Fishing Memories of Days Gone By

I was in the south end of the city today for a visit to my parent’s house, turkey dinner and all the fixings always entices me. I returned to one of my favourite spots on the Bow River to try my luck and work up an appetite. This particular hole has rewarded me with many monster trout in the past. I remember walking in and tying up a Buzz Bomb or a Panther Martin and hammering trout after trout after trout. It was that good! If the lures were not working I would grab the flies from the tackle box and tie them to a six inch piece of fishing line. I would tie up two flies, usually a bow river bugger and a royal coachman onto my spinning gear. I would use a bell weigh attached to the bottom of the set up and fire that out into the river, bouncing the rig along the bottom and picking it off carefully as to not snag up. That would catch me fish for sure, sometimes very big fish.

I returned today with high hopes and a back pack full of gear. I sat on the bank and watched the water flow by as I tied a hook onto the end of my dull green fishing line. The river had me thinking of all the fish I hooked and landed from that hole. Big browns, fat rainbows, and even some huge rocky mountain whitefish were landed with ease and grace at this location. The area was perfect for trout, a nice gravely bottom with good cover and deep to boot. You knew fish were there and I knew how to catch them. I finally tied up and cast far outwards where the hole began to sink, should be fish in there I thought. Many casts’ later and no fish. Time to switch hooks to spinner bait. The rooster tail went on and outward but still nothing. I sat back and watched the river wondering where the fish were. I never even saw one trout’s snout, or even a dorsal fin for that matter.

I keep it going after the short break and still no luck. I was puzzled and a bit confused at the lack of action. After all this was my hole, I knew it like the back of my hand. After walking up and down the river several times I decided it was time to go get that turkey dinner in me. Back in “the good ol’ days” I would have walked out of my hole with at least four or five fish hooked and landed but not today. The river has changed in this hole, the once prime spawning grounds of the brown trout has vanished into thin air. Actually it was blown out by the nasty flood of 2005. Gone are those days of massive browns from this hole. It’s sad really but that is how nature works. There is little cover left and quite shallow.

The memories will still be with me as long as I live. I will move on and find another fishing hole to call my own. I know other fishermen and women can relate to this article. If you have a favourite fishing hole you would like to share with us than feel free to write a comment and share your story here. I know I would personally like to hear it! Until we meet again on the river, may all your fish be LARGE.

You Want Fish, We got fish

Big fish and lots of them. Many people come from all parts of the world to experience what us locals sometimes take for granted. Sometimes being the key word here! Men and women from all parts of the world take their holidays on the banks of the Bow River, but why do they do this. Well the answer is simple really, large hard-fighting rainbow and brown trout and plenty of them. This fishery has rewarded me and many others like me with some great days fishing from shore or in a boat floating down the river. It does not really matter how you choose to fish the river, it will grant you what you look for. This sometimes does not come easy as the beginner fisherman can attest to.

After fishing the Bow River many times I never came away with any fish. I figured there were no fish to be had, boy was I ever wrong. I would drive for an hour to fish out in Kananaskis country for small Brook Trout or the odd small Rainbow Trout. Don’t get me wrong it was fun and the drive was nice but after several tanks of gas and many oil changes later, I decided to try the Bow River as it was a lot closer to home. When I fished the river I never really knew how to read water, where fish move with the changing of seasons and so on. I am what some people call “stubborn” and never read books or took other people’s advice. So I never caught any fish. I remember back to the days when my grandfather took me out to the Bow River, we were using maggots and I think even worm’s were legal to use as bait. Today the fishing regulations have changed and no bait is allowed to be used in the Bow River system. So what do I do now?

I realized what I was doing wrong! I was fishing in water that was not holding trout. I was using the wrong color of lures for the water conditions. I was using the wrong sized lure. I was retrieving my lure in too fast or too slow. I was fishing in water that was under high angling pressure, water that was close to easily accessible areas of the river. You know, park and get out of the vehicle and walk ten meters to the river. No wonder why I was not catching any fish. So I decided to do something about this. No one really likes to go fishing and not catch even one trout, especially me.

The first thing I did was head to Chapters book store to see if they had any books on spinner fishing. I was in luck and I picked up two books and went home to read them. Then as I was in my local tackle they also had a few books on spinner fishing rivers and I bought them also. After reading the four books I was ready to tie my hook and see if the new found information would work. I learned that certain seasons of the year, fish sit in different locations so I headed to a “tail out” of a “pool” or deep hole and did what was instructed in the books. “Work the top of the pool fishing for awhile and moving downstream until the end of the pool was fished”. I hooked into a fish at the top of the pool, the middle of the pool was really good with four fish hooked and landed. The bottom of the pool was ok with two fish hooked. “This really work’s” I thought to myself. I then searched out videos of pro’s fishing rivers, after all the pro’s should know how to catch trout, and I learned even more after practicing what they had showed me on the videos. I then saved enough money to hire a guide and was taken out fishing on a boat for four hours and shown every hole in the Bow River, which was well worth my three hundred dollars back then.

I kept up the reading and the advice I was getting from the local fishermen who were out almost weekly. I acquired a computer several years back and searched the internet for hours and hours for more information on becoming a better fisherman. I must say that all the hard work paid off. I usually catch fish whenever I go to the Bow River. I have floated over a hundred miles of the Bow River. I have fished every bank from north of the city to the Carseland weir. I love river fishing and try to get better at it through improving my skills on a weekly basis. Catching big fish is now something I look for every time I fish the Bow River. I like those fifteen to twenty inch fish, but I look for the twenty to thirty inch plus fish. With the right tackle and the technical know, how I will find what I search for!