So...how Was Everyones Season?

[johnbransfield]

Glad to hear that luck has finally changed directions for you chris. Im happy for you man

[rhuseby]

Season is still going for me, but so far since Jan 1:

 

100+ days on the water

 

500+ fish of 22 different species, rainbows, browns, cutts similar numbers

 

Biggest fish, 2 coho about 15 lbs near Campbell River

 

Best day, fishing with the kids up at Elbow Lake

 

Best flies, gold ribbed hare's ear, sjw, elk hair caddis, clousers

 

Waters fished, Bow, Elbow, Sheep, Quirk, Prairie, Flat, Etherington, Cataract, Oldman, Crowsnest, Dogpound, Raven, Stauffer, Fraser, Upper and Lower Kananaskis Lakes, Elbow, Severn, Airdrie pond, Pacific Ocean, Strait of Georgia

[toolman]

Well my season has been pretty good for the most part and I will hit close to the 200 day mark again this year. I spent the majority of my fishing time on the water this spring/summer collecting/studying insects, developing/practising my Spey fishing skills and experimenting with different fly patterns/leader systems to swing for each of the hatches. Not as much Trophy hunting as I normally like to do, bieng busy with the practise/study sessions, but I still have a very adequate trophy photo album to brag about.

Best Rainbow of 07' is 25" (so far),

Best Brown of 07'and personal best trout, at 29". (I'm not finished yet).

Best trout on the dry, 26" Broonie.

Best week on the Bow river, 125 Trout landed in 7 days.

Best day on the Bow river, 32 Trout landed.

The season is now in high gear for some Trophy fishing (practise is over) and I still have a week of Steelie/Coho fishing to do on the Skeena and its tributaries, as well as nightly Trophy Hunts on the Bow till freeze up.

[alhuger]

Well, mines not terribly impressive but reading all of yours did make me think on it, so for this year here goes:

 

 

Rivers:

 

Adams

Anesty

Beaver

Bow

Highwood

Seymour

Little River

 

Still:

 

Shuswap

 

Salt:

 

Ascension Bay, MX

Tulum coast and Playa Del Carmen coast, MX

Work Channel, .CA

Pacific (outside of Work Channel) .CA

 

Species Caught :

 

Bonefish

Bull Trout

Carp

Chinook

Chum

Coarse Fish (pike minnows, long nose suckers, etc. - not counting whitefish as coarse)

Coho

Cutties

Lake Char

Pinks

Whitefish

Rainbows

Sockeye

Snapper

 

Species Fished for (but skunked on):

 

Barracuda

Brown Trout

Bull Trout (in a river)

Permit

Snook

Tarpon

 

Not sure how many days I had on the water although I would guess less than 30. I try to avoid being an absentee dad or a shitty husband due to my obsession with fishing! Also not sure how many I caught, enough I suppose but not enough to dampen my need to get on the water... I hope to improve my days on the bow (with a spey rod I hope!) in the coming year and over the winter perhaps, it's a great river to have in your backyard but it can certainly be intimidating if you are not well versed on it (or on rivers in general).

 

-al

[grannyknot]

Tremendous. Truly spectacular. Can't see it being any other way while I can still walk to the river and throw line.

 

I had planned this spring to spend as much time down south as I could, but circumstances kept me on the central brown trout streams more often, which worked out well. I discovered the Crowsnest this year and was able to squeeze in three trips there, including one where I could do no wrong, and the 'bows launched themselves suicidally at my Adams all day long. I finally caught my first brookie, I finally caught a trout on the Dogpound, and I finally caught a real bow river brown on a dry fly.

 

From south to north, I fished Crowsnest, the Oldman, Livingstone, Dutch, Cataract, Highwood, Sheep, Threepoint, Elbow, Canyon, Bow, Jumpingpound, Sibbald, Dogpound, Little Red, Harold, Grease, FallenTimber, BurntTimber, James, Red Deer, South Raven, North Raven, and a few trickles I can't recall the names of. I even caught trout from a few of these streams!

 

I also discovered that I'm willing to hike quite a way to find large cutthroat, and there are a few lakes I will be returning to next summer, and a few I will be trying out.

 

Most importantly, I know more than I did this spring, and that's what counts.

Thanks for your help and advice everyone, the knowledge and experience on this site has helped me catch more trout.

[Guest tallieho]

well considering i had 8in. of my lower intestine removed on feb 12. This season was a challenge pretty well, confined to stillwaters,lost a good friend to a drowning at bullshead,so as a memoriam to him i didn't fish bullshead at all .I did manage to catch some very large/nice rainbows,at some of our special reg. lakes.Met kung fool at nakoda,great guy & a wealth of knowledge.taking the big boat of the truck today, may wet a line as long as the water is open,but i do also look forward to the hard water.I generally target those pesky perch & try to get kids interested in this winter sport & lakes which are known to suffer from winterkill.

[Hawgstoppah]

I would have to say that I had one of my most wonderfull seasons ever. And it had nothing to do with the fish. First, I met so many quality fisherman and even more importantly, quality people.... this year... Thanks to all of you who met me somewhere, or came to grab me from my rig for an evening on the Bow. And second, I really had a chance to explore some new water, and love it. And third, my duaghters have become somewhat interested in it, and have each landed their first fish on a fly.

 

Waters fished:

 

Around home:

Numerous southern AB rivers, streams, and ponds (which shall remain un-named)

Police Lake

Bow

Crowsnest

Lower Oldman

 

And in my travels:

Hat Creek, CA

White River, AR

Sulpher Creek Reservoir, WY

Flathead Lake, MT

Echo Lake, MT

 

Favorite days:

Helping my girls get into their first fish at Echo Lake, MT

4 nights in a row that I had over 10 fish to hand on the dry fly on the Bow.

Watching Toolman get spooled by the "Locomotive" under a starry night.

Discovering a sweet little place near home *grin*

 

Best fish.

Dry Fly: 26.5" brown on the Bow

Nymph: 28+" Rainbow in Police Lake

Streamer: 31" brown - undisclosed locale *grin*

Non fly fishing: 37" 17lb Lake Trout - Flathead Lake , MT on a downrigger

 

 

Soon to be fished:

Babine

Skeena

Bulkley

Morice

ETC

 

Soon to be landed:

CHROMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woohoo!

[trailhead]

Now that the season is officially over I will put my numbers up. Got out on 56 days, for a total of 191 hours, which I think is the more telling number. I caught a rough total of 392 fish which included browns, rainbows, cutthroat, whitefish, grayling, brookies, pike, bull trout and catfish. Fished the Bow, Highwood, Elbow, Sheep, Oldman, Livingstone, Vicary, Etherington, Racehorse, Crowsnest, Carbondale, Castle and Flat. As far as lakes go Okanagan, Beaver Mines, Burmis, Mud, Wedge, Kananaskis, Elbow, Quarry, Buller, Bruce, Phillips and Chain. Highlights are my first Pike on the fly, grizzly sow and two cubs at Phillips, cougar on the Bow, black bear on the Oldman, and almost drowning on the Bow. I live for adventure.

[WesG]

Well my list is quit short. I did not get back from my guiding is Ontario untill the end of August so there was little flyfishing done, most noteable fish however were 3 44" pike and big walleye to numerous to remember. I couldnt even begin to guestimate how many fish were caught through out the summer up there though. A trip to Rivers Inlet for some salmon was in order after getting home though and we managed to bring home 6 Coho's one weighing in at 16lbs.

 

After I was home however I think I made a good effort at the short time that I had left to fish in Alberta till most river closed. I managed 1 day each on the Crow, Carbondale/Castle, and Police Lake. I put 1 fish in the net on a dry all year which was in the middle of October on the Castle, pretty much made my season. I also managed to hit the Backswimmer fall at Police and had a really great day out there, all with NO WIND!!!! I would say it was a great end to the season. Now let the offseason begin... no wait.... there is no offseason for this guy.

[LynnF]

My season was greeted with the arrival of my gorgeous granddaughter. Marred by the closures which hindered our beloved fishing of the mountain streams down south. Enhanced by the outstanding 2 weeks of fishing we had on the Bow in August and ended far too soon due to issues related to an upcoming surgery for me.

 

But next year: an all expenses paid trip salmon fishin in the QCI with Mike and one of his customers. If I do nothing else, I think that will be the highlight of my season and I'm looking forward to that more than anything I ever have. So my sad ending to the season has a happy beginning for the next.

 

And to those who have overcome health issues this past season - congratulations. I hope to count myself as one of you very soon

[flyangler]

I'm having kind of a bad attitude about my season. Your posts make me want to move to Calgary, where I would probably never get any work done!

 

Bless you all in your fishing, families and health (in any order you like).

[clarki]

my season was shortened due to major back surgery but this calender year was still very productive....

 

only rivers fished were the crow and the oldman. lakes included travers, sherburne, jensens, nicholas sheran and police

 

species landed:

perch

sturgeon

pike

walleye

rainbows

browns

cutts

brookies

shorthead redhorse

burbot

lake whitefish

rocky mtn whitefish

white sucker

bull trout

 

best day would have been jigging 'eyes at travers or through the ice at sherburne for perch and 'eyes

 

had a 5 species afternoon at a lake

 

biggest fish was a 54 inch sturgeon

also a 27 inch brown

22 inch brookie

26 inch walleye

23 inch bull

 

most memorable moment would be hooking, battling and landing the 54 inch sturgeon by myself!

 

for me it was a shortened season but still very productive. my back is recovering and i will be out with a vengeance come march on the crow which will be followed by april on the oldman an then may to mid-june will be sturgeon which is immediately followed by june and july spent at travers and then back to the streams in august through september and october which brings me to hunting season followed by the hardwater season for perch and walleyes!!

 

M

[bigalcal]

I also met LynnF this summer......Good Luck!

[reevesr1]

My best fishing year ever, but like Hawg said, that has more to do with the people I met than the fish I caught. But the fishing part was really special as well.

Rivers/Streams fished:

Bow, Oldman, Highwood, Crow, West Castle, Livingstone, Vicary Creek.

I fished a couple of neighborhood lakes, but really very little still water fishing this year. I live too close to the Bow.

 

Species caught and years best:

Rainbow 26.5"

Brow 22"

Cutthroat maybe 17"

Cuttbow don't remember size

Bull 17"

Brookie maybe 8"

 

The Brown, Cuttbow, and Bull were firsts for me.

 

Saltwater (on a fly rod)

Redfish 24"

Speckled Trout 10" (my goal for next year is a 20"er)

Sand Trout

Spanish Mackerel 20"

 

I'd like to list all the guys from the site I've met or fished with, but I'll forget someone and feel bad. Thanks to all of you and to the moderators of this board for your invaluable service.