bow river nymphing
 

Well, fly fishing is back and going strong, well, strong on the learning front! Had a wicked few days on the bow, been out 3 times in the last week.

Got some waders and am enjoying how much easier it is to get into the spots you want to fish. Also - had nymphing lessons from a buddy and feel I've learnt a lot, and its only a matter of time before I catch my first brown on the river! Going out tomorrow morning to test my luck, hopefully those damn rainbows dont spoil the fun!

Hows everyone else doing now that the fly rods are getting wet..


Oh and PS - I took my first fall in the waders yesterday... that river water is still DAMN cold :) saved the cell though!

I've been out at least a couple of dozen times this year and I've only managed a few browns. I caught a 24 incher back in January and a few small ones since and a couple of RMWs. Everything else has been rainbows but there's been quite a few of them so I'm not complaining :) I hardly ever fish in the city - maybe that's why, not sure about that though.

I've been fishing down stream of calgary and have done well the last couple weeks.last week three of us went out to a nice wintering hole and managed 15 fish between 3 guys in 4 hours.sure is nice wing'n the fly rod around again.olive and white streamers have been doing well along with the gold rib hairs ear, bigger the better .cheers

I'm still new to fly fishing and I'll hopefully be going out this weekend to the Bow. I was just wondering, do you want your strike indicator upstream or downstream of your nymphs? I've been checking out some info on the web and I think I've seen people mentioning both, which has me a bit confused!

Typically you want it up stream. my two cents anyways.

You definitely would want it down stream, if it's upstream it's not going to notice the strikes, it will just keep floating when your flies stop, plus you'd be setting yourself up for lots of snags.

True

typically make your cast on an upstream angle, then an immediate upstream mend with your slack line. This will eliminate line drag on your nymphs and indicator giving you a drag free drift.

upstream my friend. You start from the downstream of the run, and work your water upstream. dont be a fool, fish the same pocket all the time. Make couple casts upstream let it drift down, walk couple steps, repeat. You will notice strike when you have fish, if your bobber keep going down, which means you r too deep.

But you do want your indicator to go down ocsasionally as this is the only way to tell if your nymphs are dragging on the bottom which they should be.

You cast upstream, but your indicator is situated downstream in relation to your flies. Put an upstream mend in your fly line so that there is no drag on your indicator. Treat your indicator like a dry fly. A relatively tight leader between indicator and flies will give you the best chance of identifying a bite.

I have hooked fish at all points in between the upstream part through the downstream part of a drift, though the majority have been on the 1/2 way down to the swing & dangle part of the drift - though it scares the $h1t out of you when they strike as soon as the fly hits the water!!)... It depends where the fish are sitting in comparison to the fly (ies) in the water column and within their feeding cycle as well as the life cycle of the insect (stage of development)... Cast upstream at 45 degrees, manage your slack line with appropriate mending (for a naural drag free drift), make sure you are at the appropriate depth and you will catch fish!

If the indicator twitches, set the hook, when the water warms up stikes will be more obvious but now they can be pretty subtile . if your not ticking off the bottom at least some, your out of the strike zone.

way to complicate things. use a minnow and a worm, set them on the bottom and have a snooze :sHa_shakeshout: but dont do it up there, that would be a no no. and all you would catch are those trout things. come fish with me in May I will show you what real fishing is about :bad_boys_20:

Some guys have the indicator upstream of the flies, some downstream. I tend to go both at times but that's me, depends on the circumstance.

The biggest thing when setting the hook is pull up, I see folk setting the hook with a sideways pull and you can pull the hook out of the fishes mouth.

Ill come down and see how many of them species i can catch on the fly... :)

I have been out and caught 3 nice rainbows that averaged 18" upstream from 22x

deal. Flygirrl got her first mooneye last summer down here, and goldeyes and even walleyes on the fly. going to try for my first pike on the fly this spring, maybe as soon as tomorrow if the wind stays down

Wayne your Conversion has begun. Pike on the fly!!!!!!! Just purchased the fishing lisence today, may head to the N.S. tomorrow. Just dying to get down the Bow. Haven't been there for a few years. Wayne, may come down Easter weekend or May long for sure.

Wayne,

Pike on the fly are a blast. We've never managed any monsters yet but even the 4-5 lb. fish are feisty and fun.:)

Attachment 49661


flygrrl,
I bet you know where this is.

stan

Wayne -

Once the ice is off, let me know. Its definitely worth a trip to come play in water with multiple new species :) I'd love to find your little honey hole with fishing itching to get ahold of my flies :)

check this little video out slivers. there may be nothing here you don't already know but i thought i'd share. basics of setting up a nymph rig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyGWLjBNr_c

Dace

Thanks for posting Dace. I'm going to try this set up. Little different set up with the swivel. Where can you buy those slip indicators and do they come larger for deeper holes in the Bow?

I run my leader with tippet and use my bubble indicator it floats higher and is easier to see IMO. I don't use a swivel either. A guy on the bow(flyingrico) taught me a trick on for easily adjusting bubble indicators instead of using the plug it comes with. Just make a circle with the line and wrap the indicator around it.
Go to wholesale sports they got them in stock and its right beside the bow.

http://www.google.ca/imgres?um=1&hl=...:0&tx=63&ty=43

great video dace, i think this swivel idea might save me a bit of money :)

Also, I had been putting my heavy flies second, and light ones first, it makes sense now to do it the other way, and use less split shot!

Never seen anyone ever use a swivel which flyfishing. Different.

it is extremely popular for nymphing on the Bow. Many guides do it as it limits tangles and can replace a split shot

during off color water i also use painted splitshot

yes bigger is available at TFH