Help Fishing The Bow

[fisher26]

Unfortunately I have fished the Bow very little this year as I have been on holidays/busy for most of the summer. I am thinking of taking a newbie out who has had very little success and really want him to catch some fish, due to the fact I rarely fish the Bow, and have only fished it a couple times this year I am a little worried that we won't catch fish. I know the Bow is a tuff river for a beginner but this is one of the only times/places it'll work out so it'll have to do.

 

Therefore I'm wondering what techniques would work well for this time of the year, I'm not a big "matching the hatch" guy so I doubt we will be fishing drys although if the opportunity presents itself we will. Usually I wouldn’t ask what to use on the bow as a BASJW and a bead head dropper catches enough fish to keep me happy, but I've heard that this technique doest work as well in the late summer/fall.

 

What water should we fish and with what set up, technique and flies to have a successful day on the bow (for me more than one fish to hand)

 

I am a fairly accomplished fly-fisher but not a big frequenter of the Bow so any advice would be appreciated.

 

 

Thanks!

[maxwell]

put on a little sjw and a small ph tail or prince and get em nymphing...

[fisher26]

I heard that the standard deep nymphing with a couple split shots, a SJW and a big corkie isn’t as productive in the fall. Is that true?

 

I think I'll start out with that fore sure but are there any other productive nymphing methods around this time of year that would be good to have up my sleeve?

 

Thanks a bunch for the response; I really appreciate all the experienced advice on this forum.

[Rick]

You should have some back swimmer patterns for sure. We had great luck ( Friday) before noon on a #16 copper john tied in red and as for worms, we were using #4 wire worms with a red bead and they were working right til dark. If you do encounter rising fish you should try a 16 or 14 caddis. #14 prince nymphs were working well at the start of the day as well. We did find the fishing slower from about 1 til 3 pm. Best of luck. Rick.

[Guest rusty]

Tie on a stimmie or a smaller hopper pattern right now and fish it right along the banks and all over in the riffly water between 1'-3' deep. If you have no problems seeing it, tie a 2-3' dropper off the bend of the dry and tie on a backswimmer, caddis larva, or just a hare's ear or weevil and set hard whenever you lose sight of the dry.

 

It's easier to cast than a nymphing rig and way too much fun to fish.

[toolman]

With the Bow running so low, slow and clear, indicators will spook many fish, so try using a big dryfly with droppers as Rusty suggested or try High Sticking nymphs without one. I would also recommend 4x and 5x tippet and a long leader to improve stealth/presentation. Longer leaders have a little more stretch and will help protect finer tippets from breaking.

[fisher26]

Great thanks so much everyone. I really appreciate the advice and I think we will experiment with a hopper dropper rig and if all else fails just standard nymphing. I will report on how it goes.

 

 

Thanks again!