats a fluke. His 2nd cast he catches an 12-14" brown. Damn, Third cast, he hooks another large fish but it throws the hook on the 3rd jump. He comments on the good fishing and asked how I did? I told him not well, wished him well and left. It was a long walk back to my truck.I am pretty frustrated at this point. The fishing up in the Nw has been pretty slow for me lately, hopefully fishing down south will help my odds. So that is my rant, maybe I should give up on flyfishing and chuck hardware if it works so well.....lol Does anybody tie something to imitate this? Thanks for reading

Thanks for the advice Maxwell, I was doing great with hopper/dropper stuff a couple of weeks ago, just seems to be tough lately, since the weather went cold a week ago. I will keep at it.

Hey guys, I went down to the river this afternoon to try to figure out my nymphing issues. I was walking up to a run I fish regularly when I saw a young guy spinfishing and another setting up his rod about a 100 feet ahead of me. I had to bush wack a bit and when I came around the last tree....they were running through the trees up the hill. I was looking around, did they think I was SRD? Nope....a moose had come crashing down the hill and pratically ran right over them. I talked to both guys after the moose went on its way, they were both a little shook up, really scared the crap out of the guy who was trying to set up his rod. I took a couple of photos of course, seeing as how my nymphing still sucks and I had nothing else to take photos of... :$*%&: Maybe moose don't like spin fishermen???

Thanks for the tips hopdrop I was out again today, I removed the spiltshot and shortened my leader to indicator distance. Ironically I lost more flies today fishing the same water, I hooked up more with nymphs today but no fish to hand. I will keep at it. Thanks again

Hey guys, I am having some problems nymphing again....big surprise. I usually fish dries as much as I can or a hopper dropper. I have only really given nymphing a solid effort in the last 2 years. I am ok with setting it up and moving the indicator up or down to ensure I stay on the bottom. What I was wondering is, can you have a little too much weight, slowing the nymph down? I usually fish with two nymphs, like a SJW and copper john, usually only one split shot 8" up from the top fly.My indicator is usually 7-9 feet up from the top fly, most of the water I fish is 4-5 feet deep. My problem is I seem to catch bottom alot, losing the bottom fly. Plus my indicator drags a bit, goes a little slower than the current, kind of bumping along, is this normal or right? I set the hook on most twitches or stopping of the indicator, pretty much every cast I am setting the hook, some times more than once, but not catching many fish. I still catch 4 to 1, dries vs nymphs and I can't remember the last time I caught something on a streamer. So, does it sound like I have to much weight or too long between flies and indicator? I am not really sure anymore. Thanks for any and all advice Lance

Hi Jay, Sorry to hear the news about your grandpa, sounds like he was a great man who had a good life. Great photos, some very nice fish. Like others have said, don't let people scare you off of posting photos. I always look forward to seeing them, you guys catch some amazing fish! Lance

Thanks for all info guys. Looks like I am going camping down south soon.

Hi guys, I am thinking about going camping/fishing in the livingstone river area. I would like to stay in one of the provincial campgrounds down there and was wondering how busy they are on the weekends? Can a person get a site for a trailer on the friday of a normal(not long) weekend. The campgrounds I am looking at are Livingstone Falls, Cataract Creek and Etherington Creek. I don't want to get all packed up and head there with no place to stay. Thanks

Hey guys, I have always used mono leaders and tippets with no problems, decided today to try Fluorocarbon leader and tippet. I am having a problem with the tippet breaking right at the knot. I have been using the improved clinch knot to attach my flies. The leader and tippet(both Rio) are 5x with size 12 to 16 flies. I really like the way fluorocarbon sinks when nymphing but when I got hung up on the bottom the tippet snapped really easily. I caught a couple of small fish with no problem, but I hooked 2 larger fish, one run and a headshake and they were gone. The tippet keeps breaking at the knot. I did a search and read about less twists of the line in the knot to using water to lube knot instead of saliva. Is there a better knot to attach the fly when using fluorocarbon or should I just stick with mono, even though I really like the way fluorocarbon works nymphing? Thanks

I knew somebody would say that! I guess I should change the post to read " I was fishing a lake in the WORLD today with no results...here's the pics" .....lol I hope it was vague enough and did not give away anybodies favorite spot. Thanks for the laugh Birchy

Hey Guys, I have been kinda in a rut lately, not catching hardly any fish, frustrated blah blah blah. I was fishing a lake in Kananaskis today with decent results. Here's a few pics... The fish in the last photo had a kinda red rashy belly, not sure if thats normal or not? He was larger than the rest so maybe that makes a difference. cya

Never been checked on the bow, but have been checked on the elbow river and at a few kananaskis lakes and ponds. Also I have had my fishing license checked when stopped on my ATV to check for Registration and insurance because I said I was going fishing too. I have had the Atv stuff checked probably 20 times in the last 5 years. I seem to see SRD guys fairly often in the places I go...just my 2cents

Hey Guys, I seem to be unable to catch much of anything these days. I went to BC for 8 days, fished 3 different streams and 4 lakes with no fish caught. So I drank some beer and relaxed thinking I still have 5 days when I get back to fish the Bow and Foothills. Read the reports on the Bow, sounds good, went down in the NW tonight from 6 to about 10pm.I got frustrated and finally had had enough rafters, dog walkers who let there dog swim right where you are fishing and the many people who throw rocks for the pure fun of it...lol. I managed to get away from the crowds for awhile but that did not help much. I caught one small 8" rainbow and a matching whitefish plus one rainbow so small the size 16 parachute adams was almost to big for his mouth. The biggest fish I saw was a dead burbot that was floating by, he looked to be about 2 feet long, biggest fish I have seen in awhile. There were lots of caddis flying around and a few white, mayfly looking bugs, no stoneflys that I could see and very few fish rising. I caught the 2 rainbows on the parachute adams and the whitefish on a EHC. I tried nymphs early on, golden stones, SJW, copper john, hares ear and a couple others I can't remember right now. I tried orange,yellow and green stimulators with nothing, then EHC and parachute adams with a little success. So, does the river fish better in the morning maybe, before all the people get to it? I normally do ok up here in the NW especially in the evening, but now I am beginning to think its me...I want to head to the mountains to fish some favorite creeks and lakes but not feeling to confident about it. So how are you guys doing on the bow these days? What flies are working? I feel cursed...hahaha Thanks

Hey guys and girls, I am looking at a new rod/reel and have been thinking about the Sage rods for awhile. The stuff I use now is from redington and is ok but on the cheaper end. I am looking for a rod used mostly for dryfly on smaller creeks. I have used my friends 4wt Launch and it felt pretty good but was wondering what you guys thought? My redington is a 5 wt and almost feels kinda heavy for what I do. I am also looking at the amundson TXS reel for the above rod. I have no experience with these reels, so any advice would be great. Thanks

Thanks for all the advice guys, I will give it a try this year. See ya out there

Hi Guys, I am expecting runoff for the bow to start any day now(Just in time for the Nw portion of the Bow to open) and was curious if people still fish the river during runoff and how successfull it was? I guess alot depends on how high the runoff is and how long it lasts. I have usually taken that 3 weeks and fished elsewhere. I seem to remember some pictures a few years back of some big bulls caught during runoff on the sheep river I think. I know that is quite a bit different type of river and species of fish but it seemed to work ok. So would it be worth it to try the bow during runoff or am I better off elsewhere? Thanks

Hey Harps, Yes, we have talked about this before, a few times I think. I get what you are saying about sacrifice area's for the guys who want to do circles in the mud till they fall down. That would be a great idea, it would keep them out of the creeks and rivers. I too do not want the forestry to be no-holds-bar areas, I want the enforcement, I want the yahoos to be punished for the crap they do. There are laws and regulations regarding atv use, they just are not enforced. Well thats not quite true, they are starting to enforce them in areas like Mclean Creek but the whole province needs this level of enforcement. I am a quad squad member and I think they put in 20 bridges last year, and most have marks from some idiot going around them. That really bugs me, I just don't understand why someone would go around a bridge, if its the right size for your vehicle. If its not the right size you might be on the wrong trail and should'nt be there anyway. Harps wrote: "The middle ground would be to regulate OHV use, restrict some areas, put timing restrictions in place, charge a crownland access fee, and start enforcing existing and new rules. Education doesn't stop poachers... fines do. Same rules, fair treatment, that's all I'm asking." This is exactly what I would like to see and I think it is completely possible. Cya