BowLurker

Rusty squirrel sculpin fish skull thing...haha. Sz6 Van Klinken bomber hook. It's surprisingly thin once the fish skull goes on.

I have witnessed salmon and trout spawning, both in BC and also trout on the Mighty Bow - it was a humbling experience. To see the true Steelheads continuing to do so in such "skinny" water, in tributaries of the mighty Skagit is equally as exciting...and important! We need more people like Bill McMillan on all the rivers these crazy days. Watch fish spawning if you can...it changes everything!

Well done @ggp, you beat me to it! Gorgeous fly. Here we go!

Beauty fish, @monger Do you have them painted first, then catch them?

Hoo boy, the experts are tying #20's again....sigh.

Hadn't tied an Intruder for a while, and decided on blue! Squirrel tail, pheasant rump feathers and then guinea hen feathers, with a rabbit zonker strip. I kinda like it!

Thanks monger ya it's bigger than I thought, so 7W for my single-hand for sure, and the medium Spey rod (550g) as well. Would like to say I'll get some fish, but only one bump last time, on the dangle. They're fishy!

Maybe only 2-3 lbs, but maybe up to 6 or 8 depending on the runs. I chose two rods for the first visit, and had completely the wrong rods/lines! Shoot..oh well, always learning. When I get back for the last visit of this season, I will have the heavier, longer setups for sure, as the water was much wider/deeper than I thought.

Hey folks, Let's say you only had a couple days to pack, and had maybe 6hrs on a Private prime, freshwater location, some deep pockets, but rapids too and riffles with calm sections. Anything under 6W is not an option, ( they're big ) and I have a couple 'go-to' rod/reel/line sets I'm thinking of. Lots of casting distance might be/will be required. (switch? ) Very spooky population of larger fish, and it's my first time there. It's going to be an adventure, but amazing. Thanks for any input.

Bow River, September 1, upstream Crowchild bridge run, 61ºF (16ºC) at 0700....side channel SHP, 57ºF (13.8ºC) at 17:30. The fish were happy.

As of this morning, Sep. 1, there are no Time of Day restrictions in ES1! Now we can chase the caddis into twilight. Keep 'em wet! https://mywildalberta.ca/fishing/advisories-corrections-closures/default.aspx

Bow River, Crowchild bridge run, water was 60ºF (15.5ºC) at 0930 on Sunday, the 28th.

Bow River at Crowchild Trail bridge near Kensington, in Calgary, water was 58ºF (14.5ºC) at 0730 on Sunday, the 21st.

Hmmm...not sure how accurate the Alberta Environment & Parks data is...yes it has the Bow River at 97 Cubic Metres/Second in Calgary, and 99 CM/S in Cochrane, but I don't think the Bow is 16m deep in Cochrane. These flows/levels were updated through the wee hours of Aug. 17th. Also, the level/depth of Bearspaw Reservoir is rated at just over 1000 metres...!? I know it's a deep reservoir, but it certainly isn't 1km deep...is it?! https://data.calgary.ca/Environment/River-Levels-and-Flows/5fdg-ifgr I took a walk up and downstream in the Votier's Flats section of Fish Creek this past weekend, and I would say it's 30cm deep or less. No fish, just minnows. Water temperature was 64F at 8:45am - 65F at 10am, with minimal flow, so I stopped casting my Sz 22's. Maybe I'm up too far to find any good spots, but it's starting to look like the same conditions in the upper creek as last summer.

Good news, shredneck. Glad you found it!

I'd also watch a lot of the SFOTF.ca ( Sportfishing on the Fly) videos, most are on their YT channel. They feature the Chironomid Wizard, Brian Chan, quite regularly and the banter between Big Dale and Don Freschi along with Brian is always good for a laugh. They have a ton of stillwater videos.

Ahhh! That makes more sense now, with the small Mallard winglet. Cool. Thank you.

Thanks Doc...hmmm. I thought it might be, but the Alexandra wet flies I've tied had much more red, such as this.. the peacock tips are the same. Hmm. maybe the yellow/blue threw me off a bit.

Hi folks, I was pinching the barb on a few of my older salmon flies, and the point broke off this particular fly. Sigh...oh well, better on the bench instead of in a fish. I cannot find my list, and I was wondering if anyone knew the name of this pattern? Maybe if I can source the proper modern materials, ( and a hook that isn't 40yrs old! ) I can re-tie some more. Thanks in advance.

Started on the tube fly journey late in 2021, and tying them like crazy in '22! Bottom left is a traditional full-body called 'Sillen' with a half-turbo tungsten cone. The middle is a non-body called 'In Flames', a favourite for stained, cold water. Tied using a TTT and full tungsten cone. The right non-body fly and the body with hook was a freestyle tie, using a TTT and full brass cones. I love tube flies.

SF-352. We have them in stock right now. Haha, not trying to be a salesman here, but it is a slim profile, about the size of a sheet of paper (8x11) and holds a ton of flies. It's not a 'double-sided' style of box and easily fits in a sling pack or boat bag.

Well, I guess I'm going first. Bead-head Olive Woolly Bugger. One of the best I've ever tied. #humble

I was nymphing in the Springtime, in murky, knee-deep water, having a fun day. All of a sudden, it felt like something was thumping the bottom as I was wading. The banging and thumping got more and more pronounced and I promptly got out of the way as a full-sized semi wheel and tire bumped and rolled down current no more than 1m away!! One day later, there was a weird scraping, banging and thumping yet again in the same channel. I looked upstream to see a giant root system from a severed tree flipping and rolling and tumbling downstream. It was at least 2m in diameter, and whipping in the runoff. Weirdness!

Picked up the new issue of Fly Fusion magazine today for a quick read. Pretty obvious spelling error right on the cover. Wow. Arsenal folks, arsenal! Eeesh!

That rod must be so out of balance with a reel/line. Ingenuity! Great effort, though. I guess one could fish with the tip and a second from a regular rod as well!