Brandon & Dustin B. gearing up for float trip on Saturday morning April 19. Photo, © Bow River Shuttles
Showing posts with label fishing report 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fishing report 2013. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report (Sept 11) from Fish Tales Fly Shop
Bow River Fishing Report (Sept 11) from Fish Tales Fly Shop
September – historically one of the favored times on the Bow – is here and with it are the usual tricos, hoppers, backswimmers, boatman, and more.
Reports from walk n’ wade anglers have been good and folks are starting to find areas holding small pods of fish.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/18VZNPH
Bow River Fishing Report (Sept 10) from Country Pleasures Fly Fishing
Bow River Fishing Report (Sept 10) from Country Pleasures Fly Fishing
Bow River-Post Flood 2013
The summer has presented us with a never ending supply of angler and non-angler opinions as to fishing quality since June 22 & 22, 2013, when the Bow River and Highwood grew to levels not seen by anyone alive today.
It all started with "experts" indicating the fishery would be decimated, news media showing a single fish left on Memorial Drive but leaving the impression that populations were decimated. A few weeks later some media did interviews with individuals who make their living from the river who basically said things would be "business as usual". And most recently there were television reports with Bow River guides who, on television, said that fish populations were the same as previous years, somewhere around 2500 fish per mile.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/19Jw7HG
Monday, September 9, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report - Monday Sept 08, 2013
 |
| Photo, courtesy Colin J. |
Bow River Fishing Report - Monday Sept 08, 2013
"Thanks to Colin J. for this fishing report!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
Hey Michelle,
Tough day on the water today. We never had a single fish all day. I only tried hopper dropper and streamer fishing. I guess I should of been nymphing. Thanks again for the shuttle.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report - from Wed Aug 27 2013
 |
| Photo, Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 2013 |
Bow River Fishing Report - from Wed Aug 27 2013
THANKS TO STEPHEN S. FOR THIS REPORT!
Policeman's Flats - McKinnon Flats
The fishing was excellent today.
Tried foam hoppers with a dropper for a while to no avail. Stone flies could be seen drying on the rocks but fish were not interested in stone flies.
A nice hatch of tricos but no rising activity for them.
The ticket was a weighted prince's nymph paired with a copper john #16, a staple for me this time of year. A lot of hook ups. I lost many with one or two hands on the paddle.
I always have better to the net luck when I stop and work the holes but today I meandered down casual and didn't stop.
Best fish was a 20 inch rainbow. I saw his dorsal fin as he sipped the surface while drifting so I dropped anchor and cast into the seam where he was feeding. Made a couple of nice runs and some fine aerobatics!
The "Never ignore a feeding fish" axiom held true once again.
All rainbows, the ones that made the net anyway.
The wind changed direction often, seemingly with each bend in the river. The Highwood put in with a little color but not with the mud that the dredging was producing a couple of weeks back yet the fishing was still better above.
On the river 9:30 AM - 3:20 PM
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report - Saturday July 27, 2013
 |
| Photo, copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 12 |
Bow River Fishing Report - Wednesday July 24, 2013
 |
| Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 12 |
"Thanks to Colin J. for this fishing report!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
Hey Michelle,
Well the day started out great!
Five minutes after we launched we hooked up 5 times on one bank using streamers. One was a small bull trout which was my first bull on the bow river.
The weather was perfect with the cloud cover. Unfortunately the sky was looking really dark down river. After floating for a half hour we had to pull to shore and ride out a severe hail storm. It was hailing golf ball size hail for about an hour. We hid under a poplar bush and held on for dear life!
After the storm we thought the dry fly fishing would pick up, but the hail seemed to turn the fishing right off. I guess the fish were hiding as well. The river got quite muddy and there were no rising fish.
We only landed one more rainbow on a blue winged olive before we reached McKinnon in the dark at 10:30.
It was great to see my truck at Mac after a very tiring and late float.
Thanks again
- Colin J.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report - Wednesday July 24, 2013
 |
| Photo, courtesy Carl B. |
"Thanks to Carl B. for this fishing report and photo!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
Hi Michelle, we had a great day on the river and will be heading out again this Friday, so I'll call Thursday night.
Light coloured streamers were the ticket. . . the brighter white the better.
We caught 5 nice rainbow and a very large Brown.
We are very new to drifting the Bow River, this is just my third run down, so we are very happy to be getting things figured out.
Attached is photo os Sam with one of the Rainbows.
- Carl B.
Bow River Fishing Report - Sunday July 28 2013
 |
| Photo, courtesy Mike N. |
"Thanks to Mike N. for this fishing report and photos!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
We had a great float and were one of the first boats off from Policeman's.
Initially we tried some white streamers and were unsuccessful but switched up to an orange bodied streamer with rubber legs.
With just two in the boat we landed 10, at least 5 other solid hookups and countless bumps and soft takes. Most were taken within feet from the bank.
 |
| Photo, courtesy Mike N. |
Grassy banks appeared to be more productive than rocky banks but those areas were hard to come by as much of the bank has been disturbed with rock or mud falls.
We got out and nymphed some promising water but did not hook a single fish with a nymph.
There were no rising fish and I have never seen so little bug activity on the river in a 6 hour period in July. There was no hatch whatsoever.
Other than one brown, all fish caught were rainbows and all of average size (17-18 inches).
There are very few obstacles in the water and the float was trouble free.
Thanks to your team in adapting to some crazy parking and access challenges.
Attached are a few pictures.
- Mike N.
Bow River Fishing Report - Sunday July 28 2013
 |
| Photo, courtesy Ken C. "Upstream from Policeman's Flats" |
"Thanks to Ken C. for this fishing report and photo!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
Our trip started at Fish Crk at 10:00 am and we were off the water at 16:00 at Policemans Flats.
Water clarity was two to three feet.
Fish to the boat 6. All Rainbows, 4 were small under 6 inches, which seems unusual.
2 were 12 inch plus.
Not in the boat and back to the river before the net was out was a 24 in (approx), nice fish!
All fish were close to the shoreline and on the bottom
All trout took a rather large Royal Coachman!
No strikes or touches on leeches or stonefly flies.
River looks great, new channels and great rifts, pools and back eddies.
Photo to follow.
Regards Ken
Monday, July 29, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report - Friday July 26, 2013
 |
| Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 12 |
"Thanks to Louise S. for this brief fishing report!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
Hi. The fishing was slow for us. I finally caught a nice Rainbow of 18 inches when I was resting at the back of the boat and letting my streamer trail along behind us. We had a lovely day though and enjoyed the sunny weather.
- Louise
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report - Thursday, Friday & Saturday July 18, 19 & 20, 2013
 |
| Photo, courtesy Eric Mac. |
"Thanks to Eric Mac. for this fishing report and great photos!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
Hi Michelle,
Thanks again for the shuttle service on July 18 - 20.
We were on the water before sunup each day.
Thursday the water was a bit discolored due to overnight thundershowers and only two fish were hooked on dry stone fly patterns early on.
We switched to streamers after nine and had some success with Bow buggers, clousers landing another 12 fish with as many LDR's.
Four browns, biggest just over 21 inches and the remainder rainbows in the 16 - 18 inch range. All were healthy and feisty although the rainbows were a bit thin post spawn. They more than made up for lack of girth with airborne acrobatics resulting in many spit hooks.
 |
| Photo, courtesy Eric Mac. |
Friday and Saturday the early morning dry stone action was better but not spectacular. AT least a dozen fish to the net with the majority being browns. Stims, noble Chernobyl's and other foam stone fly patterns in smaller sizes (8, 10) were the ticket when fished close to the bank. Streamers were effective after 10 on Friday. Saturday we fished dry stones all day and even had hook ups just before take out at Mac with 20 landed.
 |
| Photo, courtesy Eric Mac. |
The river has certainly changed and finding the prime lies was a challenge. The river is wider in spots with many new side (or main) channels and many new gravel bars. The large cliff just downstream of Cottonwood golf course was severely eroded and noticed a large amount of rocks and dirt ( the size of a small car) fall into the water as we passed on the north side. I would recommend caution when floating near there or other large undercut cliffs.
 |
| Photo, courtesy Eric Mac. |
No significant hatches were observed but we did see a few stones and plenty of shucks. The occasional caddis in the shade but we were off the river by mid afternoon each day.
The Bow is not dead and all fish were healthy and active. It is a new river in many respects and well worth exploring.
I have attached a few snaps but not all fish are CRP (catch, picture, release).
Cheers,
Eric
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report - Friday July 19, 2013
 |
| Photo, courtesy Ryan L. |
Pre-Flood & Post-Flood Reports from Ryan L.
"Thanks to Ryan L. for this fishing report and photos!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
NOTE: RYAN L. WAS ONE OF THE LAST FLY FISHERS TO DRIFT THE BOW PRIOR TO THE FLOOD. HIS REPORT FROM THAT TRIP IS POSTED BELOW. HE WAS OUT AGAIN LAST FRIDAY. THIS IS HIS REPORT FROM THE 'NEW' BOW RIVER.
 |
| Photo, courtesy Ryan L. |
Hi Michelle,
We had a great day on the re-designed river.
First of all, the river looked great and exploring was good fun.
We were into fish within sight of the launch and hooked up on both streamers and nymphs.
We caught fish all day long, even in the bright sun and had three double-headers. Most of the fish were big and healthy and fooled on leeches or stones and streamers fished tight to the bank.
Brown with a bit of yellow was the streamer colour that worked well for us.
We were pleased to catch some nice fish below the Highwood as well.
Water clarity was about 3 feet.
We did catch a couple 6 inchers which was encouraging.
I've included a picture of what I believe was a buffalo bone bed and a short video of the Cliffs.
- Ryan L.
Bow River Fishing Report - Friday June 14, 2013
 |
| Photo, courtesy Ryan L. |
Bow River Fishing Report - Friday June 14, 2013
Pre-Flood & Post-Flood Reports from Ryan L.
"Thanks to Ryan L. for this fishing report!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
NOTE: RYAN L. WAS ONE OF THE LAST FLY FISHERS TO DRIFT THE BOW PRIOR TO THE FLOOD. HE SENT IN THIS REPORT. HOWEVER, BY THE TIME WE RECEIVED IT, WE WERE IN THE FLOOD AND IT DIDN'T GET POSTED.
 |
| Photo, courtesy Ryan L. |
Hi Michelle,
We had a great day on Friday. The river was high but a nice milky green colour with about 18" of visibility.
The fish were tight to the bank and eager to take stonefly nymphs.
We actually did better fishing from the bank because we could get the flies tighter that way. There was a dense hatch of small dark mayflies later in the afternoon after a good rain storm.
We had to endure a lightning storm lying face down on the bank while it hailed on our back sides and stormed above our heads.
We found a few risers for a short time but nothing consistent.
Toward the end of the day we got a number of exciting follows on a white streamer.
The rainbows put on a good show and we lost more than we landed. They were fat and feisty for sure.
All in all a worthwhile early season trip.
- Ryan
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report - Thursday July 18 2013
 |
| Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 12 |
Bow River Fishing Report - Thursday July 18 2013
 |
| Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 12 |
Bow River Fishing Report - Thursday July 18 2013
"Thanks to Brian E. for this fishing report!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
HI Michelle,
Wasn’t quite sure what to expect on our Thurs float, but we had a great day of fishing, streamers were the ticket for us.
Clousers, smaller leeches, and some larger articulated creations as well.
We had about 20 fish to the boat, all rainbows except one small brown, almost everything was taken very close to the bank.
Still waiting for some pictures from the guy with the camera, I will send a few when I get them.
Thanks again for the Shuttle.
- Brian E.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report - Monday July 15 2013
 |
| Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 12 |
"Thanks to Colin J. for this fishing report!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
Hey Michelle,
Our float wasn't too bad. The water still had lots of sediment in it but the visibility wasn't bad.
The flood had also cleaned the river bottom so there were no weeds and rock snot to contend with.
The fishing was really good on white streamers on the grassy undercut banks. We hooked up so many times and never landed a single fish. It was very frustrating! I also had luck nymphing with stone flys.
Most of the guides were using stone flys with a stone fly dropper.
Talking to a few of the guides, they weren't having much success on the drys. Streamers and nymphing were definitely the way to go today.
- Colin J.
Bow River Fishing Report - Monday July 15, 2013
 | |
| Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 12 |
Bow River Fishing Report - Monday July 15 2013
"Thank you to Zach S. for this fishing report!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator, Bow River Shuttles
Hi Michelle, the Bow has been fishing well with fish coming on streamers nymphs and dries now that we are seeing cleaner water.
We did quite well with black streamers Monday as well as nymphing.
I'm not sure how many fish we landed but it was a few. The fish are strong and really healthy right now as well!
This whole week has been fishing well and Sunday a client of mine caught and taped a 25" rainbow which was clean and very healthy!
River is dropping so it's a great time to get out.
- Zach S.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report - July 16 2013
 |
| Photo, courtesy Jim Kearns |
 |
| Photo, courtesy Jim Kearns |
Bow River Fishing Report - July 16 2013
"Thank you to Jim Kearns for sending this my way!" - Michelle, Owner/Operator Bow River Shuttles
Hi Michelle. Here is some info for your excellent e-mail updates to help educate your readers and dispel all the negative press and rumors that the "Bow is dead" after the big flood...not true.
This past week, I was fortunate to be a guest with Calgary architect Tony Williams on one of the first three guided boats allowed back on the Bow July 16.
I was not optimistic and expected only a boat ride through a "war zone."
Surprisingly, our expert guide, Aaron Caldwell, put us into three dozen plus trout, a mix of browns and rainbows and whitefish, in all size categories small to large, and all in excellent robust, healthy condition.
Many of the fish were caught on big surface floating stone-fly patterns and the water clarity and visibility improved all day.
The two other boats we talked to had similar fishing experiences.
One of the boats got into a 27 inch brown.
Water levels are high but dropping rapidly...there was absolutely no floating debris and noticeably no shore-line garbage which I guess by now is probably all in Medicine Hat.
The river is completely safe to float but banks and shorelines look unstable in some areas for walking and wading...use caution.
The river in most places is unrecognizable, as are the launch sites, with new channels and backwater "lakes" but mother nature is looking after the recovery and it will be a brand new river now to explore but the fish are still there but in new places.
One of the pictures attached shows a Merganser who has adopted some presumably displaced Goldeneye ducklings. I'm told that this quite rare.."birds of a feather..."
- Jim Kearns
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Bow River Fishing Report - from Tues June 18, 2013
 |
| Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 2013 |
Bow River Fishing Report - from Tues June 18, 2013
#bowriverfishingreport
Policeman's Flats to McKinnon Flats
Courtesy: BRS shuttle client
Visibility reported at 2'
There were a total of 16 fish to the boat.
Almost all were rainbows, with one brown.
Stone and San Juan Nymphs were the ticket for all the fish caught.
Bow River at Calgary flow 190 cms.
High 19 °C , Thunderstorms and rain AM, mostly cloudy PM, wind avg 15 max 32.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)