toolman

Probably not once the line gets relaxed but PU lines are temperature sensitive and tend to coil a bit in cooler temps.

This is a common issue with many new PU lines and easy to fix. I would recommend lightly stretching the line to get the coil memory out, Just tie off the end of the line to something solid and put tension on it from the other end, to stretch it out. It may take a few minutes of tension. After stretching, let the full line out in fast current to just hang on the dangle for a few minutes to remove twists. Strip the line back and start casting. PU lines often just need a short break in period to relax. My experience with many dozens of Airflo lines that I have owned has been consistently good in both durability and performance. http://www.airflofishing.com/airflo-fly-line-care.cfm

The issue is the health of the river ecology. If the flows are so low that the fishery is at such a risk that we have to close it to c&r fisherman, then there certainly is an urgent need to correct this mismanagement of our water and intolerable threat to the aquatic life of the river. A river with a world class fishery at that. Is the government not listening to it's own Biologists? Maybe that's a perspective that needs to be included in the conversation going on in the media these days.

Well, I see very little progress with the water management issues on the Bow river. Anglers are not the ones responsible for the low flow rates. In my opinion, the responsibility rests with Governments who regulate and sell our water too water intensive, commercial interests, and it seems, without due consideration of the environmental consequences and the city who have not enacted any type of water restrictions. The SRD Biologists are sounding the alarm and the government decides banning fisherman is a solution? Unlike most other streams on the list of fishing closures, our flow rate problems on the Bow are often greatly influenced/created by governments/industry. Maybe we need to try and convince the provincial government to order a temporary, controlled release of water from Ghost Reservoir to assure adequate flows for a healthy fishery? If we use Ghost for flood mitigation, why not drought mitigation as well? Seems pretty simple to me. I think that's the discussion we need to be having, solutions to maintain adequate/stable flows, especially during a drought. Time for the city and the province to step up to the discussion and set some guidelines, with, an action plan.

Both Max and Brian are incredibly skilled anglers and excellent guides.

The Bow has had shoreline water temps in the high teens and low 20's C for the past month and a half and also many decades in the past, without negative effect to the fishery. I've seen even lower, warmer flows than we are currently experiencing. Suddenly it's a crisis. From my own personal observations and the fishing reports that I get on a regular basis from colleages and professionals in the industry, there has not been any kind of mass die off. Just another normal season. The fish are fat and full of fight as usual with no issue with trout recovering quickly if released immediately. The Bow has plenty of adequate structure for the fish to thrive in spite of perceptions that the fishery is in crisis. The impacts of c&r fishing on the Bow are negligible. What needs to happen is the Municipalities need to enact water restrictions and we need to shut down the irrigation canal to increase flow on the Bow. That's what the fish need... F'ing water. There's some logic for ya.

Call the Calgary Fire Dept. and explain the situation, that your boat is creating a navigation hazard to other watercraft on the river and your concerns regarding a safe salvage operation. CFD Water Rescue unit are the experts and have the proper tools, experience and training for these type of situations and are always willing to help.

Toilet paper, sunblock, bug repellent, bear spray, garbage bags.

Too bad the government shut down all efforts to maintain the Oldman Stream Watch program. What a dam shame. How many times do the poachers get away with this? Answer: Most of the time.

Only ones to blame are the previous provincial governments. They refused to allocate the necessary funds for enforcement and thwarted all efforts to establish new enforcement partnerships with the community, such as the StreamWatch program, which a few dedicated conservationist put so much of their time, money and energy in too. Disgraceful. The only community enforcement partnership program that has had modest success, is the RAP program, which unfortunately, most often results in the offenders being long gone before F&W shows up. That said, our F&W Officers, Fisheries Biologists and Techs and dedicated Conservationists/Associations are the heroes. These folks really do give a dam.

Definitely not Trico's. Had a look at the spinners this evening. Body a cream color with black thorax, grey fore wings, minute or absent hind wings, 2 very short tails with banding. About 4-5mm body length. Eyes were on stalks so these were males that we looked at. I meant to collect a few to view at home under magnification but we were busy rowing, fishing streamers and looking for risers. I'll look at them again on the weekend. I'm thinking they are most likely from the Baetidae family..

There were some pretty impressive spinner clouds last night but it was too dark to see what they were.

Hey flyfishy, you been out zoomin' in the jet with mikey lately?

Wiktionary: "Duh" Disdainful indication that something is obvious

Try fishing midge emergers in the film, without floatant, for the evening risers.

Actually...serious question about these stoneflies....are the females much larger than the males,as in almost twice as large? Reason being,I was at FCP mid afternoon the other day,and the grass/bushes held loads of these Sallys.I noticed a small "Sally" (sz14ish?) mounted on the back of a much larger (sz 8-10?) Sally in what I assume was some mating ritual? Anyhow....the smaller ones (males?)seem much more common...just wondering which, if either,is more significant from an angler's perspective? Great observations and you are correct. Males are typically smaller and more abundant in the early stages of the emergence cycle. The ratio of females will increase as the emergence continues. This is a common trait of most stonefly species and generally, most Mayfly and Caddis species as well. Post emergence, the female stoneflys are of more significance to angling as they will return too the water to lay their eggs and present a new opportunity for the trout to feed on them. That's if you can find a trout eating them. With Mayfly's (and some Caddis species), the males are also important to anglers, post emergence, as they will form spinner swarms along the shorelines, to attract females to mate with. Afterwards, most of the swarm will fall to the water and die, (spinner fall), making them available to trout. And thanks too BigFoamy and billie, for taking the time to post pics. Some anglers see great value in educating themselves about the food that our trout eat and how that knowledge can be applied to improve their fishing tactics and success. Of course others prefer to "dumb it down" to the lowest common denominator and beyond, sometimes to a point that the information becomes inaccurate and/or irrelevant.

Yes I agree. Notice all the fishing reports that say "things picked up right at dusk". Remember the fishing reports from 8-9 years ago when many of us were fishing at night. I have caught risers on dry's at 4;00 am. For many seasons back then, I would hit the river 4-5 nights a week, starting at 9:00pm and stay out until 3-4:00am observing/collecting bugs to take back to photograph and for species id. Especially Stonefly's, they were the most interesting to observe and study.

Looks like a Skwala stonefly (not a Golden Stonefly species). Their emergence/egg laying cycle typically starts around noon and runs until around 4:00. Your photo is dated May 10. Is that the day you took the picture?

Yes, likely Green Sally's. This particular species of the Alloperla genus, emerges on the stream bottom and then floats up too the surface and swims (wiggles) too the shoreline. There has been a prolific emergence this past week. The Golden stonefly species typically do not start emerging in very significant numbers until mid-late June. Salmon fly's, (Petronarcy dorsata) are a very minor species on the Bow and I only see maybe one or two each season. As SilverDoctor mentioned, fish are likely feeding subsurface, on nymphs and emerger's. Also, the trout tend to often feed at night, as there are many nocturnal emerger's on the Bow, including numerous species of Stonefly's, Caddis and Midges.

Spey fishing from a drift boat is easy (if you know how to cast). No different than casting from the shoreline. Very effective.

Actually neither. The March Brown nymph escapes its nymphal casing on the stream bottom and then gases trapped between its wings and body creates bouyancy, which enables it to float up too the surface. That is why there are no shucks on the water or shoreline during a March Brown emergence

It's time to start swinging Caddis emergers on fluro leaders folks. Leeches also good at this time of year.

Then this is the likely scenario as I have also observed Mayflys far from the river and roadways.

It probably hitched a ride with you from the river. Lately, whenever I return from the river my truck seems to have Skwala's, March Browns, Midges or BWO's living in it.

Rhithrogena morrisoni. There sure have been lots of them emerging on some stretches of the lower Bow this year. March Browns were a minor species on the Bow until 2012, when their populations exploded. Fishies love em'. The Duns start coming off typically in mid too late morning. The spinner falls start in the late afternoon and continue into the early evening. This years spinners falls have been terrific, which is not typical of March Browns as the spinner falls are usually brief. I've been having success with a #12 Adams (not a parachute) with dry floatant for the duns, but no floatant for the spinners as they sit lower on the water. Look for rising fish in the tail outs of pools with good riffle water at the head. That's where the trout will line up for a March Brown dinner.