FraserN

i've mentioned this before. I went through two pairs of korkers, which fell apart after only a season or two, even with multiple gluing and repairs, They are a poor product, in my opinion. I bought myself a pair of simms freestone boots, and they are still intact in my third season of use. Unfortunately, where I mainly fish the Bow, there are vast amounts of rip-rap, which I find to wear out wading boots very quickly, so even the soles of these boots are very worn now. But at least they aren't korkers.

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.

It is a common problem. Fish strike short. I found the best solution is to tie on a smaller stinger hook at the shank, then clip the barb of the main hook. This increases hook ups significantly. Fish still get lost, but more fish (especially in the early spring) come to the net.

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.

When you tie really small flies, 20 and smaller, there is a big difference between 6/0 and 8/0 thread. With 6/0 thread, its hard to build a head that doesn't cover the small eye, making it hard to put on a leader to the fly.

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.

My advice would be to persevere. This can be a very common frustrating experience on the Bow. Even after over 25 years, I have the same sort of thing happen. You just have to be there the rare day they start taking your dries. When that happens, all the time spent trying will feel worth it.

I've never had any problems, and I have used dacron backing all my life. Many times, I have had fish go into the backing, and its always held. Its interesting to hear how it can get rotten. It gets wet often times if the reel is in the water, and takes a long time to dry out, which I could see causing rot. I think I will check it more now, after reading this post.

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!

Start off with a standard Black wooly bugger. Easy to tie, and catches fish even if it is a mediocre production. This gives a lot of leeway for beginning tyers, until your skills improve.