billie Posted May 30, 2015 Posted May 30, 2015 Maybe some can help me understand something. Last weekend, we floated the Bow. 3 of us, I brown to net, not another bite at all. Now feel free to comment on our fishing ability (we have ) but what has me puzzled is the stone fly and caddis hatch going on and the fish were not feeding on them. There were live, kicking and wiggling golden stones by the dozens over very "fishy" water and there was virtually no rises (We did see about 4 or 5 rises in a half mile of river). This was the busiest stone fly hatch I've ever seen. Visibility was a bit obscured but still at least 2-3 feet, the river is far from browned out. Also, the caddis hatch going on was pretty solid with large fat caddis all over. Any suggestions and/or theories? Fish not distributed after spawn? Feeding on emergers? Not hungry? or my personal opinion, "There are no friggin' fish in the Bow! . Tks for taking the time to comment, and help out a puzzled fisherman. Just trying to expand my understanding of this ecosystem. Quote
SilverDoctor Posted May 30, 2015 Posted May 30, 2015 It does take time for the Trout to start looking up. After all its easier to feed on the staging nymphs first. They will start keying in. Quote
mattpreat Posted May 31, 2015 Posted May 31, 2015 I've yet to experience this, but I was just reading an article on salmonfly hatches that described that sometimes the actual hatch wont be the greatest fishing since the fish have filled up on the big nymphs before. It said in this case the best course of action was to fish the same flys you would during the hatch, except a few days after since the fish will still have the bugs in their memory. Could this possibly be what was happening here? Quote
BigFoamy Posted May 31, 2015 Posted May 31, 2015 was out watching baseball by the river last night, small stoneflies all over the place, they where probably .5" long maybe less. Quote
bowbonehead Posted May 31, 2015 Posted May 31, 2015 was out watching baseball by the river last night, small stoneflies all over the place, they where probably .5" long maybe less. They were likely sallys what color were they....was the.under belly different Quote
toolman Posted May 31, 2015 Posted May 31, 2015 Yes, likely Green Sally's. This particular species of the Alloperla genus, emerges on the stream bottom and then floats up too the surface and swims (wiggles) too the shoreline. There has been a prolific emergence this past week. The Golden stonefly species typically do not start emerging in very significant numbers until mid-late June. Salmon fly's, (Petronarcy dorsata) are a very minor species on the Bow and I only see maybe one or two each season. As SilverDoctor mentioned, fish are likely feeding subsurface, on nymphs and emerger's. Also, the trout tend to often feed at night, as there are many nocturnal emerger's on the Bow, including numerous species of Stonefly's, Caddis and Midges. Quote
billie Posted May 31, 2015 Author Posted May 31, 2015 Pretty much all day, but noon to 4 or so. http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd460/billie2011/Golden%20Stone2%20May%2010%202015_zpsyiekhlve.jpg Maybe these aren't stones? I sure thought they were. I suppose to bring this question a bit further, fishing has been poor all spring. 2 floats and 2 W&W evenings and nary a bite this year. Spring has never been real productive for me, but this is a record for me. What gives? Quote
toolman Posted May 31, 2015 Posted May 31, 2015 Looks like a Skwala stonefly (not a Golden Stonefly species). Their emergence/egg laying cycle typically starts around noon and runs until around 4:00. Your photo is dated May 10. Is that the day you took the picture? 1 Quote
billie Posted June 1, 2015 Author Posted June 1, 2015 No, earlier picture of the same bug. May 22 was the date in question. We saw a few on May 10 but not nearly as many as this afternoon. Quote
trailhead Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 I'm not sure about the stonefly species, but I have also had very poor results with fishing the Bow this spring. My theory is that it's the residual effect from the 2013 flood. The river got scrubbed out and the fish are behaving differently as a result. I have seen big fish, have hooked and landed very few fish and the predictability has changed. One thing is that I haven't seen any smaller sized fish, so that might be an effect too. It is a different river now as far as I am concerned. Quote
bcubed Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 I'd say it's more about flows then anything. It was fishing as good as it gets in early April, until that first big flow change hit. Since then, it's been increasing, however hardly consistenly. rare to see a spring with this much bouncing in flows. Probably going to be our future in the spring as Transalta worries about flow/flood management with the city breathing down their neck. Fish crave consistency. Hope we get it post runoff 1 Quote
DonAndersen Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 Mattpeat likely provided the answer. I've seen the same thing on brown drakes and back swimmers where the fish were so full that they didn't feed for a week. Great hatches don't always mean great fishing. Don 1 Quote
bullfighter Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 I was out last weekend at Glenmore Trail. I also noticed a big stonefly hatch, with the stones coming out of water and scurrying to the bank...but no fish taking notice. Started at 4pm, finally caught my first fist with my head lamp on. River was dead until dark, then it came alive! Got a couple 16" browns on the biggest stimulator pattern I had. Quote
BigFoamy Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 They were likely sallys what color were they....was the.under belly different they looked like tiny golden stones to me, didn't see much green. Quote
reevesr1 Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 I wonder if there is a lot of feeding at night going on? Used to see that in saltwater, typically around moon cycles. I know it's not the same thing, but if there are lots of stones coming off at night, then maybe the fish are just getting their fill? Quote
toolman Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 Yes I agree. Notice all the fishing reports that say "things picked up right at dusk". Remember the fishing reports from 8-9 years ago when many of us were fishing at night. I have caught risers on dry's at 4;00 am. For many seasons back then, I would hit the river 4-5 nights a week, starting at 9:00pm and stay out until 3-4:00am observing/collecting bugs to take back to photograph and for species id. Especially Stonefly's, they were the most interesting to observe and study. 1 Quote
SilverDoctor Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 Agreed, I cant count the number of times I haunted the river in the wee hours relying on the "slurp" sometimes the only indication of a take on a moonless night. Quote
billie Posted June 3, 2015 Author Posted June 3, 2015 Ah, baloney, there's no fish in that river! In all seriousness, thanks for the input and thoughts. All part of the learning process. This is one specific situation, but anyone have some additional feedback about springtime fishing (the Bow in particular)? My experience is that it is slow. Is that typical of spring? Or are we back to me being a lousy fishermen ? It would seem like the RBT should be back and very eager to feed after the spawn. Quote
SilverDoctor Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 Ah, baloney, there's no fish in that river! In all seriousness, thanks for the input and thoughts. All part of the learning process. This is one specific situation, but anyone have some additional feedback about springtime fishing (the Bow in particular)? My experience is that it is slow. Is that typical of spring? Or are we back to me being a lousy fishermen ? It would seem like the RBT should be back and very eager to feed after the spawn. Ah, baloney, there's no fish in that river! Quote
billie Posted June 3, 2015 Author Posted June 3, 2015 Ah, baloney, there's no fish in that river! FINALLY, validation! No one would believe but now they will know I'm right, with SD's endorsement, who could argue ? She sure can be a tough mistress . 1 Quote
greatbigdiddy Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 was out watching baseball by the river last night, small stoneflies all over the place, they where probably .5" long maybe less. BigFoamy at first i didn't see your decimal point with my old eyes and I thought the biblical plague was upon us ..... the locusts swarm the bow .... five inch stones ... my gawd imagine chucking a dry to imitate that LOL!!! 1 Quote
BigFoamy Posted June 5, 2015 Posted June 5, 2015 BigFoamy at first i didn't see your decimal point with my old eyes and I thought the biblical plague was upon us ..... the locusts swarm the bow .... five inch stones ... my gawd imagine chucking a dry to imitate that LOL!!! I call it the Hummingbird Pattern!!!! Sup man, where you been, wheres the vids I love so much?? Hope its all good. Quote
BigFoamy Posted June 5, 2015 Posted June 5, 2015 This guy was flying around my back yard this am while I laid my Pumpkin plant down. First attempt, wanna run it down the fence line Anyways, the pics are blurry, really small, wouldn't stop moving, no longer than a 1/2", lots of green. You can see enough in the pics. 1 Quote
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