Fishing in the Heat.. August 2021

[1961flyman]

Hello Folk's;

Just looking at the Forecast and rethinking my Plans..

I had a few trips booked with various Calgarians this coming month.

Mostly friends and a few regulars..

I only fish during the week, and usually from mid morning to 7or 8  ish..

Guess I am going to push those trips off to September..

I wonder how the Guides and Fly shops and also regular Walk and Waders are going to deal with the Conditions..

River is warm..

 

[toolman]

I can appreciate your concern, Jim and I know you have been fishing the Bow for almost 50 years and have the expertise and experience to mitigate your fishing impacts, so my post is meant as general info for the wider fishing community. It's difficult to predict what conditions will be through August, but they certainly won't improve until we get cooler temps as flow rates are sure to decline without some rain.

I fished a few times this week and mid day water temp averaged 67 F. I caught a nice healthy Rainbow today, in the city, around 1:00, that put up a good fight and recovered quickly. Thermally stressed fish will retreat to deeper, cooler water with less direct UV exposure and generally won't sit in 16" of slow water, a foot off the bank, eating my #20 Trico. The Bow still has good flow (currently at 110 cms) and the Bearspaw dam is a bottom draw which releases cooler water into the river, averaging 6-7 C, year round and that has certainly helped with keeping water temps down. I Floated Mac too Janssen's yesterday and water temps were 64 F at about 10:00 am. We started early, around 6:30 am. It gets hot every summer in late July/August and this year is no different. Just check water temps through the day where you are fishing. Start early and call it a day if it hits 69-70 F, or sooner if the trout are sluggish and don't recover quickly, which is a sure sign of thermal stress/low dissolved oxygen. And anglers need to cut out the 5 minute grip n grin photo shoot's for their instagram/facebook page. Land them quickly and release them immediately. Keep em' wet!

 

 

[Vitalshok]

Fish tales closed down guiding for the weekend and said they would go day by day for the next week.So good on them.Fish or don’t fish you decide where all adults Here I have heard.

[toolman]

There are many other good reasons why a Guide service would be wise to shut down for a few days such as, public perception, very high river traffic through the long weekend (drift boats, kayaks, canoes, jet boats, rafters, shore anglers, long line ups at launches, dog walkers throwing sticks in the water). And, its been mediocre fishing this past week for most anglers because the hatches have been dismal so many of the trout are holding in fast, deep structure making them difficult to catch. During the day, there's not very many active, adult trout holding near the bank, so Hopper/dropper rigs or Streamers stripped back to the boat which are often very productive tactics that many anglers enjoy while drift fishing, have not been very productive. And during peak runoff, most Guide trips are also postponed when fishing conditions are poor or safety is a concern. Clients rely on Guide services to be honest and forthright about fishing conditions and they generally are.

[toolman]

Well Vitalshok, if you're that convinced that the fish are in such eminent danger then maybe you should send off a letter to Minister Nixon and ask him to  close down the Irrigation Canal at Calgary that is currently diverting over 20% of the Bow river flow and an additional 25% of flows at Carsland instead of preaching your version of morality to responsible adult anglers who are quite capable of making ethical decisions for themselves. And I wonder how many water temperature readings you have taken on the Bow this week? None?

Nice editing btw. At I least I own my words.

[bcubed]

Interesting to make an assumption as to why a shop paused guiding and try to associate it with everything but water temps.  Good on FT for putting money and reputation up to protect the resource. 

On 7/31/2021 at 7:53 PM, toolman said:

It gets hot every summer in late July/August and this year is no different.

Right.. this year is so normal. Back to back days of the hottest days recorded in Calgary are pretty standard. Whatever you gotta tell yourself to stay on the water.
 

 

lots of opportunities in alpine lakes to fish cold clear water for stocked fish. Pretty good note from Patagonia strikes home. The wild fish in the Bow are our collective bank account, we should avoid adding to the debit part until we get some cool weather. 

[toolman]

You're reading what fits into your own narrative. Nice spin on it. Water temps are seasonally normal this month even though air temps are higher than typical because we have benefited from higher than normal flows, resulting in typical seasonal water temperatures. And where's the evidence such as dead fish to prove otherwise? Making assumptions proves nothing except your bias. I've been out taking temperature readings up and down the Bow for the past couple of weeks. Evidence, facts. I've caught and landed a few trout on drys in the last week. Really killing the fishery eh.

[bcubed]

If we have to wait for a fish kill to stop fishing for wild fish, then you’ve missed the plot.

[toolman]

No, if as you are suggesting that fishing will kill trout, then where are the dead trout. There has been lots of angler traffic, so where are the dead fish? Haven't seen a single one myself. Zero. Nor has anyone that I've spoken to on the river.

[bcubed]

Multiple posts on the bow river conditions have seen dead fish in last two weeks, as well as a couple people I’ve talked to. 

[toolman]

Sure buddy, big mass die off going on there.

[bcubed]

Highwood at aldersyde is currently 72 F and got to 75 F on Sunday according to the government site, not an arbitrary reading by an angler. Forum members can do with that info what they want. It’s a shame that the ones on the Bow aren’t currently operating.

[jimbow]

For what is worth this year on May 15/16 I waded the Bow wet with no issue whatsoever. Also took a dip in the river as the air temp was in the mid 20s. Although it was chilly, I don't believe it was anywhere near as cold as it should have been for mid-May. I told my friends that weekend it does not bode well for the river if I can jump in the river in May and not have to immediately jump back out. Run off was odd followed by the heat dome and the current high temps must be hitting the rivers/creeks hard. Combined with the very low flows in many rivers/creeks the entire watersheds must be feeling the effects.

[1961flyman]

Hi Folk's;

How are the temps below the  Calgary weir ?

Hi Greg, (Toolman).. How are you doing ?

What are you observing lately ?

I live in Arbour Lake area and have been dog walking the paths around Bowness Park/Silver Springs  etc. and  the water  temps seems quite/reasonable around here in the 10 AM time frame.

I am going to take a few trips from the Cochrane bridge up to Wildcat Island on the cooler days next week.

Will report back.

[toolman]

Average temps 64 F mid-morning and 66-67 F mid-late afternoons. Some of the fish hooked this past week were leaping 2' out of the water and often multiple jumps. Barry White and I witnessed the highest density of Trico spinners, spanning across the entire river, that we have ever seen. It was mid-morning, below Mac's, on a float too Janssen's last Friday. Not many Hoppers chirping (stridulation) along the bank yet, but a friend did ok with a large Chernobyl pattern and adding a small Pheasant tail dropper will always get some attention. Swinging Wet fly's, Caddis emerger's and Leeches has produced some fish. Not many dry fly targets to shoot at, unfortunately.