FraserN

There are definetly brookies in the Bow. I have caught several in Bowness. The primary reason that keeps their numbers low is the fact that they require cold water in order to thrive. For most of the open season, temperatures in the river are too high on average for brook trout to comfortably live.

I use dacron, which is essentially the same. I have tried braided line, and it works fine. As good a choice as any material for articulated streamers.

I have had bad spells like that on the Bow many times over the years. Nymphing this river I find to be quite difficult. When you get in a bad stretch, I find you just have to bear with it, an stick it out. In the long run, You will catch fish on nymphs again. I also find that the summer season is far more productive for nymphing, than Spring or fall. It has to do with water temperatures. I do much better at this time of year with streamers. Nymphing: It is usually a tough go.

Like the picture of the church at Ghost. Been there many times over the years, fishing the reservoir for lakers and browns. A memorable place for me.

There are some very nice trout in those shots. Makes me look forward to summer.

I agree with this legislation. I think that if shutting down fly fishing and any other form of recreation in these headwater streams where these fish exist is required, then so be it. It has reached a point now that all possible means must be undertaken to ensure the survival of the few native cutthroat trout populations still existing in the province.

Size is very important. For years, I used 12s and 14s and never had any luck.. Only when I went to size 16, did I have any luck. I use a simple pattern with peacock dubbing and brown goose biots for legs. teal feather for shellback. So far I have caught only one fat rainbow on it, but i'll keep at it since the boatman are the only consistent bugs I have seen lately.

According to mywildalberta, the fishing closures are over as of today, AUGUST 21, except on the St. Marys river below the reservoir. Is this information true?

I do not know what is going on with the dam at Glenmore. The Elbow river upstream of the reservoir is flowing at 3 times the volume as it is below the Dam. There is stagnant water, exposed river bed, and High e.coli bacteria levels in the river below the dam, which is dangerous to human health. And yet, the reservoir remains high. All thee problems could be reduced with an increase of flow, but it is not happening. I don't get it?

I don't understand why they don't close all flowing waters in ES1. Closing the Sheep and highwood, and not the Crowsnest and Oldman doesn't make sense. The temperatures on those Southern rivers must be equally high.

My sage VXP 691-4 saltwater 6wt. is the best streamer rod I have ever used. Perfect for all my needs on the Bow. A blessing, since I spend a lot of time fishing streamers, and most of my biggest trout are caught on large flies.

Just so very colorful. Congrats. Still on my list to get one. Someday.

Yes " except the rest of the boot falls apart before the soles wear out". My exact experience with two pairs of korkers in 4 years of fishing. That is why I wear a pair of Simms now, and am quite happy with them, because they are durable.

Good job, Trout unlimited.

I completly agree with Dave's excellent post. I do not fish the Bow in the winter due to the energy constraints the fish are under. Even one tough fight with a fisherman could be enough to tip the balance in a negative direction for survival of a badly stressed fish. The reason I am not completly in favor of a winter closure on the Bow is that the season weather tends to take care of the resource. Even in a warm winter like this one, pressure drops dramatically. On the stretch I live on in the NW, I dont think I have seen a single angler on the river this entire winter, even on double digit temperature days. As for the spring, I have caught plenty of those beat up, sometimes skinny browns on the Bow, yet they seem to swim off fine when released in the cold water. There really is only so much self control available to me given all the restrictions (spring and fall Closures) we face. After a long winter, a guy simply wants to get a fly in the water, and maybe catch a couple trout before the fast action of post run-off summer fishing.

I think it is a very positive step with 0 retention on the whitefish. In the NW stretch the whitefish numbers dwindled drastically in the past decade. Then, the limit on size was for fish over 30 cm. They started coming back, but literally every single whitefish I now catch is under 30cm. So angler harvest has had a huge impact on this species. A limit of 5 is over the top in this day and age, so I am happy with the changes coming. I have always felt the whitefish deserved protection as they are a key native species that are well adapted to the Bow river ecosystem. Also, if given a chance, their numbers can increase to substantial sizes in a relatively short time period.

I agree. Closing in October down to the deerfoot extender gives the best of both worlds. It gives needed protection to the spawning Browns and the majority of their redds at a key time of year. Yet it will allow a portion of the fishery to remain open during a very productive month. Some of the best rainbows I have caught in the river over many years were taken in October. I cannot imagine being unable to fish for them at this time of year.

It was nice to finally meet you, Lornce. You had tied up what looked like some royal coachmans. I found the show a bit less busy than last year, but still managed to get some nice fly-tying materials, making it worth going.

Wicked!

Two Edmonton City workers are contracted to work on a city recreation park. They need to find out the height of a flag pole to know the size of flag to put on it. They are stumped. One asks the other," what will we do? This has to be done by the end of the shift, or we are in trouble." Just as they are scratching their heads, along comes a gorgeous blonde with an oversized hand bag. She stops to chat, and says" Hows it going guys? Not so good, they reply, explaining the dilemna they are facing to her". She replies:" You guys are in luck today, because I have a solution to your problem". Then she unzips her handbag and pulls out a large wrench. She loosens the bolts on the base of the flag pole, and gets the guys to help her lay down the pole on the grass. Great! One of the workers says, now what do we do? She says, no problem. She pulls out a tape measure from her handbag and asks one of the workers to hold one end on the tip of the pole and another reads the number at the base. They do this and it reads 35 1/2 feet long. She writes the number down on some scrap paper and gives it to them. Then they push the flag pole back up, and she tightens the bolts at the base again. They thank her for her help, and she walks away. Both men turn to each other and start laughing, when she is gone. They nod their heads and one says to the other, " Isn't that just like a typical dumb blonde. We ask for the height of the pole, and she gives us the length!"

For flyfishing, definetly bifocals. I am also in my forties, and have noticed a reduction in my ability to see dry flies on the water. I use mainly small flies, so this is a significant problem. When a fish takes, sometimes I miss if I did not see the fly. It was not a problem when I was younger. Also, bifocals are good when tying small flies. I am always looking over my glasses when tying small dries or nymphs. It gets to be a real pain sometimes.

I keep track of the details of each and every trip I take flyfishing. I find my log helps me greatly. By detailing what worked or did not work on certain days and times of year on various streams, patterns emerge which are very helpful. A properly kept log enhances success greatly.

Started fly fishing way back in the early 1980s as a teenager. Walked down to mackinnons flats from the road allowance on top of hill. No parking lot or boat take out back then. The river was very weedy in summers then, had very strong smell and uneducated trout. I used sinking line and Hardy reel, cheap fenwick rod that was poor quality. My leader was 16 inches of 8 lb. monofilament. I tied on a large black wooly bugger and cast until I got a strike. Nowadays the trout in the bow would laugh at this set-up, but back then, I caught some of the biggest Rainbows and Browns I ever got in the river. I have fished the Bow ever since, and still consider it our best trout fishery, but the changes over the years have been mind-boggling. The main one being the fishing is much more difficult and technically demanding now. Those who are just getting into fly-fishing now on the Bow will never know just how incredible the fishing was back then, even for a newbie, and thats too bad. I really miss those days. It was a lot simpler back then.

All I can say is, WOW. you have really found a sweet little creek to fish there.

Nice catch. Thats a good one for the Bow. They (Bull trout) are becoming more common on the Crowsnest.