BowLurker

Spoke with a guide on the BC side of the Rockies that fishes around Fernie - Elk River, and they have opening day on the 15th of June. He cannot remember the last time all the waters they are able to fish will actually be fishable at this time of year. Most years, the water is too high and silty with runoff, and they must wait at least a couple weeks, and they had 80% of average snowpack for the area this past winter....eeesh. Get yer thermometers out, folks!

Thanks, Lornce. I'm pretty sold on the new hooks...now to convert some more fish!

Keel - balanced rubber band grub, Sz 12, using another style of hook from the new brand. There is no barb, the hook point is angled out from the factory. Can't wait to get this one wet!

Olive pheasant rump / peacock eye nymph with a rubber band abdomen. Sz 10, using a new brand of hook.

DM'd...and no I don't know how. I can point you in a direction...

Saturday soft hackle. Sz 12, purple holo tinsel, peacock herl and Partridge feathers from a local Alberta hunt. Caught a couple with this guy today. Cheers!

UV Fluorescing Loon coating on the body...

UV Red Butt special. Sz 12. Fluorescing Loon UV treatment on the body, Olive UV dubbing collar, chartreuse 140 Denier hotspot, and the weird 'Insta Jig' tungsten bead in gunmetal. Whewph... lots of steps for a bottom-bouncer!

Just remember to leave said coffee grinder in the tying area...don't ask me why I know this.

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.