The Surprises of Fishing.

It sure seems as though the Bow River is like a box of chocolates, because you never know what you are going to get inside. The primary fish that occupy this wonderful river are Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, and Rocky Mountain Whitefish in the lower section. However you are sometimes surprised at what you may run into when fishing here.

Todd and I were out hunting the Trout for a client that is coming here in April. We decided to hike up to a very long deep hole to see if there were any trout stacked up in the hole. This particular location is at the corner of the river that has a deep back eddy, formed as the river flows around the corner. We walked up to the corner and decided to set up shop and start fishing.

Todd had tied up a Rapala and I had on a Minnow Spinner. We were fishing for no more than five minutes and Todd’s fishing rod is bent over as if he had snagged up. He started to try and pull out the snag when this fish started to fight back. He looked over and said to me “Mike, just wait until you see the size of this thing”. I thought he had a massive Brown trout, but the fish was not coming to the surface. He managed to bring this brute up to the top and low and behold a massive Pike was on the end of his 8 pound test. I could not believe my eyes as this was the biggest pike I had ever laid eyes on. I have caught Pike from the Bow River and seen others catch, but this fish by far took top honors.

The moral of this story goes to show that large Pike live in some deep holes along the Bow River. We also caught what we came here to catch, large Trout. I hammered into a very nice Brown Trout and was able to catch a couple smaller Rainbows. All together it was another very successful day on the banks of the river once again.

Going Back For More

Last week I was able to blow the dust off of my inflatable boat and float down the Bow River. We saw just how much damage those pesky beavers can do to the trees that line the banks of the river. We also were able to get a feel for where some of the Bow Rivers finest Trout are hiding out. We made frequent stops along our five hour float in some deeper holes.

Last Friday we came to an island with a deep hole just in front of it, with water flowing into the hole slowly. We decided to stretch our legs and give our arms a rest; we had to row the boat often today! I gazed at the cloud covered sky and opted to use a lure that is very shiny. I looked out at the water and chose a place to drop my minnow spinner. I made a long cast into the wind and just as the lure hit the water I clicked over my bail. I picked up the slack of the line and made four revolutions of the reel when wham-o, a monster Brown rolls to the surface and slaps his fat tail. He then turned toward the opposite bank and left my lure in the water. This was no 15-20 inch fish, oh no- this was a 25- 30 inch brute! My friend Todd looked over and I think the expression on my face told the story of dejection.

“Hey Todd you see that thing” I muttered in frustration. “Yeah I saw that thing” he replied. “What happened there? I explained that the trout was hooked lightly and got away. I now know where he lives so we went back the next day to knock on his door to see if he wanted to come out and play again. I spooled up a full reel of my favorite monofilament and casted the same minnow spinner onto his doorstep. No answer for the first few tries but low and behold he came to the door and the fun began. I set the hook on him firm and he took off down stream. He gave four strong tugs to try and give me the slip; no way I said and began to reel him in. He then turned back upstream and started to do the famous roll Browns are notorious for. Todd kept hollering “get that thing in here now, don’t lose him”. The fierce battle came to an end and there he was, all 27 inches of him. I stood and looked him over in awe, and then gently removed the barbless Eagle Claw hook from his big toothy mouth. That was worth coming back I exclaimed to Todd, and he concurred.