Bow River...

[BobLoblaw]

Hit the Bow for a couple hours after work on Wednesday; too much cold weather had me jonesin' to get the fly rod out! Hooked 8 whitefish, landed half of them. Finished with a nice, thick 22" brown trout. Forgot my camera at home, so no pics...:sign0161:
Went out with my brother this morning for a few hours. We were breaking ice off the eyes every few casts for a while; pretty soon it warmed up nicely.
I went 0 for my first 5 hookups; couldn't get a fish to hand to save my life!
Meanwhile, my bro' landed a brown, a rainbow & a whitefish. I had sacrificed 6 flies to the river bottom & had nothing to show for it. Another fella fishing near us landed this 22" rainbow...

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/3651/p3130999.jpg (http://img801.imageshack.us/i/p3130999.jpg/)

http://img859.imageshack.us/img859/3522/p3131002.jpg (http://img859.imageshack.us/i/p3131002.jpg/)

I finally started landing some fish- a whitefish, a 17" rainbow & this
18.5" brown...

http://img857.imageshack.us/img857/9052/p3131010.jpg (http://img857.imageshack.us/i/p3131010.jpg/)

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2369/p3131014.jpg (http://img138.imageshack.us/i/p3131014.jpg/)

No super big fish, but very energetic; the trout we caught all went aerial a few times. A very fun way to spend a Sunday...:)

[perchie15]

Congrats on the catch. Better then nothing atleast :)

[horton213]

hows the ice? is there quite a few open spots?

[walking buffalo]

Bob without a camera? :snapoutofit:

Love your pics, keep 'em coming. :)

I'm dusting off the fly gear. Early april fishing on the Bow is awsome!

[Daceminnow]

Ah......that makes me feel better. I have been sick all morning thinking how good the eye fishing on the week-end was - now its near DONE. thanks for the up lifting pics of days ahead on the bow.

Dace.

[Okotokian]

Where's a good place to fish on the Bow this time of year? I've only ever tried around Policeman's Flats.

[coorslight]

when does the north sask ice off around vermilion area

[Pudelpointer]

If my week doesn't get filled up I mat try and hit the Crow later this week.

Man, that sure was a pretty brown.

[DarkAisling]

Dusting off my fly gear this week, too . . . thanks for the inspiration, Bob :)

[goldscud]

Oh great Bob! You guys caught all the trout in the river and left me this thing

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/fishmonger/speypike003.jpg

[drifter]

Way to go goldscud.

[DarkAisling]

Oh great Bob! You guys caught all the trout in the river and left me this thing

Nice lookin' "thing!"

[Dust1n]

lol iv caught contless of small bwns like that under the brdges there soo fun when your lure just stops in mid drift to find a beautifull brown waiting for you
Good Job

[goober]

Looks good boy's!!!

[BobLoblaw]

hows the ice? is there quite a few open spots?

Lots of open water; I'd be mighty careful about venturing out on any ice shelves, though. Them there trout ain't worth dying for!

[Alberta Bigbore]

Very nice fish.!!! I think I should start to leave for calgary a few hours earlier during the week this summer and park the rig and hit the bow!

[usie33]

Nice pics guys, i was out today and there was about a foot of vis but the fish were still hitting pretty good just had to find them. Managed a few rainbows and lost a couple whites but still havent been able to get that winter brown.... also never caught a pike out of the bow yet, any chance you could give me some info on how you got that pike goldscud?

[goldscud]

Swinging a streamer with a spey rod

[trigger7mm]

Those are beautiful fish. Good going! I've been fly fishing for a couple of years now, and love it. I've never caught a brown trout in my life. Do you mind telling me what type of fly you use for them, and would a floating line suffice. Thanks, and good fishin'.

[goldscud]

trigger....you need to learn how to nymph with a floating line, strike indicator and about 9 feet of leader. You should have some luck with some San Juan worms, stoneflies, or prince nymphs.

[Dust1n]

trigger buy a 9 foot 6wt fly rod. buy a hobbs creek reel nd some floating line.
buy some streamers,sculpin wooly buggers ect. nd sing it and strip it in the current yur get browns.nymphing takes too long....and ihate it dry fly and streamers FTW IMO

[Blairh]

Is fly fishing a must at this time on the bow? or if me and a friend went out with spin rods would we have any luck? also anyone willing to share spots with a couple university kids looking to get into some fish for a couple hour study break...
Thanks

[usie33]

Is fly fishing a must at this time on the bow? or if me and a friend went out with spin rods would we have any luck? also anyone willing to share spots with a couple university kids looking to get into some fish for a couple hour study break...
Thanks

Fly fishing isnt a must but its my go too, i dont do any spin casting on the bow but i have a friend that does and he usually will use a small brown trout rapala or a couple different kinds of mepps spinners. i mostly fish the bow south of calgary, so not to close to the university, but just hit the river and walk up and down hitting different holes till you find the fish. :fishing:

[Blairh]

Ya we have a vehicle so getting around isn't a problem, how far south do you usually fish?

[commieboy]

Ya we have a vehicle so getting around isn't a problem, how far south do you usually fish?

From the U, take Crowchild to Glenmore. Head east on Glenmore. As soon as you pass over Deerfoot, you'll see a car dealership (Chrysler, I think) on your right. Turn right at this point. You should be on Glendeer Circle. Pretty darn quickly, you hit Heritage drive (two lights up, I think). Turn left onto Heritage Drive and immediately get in your right lane. Before you go under the bridge looming in front of you, there's a gravel parking lot on your right hand side. Go in. Park. Fish. Lots of whites, browns and rainbows sitting around, bored because everyone else is at fishcreek park.

You could also try Bowness or Edworthy park.... Much closer, but I'm not sure how much ice there is around there right now.

You should petition student council to get a pond on campus. They have so much dead land to the west of the main campus and it could easily be turned into a man-made trout/greyling pond! I understand that Lethbridge has a campus fishing hole. Why not Calgary?!

[Commander B]

Check your regs before you try Edworthy......

[commieboy]

Check your regs before you try Edworthy......

Good point. Hadn't thought about that as I haven't been fishing that stretch at all this year.

[Blairh]

thanks, will definitely be trying out that first spot, gonna go in there with the new daiwa ultralight and 6lb test should be a blast!
And thats a great idea except if they did that I wouldn't study anymore.

[dkmountainman]

Yeah I agree. Was just at Fish Creek park yesterday and there were 8 fishermen. I guess the season is already picking up. Caught a brown, a whitefish and lost 2 others (rainbow and not sure what the 2nd one was).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/journey_man1/198908_118496794891211_100001926721875_136032_4762 692_n.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/journey_man1/189358_118496804891210_100001926721875_136034_8960 19_n.jpg

[Blairh]

Hey thanks for the help, went out to that spot and got 2 browns in 2 hours...not great but one was over 20"! ended up getting way to cold and headed in.. Also on a side note anyone know why there are over 5 dead ducks on shore? Or why I caught a duck head..is the river that polluted?

[Gust]

Hey thanks for the help, went out to that spot and got 2 browns in 2 hours...not great but one was over 20"! ended up getting way to cold and headed in.. Also on a side note anyone know why there are over 5 dead ducks on shore? Or why I caught a duck head..is the river that polluted?

report it

[Blairh]

report it
done

[Dust1n]

were you by the gold course cause theres tons of dead bird in general seen some dead geese,crows and magpies not including the sall birds.

[Blairh]

report it

were you by the gold course cause theres tons of dead bird in general seen some dead geese,crows and magpies not including the sall birds.

Ya I was there, on that island kind of thing..
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=50.987504,-114.023841&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mift&mrsp=1&sz=19&sll=50.987514,-114.024114&sspn=0.000907,0.003412&ie=UTF8&ll=50.987537,-114.023656&spn=0.001898,0.00478&t=h&z=18

[Dust1n]

yeah i also noticed a ton of goldballs mabe from all the polution from eating the fishh?? doubt it.

[goldscud]

This happens every winter on the Bow. I believe it is from avian botulism

http://www.srd.alberta.ca/BioDiversityStewardship/WildlifeDiseases/documents/Avian_bot.pdf

[Blairh]

Ya who knows, maybe they will investigate it now. Is there any other trout other then browns in there or did i just not get lucky enough?

[Dust1n]

pease explain what that is please but in that locations there is a ton of dead birds more then any other location i fished.

[tacklerunner]

Ya who knows, maybe they will investigate it now. Is there any other trout other then browns in there or did i just not get lucky enough?

There's rainbows and bulls too. Dunno if catching the other species would be better than browns though. Well rainbows might put on a better show, maybe not and bulls can get huge but so can the others so... I think you had a good day. Usually you'll get more rainbows than browns so it a great start for you.

[chubbdarter]

are you guys catching bull trout under the Glenmore bridge?

[Blairh]

There's rainbows and bulls too. Dunno if catching the other species would be better than browns though. Well rainbows might put on a better show, maybe not and bulls can get huge but so can the others so... I think you had a good day. Usually you'll get more rainbows than browns so it a great start for you.

Well thats good to hear, where are the bulltrout? As I have never caught one before and it would be great to tie into one on my light rod :)..Are they just distributed throughout the river or is there any 'special spots' where they like to hang out?

[Blairh]

are you guys catching bull trout under the Glenmore bridge?

threw a few casts in right under the bridge and didn't get any, looked like a great hole tho gonna go back and fish it hard sometime this week.

[tacklerunner]

I've never caught a bull on the Bow but know those who have. They're not that common and are a protected species, thus all the hype about knowing the species and releasing them. The Bow is a funny river. You can get a surprise sometimes. Not only are there rainbows, browns and bulls, there's also pike, burbot, whitefish and even lake trout. Lakers escape from ghost lake when they open the dam and are in the Bearspaw Reservoir. Then when they open up the bearspaw dam they flow into the river. I have heard of all the species I listed caught below the Bearspaw dam and into bowness. So anything is possible I suppose.

[Blairh]

I've never caught a bull on the Bow but know those who have. They're not that common and are a protected species, thus all the hype about knowing the species and releasing them. The Bow is a funny river. You can get a surprise sometimes. Not only are there rainbows, browns and bulls, there's also pike, burbot, whitefish and even lake trout. Lakers escape from ghost lake when they open the dam and are in the Bearspaw Reservoir. Then when they open up the bearspaw dam they flow into the river. I have heard of all the species I listed caught below the Bearspaw dam and into bowness. So anything is possible I suppose.

Sounds like I am going to be doing a lot of exploring/fishing this spring...there goes the GPA for spring semester.

[tacklerunner]

Sounds like I am going to be doing a lot of exploring/fishing this spring...there goes the GPA for spring semester.

Lol. Nah fishing clears the mind. You'll absorb more... when your not day dreaming about fishing. :sHa_sarcasticlol: Just remember to check the regs. Not all parts of the bow are always open. There's a little map in the regs that shows the dams and weirs so if you follow it along with the regs you can make sense of it all. You just need to concentrate on the area from the Bearspaw dam to the Carseland Weir and the sections within it.

[Blairh]

Lol. Nah fishing clears the mind. You'll absorb more... when your not day dreaming about fishing. :sHa_sarcasticlol: Just remember to check the regs. Not all parts of the bow are always open. There's a little map in the regs that shows the dams and weirs so if you follow it along with the regs you can make sense of it all. You just need to concentrate on the area from the Bearspaw dam to the Carseland Weir and the sections within it.

ya, i always check don't wanna have that conversation with a CO. And ya I can see myself taking many many walks up and down the banks of the river

[Blairh]

Found out about the dead ducks, thought I would post the response so everyone would know.


What you have noticed is an event that happens every winter along the
Bow River to varying degrees. The ducks you have noticed have died from
Avian Cholera. This is not a human health concern, but certainly can
affect the over-wintering duck populations that reside on the Bow River.
Some of these ducks are carriers of the bacterial disease and spread it
to others at concentrated "loafing sites" along the banks of the Bow
River. The ducks often select sites that remain ice free during the
winter months. Spring runoff will wash the duck carcasses downstream
soon. Unless numbers are unusually high, we do not make efforts to
remove the carcasses. We have seen duck numbers affected by this
disease vary in numbers from dozens to hundreds. Once spring arrives
and the ducks disperse the problem diminishes rapidly, until the
following winter when it reappears.

Thank you very much for taking the time to contact me. I hope my
explanation satisfies your concern. We get similar calls most winters
and provide the same information. It is good that people are noticing
unusual events and bother to notify us.

[goldscud]

Avian cholera. (I mistakenly put avian botulism in my last post)

Avian cholera, also known as fowl cholera, is one of the most common diseases among wild North American waterfowl. It is the result of infection with the bacterium Pasteurella multocida. This bacterium kills swiftly, sometimes in as few as 6 to 12 hours after infection. Live bacteria released into the environment by dead and dying birds can subsequently infect healthy birds. As a result, avian cholera can spread quickly through a wetland and kill hundreds to thousands of birds in a single outbreak. Avian cholera often affects the same wetlands and the same bird populations year after year.