Long Weekend Trout Fishing The Lower Bow River

Rainbow Trout’s Galore

In the month of July the fishing gets really good on the rivers and streams here in Alberta. The water in the Bow River is still really high which provides great fishing for browns and rainbows alike. This year the fishing will be good until December I predict. I have had the opportunity to guide many folks this season. It has been my busiest season since I first started guiding several years back. I am grateful I have turned my passion into a part time business. I am also grateful to meet new and exciting people year after year; I am a people person and am blessed with the privilege of helping people learn the secrets of the Bow River. I get excited every time I see a request for a fishing trip in my inbox. I guide more for the love of the sport than the money it generates. The money is just a bonus, the real reason I guide is to help people learn how to have success fishing freshwater rivers. I teach my systems to others so that they too can find success on any river they choose to fish. By no means do I know everything there is to know about trout fishing, but I strive to learn all the time.

Tawfik asked me a few questions related to trout fishing recently via my website. I did my best to help him out and get him some lures for him to have success. I pointed him to the Rapala Countdown lure. In my past adventures, this lure will catch fish in most all freshwater trout rivers and lakes. He bought a few color patterns and set off to try his new goodies on a local Alberta lake. The results, eight fish were hooked and landed using the countdown system. He came back from the lake and sent me a follow up message. Here is what he had to say, “Thanks Mike, your advice about the Countdowns is amazing, the day was slow at first but late afternoon I got 8 rainbows released 4 smaller ones. The brown trout color is the one that worked great! It even worked better than few guys around using bait”. Shortly after our initial communication Tawfik booked a guided float trip to float the Bow River.

We arrived at the river to find the water silted and high from the weeks rain fall. This makes the fishing a little more challenging. But when you have fished in these conditions before, one knows how to adapt to be successful. I tied up the lures and off we went. I was not long into the trip and Sajee, Tawfik’s friend was into a rainbow. The fish piled out of the water spitting the hook. Hopefully it’s not going to be one of those days I thought to myself. The next fish came on a corner in deeper slow water. I rowed the boat to the far bank to get this fish and the prize was worth the heavy rowing.

Tawfik had his first fish in the net before the clock struck nine. I like places along the river that have high grassy banks. Food like grasshoppers will fall off the weeds into the river. The trout will sit close to the bank and take these and other such bugs with ease. That’s where I instructed them to cast, the closer to the shoreline the better. When the trout see a nice juicy minnow come through their lie they just cannot pass it up. Many rainbows were taken along the banks today, some of good size like you see Tawfik holding in the picture above. A monster brown was hooked and got away. He must have been camera shy as I would have surely taken his picture. Sajee stated to me at the end of our trip, “I can’t stop thinking about that big fish that got away”. I know what you mean Sajee, that’s what keeps us all coming back for more!