New to bow river

[leggacy]

hey dudes, im new to fishing in the river and only have a 7 foot spin rod. I live in the nw of calgary and I am looking for some good close spots to start out. Im much more confident in lakes then rivers. i hear rapala countdowns and mepps are dependable? is that true?

any advice would be appreciated !
thanks

[Christofficer]

Welcome to Alberta Outdoorsmen dude.

7 foot spinning rod medium/light action will do just fine. Spool it with 8lb test or 6lb test mono or fluorocarbon, I recommend fluorocarbon since it's more invisible during daylight. Lures, yeah, countdown raps, husky jerks, floating, etc will all take trout. Just not ones too big, around 3" and smaller will catch fish, I've caught a few hogs on larger 41/2" floating raps. Spinners you'll catch trout and whitefish. My favorite spinners are panther martins, but rooster tails, mepps, and blue fox will all do the job. Any lures 3" and under will work though. Assorted streamer flies with a few splitshot will work too, and spoons. In the NW you can try anywhere downstream from the bearspaw dam, always some big fish in there to be had. Since you're used to fishing lakes, you'll probably lose some lures to snags. If you wanna avoid that with rapalas, try the floating kind. If you're wondering about anything more specific just shoot me a PM.

[joe_manix]

Welcome to Alberta Outdoorsmen dude.

7 foot spinning rod medium/light action will do just fine. Spool it with 8lb test or 6lb test mono or fluorocarbon, I recommend fluorocarbon since it's more invisible during daylight. Lures, yeah, countdown raps, husky jerks, floating, etc will all take trout. Just not ones too big, around 3" and smaller will catch fish, I've caught a few hogs on larger 41/2" floating raps. Spinners you'll catch trout and whitefish. My favorite spinners are panther martins, but rooster tails, mepps, and blue fox will all do the job. Any lures 3" and under will work though. Assorted streamer flies with a few splitshot will work too, and spoons. In the NW you can try anywhere downstream from the bearspaw dam, always some big fish in there to be had. Since you're used to fishing lakes, you'll probably lose some lures to snags. If you wanna avoid that with rapalas, try the floating kind. If you're wondering about anything more specific just shoot me a PM.

That's a great post. the bow has been rough to me as a beginner, lost a ton of lures :angry3: and getting snags left and right. but it was all worth it when I caught my biggest and baddest trout to date! (2 weeks ago in carsland) a monster! my fishing partner still can't find his cellphone's pc cable to send me the picture! :mad3: so be patient and have fun.

[slivers86]

Bumping this up!
I'm a complete noob to the bow as well, live in the south just off 22x. Anyone know some good spots for bow-noob? Or does anyone want to come out one day? PM me, my schedule is very flexable, and I'd even include a couple ice cold bevvies afterwards!

[leggacy]

thanks guys for the info!

[HighWildnFree]

Sz 7 or 9 countdown raps in bronze/black. Twitch em slow through deep water. We used to do pretty good around xmas tree island and far and fine. I think you can access them pretty easy on foot now by hiking upstream from the new deerfoot bridge. Used to be some nice water in there

[5Weight]

There's been some great info on this post already. I first started fishing the bow 10 years ago and remember how it took a while to get somewhat comfortable. What I would suggest (as you live in the NW) is pack the lures already suggested and go for a walk. There's a church part way up home road on the SE side of the river. Work your way up stream and cast to "fishy" looking water. You could walk for about 3-4 km along there. I've caught fish all along. Mind you, some days I've been skunked too. I did catch my biggest bow river brown along there!

I've been at it for 10 years and learn something every time. Best suggestion I would have is to just get out there and start casting!

[Christofficer]

Bumping this up!
I'm a complete noob to the bow as well, live in the south just off 22x. Anyone know some good spots for bow-noob? Or does anyone want to come out one day? PM me, my schedule is very flexable, and I'd even include a couple ice cold bevvies afterwards!Right out your front door. Anywhere from 22X downstream to carseland, lots of trout. And upstream all the way to canmore is good fishing too but you're in the best area of town for fishing, in my opinion anyways.



I forgot to add on how to fish the lures I mentioned. Fish spinners in the riffles, or faster water. Fish rapalas in slower, or deeper water. slow retrieve during summer days or in winter, with a few pauses and twitches of the rod tip. Drives big browns mad when they're lurking in slow water. Spoons and buzz bombs should be fished in deeper slower water as well. Buzz bombs..... sheesh.... can't believe I didn't mention those. They work great so get some of those if you don't have any.

Also forgot to mention, a snagless weight with two nymphs matching the hatch (or use attractor nymphs of your choice) really works well sometimes too. You can use part of a bent coat hanger for weight, tie it to a rubber band so you don't use your flies on a hang up. Nails work too. If you use generic weights, go for tin based. The less lead in the river the better. Hope this makes sense, I'm burnt out from work. :dork:

[leggacy]

well i spent 3 hours near the railroad crossing in silver springs. up and down of it. caught a little guy in a side creek, but no sign of life in the river. good point about the slow reeling, the lures stay deeper i will have to start doing that more, and also try near home road