hairygrump Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Hello. Just moved down to Calgary from Jasper and I'm living in Mongomery so I'm about 2 min from the river. I'm wondering about walking and wading from the bearspaw down towards the city centre. I've heard that the water can come up quite a bit over the day so my main concern is safety. I'm used to wading in faster water but if I'm running the risk of getting swamped I'd rather make the drive south. Any reccomendations? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FraserN Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 No worries. I have fished the NW stretch of the Bow up here in Bowness/Montgomery for over 20 years. In all that time, I have never noticed a rise in water levels over the course of the day, except for very heavy rain. They moderate the flow from Bearspaw dam to keep the water levels below the dam in this stretch very stable. If you try the stretch of the Bow river above the dam, up towards Cochrane: It is an entirely different story. The peak release flow from the Ghost dam leads to a huge rise in water level during the day, and it can be downright dangerous if you get caught in it. But the fishing below Bearspaw is much better than above, so take advantage of the proximity to the river, and enjoy the flshing. It opens up for fishing every season on June 1, after a closure of 2 months in April and May for protecting the spawning Rainbow trout. There is lots of good water, and plenty of fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollyy Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Bownesian all my life, great whitefish fishing but very hit and miss for big trout. You will have success in the fall for the occaisional brown trout, but because of all the dingy day trippers, and all the dog ball chuckers, you are better off driving down deerfoot trail to Fish Creek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverDoctor Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Wading is never a problem there. And as far as fish go the river is full of them, You just have to look for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairygrump Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Bownesian all my life, great whitefish fishing but very hit and miss for big trout. You will have success in the fall for the occaisional brown trout, but because of all the dingy day trippers, and all the dog ball chuckers, you are better off driving down deerfoot trail to Fish Creek. Thats good to know, I think the Mrs. is a little more comfortable with me fishing alone knowing that the water levels aren't to bad. As for the fish, I really don't care whats in there as long as I'm catching them. Looking forward to trying for whitefish as we don't find them to much in my old haunts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollyy Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Thats good to know, I think the Mrs. is a little more comfortable with me fishing alone knowing that the water levels aren't to bad. As for the fish, I really don't care whats in there as long as I'm catching them. Looking forward to trying for whitefish as we don't find them to much in my old haunts. Silver Doctor is right, there are lots of trout in the upper river, but you have to put the time in to find the fish. The hatches up here don't coincide with the lower bow, but the stone fly and green drake hatches are really good for a short period. The river downstream of bowness park to the train bridge can produce well. The rainbows are smaller but they are sure sporty. light weight rods for the upper river are a must. If u want white fish then the Bow River Killer is your fly, it is a size 14-16 dryfly hook, body, orange egg yarn tightly wrapped smooth, then fully wrapped with short to medium brown hackle. The old local Dutchmen spincasters , developed this fly, (or some how have taken credit for it) and fish it with amazing success. They bottom bouce it with a part of a coat hanger, so they don't get snagged on the rocks. This of course is the dilema for fly fishermen, so u have to figure out how to get your fly near the bottom on as much of a natural float as possible. The closest way that i have found is to put a splitshot at the end of your tippet and then tie your fly about 10 inches up, fish this way with a bobber type rig up, and make sure you have at least a 12 foot leader because the water can be deep and fast in certain stretches. cheers, good hunting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seby Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 The hatches up here don't coincide with the lower bow, but the stone fly and green drake hatches are really good for a short period. Not to correct you or anything but as far as i know and i could be wrong, i have never seen or heard of Green Drakes on that stretch of river. They are well know on the upper bow in Banff and Canmore, but for some reason arnt found downstream. Troutfisher01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FraserN Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Yes, it is true. Lots of whitefish, and vast numbers of 6 to 10 inch Rainbows. But finding the haunts of the bigger trout has taken years of fishing. They are in very specific spots, and it is a large, wide river, so finding them is difficult. Far more of the larger trout below Bonnybrook, where random casting can catch them. Up here, random fishing is a waste of time for anything sizeable, unless you get lucky. Good summer hatches of caddis, golden stoneflies, lime sally stoneflies and PMDs. Makes for decent dryfly fishing; but, again, the majority of trout will be the plentiful small rainbows. I like the stretch for convenience of access. I can accept not getting as many large trout as downstream if I can be on the water in 10 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairygrump Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 Silver Doctor is right, there are lots of trout in the upper river, but you have to put the time in to find the fish. The hatches up here don't coincide with the lower bow, but the stone fly and green drake hatches are really good for a short period. The river downstream of bowness park to the train bridge can produce well. The rainbows are smaller but they are sure sporty. light weight rods for the upper river are a must. If u want white fish then the Bow River Killer is your fly, it is a size 14-16 dryfly hook, body, orange egg yarn tightly wrapped smooth, then fully wrapped with short to medium brown hackle. The old local Dutchmen spincasters , developed this fly, (or some how have taken credit for it) and fish it with amazing success. They bottom bouce it with a part of a coat hanger, so they don't get snagged on the rocks. This of course is the dilema for fly fishermen, so u have to figure out how to get your fly near the bottom on as much of a natural float as possible. The closest way that i have found is to put a splitshot at the end of your tippet and then tie your fly about 10 inches up, fish this way with a bobber type rig up, and make sure you have at least a 12 foot leader because the water can be deep and fast in certain stretches. cheers, good hunting So if I'm imagining this right, it should look like a stimulator without wings or tail? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FraserN Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Even simpler. A stimulator without wings, tail, nor a thorax. Think of a standard wooly worm fly pattern, with orange yarn, instead of chenille for the body. A pretty simple fly, that even works on trout up here, in spite of being called the whitefish killer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairygrump Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 Cool, that'll give me a project over the next couple nights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xplorer Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Hey Guys, I used to fish the Nw section alot as I live about 10mins away. I agree with everyone about the trout being smaller and less of them, but if you fish it enough and are not afraid to investigate some different parts of the river you will find bigger fish. I don't fish the Nw as much anymore because I started travelling down south in the last few years and got kind of addicted to the larger and more plentiful fish avaliable there. I have heard some fisherman talking in the fly shops about the removal of the wier may allow more trout to migrate upstream and improve the fishery. Not sure about that but it can't hurt. When I was a kid we used to fish the river with a fly that sounds like the one Triploid is describing. Here's a photo, the hackle is a bit too long but you get the idea. These flies used to work awesome for whitefish, I caught hundreds, maybe into the thousands of whitefish on these. We tried tying them in all different colors but always came back to orange being the best. The river hardly ever seem to fluctuate water level through out the day. I can only remember one time when the water level changed for no real reason(I am sure the people at the dam had a reason). It dropped while I was taking some pics and releasing a fish, so I took a photo of how far it dropped. Here's that pic... I have fished the river in the Nw in the winter with very little luck. I have found some midges hatching with an odd whitefish rising to them here and there. I just like to get out and wet a line in the winter to keep myself from going nuts cya Lance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericlin0122 Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Ok, some people here might think im crazy. I don't have too much luck at that place from above picture. If you really want white fish... go fish near the railroad bridge runs through bowness and bowness park. Have to fish it deep. The best time of year I found is from March to April and late season. For trouts, pretty much everywhere in bowmont park is fish-able. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FraserN Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 The fly shown in the picture Xplorer posted here is the Whitefish killer. I agree with him about winter fishing up here being a waste of time, but I need to test my new reel for my sinking line, so I will try one trip in Bowmont park sometime in the next month or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollyy Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Not to correct you or anything but as far as i know and i could be wrong, i have never seen or heard of Green Drakes on that stretch of river. They are well know on the upper bow in Banff and Canmore, but for some reason arnt found downstream. Troutfisher01 You are right, I fish up at Seebee/exshaw so much that I entered the wrong fly pattern, lots of green drakes in the bow valley, but very scarce below Ghost. They can be a real dryfly blast if you hit them at the right time at Chief Hector Lake or Seebee resivoir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverDoctor Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 funny everyone has mentioned various hatches but on BWO. There are 4 major hatch times during the year I have great luck with them in various stages and sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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