bjbailey

Nice fish Jay. Looks like a beauty bow with some nice browns in the mix. I'm jealous of that big brookie too! Brandon

I'm definitely thinking a whitetail...tough to tell though!

I have thoroughly enjoyed several nights on the Bow lately with great caddis action. This brown was one of many similar browns I found heavily feeding last night. It sure was a great way to break in the new rod! Brandon

Hi Snuffy, I can't speak for the Little Red Deer or Fallen Timber specifically; however, I've spent some time on the brown trout streams near RMH (Prairie, Stauffer, South Raven). I'll try to answer the first two of your questions and hopefully somebody with more experience on the water valley area can correct me if I am wrong and fill in the rest. 1) While I believe that a several years ago the Little Red and Fallen Timber were subjected to a series of drought and flood years, I believe that they hold a good population of browns today. It often takes the right conditions (light, temperature, hatches, etc.) to see what these rivers can really produce. I've fished the streams mentioned above and had days ranging from marginal to phenomenal. On the days where it seems that you just can't buy a riser, I often find stripping streamers (wooly buggers being a favorite) near undercut banks and log jams to be the most effective. 2) I fish the gravel bottom sections more than the mud-bottom sections but that is just my preference. I wouldn't even try to argue that the gravel sections are better as I've seen and heard of some great fish coming out of the slower, mud-bottomed sections. Don't get discouraged as these can be incredible streams to fish! Brandon

Thanks everyone, I opted for a 4 weight afterall. I can't wait to get out and cast it tomorrow! Tight lines.

Hey Everyone, I am thinking about buying a new set up for targeting risers on the bow. Ideally, I'd like to be able to cross over and use the rod on some smaller streams, but want to make sure that I don't go too light to handle bigger fish on the bow. What do you typically use as your lighter Bow River rods? Thanks! Brandon

That was great. On a related note, I was confronted by a large dog on the weekend that didn't like the fact that I was trying to get back upstream to my car. It was from a nearby farm but was right down to the waters edge and quite upset. I had to cross to an island and walk up around to get back to my car; on the good side, I found a few more rising trout on my detour!

That is too bad Heimdallr. There certainly are some great pothole lakes up there if only you had the time!

Despite higher water levels with less than perfect visibility, I decided to head out on the bow for 2 hours this afternoon. Within minutes of hitting the banks I spotted a good fish in about 18" of water. It wasn't moving a whole lot and after drifting BWOs, a few nymphs, and swinging some streamers in front of it, I started second guessing myself; maybe this was just a shadow in between the two large rocks? I began getting a little frustrated and decided to wade out to see if this shadow was even a fish - sure enough, three steps in the water and it was gone. That was stupid! After moving upstream and not seeing a whole lot of other fish, I decided to move back down to see if he had returned after me stupidly spooking it. Lucky for me, he had settled back in between the two rocks. Again, I drifted several nymphs and swung a few streamers but obviously wasn't getting the presentation right. It was a bit of a difficult drift so I decided to toss on a big dry (#8 Green Drake) to drift a dropper (#10 pheasent tail) a little more delicately. After almost half an hour of fighting with the wind and current, I FINALLY got a take as the drake slipped under the water. A few minutes later I had this nice (although rather beat up) 23.5" male brown to hand.

The river was higher and off colour again today in comparison to last week. I saw very few fish rising despite a good number of BWO on the water. I caught this stocky 21" brown and lost another slightly longer and leaner right at the net. Enjoy. Brandon

Hey Everyone, Fish Creek Park was entirely empty aside from two other gentlemen. I certainly enjoyed the vacant banks while I cruised looking for rising fish. While this guy is not the most impressive brown, the pursuit was rather fun. He was feeding in 5 inches of water about 6 inches from the bank hiding out behind a rock deflecting the current. Given a stong back eddy between me and the fish it was touch to get the drift right. Complicating things further the wind kept pushing my fly out too far from the bank. I ended up having to over compensate for the wind by casting my line up onto shore next to him shooting enough slack leader to swing the fly drag free around in the back eddy. Turns out, he liked that and took the 18 BWO. I hope I uploaded the picture correctly; my apologies if I did not.

Hello, I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good 5 or 6 piece travel rod (preferably in a 6 weight but a 5 would do) that breaks down to less than 20" including the case. I have found the following rods but don't know a lot about any of them. Does anyone have any experience with any of these? http://fly.greysfishing.com/en-gb/products...ec-travel-rods/ http://fly.greysfishing.com/en-gb/products...d/missionary-6/ http://fly.hardyfishing.com/en-gb/products...e-rods/angel-2/ http://www.redington.com/prod.php?k=50169&...Classic%20Trout Thanks for the help and suggestions! Brandon

Hey Guys, Thanks. I've been doing well on both #18 and #20 BWOs and Griffith's Gnats. I have also hooked up on #14 parachute adams that I use to help keep track of the smaller dries. Tight lines! Brandon

Those are beautiful looking bows. Thanks for posting!

Hey Everyone, Just wondering if anyone wanted to share their favorite patterns for early season Bow dry flies. I've tied up a few late winter black stones but was wondering what else I should prepare. The late winter black stone pattern is simple: black floss body, poly wing, and short black saddle hackle tied in the front on a #14. Any other suggestions?