Mar 08

Happy Twenty Anniversary

March 2006 – March 2026

20 years of Blogging

I think I have came a long way since those first days of chicken-pecking my way through 200 word articles. I have learned much and have grown in so many ways. Through my blog, I’ve been privileged to meet so many amazing human beings.

Massive homage to Brent Truitt who built it for me in the living room of his Lake Bonavista home, one Saturday afternoon over coffee. I listened closely as he was building, but he was speaking an entirely different language I could not understand. FTP protocol, Filezilla, web hosting, servers, WordPress script…. it was all “geek to me”. Was I ever confused. I just did what I was told, “go fishing and write about it”.

I was 2 years sober and had not written anything since high school, 15 long years ago. I forgot what paragraphs, punctuation, and redundancy were. But I never cared about that, I had a passion burning for fishing, and I could not wait to share it after each experience on the river.

Then out of thin air, a gentleman named Mr. Dwayne K Parsons stumbled upon my blog. Dwayne was a writer, editor/publisher from Sandpoint Idaho. Dwayne and I got to know each other via email and became fast friends. Dwayne was my writing mentor and gave his knowledge and experience to me at no charge. I felt so very blessed.

Shortly after I started the blog, I became many things! A guide on the Bow, a father to my beautiful daughter, a writer, a passionate angler, a blogger, a friend, and so much more!

Even though blogging is not really “cool” anymore, perhaps losing its shine, I still write a post every month and share my passion for fishing with others who care to read.

I am eternally grateful for each and every person that has come fishing with me on guided trips since I started. Many of you saved my life financially, and never even knew it. I am eternally humbled that there are still followers and readers of the blog. I’m deeply grateful for every person who has gained wisdom from my body of work on the website.

I pray the journey continues for another 20 years!!

Huge thanks for reading and following,

~Mike

Jan 13

Inner City Bow River Trout Fishing, January 2026

It’s a new year but the same old Bow River trout still need love. My lovely girlfriend and I headed out this past weekend to take advantage of the wonderful weather we have experienced here in Calgary. We woke early and marched off to the river after a nice home-made breakfast.

The nice thing about living in the South-East is that we are close to excellent fishing locations the Bow River offers. In the winter however, the city can get busy with other anglers, so we arrived early to secure a good fishing location.

Once we arrived at the banks of the Bow, we decided to tie on the Robertson Tackle Sunrise Samurai jerk-bait lure. This is my own brand of tackle I created to sportfish all Alberta’s rivers and lakes. To date, it has caught thousands of Bow River trout both personally, and on all my Bow River guided fishing trips with clients!

Charlene fired her first cast out into the frigid flow of the river, and in short order, she was into her first New year Brown trout. The fish were actively eating at 10Am, as it stayed warm overnight due to the chinook earlier in the week. It was not long after her first fish that I latched into another great Bow River brown trout. In total we landed twelve browns and one rainbow. We decided to pack it in at 2PM and get some errands done.

If you would like to pick up some of your own Robertson tackle lures, click the link here and head over to my store.

Thanks,

~Mike

Dec 25

Merry Christmas 2025

Wishing all the readers of the Blog a very Merry Christmas this season.

We wish to thank everyone for their continued support here at the Bow River Blog. It’s hard to believe we are in our 19th year Blogging and sharing information regarding the Bow River with all who wish to read and learn.

From humble beginnings simply sharing stories about my fishing adventures on the Bow, to guiding the river and making/designing my own brand of fishing lures. I feel blessed to continue to write and share with each and everyone of you here.

I thank you all for either joining us here, or out on the river catching fish season after season.

Merry Christmas.

~Mike

Nov 11

Inner city fishing the Bow River 2025

It was amazing to get out inner city fishing the Bow River before it got cold and winter takes its icy hold on Calgary. I was fishing the Robertson Tackle Sunrise Samurai today with great success on the Brown trout that inhabit the Bow River.

I was fishing the lure slow, with several twitches and long pauses in between retrieves. As discussed here in the Blog many times, it’s vitally important to slow down during the months when the water is super cold. This method worked very well for me today.

I was blessed with 7 brown trout, with every fish hooked landed in the net. Such a fun day out there once again.

~Mike