Why does the bow hate me?
 

This morning tied with the most surface action I have ever seen on any river and the only thing I didn’t throw at them is my fly box itself. Not one take. There were thousands of little size 30 bugs and the odd size 18-20 Caddis or pmd. But only a couple. Why can’t I get anything on a dry fly on that river?

hahaha I've been there too many times as well. When that is happening I have found using a large caddis or even a hopper as an indicator with a small emerger 12-18 inches hanging off that back seems to work. Often if I use the emerger fly on its own, I have trouble seeing it and miss takes. This way I know roughly where in the river it is based off the large dry fly.

Did you see the fish's nose come up out of the water, or only their backs/tails?
If no noses showing...they are eating emergers.
At other times they are eating tiny spent mayflies. Then they are very picky.

On a side note, some fish in the river might eat a hopper

I tried a hopper as well. The fish were hitting the surface hard. I saw the heads come out and even the entire fish clean out a lot

Could be chasing caddis pupae up at speed as they try to emerge

Big splashy rises on the Bow means they are usually chasing emergers or eating skittering bugs.

I would try small (sz16 or smaller) unhackled caddis dry, like the x-caddis or an unweighted caddis emerger pattern.

During this kind of activity, swinging a wet fly or emerger pattern can be super productive.

Are their tricos yet ? They can be tough

I only saw one caddis. Next time I will try emergers. I did have droppers on my hopper but they were big. Once I switched to smaller dries I didn’t have any dropper. Had a nice long leader and 4lbs tippet so I don’t think that was my issue. Also nice easy currant to stay drift free. Thanks for the help guys. I haven’t played much with emergers and always figured the gentle surface action is more likely the result but if they are chasing them up then that would make sense why they hit the surface so hard. Either way it was super fun to see so many fish rising. All over the river

was there a riffle of faster moving water prior to your slower hole/water?
if so, get your cast into the end of the riffle or if you can, wade into the riffle upstream and feed your line into the hole stopping your line feeding every six inches to give your top water foam/fly an action.

Fished the bow last night for the first time just south of downtown (new resident). Had one bite in two hours. Then right as dusk came an injured dragonfly landed 10 feet away from me in the water and was flopping around. 5 seconds later....BOOM...massive trout grabbed it right in front of me. Reassuring that I picked a good spot, but I guess i need some more bugs in my fly box and some better technique!

Days when I'm striking out on the bow I like to throw an Atomic Ant on and watch all the maniacs go for one of those on the surface.

Well thanks guys. There forever new things to try and try I will

Tried again this Morning and same thing. This time I also tried emergers and streamers. Another guy there also had no bites. Again the only thing I was seeing was some bug around size 30. Too small for me to tell what it was. Could it be that they are only eating stuff that small and that’s why I’m not catching?

It could be Trico Mayflies, they can be a real challenge but as others have said it's early yet.

This is my favorite pattern for them:
https://news.orvis.com/fly-fishing/H...ie-the-RS2-Fly

My guess would also be caddis pupae, especially because you're seeing it in the morning. Try a pattern like this:

http://intheriffle.com/fishing-video.../sparkle-pupa/

I like to stand near the top of the riffle and fish on a tight line to the tail out. The goal being that you will have the pupae rise naturally in the feeding zone at the end of the riffle or pool. It's often on that rise at the end that you get takes.

Fished the Bow again last night from Shouldice park last night. Two 1-1.5 lbs rainbows in about 2 hours. I had an olive wooly bugger and dark green nymph. Both took the nymph along a seam.

I should note I am a complete beginner, but I am encouraged after 2 outings within the city on the Bow.

Excellent analysis.
 

Compliments to you on a very thoughtful and helpful analysis to the poster's question. We can all learn and better our game from your post.

i have used a big streamer on a floating line with fair results ... all fish were bigger

It seems to hate me to. Maybe it's because I haven't spent enough time on it and took it out for coffee yet. I'm going to invest in our relationship and buy a boat :)