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  #1  
Old 04-24-2018, 10:09 PM
SNAPFisher SNAPFisher is offline
 
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Default Bow River

Hey all, how is the water clarity now? Thanks.
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  #2  
Old 04-24-2018, 10:50 PM
goldscud goldscud is offline
 
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Pushing 3" below Fish Creek if you are lucky
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  #3  
Old 04-25-2018, 12:10 AM
river ghost river ghost is offline
 
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Arrow

Still murky all the way up to ghost res.,salty streets have ran off.Lowland runoff wont take long,should be reasonable in about a week,see ya there.
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  #4  
Old 04-26-2018, 05:33 PM
river ghost river ghost is offline
 
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Well that didn't take long.Good 3 feet or more visibility.
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Old 04-26-2018, 09:17 PM
scel scel is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by river ghost View Post
Well that didn't take long.Good 3 feet or more visibility.
Where are you looking? Fish Creek is still very dirty and high. It gets quite diluted once it hits the Bow, but it can make the difference between 100cm and 30cm of visibility.
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  #6  
Old 04-27-2018, 12:13 AM
river ghost river ghost is offline
 
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Up above nose creek,it's probably dirty too.I was looking off the bridge at Edworthy park.
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  #7  
Old 04-27-2018, 12:18 PM
andy1 andy1 is offline
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Can't wait to get back in the water.
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  #8  
Old 04-27-2018, 02:46 PM
Carbine Carbine is offline
 
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It is low vis and dirty down from the 17 ave SE bridge to Glenmore when I was by there today. However, it is going to be busy on the river tomorrow regardless. Lots of boats and w/w folks.
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  #9  
Old 05-02-2018, 02:30 PM
lds lds is offline
 
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Baker park is about 3’ I would say. Little murky but has blue colour to it. Saw a lot of size 20 black midges hatching. Didn’t fish at all but looked good for streamers.
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  #10  
Old 05-02-2018, 03:43 PM
tallieho tallieho is offline
 
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1st week of may.wid is allowed to start pulling water into the canal.which usally allows the bow river & elbow to open up there dam structures.but given they are already renoing the gates on glenmore.you can expect more flows from the elbow.
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  #11  
Old 05-02-2018, 08:14 PM
scottywc scottywc is offline
 
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Default Rarj99

Anyone have any good fly type tips for spring season? I never seem to have much luck this time of year.
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  #12  
Old 05-03-2018, 06:25 AM
rasta rasta is offline
 
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Wink

Think small and tight to the bank ...good luck
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  #13  
Old 05-03-2018, 08:58 AM
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Scott N Scott N is offline
 
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It's blasphemous to some, but the San Juan Worrm is one of the most effective flies on the Bow. It will catch fish all year round.
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  #14  
Old 05-03-2018, 11:19 AM
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aulrich aulrich is offline
 
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What! wait a sec, there are more flys than SJW ?
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  #15  
Old 05-03-2018, 01:34 PM
tallieho tallieho is offline
 
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before the flood of 13 .i would almost swear that the bottom of the river ,around the 22x bridge.Had a reddish tinge to it..
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  #16  
Old 05-04-2018, 12:19 AM
scottywc scottywc is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott N View Post
It's blasphemous to some, but the San Juan Worrm is one of the most effective flies on the Bow. It will catch fish all year round.
I have no luck with the SJW. Must be totally the fly's fault and not at all the user's fault.
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  #17  
Old 05-04-2018, 06:29 AM
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Scott N Scott N is offline
 
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Originally Posted by scottywc View Post
I have no luck with the SJW. Must be totally the fly's fault and not at all the user's fault.
How is your mending technique? That's the key to the worm and other nymphs... making sure your flies are bouncing along the bottom drag free.
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  #18  
Old 05-04-2018, 03:20 PM
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marlin1 marlin1 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tallieho View Post
1st week of may.wid is allowed to start pulling water into the canal.which usally allows the bow river & elbow to open up there dam structures.but given they are already renoing the gates on glenmore.you can expect more flows from the elbow.
thought it was april ?
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  #19  
Old 05-05-2018, 01:36 PM
KyleYYC KyleYYC is offline
 
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Default Runoff

I fished downstream of McKinnon Flats and it's pretty dirty. Not even a bite in 2 days of trying my luck. Does anyone have any explanation why the runoff started already. I was fishing and catching fish in May last year until the runoff hit in June.
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  #20  
Old 05-05-2018, 05:15 PM
SNAPFisher SNAPFisher is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KyleYYC View Post
I fished downstream of McKinnon Flats and it's pretty dirty. Not even a bite in 2 days of trying my luck. Does anyone have any explanation why the runoff started already. I was fishing and catching fish in May last year until the runoff hit in June.
Lots of snow this year, warm temps.
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  #21  
Old 05-05-2018, 11:08 PM
robson3954 robson3954 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KyleYYC View Post
I fished downstream of McKinnon Flats and it's pretty dirty. Not even a bite in 2 days of trying my luck. Does anyone have any explanation why the runoff started already. I was fishing and catching fish in May last year until the runoff hit in June.
I wouldn’t even call this true ‘classic’ runoff. We’ll still have our typical runoff around the usual time. IMO, his is melt from areas (low foothills) that would have normally been mostly dry come the spring, but this year held a few feet. I suspect we’ll see high/turbid water for a long time this year.
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  #22  
Old 05-06-2018, 08:28 AM
highwood highwood is offline
 
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Streamer season approaches
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  #23  
Old 05-06-2018, 12:47 PM
scel scel is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KyleYYC View Post
I fished downstream of McKinnon Flats and it's pretty dirty. Not even a bite in 2 days of trying my luck. Does anyone have any explanation why the runoff started already. I was fishing and catching fish in May last year until the runoff hit in June.
What we normally call runoff is when the Alpine slopes melt, usually the last third of May is when the higher elevations no longer dip below freezing at night.

What you are experiencing is the terrestrial melt. The Bow River in Calgary has about 1m of visibility. Last night, I even saw my first bit of rising fish. At Mackinnon, you are experiencing the consequence of the Highwood belching chocolate milk. It took Fish Creek about a week to tame itself. I bet it will take the Highwood another week to complete the terrestrial melt. There is, however, a chance the Bow will be murky at Mackinnon until July.

So, just move upstream of the Highwood. The Bow is fantastic form.
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  #24  
Old 05-06-2018, 06:30 PM
KyleYYC KyleYYC is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scel View Post
What we normally call runoff is when the Alpine slopes melt, usually the last third of May is when the higher elevations no longer dip below freezing at night.

What you are experiencing is the terrestrial melt. The Bow River in Calgary has about 1m of visibility. Last night, I even saw my first bit of rising fish. At Mackinnon, you are experiencing the consequence of the Highwood belching chocolate milk. It took Fish Creek about a week to tame itself. I bet it will take the Highwood another week to complete the terrestrial melt. There is, however, a chance the Bow will be murky at Mackinnon until July.

So, just move upstream of the Highwood. The Bow is fantastic form.
That makes perfect sense. Thanks for the info.
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