Fishing the Bow below Bassano Dam

jacenbeers · #1 07-09-2010, 08:12 AM

Hey everybody. I wanted to generate some discussion about fishing the Bow River below the Bassano Dam.

I looked at Google maps and just south of the town of Bassano there looks to be a dam or atleast a weird and a small reservoir above it. Is this the dam? If not, where is the dam?

What kind of experiences have you had below the dam?

Walleyed · #2 07-09-2010, 08:19 AM

Yeah theres a Dam there, I believe theres also a small resevior as well. The dam is pretty big stretching about 1km across. I've fished there earlier this year before runoff, around mid may to mid june. Had lots of luck spincasting for pike and rainbows, but usually during the early morning or the evening. The wildeye perch pattern seems to work real good. Havent been down since all the rain we got. I assume the water would be real high and dirty. During july/aug, the goldeyes comes in and you can literally catch 30 in an hour on a worm and bobber set-up. I think if the water is high enough the sturgeons will come in from the SSR as well, I've caught sturgeons there a few years back.

Cheers,
Walleyed

spinerfisher · #3 07-09-2010, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walleyed

Yeah theres a Dam there, I believe theres also a small resevior as well. The dam is pretty big stretching about 1km across. I've fished there earlier this year before runoff, around mid may to mid june. Had lots of luck spincasting for pike and rainbows, but usually during the early morning or the evening. The wildeye perch pattern seems to work real good. Havent been down since all the rain we got. I assume the water would be real high and dirty. During july/aug, the goldeyes comes in and you can literally catch 30 in an hour on a worm and bobber set-up. I think if the water is high enough the sturgeons will come in from the SSR as well, I've caught sturgeons there a few years back.

Cheers,
Walleyed

fishing can be good down below weir, just some advise- if planning to fish be there early before all the goldeye fish mongers arrive. they come in families and can get real crowded down there. ive been there 3 times so far in the past while and as i said fishing can be good. Only thing thats sorta sad to see is that EVERYTHING that ive seen caught by other people is kept. by all means keep your limit, but when these families fish down there its like a production line. my 2 cents

#4 07-09-2010, 01:29 PM

Havent been there in years but, my father caught a 17 lb pike on a musky plug then right after caught a 15 1/2 lb walleye with a 25 inch girth it was stupid huge but we ate it before having it confirmed by F&W. My big fish was a 9.5 lb rainbow. Damn hot at the Dam in Summer, bring lotsa water.

jacenbeers · #5 07-09-2010, 04:23 PM

I have never fished for Goldeye before but it is on my list of fish I want to catch. Should I just use a real small hook with bait and float it down stream until I get a bite?

WayneChristie · #6 07-09-2010, 07:05 PM

the Bow is starting to look more green than mud colour finally, but the weeds are going crazy this year.

jeprli · #7 07-09-2010, 07:56 PM

If you plan on jigging bring lots of hardware as the bottom of the river is littered with cables, rocks and a bunch of fishing lines. Best jigging spot is right below the dam(which is about 100 meters wide, not a kilometer!), try placing your jig around big boulders and keep it around them as long as you can.

For plugs I've had really good luck with smithwick rogue in 4 1/2", clown color. Some places are deeper and there you can use a suspending plug, but generally anything that dives over 4' is going to snag.

If you head down the river you'll find couple of good spots for pike, maybe even some walleye.

Don't go on the other side, that is indian reserve and it might get ugly if they see you there, too many people cross over and i guess they're fed up with intruders.

Reservoir above the damn has some decent pike, but again be aware that it is inside reserve!

Good luck out there, it can be very rewarding!

P.S. Lots of poaching there, like someone above me already posted everything is a catch there, and almost nothing gets released...people use multiple rods as well!

Ss1991 · #8 05-16-2015, 09:55 PM

Been down to bassano dam a couple times this month. Haven't had to much luck. Mind you they only had two water gates open, so the water was pretty low. Talked to a few other people who where out their. They didn't have much luck either. Gonna try my luck at crawling valley tomorrow.