Can Fish Smell Desperation

[Fishscape]

I'm in my worst slump ever. I have not landed a fish since last September. Bow, Crow, Oldman, it doesn't matter. Could not catch a fish lately to save my life. Maybe fish are like women?

[FraserN]

I am in the same place. One fish this spring, Trips to Bow, crowsnest, and oldman rivers. Very mean trout for me this year on nasty rivers.

[TIKKAM65]

Well cant say ive been doing any better been fishing the bow off and on for 3 years and have only caught 2 baby rainbows and a monster sucker woohoo! Hopefully my luck will change tonight, going for a float with Drock hes going to give me some pointers. Ive had better luck in smaller river systems fish are more accepting on the presentation side.

[SilverDoctor]

OK OK I admit it, last time i had coffee with the Bow river trout I agreed to put human detectors on all you guys. I'll remove them and your luck should improve.

 

The Bow can be a harsh mistress, it is considered a mid to expert river, one day it can explode with dry fly action, the next like it's devoid of fish. keep at it boys, change things up and don't always rely on the old standards or what worked yesterday.

[WyomingGeorge]

Silver: wasn't that a Glenn Campbell song?

 

Other gents: if you're nymphing the Bow:

--get down deep -- split shot, split shot, split shot. You should be hooking the river bottom more than occasionally, and losing the occasional fly

--use stones, worms, and little mayfly, caddis and midge stuff -- always have some little stuff on. Sometimes go "all small". Bright day, bland coloured worm; cloudy day or murky water, bright worm

--fish deep water, shallow water, fast water, slow water. As summer comes and the water heats up, fish more and more fast water

--set on ANY indicator movement -- every time, every time, every time

--if you see the occasional fish rolling near the surface, or single rises but not really working fish, then shorten the rig and occasionally let it go tight at the end of the drift, simulating rising insects

 

You shall be rewarded by the harsh mistress.

[redfly]

Nope your all wrong Just use a Red Fly and your efferts will be rewarded

[jtaylor]

I took up what I call the bow river meditation, Depth Breath inhale, Cast, mend, exhale.

 

Also the big lesson I learned is that sizing down your fly makes a big difference.size 16-18 size nymph instead of size 12 or bigger. use a Worm/split shot for weight and if you are losing a fly or two a night you're not fishing deep enough.

[Guest bigdirty]

Cover lots of water. I see lots of people just standing in one spot changing flies for an hour. change your angle of presentation, by moving your feet. I like to hammer a seam, moving every few casts. after I've fished it, i'll backtrack, change flies and do it again. fish or not, a few laps and its off to the next hole.

 

work on your river craft/ninja skills. fish the seam closest to the bank first, then wade out.

 

a little confidence and positive thinking goes a long way. most importantly, its not about the fish is it?

[Fishscape]

Thanks for the tips guys.

 

The river continued to be a cruel mistress today, giving me a whipping (and not in a good way). One on, none landed.

[TIKKAM65]

Went out with drock, had a great float had one fish on for about 5 seconds and it snapped my line. Pretty funny when u got a fish on and your floating uncontrolled through the rapids! My biggest problem is consistency with just about everything lol. Definatly learned a few things from just watching, really appreciated the advice. Thank you all with your great advice.

[WyomingGeorge]

Hey Big: If it's not about the fish, then why fish? Just canoe the very same water. For me, I gotta' admit, it's 80-90 percent about the fish, or I would go kayaking. So when I take a pounding, yeah it hurts, because it is about the fish.

[Guest bigdirty]

George, there are so many moments around the water that are equally breath taking as the ones with a fish on the end of the line. If I focused solely on the fish I might miss some of these moments. At least that's what I tell myself when I take a skunking.

 

just having the time to get out is worthy of appreciation too.

[WyomingGeorge]

Hi Big: Of course you are right -- every word of it. There are hours and hours on the river in which simply being there is magical.

 

And yet, the impetus for the journey, the framework of the activity, the object of the quest, is a certain thing.

 

So I believe the magic is linked to the success of the quest, on some intangible level, one that varies from day to day, river to river and angler to angler.

 

Being honest about myself, for me fishing multiple days without catching is like kayaking without surf waves, skiing in the rain, washing a car without soap or running the lawnmower without a blade.

[Chadillac]

deep guys, deep

[troutlover]

wow Wyoming George just wrote a country music song.

[darrinhurst]

wow Wyoming George just wrote a country music song.

Brilliant.

[WyomingGeorge]

And if you play it backwards, you get your girlfriend back and you land the fish!

[darrinhurst]

Don't forget your dog comes home too!

[reevesr1]

Hey Trouscape, if fish are truly like women and can spell desperation, I can tell you what used to work for me. I had a pink (way before pink was a common shirt color) shirt that I called the slump buster. Only brought it out when truly necessary. Gave me confidence and somehow my deal closing ration went up. So you need a go to fly that you believe in, use it to catch your fish, and put it away until you need it again. Another method would be to throw money around, but I'm not sure how that would work on fish.......

 

Edit: or go out during high water and float big ass stoneflies 3 ft under an indi close to the bank.

[troutlover]

Hey Rick every woman wants to have a gay friend they cant help themselves. They just didn't know you were in camouflage. Nice move!

[reevesr1]

Damn. If I'da known that I would have worn the shirt more often.

[porto]

Silver: wasn't that a Glenn Campbell song?

 

Other gents: if you're nymphing the Bow:

--get down deep -- split shot, split shot, split shot. You should be hooking the river bottom more than occasionally, and losing the occasional fly

--use stones, worms, and little mayfly, caddis and midge stuff -- always have some little stuff on. Sometimes go "all small". Bright day, bland coloured worm; cloudy day or murky water, bright worm

--fish deep water, shallow water, fast water, slow water. As summer comes and the water heats up, fish more and more fast water

--set on ANY indicator movement -- every time, every time, every time

--if you see the occasional fish rolling near the surface, or single rises but not really working fish, then shorten the rig and occasionally let it go tight at the end of the drift, simulating rising insects

 

You shall be rewarded by the harsh mistress.

Thanks.... Sounds like good advise

 

I have caught a handful of nice size rainbows over the years on the bow. But have yet to catch one single brown trout on the bow! I don't get it...

[jpinkster]

Thanks.... Sounds like good advise

 

I have caught a handful of nice size rainbows over the years on the bow. But have yet to catch one single brown trout on the bow! I don't get it...

 

Location, location, location. I've found that I have to look in different areas for the Browns. Muddier bottoms tight against a deep bank have been the ticket to start the year for me. I've found the further downstream you go the more Browns you run into.

[Fishscape]

I have also never caught a brown on the Bow, but plenty of bows.

[Chadillac]

streamers = browns