Pictures from the Bow

[jeprli]

Some pics from past season winter-08/09

[mini-moose]

some nice fish.

[jts1]

Them are some great fish. This will be my first year focusing on fishing the Bow. Hope I get some of them , Didn't see any flies hanging out of them mouths. Hmmmm

[KWO]

Nice pics. I didn't know that the Bow had pike in it. Learn something every day.

[blackmamba]

those are definatly some sweet browns . Love that your using raps , those are secrets that should not be shown .. congrats again .

[camshaft]

jeprli

What type of cranks are u using. I have only tried countdown rapalas, but havent had much success. I primarily stick to pather martins, which have proven to be successful over the years (at least for me)

Just wondering if u can suggest any type and color combination of cranks....thx

[Fish Cannon]

Love those raps

[fishing_flower]

Nice fish.

Just happens I bought some more Raps last night for fishing the Bow tomorrow

Can hardly wait to go tomorrow morning! I don't care if there is a blizzard, I'm heading down there!

[jesse34567]

are the pike through out the bow or congragated in certain areas???

[Mish]

Wow, great pictures. Those fish are beautiful!

[jeprli]

I've seen pike throughout the Bow river(city section) in spring time before the spawn they look for cover, mostly in deeper structure. In 11 years fishing the Bow these are the first two pike i managed to pull out Usually they don't budge, trout are far tastier than a piece of wood or metal. Funny enough it was two outings in a row, and each outing i got me a pike 500ft apart from each other. They were both bursting with eggs, first one i released, second one i took home, it swallowed super deep and i wanted my crank back, no chance of it surviving even if I released her, I'm not proud of it.

These cranks come from a land far away beyond seven hills and seven seas.... it doesn't matter really which one you use, what matters is that you trigger the fish to bite. Suspending lures with lots of action(no don't bother with x-crap those cranks are useless unless fish are feeding, then they'll bite anything that is in the water)also, avoid the rattling cranks, most of them are way too loud, if you do want to rattle pick something that has a single ball bearing in it, and use it only when water is seriously stained from runoff.

When it comes to colors i use natural decor when water is clear, when it gets murky i change to something more obvious in the water, like blue/silver.
Jointed cranks have an advantage over the rest of cranks simply because they wobble nicely even when slowly retrieved.

Don't just cats that lure out there and reel it back in, that is not how you catch fish. Cast it out, twitch it down close to the bottom as possible then let the river drag it downstream while keeping your line somewhat tight, tight enough that you can feel it hitting the rock and stirring up the bottom. While retrieving give it a jerk every couple of cranks, and make pauses 3-5 second long. Since New Years I had well over 150 fish.

Don't ask me where I found the pikie, there are very few of them around, and at this time of year it's spawning time, I was not going after them intentionally. Once the spawn is over I'll point you in the right direction.

Thanks for all the nice comments people!!!

P.S.I almost always fish alone, if anyone wants to join me sometime, it be nice to make some friends. Just have one thing on your mind I'm very strict when in C&R waters, and I'll give you hard time if you don't show respect toward the fish

[Biggsy16]

Thanks for the great lesson on catching trout without having to be a fly fisherman.I am just getting back into fishing and I am going to fish the bow during the week and Clear and pine coulee on the weekends.I will heed your advice and will let you know what happens.Thanks again.

[bucktaker]

nice fish. I drive by there every day

[jeprli]

I'm not sure what to make out of your post bucktaker?!!?!?

Bigsy you fish the same waters I do, except Clear lake, haven't been there yet but I do plan to this spring.

Spinn fishing is every bit as challenging and rewarding as fly fishing, plus there are so many different lures and techniques that you can never get bored with it.

I do admire the art of fly fishing and fly tying, but I need much more practice before it becomes effective for me.

I do release all of my trout(apart from the chain lakes, those babies I like in a plate, fried on butter).

[goldscud]

Seems like more pike are getting caught this year than usual. They are all through the city from Bowness down. Big deep holes with slow current as the river goes around a bend seem to hold some sharks.

[FlyFishFairwx]

Originally Posted by jeprli

I'm not sure what to make out of your post bucktaker?!!?!?

Bigsy you fish the same waters I do, except Clear lake, haven't been there yet but I do plan to this spring.

Spinn fishing is every bit as challenging and rewarding as fly fishing, plus there are so many different lures and techniques that you can never get bored with it.

I do admire the art of fly fishing and fly tying, but I need much more practice before it becomes effective for me.

I do release all of my trout(apart from the chain lakes, those babies I like in a plate, fried on butter).

If you want to release all your trout that you do try changing your trebles to singles, when I spin fished in the 70s and very early 80s my grandfather taught me that.. you will still catch lots of fish but easier time in the release..
Just a thought..

Stockers rolled in corn meal and fried in butter HMMMMMM

[Biggsy16]

Originally Posted by jeprli

I'm not sure what to make out of your post bucktaker?!!?!?

Bigsy you fish the same waters I do, except Clear lake, haven't been there yet but I do plan to this spring.

Spinn fishing is every bit as challenging and rewarding as fly fishing, plus there are so many different lures and techniques that you can never get bored with it.

I do admire the art of fly fishing and fly tying, but I need much more practice before it becomes effective for me.

I do release all of my trout(apart from the chain lakes, those babies I like in a plate, fried on butter).

Went to the upper bow today and caught a nice brook trout using your rapalla method.Even old dogs can learn new tricks,Thanks

[jeprli]

Did you go up by Canmore???? I'd love to get a brookie on the hook for the new season. Happy to hear that you had luck following some of my notes, I'm no expert but I figured out couple of things that work.

Keep it up Biggsy!

[Biggsy16]

Yup,
went out by exshaw with my son and had a blast,my wife made some sandwiches and it was a great day all round.We are heading back that way on monday ,this time with some waders and more sandwiches.

[fishing_flower]

That's great Biggsby! Passing the love of fishing onto our children
I learned alot about the river fishing from this too. We'll be out again for a family day of it next weekend.

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by jesse34567

are the pike through out the bow or congragated in certain areas???

The pike are more scattered in the city, but the further you go downstream the bigger and more plentiful they get. Personally netted one close to 30 pounds below the Bassano dam a long while back, unfortunately it was someone elses fish not mine. Try Glenmore when it opens, they get 30 plus in there too. There are some other interesting fish in there also, but you will have to find out for yourself what they are

[PlayDoh]

I have to echo the treble hook advice. Trebles are horrible to Trout, and if they swallow it, which they'll try to do since its a fat minnow in their eyes, their doomed. Not to mention snag on almost everything.

Trebles also foul hook fish like crazy in shallow water, and its almost certain you'll snag something sweeping an area with a fat crankbait, regardless of ones intentions.

Nice fish though.

PS- Don't forget the jaw spreaders.

[fishing_flower]

Treble hooks, that's probably how snagged those fish. Will change them to the single. I stocked up on single barbless hooks when I was in BC last year and have been switching my lures over. Just need to do the new ones.

[Morph1]

Very nice browns, I'm yet to catch one myself, I wish we had more Brownies around Edmonton, I use the same technique every time I go spincasting and it does work great but targeting Walleyes last summer I had a hard time catching any on Rapalas, seems like for those guys only minnow and a jigging method yieldsgood results.
Regardin the trebles, what I do I only leave the tail treble on and cut one hook right off , so what I'm left with is sinlge double hook at the back of my rapala it seems to work great and brings a challange.
Nice catches dude,

Cheers!

[jeprli]

You say snag, I say it don't! If you pay closer attention, you'll see that my trebles are made barbless and points are turned inwards, basically it's a circle hook, which means it doesn't snag, it hooks only at the lip. And so far all of my trout live to be hooked another day, never had a single one hooked by the gills.

Open trebles with with hookpoints pointed towards outside are the trouble causers, and I perfectly understand that, that's why I change them.
Please people don't use jaw spreaders(especially not the ones with sharp points) for trout, that is one sure way to destroy it, I don't think it's lower jaw is meant for that kind of opposite pressure. Spreaders are meant for pike,muskie, catfish and other fish with big bony mouth.

If they ever made single hooks with an eye big enough to pass through a split ring I'll buy them and change them right away, they have to be offset though with points turned inwards and should be light so they don't interfere with crank bait action, and I don't like siwash hooks those are garbage, and I'm sure you'll snag even more with those.

A great cure for going snagless is braided line, I use PowerPro since it's the thinnest out there. With this superline you can detect even the smallest of changes at the end of you line, since there is no stretch in the line. When you get a bite you just lift the rod up, no need to make big hooksets like you do with mono. Remember that with lures you're not doing such a slow presentation like you would with a fly, so visibility of the braid is not a big concern.

If you hook into a fish that is downstream from you, don't drag it all the way up to your spot, go down the shore to shorten the distance. When you pull a fish out(you don't really have to, anyone can release it while it's still in the water)hold it upside down, belly up, this will calm the fish and make it easier for you to pull the hook out. A good rule of thumb for releasing the fish is to hold your breath from the moment you pull it out, when you need to take a breath the fish probably does too(since it ran a "marathon" with your hook in its mouth). If it's a little difficult to remove the hook, give the fish a "breather' by putting it back in the water to regain some of it's strength, then try again.

I would also stress that C&R during summer months is very risky, water temps are higher, and fish handling should be at the very minimum. DO NOT at any point pull the fish out onto the shore, the hot rock will cook it's guts and flesh in seconds, you won't notice it, but trust me it will be cooked. I'm pointing this out cause I see a lot of pics where fish are lying on the rock, middle of summer, if it's a keeper fine, but if you plan to release it, do so right away.

Cheers people, and keep catching fish!

[fishing_flower]

Just to clarify..it was me snagging the fish this weekend. All I did was pinch the barbs on the new lures and away I went. I'll fix them up so I don't snag more fish. I'm glad I found out why I was snagging them. Now I can fix it. These pics in this thread are awesome fish and caught the good way.

[jeprli]

Biggsy16 I might head out there today as well, if I finish work by 2pm. Good luck to you and your family.

My dad thought me how to fish ever since I could hold the fishing rod in my hands. Today I'm very grateful to him that he did.
I only see kids with parents who are spin fishing or throwing baits, I have yet to see a parent teaching a kid how to fly cast, or a fly fisherman who brings his kid along with him

When I have kids, they will be with me out there, somewhere by the water...kids can be your best fishing buddies.

Morph1 find some sort of suspending crank, get it deep once you made a cast, reel it in as you normally would but when you get closer to shore slow down your retrieve, pause it and just give it slight movement at the end of the pause, this should trigger them to bite. I have lots of walleye follow and miss my crank, most of the time right under my feet, all you can see is a big shiny "flash" behind your crank. This gets your adrenalin pumping even though you had no bites. Walleye is not the greatest fighter, but it definitely packs a good punch when it decides to bite down on your bait. Sometimes they hit so hard, if you're not prepared for it they just might rip the rod out of your hands.

In lakes walleye are suspended most of the time, in the rivers they'll hug the bottom unless they're chasing food. Most of the time they're easy to catch, but they can give fisherman a serious headache sometimes. The best thing about walleye is that they live in big groups(stockers are famous for this), so when you catch one, throw that bait right back and you will probably hook into couple more fish at the same spot.

[PlayDoh]

Of course you wouldn't use jaw spreaders on a trout, I don't know how you got that impression. Since you said you lost a Pike, it had to have swallowed the hook pretty deep (I can only assume). FYI you can just cut the entire hook off and release the fish, which is much better then pulling it out, or trying to remove it for too long.

As for your "circle hooks", the one crank-bait I see in the 1st Pike picture isn't curved at all. I'd also think that by bending the tip of the hook you'd deform it and likely dull it.

They make J-hooks/circle-hooks in every possible shape and size you need. I have a friend who guides and has replaced the hooks on all his crank-baits. I'll ask him which ones he uses and post it, if anyone is interested.

The point is that treble hooks don't improve your catch rate, and therefore are only potentially harmful to Trout. I know some people who remove the leading hook altogether, and still bring in Trout.

With that said, their certainly not illegal or really anything to feel ashamed of. I just thought I'd echo the usual and given advice, for the sake of the Trout. The gullet of a Trout is much different then that of a Walleye or Pike, and consequently they feed differently.

Pike and Walleye are able to spit out even large lures by virtue of their huge gills, which is where trebles will come in to play, yet mainly in still water. In a river everything is jetting in to their mouths, and its not possible to hit a bait fish several times by spitting it out. Trout inhale minnows with little discretion, and a treble hook, with circles or not, is disastrous to a Touts gullet, since its much smaller. You can usually use much smaller crank-baits for Trout also, compared to Pike or Walleye.

As for the Bow, I'm beginning my second season seriously fishing it, and no matter what your fishing with, the biggest challenge is reading the water and finding the fish. After that, you could present a car key properly and a Trout will take it. Not to suggest the lure/fly is besides the point, but its a far third to location and presentation.

Tight Lines

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by camshaft

jeprli

What type of cranks are u using. I have only tried countdown rapalas, but havent had much success. I primarily stick to pather martins, which have proven to be successful over the years (at least for me)

Just wondering if u can suggest any type and color combination of cranks....thx

I always had lots of success with Foxey Minnowspins, brown trout and rainbow trout patterns. thats why they are usually sold out

[Biggsy16]

Jeprli,
Caught and released two brown trout today with my son on brown trout countdown sinking rapalla(I changed the hooks to barbless instead of pinching) .Windy as heck out there.We were by the seebee dam and will look for somewhere else close as it is quite weedy out there.We had a blast my son when he was done fishing hiked around the dam and we stopped in cochrane for ice cream.I hope to be as knowlegdable about the bow someday.Mr. Christie thanks for the tip on the Foxey Minnow spinners.