Bow River Blog

In The Still Of The Night.

I was slipping and sliding, bumbling and stumbling in the darkness last evening fishing for those massive Brown Trout that just will not feed in the daytime. Not those 18 to 22 inch fish that you can frequently hook into almost at will, I’m talking about those 25 to 30 inch bruisers that only come out under the cover of darkness. I must say that this type of fishing is not for everyone, however if you want to hook into those fish that make you drool and make your friends green with envy, than this is when you will have the best success, at night in total darkness!

I picked a spot on the Bow River bank and settled in to what was one of the best fishing experiences I have ever had, all in the total darkness. I picked a light colored plug by Rapala called the X-RAP and tied a strong knot as you do not want to loose any big fish with wimpy knots. I fire that lure as far as I possibly can and twitch, reel-reel-reel pause, and repeat this process. It only takes a short time and I’m into something big, reel big. I faintly see the fish fighting at the surface of the water and turn my rod to bring him into the shoreline. He fights and jumps to break free of my lure but cannot do so. I land this big boy and snap a quick photo to prove to the reader that big Browns feed under cover of darkness.

Just as I make it down the river to where big Tom is fishing I hear him yelling “Mike I got the big one here” and I hurried down to his spot to snap some photos of his bruiser, and I mean this fish was massive.Tom finally coxed this fish to shore after fighting him for at least five minutes. Unbelievable! Were the first words that came out of my mouth! I have only seen a few Browns this big in my lifetime. Tom was very careful with this fish and gently removed his barbless hook from the side of this trout’s mouth. Tom also took a great deal of care while releasing this fish back into the Bow River, very important when you fight a fish for five minutes you must revive the fish for as long as it takes for him to regain his strength.

We continued to latch into some awesome powerful Brown Trout in  complete darkness. The thing I personally like the most about night fishing is there is no one around and we had the river all to ourselves unlike during the day time where the river is usually busy. I must say that I will be making a point to fish the Bow River more at night when those gigantic Brown’s of epic per portions come out to feed. Use something that is light in color and makes lots of noise and you will be heavily rewarded. Good luck and happy fishing.